Noury's Creative World…

Before it is too late and I don’t find the time, North Carolina here’s to you for giving me memories that will last the rest of my lifetime.

Your beautiful sunrises, your unforgettable sunsets, your beautiful mountains and so soft sandy beaches, will make me remember you for an eternity.

 Thank you for being such a special place, always showing mesmerizing surprises wherever we go.

Thank you for taking us all for those incredible adventures and always showing us those extra special spots.

 

The time has come now to say farewell and thank you.  North Carolina, you will always be part of my life.  I have left here a very important part of the fabric of my life, so you take good care of him until that time when I will join him too.

I hope you enjoy my tribute to a state that has only been gracious and giving to me and to Ron.  All of this would not have been possible without our “official” guides to their beloved state, Raylene and Richard.  May the fun and going on those “blue roads” continue forever…

Until next Monday,

Your Happy Contessa

This morning while reading my latest issue of Victoria Magazine, there was a quote by Thoreau that goes like this…”Live the life you have imagined.”   Wow, that is a tall and humongous task.  First I have to find out how I have imagined my life for this stage of my journey.  One thing I know, it is supposed to be warmer.  Cannot complain too much, because I only make the situation not so good for myself.  Remember, mind over matter, and if I don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.  One of the spirits of the muses must be around.

Let me think…it takes me a while to get thinking…I imagine I would like to be living in a flat in Paris, but right now visiting India.  I imagine I have a trust account with untold amounts of dinero.  I have a big, big imagination.  I imagine having condos in Washington, D.C., Winter Park, Fl., and also in the region of Tuscany, Italy.  Provence, France,  is a good candidate also.  Well, if I am going to imagine it, why not go all the way.

Look what one tiny phrase from the transcendentalist Thoreau brought about.  The Book “The American Transcendentalists” is fascinating.  I could be one of them if today’s date would be 1830s-1840s.  Two of Emerson’s daughters were part of the movement.  This was the first intellectual movement in the United States.  It was the first movement against the establishment, ie., government, education, politics, religion, etc.  I am not an intellect, but always trying to learn something new.   A bit of being rebellious is innate in me.  I enjoy conversing about everything and anything without anyone taking things too personal.  It takes away the learning of what other people are thinking, so there is no progress.  I think we as a society have become too wimpy and very intolerant of each other.  We cannot utter hardly anything without  someone feeling offended.  Enough should be enough.  What muse is visiting at this time?  Certainly it is not the political correct one.

Well, there you have a bit of my philosophy.  I am for learning and embracing others, even if I don’t agree with them. 

We’ll go back to the imagining business another time.

Au revoir,

Your Happy Contessa

It is getting harder and harder to find part-time/temporary muses.  I have been on the road since yesterday looking for some hint, but nada, zip, zero.  To my know-it-all audience, do you know of any place were there might be some available.

Some of the most appreciative ones have called from the Florida Keys, saying they have been looking at real estate properties and may be considering becoming a native.  That’ll be the time and day.  What am I going to do?  Right now is like falling down and I cannot get up.  Muses of the universe, are you for hire?  Room and board included with the hiring package.  If the bankers of our country were to decide to let some money go, I’ll take y’all with me to the Caribbean or Florida when I find a buyer for my house.  

Seriously, the well is dry.

But, just a moment…as I was going to my kitchen to pick up my glasses, I saw something that probably I have been taking for granted recently.  I have such a beautiful view from my living/dinning area.  It does not matter if it is winter, spring, summer or fall.  This view has its own beauty.  It is my window into the world first thing in the morning.  Isn’t life just like that.  We take so much for granted, so we need to slow down to really see what’s around us, our dear ones included.  I went out earlier to sweep some leaves and the sun shinning on my face, the nice temperature, and my being able to even do the sweeping made me feel very grateful of just being able to do that.  That vitamin D from the sun really does wonders.  I feel energized, and ready to roll.  Have to watch it not to do too much altogether.  Have to leave some for the rest of the winter.  This is only mid-January, but it is a glorious day.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.  Maybe the muses are getting tired of being too hot down there.  Wishful thinking.

Your Happy Contessa

 

December 15, 1949 – January 19, 2009

Alba Maria was the closest person I had on this planet until she went back home on January 19, 2009.  She was my fearless leader, even though I was one year older.  She went through all the growing up processes before I did, so she was the one I confided when I first went through the process of becoming a young woman.  She told me what to do and how to do it.  What pills to take for the pain and etc., etc.  She was always doing what papa and mama didn’t want us to do.  Alba Maria was always in trouble with mama.  I remember when she told me how we humans procreate.  I never heard such a thing before, and right there and then I decided I was going to become a nun.  All the nuns at our school were very happy and excited and plans were being made for me to go to Spain to join a convent.  That lasted until one day I noticed I was liking too much a tall, handsome boy in our class.  I used to get very nervous whenever he came around to talk to me, because he was a very nice young man.  I used to be chubby and had lots of pimples on my face.  He was a very considerate and compassionate person, even though maybe he didn’t know it then.  I started to question my vocation and the whole convent business deal was cancelled. 

Let me go back to Alba Maria.  She was extremely competitive.  Best in sports, of course.  She was always taking apart the radio, and fixing the tv set.  Trigonometry, Algebra and Geometry were like adding 2+2 to her.  So was Physics.  She used to question the Mathematics professor, and me and the rest of the class were in limboland.  She knew how to embroider, cook, crochet and made beautiful work.  She always won the awards our school had for this kind of crafts.  She had the most giving heart and was always thinking about others’ needs.  She was the first entrepreneur  in our immediate family, after my father.  That’s her in her store in the Dominican Republic in the 1980’s, showing in the picture.

We used to talk three to five times a day.  Ron used to ask me what the heck did we have to talk about so often.  Sometimes it was just a minute conversation or just to make a joke.  She was always telling me “I’ll call you back in a minute” whenever she was busy and couldn’t talk right then.

Her last words to me were “I’ll call you back in a minute.”  The pain was so intense, she could hardly talk.  I loved my sister with all my heart, I miss her so very much and she’ll always be one of the loves of my life.

Alba Maria, here’s to you looking good in heaven.

Loving you always,

Tu hermana, your sister,

Well, another surprise just happened.  This image, the one above went from my ccc to my computer in no time.  I thought, what the heck is going on here.  Let me explain.

Yesterday I sent out some emails with some photos I had taken with my ccc (cheap, chic camera).  The emails along with the pictures went into a black hole.  Nothing happened.  They are somewhere in black hole land.  Now, this morning I went about to try to send them again.  Nothing.  I included myself in the “to” line, so I was going to see what happened.  Nothing.

Better and bigger, what does it mean?  Let me see how I can explain this one.  Too much of a good thing is not good for you sometimes.  Too many mega pixels can make you spend over two hours of your day in nothingland.  Suddenly it dawned on me that maybe I should consult my know-it-all, Dr. Google.   Why didn’t I think of this before.   In one of the answers to my dilemma, it was suggested I change the camera default to less mega pixels.  Wonders of it all.  It even has a choice for pc.  I cannot tell the difference between 12 megap or pc default.  One of the emails I sent early in the morning took over one hour to be received, with only 3 pictures in it.

Technology, do to or not to do.  Change or perish.  I’ll take change (technology).  Don’t want to be left out in the dark, even if that means spending over three hours in my pajamas trying to figure something out.  In the process, my realtor shows up at the door.  I had my uniform on.  Pink robe that one of these days is going to disintegrate on the washing machine.  Someones wants to see the house in around 10 minutes or so.  ????  Thanks God for under the bed resource for storage and sweat pants and tops.  Ready in 10 minutes.  Are they buying the house?  Don’t know.  At least they saw it.  I almost wrapped the house in a bag and gave it to them for free.  I told them I was a teaser, but to remember I had the best house in the neighborhood.  Let’s leave it to the gods of to buy or not to buy.

Can you tell my muses are all down South?  I can.  I have been babbling about much to do about nothing for a while now, but it makes an impression that there’s something on the screen.  Oh boy!  Muses, please come back soon.  I am desperate around here!

Sayonara,

Your Happy Contessa

Super, super good and just right hot chili!  Last Saturday night Raylene and Richard invited me over for chili, and I am always ready for Richard’s chili.    It was Ron’s favorite also.  This time it was a bit spicy hot, which was just perfect for the cold season we are processing.  I had my ccc (for those of you that don’t know yet, that’s my cheap, chic camera), so I took some pictures, the one above included.  I love my new ccc, it has its own intelligence and knows when to flash a little or flash a lot.  Just like some humans I know, self included.  Maybe that’s why I like it a lot.

After partaking with the delicious hot stuff, we set about to watch a movie.  “The Blind Side.”  Great inspirational true story movie.  It showed something that I strongly believe in.  You have to be yourself, be strong when you need to, and most of all, dare to show up when we see a situation that needs our showing up.  This woman from the South was small in size but humongous in determination and courage.  Thanks the Creator for people like her.  All in all, it also showed that yes, it takes a village to make a difference in other people’s lives.  If we look, we shall find.  There are others just as determined as we are.

Also, to cap the evening, Raylene graciously gave me a beautiful case for my ccc, which she found when she was globetrotting a few years ago in Turkey.  How plentiful is the universe.  So much we are given.  I am always grateful, always.  She noticed that I had my ccc in a plastic sheet, so she disappeared with my ccc, and voila, a chic case for it.

Life is sooooo good!

Until next time,

Your Happy Contessa

“Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.  From “The American Transcendentalists” book I have started to read.

I bought this bumper sticker on a weekend at the Outer Banks, North Carolina.  The foursome was Raylene, Richard, Ron and self.  (noticed the three R’s?)  I just noticed myself.  I buy a lot of bumper stickers, but I use them to display in my house where I think I can get the message and remember why I bought them in the first place.  

I have always believed in the self-empowerment of women, really, in self-empowerment, period.  But because I am a woman and love the study of the evolvement of the role we women have accepted in our society, due to lack of resources or lack of dare, this sign called my attention.  So many things have occurred in the past recent years of my life, that it is very important for me to realize that what I think I want to get accomplished in the rest of my days during my journey, I must promptly act, in spite of what others around me might think or advise.  My new reality (just heard that expression again in one of my novelas earlier today) is one of “the buck stops right here with me.”  Any decisions, trivial, important or no decisions, I must make taking into consideration all pros and cons, and sometimes I just make them on the spot, because it was needed.

We don’t realize what an important piece of the collective as a society we are.  I look back in my life, and all major decisions I had to make, I had to go on a limb.  But I always think, what is the worst that can happen?  Then, once I get an answer, I charge.  The best experiences in my life have been made this way.  Call them guts, instinct or just plain “having cojones” as Ms. Madeleine Albright once called on Fidel Castro at the United Nations.  In life we write our story, so let’s make sure it is a really incredible one, one that your great, great-grandchildren will have something to talk about.

Let’s make our lives a memorable one.  Let’s start a garden, an association, let’s look around and see what’s needed and let’s do it!  I believe Emerson said something to the effect that if just one life has breathed easier because we have existed, we have succeeded.

Until next Monday,

Your Happy Contessa

Today, after almost six days of being held hostage by self in this house, I ventured out to where else, the rectangular box looking store.  Picked some veggies, some eggs, and other essentials, among them my 72% cocoa dark master.   Have to be prepared for next shut down.  Passing by the Electronics Department, I glanced at the camera I had purchased on December 31st, and I’ll be…It was marked down $10.00!   Promptly I searched for an employee, and she told me to bring the receipt and the camera and all its stuff back and I will receive a $10+tax credit on my credit card. 

After finishing my shopping experience, I get in line behind a man who somehow reminded me of Ron when I met him.  Now, bear in mind, I was only looking at his back, nice slim body, tight jeans  (we women do look at other things in men besides their faces), and his grayish looking hair.  Not bad, I thought.  Just the right type.  It made me stand up straighter, you know, not to show my 62 maracas, and fixed up my hair, vanity checked.  Then…and then…this is a big then…the man turns around and smiles to the cashier, and…NO TEETH!  Lord forgive me, but I am still cracking.  I feel so guilty for laughing so bad, but I had to go to another register, because I couldn’t control myself.  Poor guy.  Maybe he had just returned from the dentist, maybe the same one that told a dear person that in order to fix his teeth, he’ll have to remove all of them,  or whatever his reasons, but I will never forget that moment.  Not everything that shines is gold.

That’s the reason of posting my picture.  Is it for real, or what added stuff I have.  Hair coloring (check) things meeting gravity (checked) bags under the eyes (checked) and who knows what else.  I am writing this because it goes to show how vain I could be some times, and that sometimes I pass judgement without having all the elements necessary to make a conclusion.   That this moment will give me a big laugh for the rest of my life, you  can bet on that, but it will make me pause and check the product inside out before making any conclusions.  As far as it goes, probably I won’t change much, I will continue to be this way, just a bit more cautious.

Later on I returned to the store to get my $10 credit.  They told me that they couldn’t do it because it had been 13 days since I had purchased the camera.  They only honor seven days for price adjustment.  Oh my!  I can return the camera within 30 days, and they cannot adjust the price after seven days.  I told the lady, ok, let me return the camera, already used, etc, and in turn I go to your camera dept. and get a brand new camera and $10 credit on my card.  Does that make sense to you, I asked her.  She called her supervisor, and after some elementary logic being exchanged back and forth between all of us, the supervisor, being a smart cookie decided to let me keep the camera and credit my account with the amount mentioned.  Persist, always persist!  Use of logic always beats the punch line.  Moments later, I am $10.78 wealthier.  Not bad for a toothless day experience and use of some elementary logic.

If you think there is a thread of narcissism in me, you are absolutely right.  That’s an elementary part of my whole.  That’s part of being a sane, and happy person.

Enough for today,

Your Happy Contessa

This little one was looking for food, something or a compass?  When I saw him/her (from now on, the gender should be referred to as hh, because we don’t know),  I thought, what the heck is hh doing in this neck of the woods.  Shouldn’t hh be already in the Southern most part of the east coast,  or getting close to that area?  Maybe hh is just like me.  Wants to go further south, but have to stay around for one reason or another.  Then I saw a few blue birds, they were so beautiful!  What’s going on I thought again.

I got my new chic cheap (ccc) camera (if we are nicknaming other things, why not the camera), and tried the zoom control.  A few minutes later I realized I needed a better camera.  No, no, I am not buying a new one right now, but the next one has to be able to capture the roots of the grass growing under the ground.  That’s how good it has to be, in the meantime, this one does wonders, considering the one I had before.

The bird, yes the bird, I forgot how cold it was, so I just took my ccc and went outside to try to snap some shots, and then I realized what I had done.  Cannot go back inside, because by the time I come back out with a coat, the magic  moment will be gone.  That’s exactly what happened.  This was the best result I go from all the shots I took. 

Was this just my imagination playing tricks on me to make me feel better about this winter of my discontent, or was it just a disoriented young bird?  While I was trying to figure all of this out, BAM!  A piece of ice landing on my small concrete pad.  Time to go back inside, I said to the non-existent bird, and to myself.

It amazes me what can pop up into your life, if you are paying attention.  Maybe hh came into my life for that moment, so I could have something to tell y’all today.  There’s always something to talk about.  All we have to do is stop, look and listen.  There’s magic everywhere, even within ourselves.

Not too bad, wouldn’t you say?

Until the next magical moment…

Your Happy Contessa

Finally, the soup materialized…very easy and simple to do, but just right for a cold day such as today.  Door bell…I wonder who that can be at this time of the night, oops!, it is only 6:32 pm, but it looks and feels as if it was getting close to midnight.  It is Miss Hannah, (remember, she is one of the girls that cleared up my sidewalk) my wonderful neighbor.  Chili and corn bread!  The goodness of this family is one of my biggest blessings here in North Carolina.

Going back to the soup.  It takes about one hour and you just brown the turkey (85/15 grounded) with olive oil (extra v), then add seven cups of water, bring to a boil, add the mix already prepared in an envelope, and let it simmer for one hour.  I added some veggies I had left from last night’s dinner (fresh pasta from my angelic neighbors) and just waited for my warm and magic brew.  It hit my cold self just right.

I ran out of my 72% cocoa chocolat!  When I was growing up in the Caribbean, there was not an opportunity to learn ice skating, so I didn’t think it was wise to venture out to get the dark master.  I remembered I received for Christmas, from my charming and lovely  step-daughter, Kym, and her family among other things, a tin can with kisses inside.  Seek and you shall find.  I am covered for the next few days.  I’ll have to limit my intakes of these kisses to four a day.  Thank you Kym, you saved my daily intake of chocolat.

Now I am getting mentally prepared to see what next thing I am going to concoct to keep myself from becoming lunatic.  Need to get out of this house!

 Your Happy Contessa

P.S.  Yes, I know, the plate is missing a small piece, but I cannot bear to part with this one.  Only have three left and I bought them in an estate sale in Florida long ago.  The soup tastes better in these plates.  The tin with butter cookies in it has not yet been opened.  Will have to wait for another worthy major crisis.