of the loop of life.  I feel like I’ve stepped out of the ‘other’ world that I used to live in and now am completely separated from all things that used to be written in stone.  The stone has worn down with life and the etchings have faded.  I no longer have a chisel and hammer attached to my lifestyle, the stone tumbles through time and the messages appear to lose all importance or meaning. 

Years ago I cringed at the fact that I would live a quiet life, away from the noise and daily emotional confusion of people scurrying to self destruct…perhaps I needed the fix?  Life has a way of smoothing out all the rough edges if you live long enough and spend a little time doing self construction.  I’m not sure I’m anywhere near having all the rough edges smoothed out, let alone buffed and polished, but the majority of the things that used to  seem so important years ago, never even reach the edge of conscious thought now.  Sounds like I’m drinking wine again, eh?  I wish!  At times I long for those days again but I have no desire to actually pick up a bottle/box and start indulging.

But speaking of wine, I did have a glass of The Winery’s Symphony from a shared bottle last night as the truck driving duo and I had a fabulous meal there.  Monte took us gals out to dinner.  It’s been a long time since our last visit and the surf and turf was e-x-c-e-l-l-e-n-t-e!  Their prices have changed, which is a sign of the times I suppose…*sigh*  Yah, they went down…NOT!  I rarely eat meat, just cuz, but sometimes there’s nothing quite like a good steak or a great hamburger.

On the home front side of life, I ordered three River Birch trees a few weeks ago.  They came in three days ago and I have to admit that I’m impressed with how good they look.  They were shipped thru Fedex and advertised as being between 3-5′ tall including the roots.  I really wasn’t sure what to expect.  They are all in the 5 feet and up stage and very healthy looking.  The last three days they have been acclimating to the desert environment – some sun, some shade – and this evening they will go to their new home.  Two will go behind my coach, by the block wall and one will go in the middle of the back yard/my front yard.  They normally grow at the rate of four feet a year, I’m expecting some shade on my coach from them within the next few years.  The ones in the back will afford shade by about 2 p.m. in three to four years, that will be a huge for the summers here.  The front yard one will start to cast some shade on my office window within a few years also.  They grow up to around 40 feet tall and 30-40 feet wide.  Some trimming maybe necessary at certain points of their growth, but I’m excited about them.  I love trees!

I’ve been out driving the desert where Amy and I walk (our last walk in the desert was in May) and some scumbag fuckball has been out dumping garbage again in a clump of mesquites.  Bags of garbage…they look so decorative in the desert landscape – the dump is on paved road and free but I guess that’s too simple a solution for a braindead.  I hope to be walking out there again soon.  It’s cooling off rapidly at night, about 55-60 degrees at 5 a.m.  I started walking the streets last week (umnhhhh…not that kind of street walking) again and Amy has joined me for that.  It’s about an hour trek, a little over two miles, and we visit as we go.  Yah, back to trying to drop my baby fat belly and stay active and healthy.  Aging is such fun…things hurt, flab rolls, puffy eyes, overly pronounced cellulite…you get the picture.

I’m off to play a FPP tournament on PokerStars and a freeroll there in a few hours.  Poker has been on the back burner for quite awhile, I hope to start playing more but with the weather cooling and all the yard work I want to do, I may not get there for awhile.