Noury's Creative World…

This morning I had to get up at 6:00 am because I had an appointment with my eye doctor at 8:00 am.  By now, you must have an idea of how I did look like, but I did my best to look presentable.  Washed and set my hair, jean jacket, etc., everything men and women do to look good (should read:  hanging on to everything in good condition, and being able to hide your liabilities and make the best with the few assets you got).

I must admit, I liked the way I looked.  My ego doesn’t need any assistance ever.  Thank you.  So there I go, it was raining, so it was not a good hair day.  Tornado possibilities around, but I needed to make sure I kept this appointment for the sake of my beautiful eyes.  Without them the lights go out.

After the usual ceremony of going to the doctor takes place (waiting for the almighty doctor to show up)  a nice young man gives me the usual peek-a-boo testings;  reading tiny little letters and me doing all in my power to try to fool him, guessing which letters are what, or if it is a number or a letter.  Much denial.  But in a few seconds, I realized that the only one I was trying to fool was myself.  So I found out that my right eye is the one I have been using the most to see my face when I am putting on makeup, because that was the one with a slight variation of good sight.  The left one is the merciless one.  Don’t use that one when I want to feel good.

Then he put some drops to dilate my pupils, I waited for a few minutes, and then Mr. Doctor decided it was time to show up at the office.

He checked my right eye, and said that everything looked good so he’ll see me in a year.  I said “Aren’t you going to check my left eye, I mean,  drops are in there already.”  He said “sure, we’ll do two for the price of one.”  I burst into laughter that lasted for a few good seconds.  Then I said “you’re funny, I like your sense of humor.”  He didn’t know what to make of my comment.  Probably he thought, this is not a dumb one.

The left eye is fine, thank you.  Somewhere in the conversation between his checking the left eye, I said that I need to make sure both eyes are doing fine, because after all I am 62+ and so are my eyes.  Then he said:

“You look like you are 32…”   Now, there’s a big difference between a compliment and a big ugly lie.  Thirty two?  Please, I have a lot of mirrors in my house and the one in the bathroom has so many lights above it, it feels like at any moment there is a plane that is going to land on my sink.

Thirty two… my aching feet!  Look at the picture above.  That girl doesn’t have any laughter lines, anything hanging down, as gravity is doing its best efforts at 62+.  Please Mr. Doctor, I don’t need compliments of any category, especially when I know a lie from far away.  I know you had your best intention, but I know also that I do have a lot of many happy birthdays, and still I can see even in the dark that 32 is a stage I will not visit again, and in a way, why should I?  What do you think I will return as when I make my next visit to planet whatever it will be.  Will I be a bird, a flower or a teacher.  Always wanted to be a teacher.

Now, that’s more like…52…getting wiser is a lot of fun.  You can say whatever you want  and whenever and you want to.  I think I already posted to that.  Since I left the good intentioned doctor, I am seeing double everything, well kind of, and my vision is perfect (perfectly fuzzy) to see myself in the mirror, even with all those lights.  I look….like 32.  No lines anywhere.  But tomorrow back to reality with the merciless left eye.

So it was March 10, 2100.

Your Happy Contessa

Did you notice something?  Ha ha!

 I have been trying now for over an hour to “share” the video of the shuttle Discovery’s  last touch down, a historical one may I say, because this was its final voyage.  Let me be more specific, I was trying to “share” from NASA’s website the landing of Discovery, with my friends on Facebook.  No luck.

The longer I tried,  the more obstinate my computer grew in a conspiracy plot with Facebook.  No cooperation whatsoever.  Maybe too many people were trying to do the same thing too.  Information overload.

I am going to continue trying again and again to share this video mainly because the landing as well as it was the takeoff are sights that leave anyone in awe.  You should check them out at NASA’s website.

I think the space frontier (is there a frontier?) will provide us with many questions and as well as many answers that we living mechanisms here on planet Earth may have or may entertain.  I feel very proud of our accomplishments as a country in the space program.  It is a shame we are considering ending it. 

Just out of curiosity, are you one of those that think that we are alone in the whole universe.  I love the audacity of our engineers and astronauts to go out there and try to communicate with ET.   Remember him?   How lovely he was and with those incredible super powers.  The Lord have mercy on us if them out there are just looking for food and we may look like some kind of eatable species to them.  Enough.  Hopefully they are just like ET.

I must confess, I was not a big fan of the space program at the beginning, but as I get “wiser” and “riper” as I can get, I find merit in things that before I didn’t consider that important.  The space program was one of those creatures.  But now I am one more fan.  “To infinity and beyond,” as Buzz Lightyear would say.  Ask any ten-year old who’s Buzz.

With this breath-taking moment…I can only, no, I cannot imagine what it must have been for this privileged group of people to have had this incredible experience.

So it was on March 9, 2011…

Your Happy Contessa

“God wasn’t throwing dice when He created the Universe”  Albert Einstein

 Frankly, today I had my doubts about coming up with anything at all to talk to you about.  That thought has crossed my mind many times.  It is an ugly and scary thought.  But here we go.

Yesterday, when I was getting ready to cut what is my daily intake of an apple or a pear to put in my salad, I noticed with curiosity and apprehension that maybe a visitor being was residing inside my apple.  Humm…so I washed and dried it and then proceeded to do surgery.  Come to find out, after several incisions were made, the part of where the foreign being must have resided was empty.  I would say 99.50% of the apple was approved by my eyes to put into the salad.  It was a crunchy and sweet apple.  My daily intake to insure my happy everyday moment of what you must imagine if you have a good imagination.  If you cannot figure it out, well, you need to eat an apple a day.

These are some of the sights I find on my daily walk with Miss Raylene, that are uncovered right now, because the trees are still bare.  The one on the left is a tiny little creek and one on the right are some death trunks just laying there, making a nice collage.  There’s a reason for everything under the sun.  We need the not so glamorous views now, so we can discover the hidden treasures of nature, and then we can appreciate each one on its own merit.  Such is life, but it is not that easy to digest when you are going through the  mud to get to the other side.  Patience, perseverance and faith in myself and our Creator is usually what I need to help me through.

I will leave you today with a picture of the dreaded dandelion.  No one wants them in their yard, but I think it is another beauty of nature.  In its right place, I guess.  If we continue getting rid of pretty things like this one with pesticide, one day all of us are going to go “puff” and disappear.  All because we have classified this pretty flower as a weed.  Leave it to us to come up with incomprehensible stuff.  I wonder how is the dandelion treated as in our parallel universe.

And so it is today…

Your Happy Contessa

“To be or not to be.  That is the question.”   Shakespeare.  I looked up the meaning of this phrase and it left me kind of conflicted, but I decided I was going to make of it a happy interpretation.  You make your own.  Make it a happy one.

It is not how long I live, but what I do with the time I have while I have it.

This morning I was reading in my local newspaper a lovely, and sad story of an eight year-old-sweet girl who died recently of a brain tumor.  What caused to make an impression on me, and one that I will never forget, was a phrase that she used when she and her family were standing at a fountain and throwing in coins and making wishes at the same time.  She held onto the coin her father had given her.  She said “I have everything I want.”

It was an incredibly enlightened moment for me.  I looked around my living dinning area that was so bright at that moment from the sunbeams coming through my many windows, and I thought, wow, it has taken this young lady’s wisdom, even after she has died, to remind me of my many blessings.  I am not talking material things right now, I am referring to the beautiful sun rays coming through the windows and making me feel very fortunate to be present at that moment.

Those of you who know me personally know that I have been trying to move to Florida for well over a year now.  I get so cold, that sometimes it is unbearable for me during the winter season to be comfortable or happy even inside my house.  Turning up the heat does not help.  Static galore and every time I touch something, I get second degree electric shocks.  But after reading that phrase from sweet little Meg, I realized that I have been putting my life on pause for over a year, when I already have right now all that I want.  What I need to learn is how to deal with the issue of freezing to death during the winters.  I need to figure that out.

The “life is greener (in this case, warmer) on the other side of I-95,”  is a myth I need to debunk.  I could die right now waiting for my house to sell, and waiting to be warmer, waiting to continue with my dreams…  etc., so in the next two months the wait will be over, I have decided today.  Thanks little Meg.

This is a close-up of the tiny flowers of a pear tree,  taken from the one at the beginning of the post.  I took the picture this morning during my walkabout. Just magnificent.  “I have everything I want.”

Stop to look around you, this is a magnificent universe.  Thank you God!

Your Happy Contessa

 P.S. Not too bad of a picture from a $79 cheap chic camera!

Dreams, plans, money, friendships, relationships, plans for the day…etc., etc.  You name it, most of the things in our lives have a possibility of eventually going down the drain.  Mine has some coffee stains, but it shows that at least I use it.  Life might as well be like my sink, with some stains here and there, but still serves its purposes.

No, I am not down today, or maybe I am.  I don’t remember seeing the word  “perfect” next to my name on my birth certificate.  So I have my days on which I ponder more deeply than others.  Today is one of those days.  Let me clarify.  Not 100%, it is a semi-deep pondering day. 

I think I have an idea why.  My favorite college basketball men’s team (Duke Blue Devils) lost last night.  It is not the fact that they lost, it is to whom they lost the game to and the margin of loss.  I am still trying to recover from that “what just happened” moment.  I couldn’t even look at the Sports Section of our newspaper this morning.  It hit the recycling bin like it had some contaminated material on it. 

This anecdote is totally unrelated to this posting.  When my daughter decided to accept to attend Duke University, I thought, oh my, my daughter is going to attend a school that has a devil as a mascot.  Lots of prayers here.  But to rationalize this situation better, I consoled myself by thinking “well, at least it is a blue devil, it couldn’t be that bad.”  Me and my ignorant universe.

Now going back to the slow energy moody day,  it has been a blessed rainy day.  We badly need the rain, so remember the pros and cons of life.  I miss my sunbeam.  Please come to visit me tomorrow.  Need that doses of cheerful stuff you have in your sun rays.

I can relate the parallel of drainage to my life.  It is there to help me clean stuff, and to discard and shred others on as-needed basis.  Thanks God for drains, and for the other just repaired garbage disposal.  One turn of a switch and there it goes all the discards in a jifty.  Where is that switch on my parallel universe.  I could use it right now.

This is the right side angle view of my lanai.  Not bad at all, even on a rainy day.  Just wanted to share with you.

With hopes of uplifting my aura to a brighter blue color,  because I just found out that the women’s bb team won their division championship.  With that happy note, I remain

Your Happy Contessa

P.S.  Went to have dinner at Whole Foods with Miss Raylene and Mr. Richard last Saturday night, before the colossal collapse of the Blue Devils.  I really enjoyed my curried chicken, ultra delicious;  basmati rice and some meat that right now I cannot recall its name, it was very hot, spicy hot).  I am always putting new stuff on my plate to experiment.  Diversity is the spice of life.  I feel better already.  Thanks guys for allowing me to hang around with both of you.  By the way, did you win the lottery?  I am on standby.  Dessert?  Key lime tartlet.  Oh my!

I am starting to appreciate the benefits of living in a small southern town.  Slow pace, no stress traffic, even at the big “W” I have many “amigas” because it was starting to get complicated to remember everyone’s name. 

When grocery shopping, I would hear my name being called, I would turn around, hug the person smiling at me, mostly a female, (in the Hispanic culture we hug a lot, in the coming in and in the going out), and if it is a male, a handshake would do, but if I know the individual well, he is also worthy of a hug.  After the hug,  my neurons start searching desperately for the name of the individual.   In the meantime if there are children involved, hi sweetie would do.  But the person whose name I am trying to remember starts carrying on a conversation, and I am in total limbo.  I am afraid to say much, because it may hint this person that I really don’t know her and what’s going on.  I read once that it is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are dumb, than open it, and remove any doubt.  That’s my mantra in these situations.  Sometimes we talk for a while, and I am still searching, and the time to say goodbye arrives, and we hug again, and there she goes and there I go, still scanning the disappearing neurons.  Minutes or hours go by and then Bingo, I remember the face and the name to go with it.  Too many happy birthdays.

Forgot, the picture above was at the beginning of my journey this morning.  Stop at the Post Office.  Beautiful sight of a cherry blossom.  Good start.  Then on my way to the town next door, I came out of my car, parked on a dirt road and took these.

The dirt roads are part of the scenery here in this area of the country.  No problem.  I would do somewhat whatever it takes to give you my friend readers a good perspective of what I do to go and pay bills, and have fun on the way.  I am loving this taking pictures and letting you appreciate the uniqueness of this area.

I just love these old almost falling apart buildings in the country side.  There are so many of them.  Remember my primitive decoy.  I just love rustic things because there is so much history behind them.

And these are at the parking lot of my specialty market.  That’s where I get my special meats, sweet potatoes, and other things that are just special.  Whole Foods is for the extra special.  As you can deduct, I have degrees of special things in my life.  It makes it more diverse for me.  Anything to keep from getting bored with FOOD.  Here also they know me somewhat. 

The problem with this issue of places of “where everybody knows you and your name” is a two edge sword, at least for me.  Benefit is that you get great service and extra things, but on the other hand, I need to make sure that I always look my best, even for the guys at the Produce Department.  It helps to get the lead on what’s good or they go to the back room to get something fresher for me.  It is not easy to keep appearances.  Dark glasses don’t help much anymore.  They got used to seeing me wearing them.  No incognito business for me in this town .  Wouldn’t it be nice if all my problems would boil down to these my petty situations.  I am glad my life is so simple.

Pros…Cons…but come to think of it, that’s the yin and the yang of life.

 I don’t know why the following part of A Tale of Two Cities came to mind.  I have not read the book, but have come across this phrase from it a few times…

” It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. . . .”

With all of that in mind,

Make it a very happy and joyful weekend.  See you next Monday!

Your Happy Contessa

and sometimes we are the only keeper of that story.  I was thinking back when I bought this decoy.  It does not have any markings, it has seen better days, but it was my favorite among the three I purchased that day at an estate sale in Florida in the late 90’s.  There was a table full of them.  They seemed so beautiful and I was pulled to the table every so often.  I gravitated back and forth.  The owner of these decoys perceived my interest and came to me and told me I could have a discount if I decided to buy one or more.  I told him I would think about it.  At that time we used to own the bookstore, and my excuse to get them was for resale.  But I really liked them.

Have you had a moment such as the one described before?  What was the appeal of these decoys?  Maybe I thought the time and effort that went into making them, all hand-made and what was the person doing it thinking at that time.  You could tell they were made with love and care, because the surface is very smooth, except the one above.  I don’t know why I like it the best, maybe it was the primitiveness in that decoy.  Maybe it is a reflection of myself.  I have come a long way and I think I have some ways to go until I get that gentler and softer personality.  When my feathers won’t get ruffled just because.

These two have markings and I am sure they are more valuable.  They were made in the 40’s or 50’s according to the research I have made. 

Back at the estate sale, finally I decided to get these three.  Ron was trying to make me see that the profit ratio was not worth the investment for resale purpose.  As usual, I didn’t say anything and I think he already knew that I was going to get them anyway.  I made the guy an offer for the trio and he upped it a bit, and all of us were happy.  Ron then said, because he didn’t like to spend money too much, “are you ready to leave, honey,” to which I responded “no, there a few more things I need to see.”   Then he took my precious decoys back to the car (he was very good at taking care of the merchandise, whatever it was we purchased), and then I made a few more selections of other items,  paid for them,  and we left.  When we got to the store, he was taking them out, and I asked him if we could enjoy them for a few days at home before selling them.  No problem, he said.

The few days went by and as you can tell, they never saw the lights of the bookstore.  There is something about these decoys that I cannot explain.  I have a indescribable attachment to them.  Could it be because I have made up a story in my mind about their peaceful appearance, and maybe because they remind me about a saying “peaceful and serene on the surface, but paddle like hell underneath.”  That’s what I call grace.  That’s it.  It is them portraying the picture of grace and peace.

Finally I figured it out after so many years.  Look around your surroundings and try to see the objects and people around you with a different approach.  You’ll be amazed at how the story is told, with new eyes.

I will leave you again with another beautiful sight of the season, in Miss Raylene’s neighborhood, when we were walking this morning.  The beauty of nature always manages to take my breath away.  This is a pear tree in all its splendor.

You make it a happy one and continue to be alert for signs of beautiful things of the season.

Your Happy Contessa

 F O O D

What did you think I was going to say?  I thought about this posting because I was at my grocery store this morning. Remember that I always write this post the day before, because I am kind of slow in thinking things out, and I need at least 24 hours to come up with something to talk about.  Let’s go back to the title…I saw a woman and in her  shopping cart there was so much stuff (I am still trying to find a synonym for animal discards, but still need to buy that book) that is not good for you.  That confirms the fact, I am talking about the stuff in her cart, that we on this planet, because it is not only the United States of America,  are on denial.  We have in our country alone a 35% of the population in an obese status. 

I know that our age group population is on the “I am having a good time” syndrome, because every time we see or talk to our friends, one of our circle or somebody else’s circle has converted into faster energy.  That should not be an excuse to eat crapola.  There you have it.  A new word to get it across, without being crude.  I think vulgarity is like pollution to the eyes that read it and to the ears that hear it.  Life’s short, make it pretty.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  My house is not a “crapola free zone.”  There is the usual junk in case I get really desperate before midnight.  No ice cream, cake, bread, butter, and other regulars in my fridge though, unless it is given to me.  Then I indulge in having some heart palpitations because of the sugar intake.

Recently my brother and sister-in-law took me to Whole Foods.  I love that place.  Good food, and a feast for the eyes.  We had been talking about some individuals that are sick, or some of them that have joined our Creator.  After that conversation, the rebellious in me was acting up, but I didn’t know how to deal with it.  Because every time I converse with my friends, that’s where the conversations end up with.  So after we had dinner, I went into the supermarket area to grab my favorite olive oil, the 356 house brand, cheap and good also.  But suddenly I felt like I deserved better, because you never know when that moment is going to hit you and when it happens it is too late to do anything.  So I thought,  I am going to get the most expensive olive oil in the store, because you never know and I deserve it.  I felt liberated and very, very happy.  I felt fabulous!!

So going back to our National dilemma, our food intake is a choice.  Do we want to send greasy stuff down our pipes that is only going to stick to our vessels, or do we watch what we ingest.  Healthy eating habit is a deliberate choice we make every time we put our hands or forks into a piece of “this looks so good.”

I am from the school of thought that just as “they” put that stuff in cigarettes (Ron died of lung cancer) to hook you, so “they” are putting stuff in our food to make us crave the crapola in the aisles of the grocery stores.  I try to be selective, even though it is not that easy. 

The ultimatum I give myself is “it is either the addictive stuff or my skinny jeans.”  A shout out to vanity.  It is very good to keep away from becoming a statistic and joining the heavenly bodies before our time is due.  Or worse yet, schlepping around an extreme amount of weight.

I know that there is not guarantee that because I try to eat healthy, I will live longer.  I know that.  I can evaporate tomorrow, but today I am doing my best for my skinny jeans. 

I will leave you today with a picture of my local library as it looked this morning when I went in for a moment to volunteer.  Magnificent, isn’t it.  Beautiful tree and a beautiful looking day.  It is good to be here and in the now.

Make it a happy one and enjoy the sights and sounds around you.

Your Happy Contessa

I can hardly believe that March is here already.  It is fascinating to see how fast time goes by, especially if you have had many, many happy birthdays.  I have six decades+ under my belt.  Do I wear a belt?  Maybe four times a year.  The area between waist and other places has kind of disappeared.  Now it looks sometimes as one roly poly.  Let’s go back to March.

Third month of the year…what’s the hurry?  I am not going anywhere, but it seems as the bills are in a hurry always to be paid.  Right at the beginning of the month I already know what’s left for my fun time.  Hardly can afford any fun.  Complain..complain…and more complaints.  I don’t have a cat, a dog, and the daughter lives far away, so I don’t have anyone to exchange sorrows and have pity parties with.  You are it.  So bear with me today.

Word counter nanobeing is showing that I have a lot of more typing to do to make this a decent post.  Pressure, and more pressure.

Going back to March, so there’s only nine months left of the year (I am pretending that March is almost over, because my checking account feels that way).  Before we know it, the jingle things will be on the radio and everybody will try to be very, very happy with joy, because the season will give them an opportunity to spend money at that time and then back to January, February, March to pay those bills, …but wait, this is only the beginning of March.  What did they put in the water this morning?  Need to buy a new filter for my water jar.  For how long has the filter been in that jar.  I cannot remember when I put it there.  Ignorance is bliss.

Now, really going back to March.  The green wearing day is rapidly approaching, spring is trying to break through these monstrosity of winds we are having, grass still looks like manure discard, but there is always hope.  There is a song called “The Waters of March.”  I have in English and Portuguese.  Prefer the Portuguese version, because some of the words can be interpreted as cause for depression, but in Portuguese, the whole thing sounds so pretty, because I don’t understand most of it.  Music is lovely, forget about the lyrics.  It works for me.

And the word counter nanobeing is getting pleasantly happy.  Words are somewhat abundant, and the mood of the typist has some degree of high expectancy for today, I don’t know of what, but right now I feel good, ta ra ra ra ra ra!  Remember that song?  That’s a good one to start the day, or afternoon or whatever pleases you.  I am going to look it up on Itune.  Ninety nine cents buys a lot of happiness sometimes.  That’s what it costs to download the song.

March…need to finish that quilt, do my taxes, send some letters and cards, clean some parts of the house, and yes, pay bills.  Taxes and death you cannot escape, someone said.  I would add bills to the duo. 

Let’s go back to being in a good mood.  We are all breathing, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this post, and my hands would not be typing.  My mother used to say that as long as air is coming in and out of those two little holes on your face (nose) you are ok.  On that note, I am obliged to say…

Make it a very happy one!

Your Happy Contessa

These are some of the sights of my walkabout on Monday with Miss Raylene in her neighborhood…  Forsythia: any of a genus of ornamental shrubs of the olive family with opposite leaves and yellow bell-shaped flowers appearing before the leaves in early spring.  I didn’t know that.  My buddy Webster just defined it for us.

The one on the left is from Miss Raylene’s front yard.  I will call it a bush with pretty berries.  One on the right is a pear tree with its buds already all happy to be seen and looking forward to spring.  Then a few steps further…

On the right, because left does not need explanation…is what Miss Raylene and I think was a baby snake that didn’t make it home that day.  Crossing the road that day was probably taking a big risk.  Do not be upset.  Life and death are part of our beautiful nature also.  The circle of life.

I have titled this one…Monet’s field of lavender.  They are really weeds, but they don’t know that and are happy to look beautiful.  Maybe Monet had a field of weeds that looked just like this one, just taller and that was his inspiration (I am kidding).

The majestic pine trees on the left and the close-up look at one of their trunk and its bark.  Amazing, isn’t it. 

A happy to go with the flow wind sock I purchased at the $ Store.  Now we are back in my backyard.

This one is a tall tree fully covered with red berries.  I don’t know its name, but it looks pretty in contrast with its surroundings.  They look like berries from far away, maybe they are buds.

 Now you may understand why I enjoy my walkabout at the outdoors.  You never know what you are going to find or hear.  I always keep my eyes, my mind and my ears open to possibilities.  They are everywhere.  It is good for my lungs and my oxygen intake. 

I will say farewell for today with another shot of my happy to be around wind sock, full of gratitude and joy for the very windy day.

Your Happy Contessa

P.S.  It is easier when we go with the flow.  Simple and very profound.