If you like hot spots, please come visit my hometown of Redding, California–in the summertime!
When the temperature reads upwards to Cracklin’ Hot, (110 degrees or so) Redding-ites get creative. (In this kind of heat, however, even a bird brain knows how to “chill out.”)
At the Beach
Of course, it’s always more fun to share the joy with loved ones!
At the Beach with Children!
Lest you think we are uncivilized, I want you to know that we teach our youngsters good old-fashioned values!
Everyone is Welcome at our Beach!
Of course, there are those who prefer private beaches. These are the red-heads, the hot fiery types!
Oooh, La La!
Then again, not everyone likes the beach. In those cases, Redding-ites seize opportunities to cool themselves the good old-fashioned way!
Sipping Cool Water from a Leaf
Cool Water-Cool Lizard!
Sippin’ Cider
Cool Cider–Cool Pamela!
Sharing ice-cold watermelon–Cool!
When times are really hard, and Redding-ites can’t get to the beach or the watering hole, guess what we do….
We bring the watering hole home!
And if times get desperate, so desperate that the hot air straightens perms, there are those who go where waves are the norm…
Vacationing in Mendocino
And as always, when you’re at the beach, it’s more fun with friends…
At the Beach with Beach Peep!
But life in Redding isn’t always hot. Sometimes it’s hotter! Like now.
Fires rage around our town, destroying forests, homes and dreams.These infernos remind us just how uncertain life is. One day it is ordinary and the next day it may be burning out of control. Has that ever happened to you? It has happened to me, too. We’re the same, then.
I don’t know about you, but I have discovered that overcoming adversity is easier when I have loved enough. Enough so that if this is my last day on Earth, I will be full.
To that end, every day I look for love. I am never disappointed. I savor living The Sweet Life : La Dolce Vita; even when it’s too hot, too smoky, or when I’m undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. Right now. This moment, life is for living. So I think I’ll live it.
Would you like to join me? We’ll go look at how ethereal the sun looks when it is cloaked in forest-fire gray. And we’ll remember to love our loved ones, water the birds, look for lizards, and find a way to offer help to fire victims. We’ll walk together and talk together. We’ll drink tea, laugh and maybe cry together. And when we’re finished, we’ll rest so we can start all over again!
For that is what humans do. As surely as trees and grasses grow back after fire, we grow strength from each other.
Let’s start right now….
Look, there’s the sun!
Thank you for dropping in to share The Sweet Life with me. A special thanks to Matthew Henderson for generously sharing his photo of the Ponderosa Fire burning near Redding. You can see more of his photos at https://www.facebook.com/
If you like the post and care to share (thank you!), simply click on the appropriate icons below. I invite you to subscribe by scrolling back to the top and typing in your email address in the box on the right. Then together we can laugh and sometimes cry together! How sweet!
Good Morning Gayle. I very much enjoyed your post and the photos. I agree with you entirley. Enjoy today because you never know what tomorrow will bring. I choose to live my life with a glass 3/4 full. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
I was so saddened to hear about your dear sweet Mom. I’ve always admired and loved Hazel.
Take Care Gayle. I look forward to your next post.
Love Carol
Cool! 🙂 Thank you for your kind words. I am happy to have you join in The Sweet Life!
Dearest Gayle,
I miss seeing you! Thank you for your touching an inspirational words. As always, you manage to hit on those truthful pearls of wisdom and bring tears to my eyes. Thank you for always sharing your heart.
Guardian angels are watching over our home while we are away celebrating our 40th anniversary! We’re so glad you enjoyed our favorite place (Mendocino) and got out of the heat for awhile! Please say hi to Mike and give him a hug too.
Love you,
Debbie
Love
Hi Deb,
So happy that fire did not find your home. As you know, it’s one of my favorites! I also kept thinking about all of your art. What a blessing! Love, Gayle
Gayle….I always sink into such a sweet deep spot in my whole body, but particularly my heart, when I read your blogs. thank you for sharing your gifts….I feel blessed whenever I read your words of truth and wisdom, and contemplate your journeys. You are such an inspiration to me. Love always to you and Mike. Francie
Ooooh, Francie, you make me want to keep writing! Thank you!
Dear Gayle, so good to see through your eyes this morning and laugh with you on thoughts and feel the ache for all of us trying to get with it each moment! Oh yes, and let go of the things stopping us from getting it.
Hi Sandra, Always honored to have you drop in from the East Coast. Your sense of humor is appropriately twisted, so love to laugh with you! ha ha
Dear Gayle, I had no idea you did this! Thanks for giving me your card and the link to your blog. I love it! What fun you must have photographing all the animals around your home. We are really not so different from each other….
I especially loved your post about your mom’s death. It reminded me very much of my grandmother’s death several years ago (also attended by a beautiful Hospice nurse who changed our family’s life). Her death felt like a birth in a way, and I felt so lucky to be able to attend it. Thank you for bringing back the suspense and wonder of those last days.
What a beautiful note. Thank you! Yes, we are similar, but you garden and I only want to! I’m happy you shared in your Grandmother’s sacred transition. I, too, had the image of birth as I sat with my mother. I hope you drop in again!
Hello Gayle,
As always, I love your photos and comments. You have such a happy, pleasant point of view. Add to that the lovely surroundings in which you live, and you truly have a sweet life! Best, Pamela
I love that you share my life with me! Now, that’s sweet!
Gayle
It is delightful to connect with you again. Reading your posts helped me to grasp the importance of “being alive” to our experience. Being reminded by thankful people blesses me. thanks Gayle
What a sweet thing to say, thank you! To me, your artwork is an expression of your love of life. When you need inspiration, look at it. 🙂
Gayle.. you just give me a whole new meaning of “stop and smell the roses”. This is my very favorite blog of yours… thank you reminding me to see, smell, taste, feel, hear and move in gratitude every moment. To love with abandon, stay in the moment and swim in a river of gratitude today and for the rest of my life on earth!
Hi Joanne,
You certainly are one who dives into life. I think you’re a master!