Snippets here and there

Little bits of this and that for a Monday morning....

We went to see Peter Pan last week in Redding, part of the Broadway series for which we've had tickets for some four years. It has been a wonderful investment and we've seen some fabulous shows -- the first one in this series, The Producers, was one of the very best. We're also both very fond of Cats which we've seen twice in this venue.

Peter Pan is a cute show -- I remember seeing it on television, as a child, with Mary Martin as Peter Pan. It was first telecast live in 1955 and re-staged live (by popular demand) in 1956, and then was broadcast infrequently with the last one in 1989. There have been other Peter Pans over the years, including Mia Farrow in an all-new version in 1976 that never caught on.

I admit to being a little disappointed in this production, although it's still a delightful evening. But I didn't think the choreography was up to the standards usually seen from a touring production, and it just didn't sparkle.

There are still four plays left in this year's series, and I'm looking forward to them, but especially Gypsy in March and Chicago in May. Wish they had something similar in Chico -- it makes for very long days for Tony when he goes to Chico in the morning and Redding at night.

****************

Lately I've just craved sugary stuff -- not a good thing. I want cookies...candies...cake...anything sweet. Of course sugar is addictive! I know this. And I really do try to resist the urge, and seldom keep any of the above in the house. My dad had a very sweet tooth, also not a good thing since he was diabetic, and while he did really well most of the time, he did love ice cream at night, or cookies. I dunno if such cravings are genetic, but if so, I got it. I'm trying to eat sensibly and control portion size -- and mostly I do. But it's really hard sometimes. Maybe it has something to do with winter and comfort foods?

*****************

What a wild ride the weather has given us lately, from our wind storms early in January to the more than 2.5 inches of rain we had in 24 hours this week! I'm now recording rainfall amounts for the Tehama County Resource Conservation District, and it's been quite fun to see the amounts we're getting. We need the rain, even after some good ones, and I'm glad to see it. However, I'm also glad (and surprised) to see sunshine today, even if it's a little chilly (45 degrees at this moment).

I like winter. I like the gray days and rain. We get so much sun and hot weather that I feel like I need to soak up the cool and wet days. I like having the woodstove radiating heat throughout the house, and making soups and stews and the occasional loaf of bread (nothing better than hot bread with butter...unless it's hot cookies -- which are NOT conducive to healthy eating). I love clean sweats and fresh flannel sheets, and sleeping in cold rooms when I'm snugged under the comforter next to my honey's warm body. (and why, oh why, are men always like little furnaces? The only time women are is when they get hot flashes.)

I love watching the hills turn green from the rains -- something that after 10 years in California I've finally gotten used to, after a lifetime of brown, dead vegetation during Midwest winters. I like the stark sculptures of bare tree limbs against that green.

And the snow! We're not high enough to get it (although snow flurries have been forecast for this week at times and Redding has been snowed on several days this winter), but it's lower on the surrounding hills than we remember seeing since we've been up here. The mountains are gorgeous on these sunny days -- they sparkle with the white stuff! And the mountain mama Mt. Shasta rises high above everything on the landscape, covered with her pristine mantle.

Mind you, I don't want to live in it, but I like to see it.

***********************

My desk is still piled high with Christmas cards, papers, newspaper clips, and various reminder lists, and I'm slowly working through the piles. I did get the office pretty much sorted out and cleaned up, and these are the last bits. I admit that I did not send holiday letters -- several years ago I started sending them just after New Year's, but partly because the power outage threw everything off kilter, I didn't get them out, although it's written. I'm thinking that maybe I'll send out a few for Valentine's day -- just to the friends and relatives who wrote us nice notes and letters. I swear I don't know where the time goes. It's nearly February already.

*****************

I'm working this year (again) on being where I am: not anticipating the future nor worrying about things I can't change, not obsessing on irritating or worrisome behaviors of other people, but just trying hard to savor the moment of where I am, and being positive. Life is short as it is, and seems to go faster the older I get. I'm trying not to waste a moment getting wrapped around the axle by other people's actions and choices, and negative outlooks. If that makes me a big Pollyanna, then so be it.