"Behold, I stand at the door and knock..."

Occasionally I like to post really cool photos - this one was taken on top of the volcanic Cirque of Mafate peak, a remote and inaccessible volcanic crater that hikers love due to it's unspoiled nature, on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. It was taken by an amateur french photographer named Luc Perrot who climbed the mountain to record a time-lapse video of the movement of the clouds on July 10th and was stunned at what he saw. The figure bears an uncanny resemblance to Jesus with arms outstretched, and floats on a cloud, with a crescent of light acting as a halo. Perrot said, "It took me by surprise. When I looked back at the footage, it gave me the feeling of a divine appartion." He went on to say that it was probably a weather phenomenon and could be explained scientifically.

Um hmmm....

"Where there's smoke, there's fire..."

Right now as I write here in Central Texas, there are fires all around Austin... 14,000 acres burned in Bastrop and it's not contained yet. A mandatory evacuation has been issued. There are fires in Pfugerville, Steiner Ranch and south Austin. Major brushfire in bordering Hays County to the south. The entire state is just a big pile of kindling and is just a match away from disaster.

In the Utopia movie (which was filmed last summer) there is a scene of a thunderstorm here and the entire audience gasped when they saw it, as it's been that long since we've had rain. Trees are dying, bushes and hedges are almost gone, and yards are like tundra (my favorite word from 4th grade.) Ranchers are finding dead deer all over their places and nocturnal animals are coming out in the daytime for food. Even the bats are leaving their caves earlier to fly farther for food. And the bordering county south of mine, has had bear sightings (and now shootings) for the first time in 100 years, since they are coming north out of Mexico for food.

It's serious readers, very serious....

"7 Days in Utopia"

Tonight I saw the movie, "7 Days in Utopia," and it did not disappoint. Last summer in my little town in the Texas hill country, we heard they were filming a movie on a new book, "Golf's Sacred Journey, Seven Days at the Links in Utopia." It was written by a friend of DD's father, Dr. David Cook, who is a psychologist to super athletes, and evidently they come from miles around to have an appointment with him. David's daughter was in DD's dance class, so I got to meet him and his wife, and they are some of the nicest people I've ever met.

Anyway.

They had an all-call for anyone that wanted to be an extra in the movie, so it was great fun to see familiar faces in the crowd, not to mention all the familiar places around here! The movie truly captures our way of life here in the Texas hill country, and being a 5th generation Texan, it made me proud.

Of course after "Lonesome Dove," Texans call Robert Duvall one of our own. He SO reminds me of my mother's father with that cute twinkle in his eye... When I started reading the book, I knew that he was MEANT for that part. It is men like him that made me move to this town - those types are the salt of the earth and make this world a better place. The river scene looks like this entire area (except that it hasn't rained since they filmed last summer, so the rivers are drying up.) My family's ranch that my great grandfather bought, is right down the street from Utopia, so many childhood memories in these parts. The porch scene is actually a Bed & Breakfast in our town, (DD's 7th grade cheer photos were taken on the bridge on the property and we took family Christmas photos there a few years ago) and the gorgeous new golf course is at the edge of town. It's a movie with A List actors, gorgeous scenery and a meaningful script with no gratuitous sex or cussing that shows the wonderful metaphor of golf and life's successes. Go see it - you'll be glad you did.

It will make you want a new pair of boots...

"Cheers"

"Sticking it to the man..."

"Where's the Beef? Part 4"

Yes, I know... It sounds creepy for a Baby Boomer aged woman to think that Prince Harry is handsome, but it's not like we will ever be dating! I just think he is darling... And yes, his brother is handsome too, but Harry has that twinkle in his eye and that adventurous spirit. He's the kind of guy that makes the girls swoon (oh, there I go, dating myself) but he has tons of charm and the looks to go with it.

I've watched the stats on my blog, and I find it curious and fascinating that more of my readers are in the UK than any other country! Yes, we are kindred spirits and ALL of my ancestors came from the UK, so really, we ARE family. When my parents went to Europe when I was in college, they came back and said I would like London the most, and in particular, Harrod's. I would love to visit and actually love to live there, at least for awhile. We Americans love the English, and truly think of them as family - older family.

Cheers to all my UK readers!

"Sleeping like a baby..."

It occurred to me today how NICE it's been since Congress took the month of August off. I realized how much better I'm sleeping when I don't have to listen to daily news about those numb skulls in Washington pontificating on how great they are while they drive the USA off a cliff. All of that debt ceiling raising debating to the eleventh hour was too much on us -- too much on the world. I think we as American citizens wrote this Congress off, while the rest of the world wrote the USA off. This government has the lowest approval ratings in my lifetime, and I think back to the 1800's?

Anyway.

Just want to enjoy it while I still can...