HOME SWEET HOME!!!

Last night I spent the first night, since October of last year, in my camper.  How sweet it was.  Here's a picture of the quilt my friend, Cathy, gave me last year after I said I'd always wanted a quilt, but I didn't have any women relatives who had made or even had a quilt.

 It was so comfortable sleeping in my own bed.  In fact, I crawled into my bed about 9pm last night, read for about an hour then turned off my Kindle to go to sleep.  I don't even remember falling asleep, that's how tired I was.  This morning, as the sun began to shine in my windows, I dozed off and on.  I knew I was going to drive to New Orleans today, but I didn't have to leave any time soon since my friend, Beverly, was working and wouldn't be home until 9pm tonight.  So I wallowed in my bed, enjoying the fact I could sleep in.  After about an hour of catnapping, off and on, I finally decided to get up.  I figured it was at least 9am, perhaps later, so out of bed I sprang.  I stepped down into the living room, turned to look at the clock, and it was 7:35 in the morning.  So much for lollygagging in bed.  I really had a good chuckle about that.

I'm now in New Orleans, got here about 4pm, dropped off some of my things and headed to the nail salon.  My nails are done, I've had a nice hot shower, and I've folded one load of clothes and put them away, have another load drying and one washing.  I've been very productive for only being here about an hour and a half.

I leave for Florida tomorrow morning.  I've got about a 10 1/2 hour drive to get to Palm Coast, Florida

CELEBRATION!!!

Today was a day of being with friends.  I started the day off by taking my mother-in-law to lunch.  She had a gift certificate for the Olive Garden and we both ordered one of their pizzas.  I'd never had one and it was DELICIOUS!!!  After I got Tish back home, I talked her into a game of Boggle.  This is an 87 year old woman with coke-bottle glasses, so each time we play she has to adjust her eyesite to be able to see the board.  Today we played four games and on the 3rd game, she beat me by 5 words.  YIPPEE!!! she proclaimed while I asked "where's the newspaper!!! Call the Mayor!!!!"  We both laughed.  She had a good time and so did I!!!
When I left Tish, I headed back to Carolyn and Glynn's.  They weren't home so I had a chance to get in a catnap for about an hour, then off again!  I headed over to Shelia and Chris' and here is Pinky Lee in all her pink glory.  Notice the pink hair!!!

Then it was off to Pancho's in West Memphis, Arkansas to celebrate Selena's birthday.  Here she is with her Mom, Shelia.  On the way over to their house, I was reflecting on how long I've known Selena, and it turns out I met her when she was playing softball in West Memphis, and so was I.  I was on the adult women's fast pitch team and she was on the girl's fast pitch team.  That was over 30 years ago.  Shelia and I have been best of friends since about 1985.  My how time has flown.



Selena turns 48 this year.  What I've witnessed in this young woman is a deep compassion for people and animals.  She has a heart that loves completely and will do anything for the people she loves.  Her sense of humor is "just not right" but she has a way of bringing humor to most situations.  This young man, Dee, had only been at Pancho's for three weeks, and Selena really opened him up to the possibility of making life fun if you simply decide to show up and be ready to play.  Know any other women who wear blue in their hair to match their top?   She's a pretty special woman and I am so proud to call her my friend!!!

SPRING IS ABLOOM!!!

 I am at the ADL (Alliance of Divine Love) Conference in Wellborn, Florida.  Currently a young woman is giving her dissertation in the conference room and my friend, Cathy, has gone to listen.  The topic is "Gifts of the Divine" and I know Cathy will fill me in.  The next one is "Ancient Healing Techniques" which I plan to attend. 

I went to the conference last year in Kennebunkport, Maine, so I am getting to know some of the people a little better.  Way more fun this weekend, than last year's.  Cathy registered us both, and when I got my ID badge it had "Rev. Corky Clayton".  I told Cathy I must have graduated since I'm now a Reverend.  We both had a good laugh over that.  I told her I expect to be Rev. Dr. Corky Clayton at the next conference.  And, yes, they spelled my last name wrong.  Don't ask me why, even when I spell it, it comes out Clayton instead of Cayton. 

The picture above was taken at Heartwood, Cathy and Ted's home.  It's a rhododendron. Now, in northeastern Alabama they hold a Rhododendron Festival the third week in May, because that's about the time they are in bloom.  You can see the bushes are in full bloom now.  This particular bush is just outside her glassed-in back porch, so this bush takes up quite a bit of window space.

This beautiful arrangement is at the front of the room at the conference.  Beautiful lavendars, pinks, and purples with white butterflies hovering above the petals.

One of the moments last night was with a woman who had brought a large crystal singing bowl and a hand-held crystal bowl.  The large one was tuned to ASharp which resonates with the Pineal gland, and the hand held one resonated with the heart.  We sat with our eyes closed as she rimmed each bowl to create the tone emitted from each.  Totally relaxing, very peaceful, completely loving.  I felt so much more centered than I did all day, especially after driving four hours to get here.  From the moment we pulled into the driveway it seemed as if we were 10 minutes behind everyone else.  Last night, after leaving the crystal bowl experience, Cathy and I headed to the room, had a wonderful discussion about several topics, read some of "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" and went to sleep.  Slept like a baby!!!  On that note, I'll simply sign off by saying "...angels hover all around you.  They protect you while you sleep..."  Sleep well my loves!!!

SHE'S OFF AGAIN!!

Yesterday morning I took my twin to the airport for her trip back to New Mexico. Once again, I am here in New Orleans all by myself wishing she was still here. As I lay in bed last night, I realized I had not played a single game all day. While Coley was here, we played every day, either cards or a board game. There were times when she would win almost every game, and there were times when I would. Mostly it was back and forth.

Here she is in her brand new top. She had gotten up about 4:30 to get ready and she looked so pretty. She had to be at the airport about 6:00, so I got up at 5:00 and believe me, I did not look so pretty. I threw on some clothes, fixed me a cup of coffee and off we went. I did not even brush my teeth before leaving for the airport.

I hope there will be a time when Coley will come and stay with me in my camper and we can travel around some. Knowing Coley, though, I'm betting she'll be in a relationship and her traveling will be with her partner. Of course, I can always hope that I'll be in a relationship also and that my traveling will be with him too. Who knows, miracles happen every day!

I miss you Coley!!! I hope your return to New Mexico will be a happy experience for you and that all your dreams come true!!! No matter what, you will always have a home to come to---- mine!!!

FRENCH QUARTER FESTIVAL!!!

Today, our friend Beverly headed for Memphis to help a friend whose family had a tragic event that occurred the first part of the week. Coley and I decided to head to the French Quarter to check out the festival, which started today. We called a cab and had him drop us off at the French Market. Here's Coley standing by a very colorful sculpture at the beginning of the area called the French Market. It was a really beautiful day for strolling through the French Quarter. The temperatures never got above 75 degrees and the sky was partly cloudy. We took our time walking through the market. Coley found a really great looking black and gold dress and I found a wonderful salmon colored top.

Just a couple of blocks down we found an open-air restaurant with a band and we sat for our first drink. I had a traditional drink from NOLA, the hurricane. Ooooohlala!!! Very good!!! Music was great, songs from the 80's, and of course we got to sing along.

We left the restaurant and headed to Jackson Square where the bands were supposed to be playing. This picture on the left was taken as we sat at Cafe Dumonde eating beignets and finishing one of our other drinks. This was taken with the symmetricam feature and the arms you see are Coley's as she tries to figure out her new camera.

As we sat there, these two guys started playing. One of the things I love the most about being in the French Quarter is the variety of music you here. Everywhere you walk, there are street musicians playing for money. Some are really great, and others seem like they are there simply to earn enough money to get to the next bar. These guys were really good and we could have sat there for quite some time, but, unfortunately we needed to get back to the French Market before they closed because Coley was looking for another shirt she had seen earlier.

So we headed back and came upon this little park area just beyond the open-air market we stopped on the way down. Coley said "be sure to tell them I said this is the last picture!" So, this is the last picture I took of her. We had such a nice day, walking, talking, drinking, eating, sharing, just being together. All too quickly she'll be headed back to New Mexico and I'll be headed to points in the opposite direction. I'm so glad she's back in the States, hopefully for a long time.

To all of you, hope you're enjoying the adventures of your life!!! I sure am!!!

BEST FIREWALK!!!

What an amazing weekend it was for all of us. After a week of dealing with some pretty intense emotions, we all arrived at the location really ready and excited about the upcoming event. There were 7 of us at the workshop. To the far left is Marty who offered up her spacious home and grounds for the event. There she is showing off her beautiful spirit arrow and to her right is Dawn, who drove all the way from St. Louis to attend. Look at that cute face and her beautiful arrow. Every one broke their arrow and everyone walked the fire, many more than once. The energies all weekend were incredibly cohesive, almost as if we were one mind.

Here is one of my fire tenders with her flagship flag. At this workshop she decided to call her fishing boat "Spirit Walker" and her arrow will be on her boat as her flag. Just below is another firewalker who arrived a little late, but certainly made up for it during the evening. At one point he shared with the group a little of his experience of participating in the ayahuasca ceremony within the past two weeks. Out of that experience he realized his heart had fully opened and he shared his beautiful heart with all of us. This is Cody.

One of the most amazing moments came as we were closing the circle for the last time. I asked each of them to give a one word description of their experience and after we all gave our word, I asked what Shirley's word would be, but she couldn't be with us on Sunday. Dawn offered the word "power" and several replied at the same time, "yes" that's it. As I finished the prayer of thanksgiving, I looked at each of the people in the circle and said "I don't want to let go!" Everyone felt the same, we did not want the experience to end. What an amazing group, an amazing firewalk, an amazing weekend. Thanks to all of you who held us in your thoughts to help hold the energy for the weekend. Love you!!!