Are you ready for the weekend? I have a very full weekend planned. We have dinner plans with friends, I’m taking a “class” at the Apple store, and we are hoping to take in the new Bond movie. If the weather is dry we are going to take a few minutes to visit a new park that’s opened in downtown Los Angeles. You may not know this, but in Southern California when it rains “life” can come to a screeching halt. We don’t know how to act!
And yes, we had a little rain. Not much, but after weeks of triple digit heat in October and into November, it was reason to celebrate. Today was my first day in several that I was home and eager to spend a few minutes breathing in the fresh morning air. I thought that after sharing that I was going to read a Bram Stoker novel, I’d give you a peek at what I do that is more congruent with “breathing lighter.”
I spent a good hour outside taking photos of clouds. The sky was just SO beautiful I took dozens of photos. Photos can’t capture the essence of the fragrance after a light rain, or indicate the light breeze that signals a dramatic shift in the weather. But I still had to try!
I took a peek in “Darwin’s house” to make sure that he was warm enough. He was still burrowed in the timothy hay with the sun’s warmth just beginning to seep in to give him a nudge. He wasn’t showing any interest in leaving his nice warm pad for breakfast. I even followed a bird around the yard. I love my Fridays!
But that’s not all. I had a special lunch date. I finally found a date that worked to meet a blogging buddy! She and I have been talking for months about finally enjoying some face-to-face time! Aren’t you just a little bit curious?
I’ll be sharing more about my lunch date and afternoon visit in my next post. It was such a lovely day. I sincerely hope you all find the chance to exhale, too. Weekends are perfect for just that!
breathelighter 
What a lovely post… firstly I enjoyed your photos of the clouds… I see such lovely shapes and attractions in our clouds yet struggle to capture their beauty on camera.. all my photos, unlike yours, lack definition or composition or whatever.. but they just lack something… yours were great…
I would love to sit and have some one on one with some of the bloggers I follow… there are so many questions I want to ask… so yes I am interested to know about your visit…. love this post…
I will share about my blogging friend very soon. This was the very first time I’d met anyone from the blogging community and I had such an enjoyable time. And aren’t you kind to compliment my photos of the clouds. With the level of your photographic skill I simply can’t believe you don’t take wonderful photos of clouds, but maybe you’re too critical of your own work! I think that taking the photos and putting them into collages does help weed out the imperfect portions! 🙂
We got some rain up here in Ventura too.
We needed that rain, didn’t we? It wasn’t much for us, but the cold and wind is giving me the feeling that we are actually experiencing a little weather! I always say that if we’re going to put up with all the nonsense of living in Southern California we should at least be rewarded with great weather, and we are! I love Ventura. What a lovely place to live! 🙂
Spill! Who’d ya meet? Where’d ya go? What’d ya do? Tell us. Please. 😀
Glad that the hot weather/heat wave broke for a spell. Enjoy the weekend. And the class. And the park. And the clouds. And Bond. And dinner.
I don’t see how you are going to breathe lighter with the marathon weekend you have planned. 😉
I will have fun sharing about my visit, Nancy! We laughed a lot and talked about how much we enjoy our other blogging friends! It’s a funny little “club” we’re all in, isn’t it? Today has been slow and just dinner with friends celebrating a good doctor’s report with Cancer in remission! I think it will be a quiet even with much happiness! 🙂 Tomorrow will be busier, but I have to get as much in before I go back to a Monday office! Our weekends are always full, but we hardly ever go out or do much during the week. I can’t go out and keep up with reading blogs. LOL!
Phew! What a weekend you’ve got planned, Debra. 🙂 I hope you have a great time. Your cloud photos are wonderful and if you want more I reckon any British follower of yours could supply plenty. I wish I could swap some of our rain for some of your warmth.
I’ve received a few comments about how busy our weekend is, Perpetua, but I think because I spend a lot of time in an office, it feels really good to get out an “run” a bit! And I think I would be enthralled to see some of the British countryside and gorgeous skies! I do yearn for wide open space…although no one would know that from the way I embrace the city, huh? I guess I’m good at finding satisfaction wherever I am…and dreaming a little bit! 🙂
Dear Debra, just reading what you plan to do tires me! Age has brought with it a loss of resilience and I simply can’t do as much as I used to. But I so enjoy–truly enjoy–your posting about where you go and what you see. And I look forward to learning more about your lunch with a fellow blogger. You have such enthusiasm for life and for living and I’m so grateful and glad that somehow I found your blog.
Have an adventurous weekend! I’m eager to find out what you think about the Bond movie. I’m eagerly awaiting the one on Lincoln. Peace.
I think that we are also aware that our resilience isn’t what it was even a few years ago, Dee. It’s a factor in aging that we should listen to our bodies and understand when we need to be still and replenish our spirit. I really do that, too, although I don’t often share as much about that! I share the high energy times. In between, we do rest, and sometimes quite a bit! And one more thing that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is that with our very, very mild weather, it makes it so easy to get out! We don’t even keep two wardrobes. I don’t have winter clothes! So when you can get out and quickly access the car, and there aren’t really any obstacles, our energy goes further! I am sure there is something to that! Even almost constant sunshine is energy inducing. So I think we are a product of our environment in many ways.
I wouldn’t be choosing the Bond movie, although I’m sure I would enjoy it. My husband has wanted to see this and hasn’t seen a Bond movie in a theater in 25 years! So I promised him we’d go just as soon as it came out so for once he could enjoy that! But we both seriously want to see Lincoln, and will. I do count you as a friend, and wish we could meet sometime. You would have enjoyed the lunch I had with my blogging friend…I’ll be sharing about that soon! oxo
Dear Debra, I’ve never thought before about varying weather making a difference in resilience or getting around. Thanks for that new insight. I now have a GPS and I hope to get around the Kansas City metropolitan area more. One of the hardest things for me in the move to Missouri after 38 years in Minnesota has been learning where places are and how to get to them. But now I’m going to venture beyond Independence and begin once again to go to plays and musicals and museums in Kansas City. It’s time.
I so look forward to next Friday when the Lincoln movie is released! Peace.
I love this little collage of pictures after the rain. Looks really nice. Weekends are always appreciated, no? Tonight we’ll go to a Neil Young concert, otherwise it will mostly be work anyway. But I love my work, so it doesn’t matter…
Thanks for the compliments on the collage. I’ve really liked the apps that will collate the photos for me. It adds to feeling a little creative. The skies are beautiful right now with the winds blowing the clouds and cleaning our air a bit! And I would love to hear more about your Neil Young concert! How great! We enjoyed our Crosby, Stills and Nash concert this summer and I’m a big fan of Neil Young, too! I’m so glad we share that musical interest. I think he’s quite an amazing man and musician! And yes, if you love your work, it makes all the difference in how time is calculated, free or otherwise! 🙂
Nobody seems to know what to do in California when it rains… 😉
At least the hills turn green!
I think that it is because of all the blogging that I’ve done in the last year and a half and listening to “weather-related stories” from around the world, that I’ve really had to admit I’m a weather wimp! I am trying to break out of that mold, if it’s even possible. We are going out to dinner tonight with friends, it’s cold and windy, and I’m laughing at how much I’d prefer to eat in…but we will forge ahead! LOL!
I think we all become weather wimps out here!
Your words and clouds make a wonderful post to breathe lighter! Meeting blogger buddy sounds fun … anyone I know?
Meanwhile, trying to catch up after whirlwind travel the past two days.
Yes Frank…were your ears burning yesterday? Think female, and Southern California…you do know us both! 🙂 I’ll be sure to post soon…but you can think about who it might be! We had a great time!
Well …. I have a good guess … so I will say a flower.
You got it, Frank…stay tuned! 🙂
I’m glad the weather is finally cooling down a bit for you. We are a bit the same here in Sydney too when it rains. No one seems to have any wet weather gear as it just doesn’t rain that often and when it does, there’s a half hour deluge and then the sun comes out again and off we go, business as usual. Looking forward to hearing about your blogging catch-up xx
I look forward to sharing about my visit with my blogging friend. I had such a lovely visit. I’ve been watching how you and others have made that transition from time to time and I wondered if I would have the opportunity! Now that I know your sister has ties to California, I have hopes of meeting you one day? We should never rule it out! 🙂
Just looking at these photos made me exhale, Debra. I am looking forward to hearing about your meeting.
We have had the most gorgeous, and unexpected weather this weekend. It’s actually windy and cold! Makes for beautiful skies that aren’t always as visible. I’m glad you enjoyed the photos with me! And I’ll be sharing by Monday about my get-together. It was delightful! Makes me really wish “all of us” could just gather somehow! Hope you’re enjoying yourselves this weekend! 🙂
So, that’s where our fluffy clouds go? Every year, in late October or early November, our fluffy clouds are pushed out of the skies by a big, old, gray blanket of a cloud. And that’s one BIG blanket. We won’t see it’s far end until sometime in March. So, feel free to show us a cloud or two anytime you like. I certainly won’t complain.
I found your comments about the cloud-blanket so interesting, John. I don’t think I probably adequately comprehend what a REAL winter is like! I must admit that Friday’s sky was exceptional for us, too! I have never been in the mid-west during the winter, and I’m not sure I would be very well prepared. I am a little bit fascinated, though! 🙂
You gave me a taste of what life is like in Southern California with your cloud photos. Now I am curious as to who your blogging friend is. 😀
I just posted about my blog-buddy lunch, Marie. And we did have an exceptionally beautiful Friday…thus the cloud photos. I’m not sure I can say we get one of “those kind of days” all the time! 🙂
There was a bit of a breeze this morning which also created some pretty clouds here so I was also snapping a few clouds this morning. Love the bird shots and the glimpse of Darwin.
I’m glad to find another “cloud photographer!” I laugh at myself when I go through my photos. I have hundreds of photos of sunsets and clouds. THey tend to look the close to the same, but I still keep taking them! I am glad you enjoy Darwin. He is such a character! 🙂
I wait in anticipation to see when you mention Darwin in your posts 🙂
I’m with John, you can show us as many of those sweet fluffy clouds in blue skies as you want Debra !
as to meeting blogging friends, I’m all ears and eyes and ooo curiosity ! I’ve met up with Chica, which is totall fun, as you’d expect, in fact there is a plan to meet again soon 🙂 A bonus in blogging – making connections.
Loving your energy here Debra!
Lovely cloud pictures Debra. I can almost smell the rain.I hope you’re having a fabulous weekend. You’ll have to tell us how the Bond movie is…I’d like to see that one too. 🙂
We didn’t make it to the Bond movie after all, Kristy! But my husband really would like to see it, so we have our sights on next Friday night! 🙂 I think the theaters were probably packed this weekend, so maybe we’re better off waiting anyway! It was a good weekend and I hope for you, too! oxo
Clouds are very calming.
I love that you referred to clouds as calming! I hadn’t really considered them with quite that sense of recognition, but you are so right! That’s why I slowed down to photograph them! 🙂
Glad Darwin’s faring well, Debra! Beautiful cloud pictures!
Darwin is so good at taking care of his own comforts, Kate. We provide him a warm bed, and he will wander all around the yard and then put himself to bed, all on his own, as soon as he gets too cold. I find that just fascinating!
I am impressed. You have a diverse and busy weekend planned. Love your cloud collage! Take Care, Thea
Well, truth is, we didn’t make it to the Bond movie, Thea! The weekend got away from us! 🙂 But we still had a good one…and I will be dialing back the expectations for a while. Ha!
The trouble with catching up on blog reading.. are posts like these when I could have said.. “Oh, have a wonderful weekend.” Now I must say.. “Oh, I do hope your weekend was a lovely as you had planned.” The apple store, dinner and a blogging friend.. what could be finer? I loved your photo series.. clouds always give me such an uplifting feeling!! xx
Lovely photos, I especially love the one of the bird on the column. Birds are a particular favorite of mine in nature. We intended to see the new Bond film this past weekend too, but opening weekend for any BIG movie here is impossible, so we wait a week or two for the crowds to thin. Hopefully it’ll live up to expectations – Daniel Craig was so good in the last one! 🙂
I think we have a lot in common, actually! I take photos of birds all the time…mostly just trying to capture what I see, but I need more lens strength if I want to really show much. Maybe we can both get to the movies this next weekend. Everyone says the Bond movie is just great, and I’m sure a little “escape fare” would be welcome! 🙂
Love the photos! So calming! I really need to head over your way! Maybe a book tour soon?? 🙂
I hope you do come this way! I would love to meet you… We have a wonderful independent bookstore that hosts book signings all the time 🙂
Would love that! Hopefully someday I’ll be big enough to leave this side of the country and head your way for a book signing! xox
Your clouds are wondrous, Debra – and now I need/want, no NEED to read your weekend review.
it does sound like you have been having some good times; idyllic moments… Would love to hear more about your lunch. 😉
I enjoyed my lunch with Rosie very much! She is a great conversationalist and we will undoubtedly be able to spend other times together. We’re both still working…that sure does get in the way of fun sometimes! 🙂
Super cloud photos, worth the rain just to capture them 🙂