The smokiness in this picture, just above the toros (bulls), is in fact smoke.  Jesters, both on stilts and foot, lite off various fireworks along the street.  Sparks were shooting everywhere, including the crowd, but these mighty bulls don’t seem to be alarmed at all.  I guess a few sparking fireworks are nothing compared to an enraged Matador!

Children in Spain are loved by all and they are very, very well taken care of.  It is not uncommon for children to wear nicer clothes than their parents.  This takes place in America as well, however is tagged with negative connotations.  We would label this as spoiling, but in Spain this is custom.  Children are celebrated and not only do their parents of children treat them like royalty, but everyone else who takes a part in their upbringing as well.

Check out the awesome head dresses, and the facial expressions!

That little redhead in bottom right sure is a feisty thing!  Don’t mess.

We witnessed this troupe practicing their lineup and routine in one of the sides streets prior to the parade.  Seeing these guys all gussied up was our first clue to the festivities taking place.

These were some of the Moorish costumes.  I wasn’t able to get a clip of any of the dance performances, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen!  Dancing troupes like those pictured below flipped, leaped, and twirled down the street, maintaining great facial expressions while doing so!

And dancing hawks….

There was actually a hawk master (if you will) walking just behind this troupe with a trained hawk that would fly out overhead and then obediently return to his perch on the master’s arm.  It pretty much rocked.

Spaniards are very expressive and people oriented.  I love this picture simply because of all the different interactions taking place.  Grandma and Grandpa, los ninos (the children), and the wide-eyed hombre in the rear.  Ha!  Can you spot the gold digger? (Gold Digger’s location: Left of wide-eyed hombre)

Here are some more sweet costumes.  We watched this parade for over two hours and it wasn’t even half over.

Horses pranced along the streets with some very fancy footwork!  I was absolutely blown away at how close the horses got to the onlookers.  Their stomping hooves were within feet of the crowd.  This would never fly in the US.  Some idiot would get stepped on, sue the horse and its mother, and then of course we would just give everyone that attended a trophy and outlaw it for next year.

Knights of the Holy Grail anyone?  We were actually able to see the Holy Grail, among other interesting artifacts, while we were in Spain.  (The Holy Grail, meaning the cup Jesus used in the last supper.)  There will be later posts to come with more about Spain, and the Holy Grail…no worries.

A Spanish French Horn player.  Definately a winning combination.

And the final view of it all.  !Me Encanta! (I love it!)

So it’s true. I am a victim of consumerism. After repeatedly seeing/hearing the Glade Commercial Lady try and convince her friends that she was at a fancy schmancy spa or that her mood-setting yoga candles were imported from France, I couldn’t help but remember Glade Essential Oils Candles on my trip to Target this evening. I was headed for the check-out and the isle caught my attention, so of course I stopped for my own Essential experience. With autumn just around the corner, I chose the 2 in 1 Creamy Custard and Blushing Apple. Now I am enjoying the wonderful aromas of my Glade Essential Oil Candle so much, I have deemed it post-worthy so you may also take part in the consumerism and essentialize yourself with your very own Glade Essential Oils Candle.  Be sure to keep me posted on any other great Glade scents!

Alright, so I don’t really have a broken heart. But, as a Cardiac Nurse, I did take care of a lot of broken hearts today. Seven to be exact. Anywho…I decided on eggs for dinner and this is what ended up on my plate. I didn’t attempt to shape them, cut them, place them or anything. I just fried ‘em up and slide them on the plate and this is what I got. Coincidence? Hmmm….

“Love is the best medicine, and there is more than enough to go around once you open your heart.” -Julia Marie

The first photo was taken from a pontoon boat on Silver Lake. There is also a great view from on top of the dune. If you don’t feel like making the hike just hop on a dune schooner!

Looking out from the cottage on Lake Michigan. Relax, take a load off…

And enjoy the view! The weather in Michigan is perfect, not sweltering hot but definitely warm enough for shorts in the evening. (Although now that I am a Florida resident for most of the year, a long-sleeve shirt became a nightly necessity for me.)

Watch out for the dune grass – this stuff is fun to photograph, but not to step on!

Lydia enjoys long walks, picnics, and bonfires on the beach. (Well, wouldn’t you?!)

The many cottages of the Little Point Sable Association are nestled into the woods along Lake Michigan’s coast. A perfect place for a peaceful stroll.

The Grand Haven Pier makes for a great walk too. And hopefully a bountiful, fresh catch!

Pier Jumping. Ahh the memories! I’m glad to see this group of local teens keeping the tradition alive. You can find good pier jumping in any one of West Michigan’s water towns.

Cowabunga Dude!

My last night in Michigan was spent visiting college friends. I was pleasantly surprised with this gorgeous scene along my route. Icing on the cake.

And of course, the greatness of a Lake Michigan sunset. Home in Michigan is definitely where my heart is.

The Way I see it

Isn’t necessarily

The way you see it

Or the way it is

Or ought to be

What’s more important

Is that we’re all

Looking for it

And a way to see it.

–Desi Di Nardo

Author and poet.

She lives in Toronto, Canada

I found this on my coffee cup the other day from a well-acclaimed coffee chain. The photo was taken while kayaking down Styx River in Baldwin County, Alabama. Me gusta.

Ross MacLachlan and his caricature!

Well, it’s true.  I’m definitely a sucker for Rag.  I came accross Ross MacLachlan today listening to The Rack on The Sixty One.  The rack is a feature that allows listeners to listen to songs of their chosen genre that are not yet on the homepage.  I racked, or raked, in a good find today!  If you like Rag, you’re sure to like this stuff.  Listen here on my Sixty One profile.  My favorite is the Happy Cat Rag because it reminds me of the good ol’ days when I was growing up in Saugatuck.

Oval Beach on a Sunny Summer Day. What a Goldmine!

Sometimes we don’t realize the goldmine we have until we’re rooting around somewhere else.  You may have heard of Saugatuck before.  It’s a small, little big time town  located on the fresh waters of Lake Michigan.  One of my favorite memories of growing up in Saugatuck is Charlie’s Around the Corner Ice Cream Shop.  So many tasty Sherman’s Ice Cream Cones were eaten on the brightly colored benches outside the light pink sided walls of ‘Around the Corner’.  It was a neighborly event to walk down after dinner for ice cream, taking the dogs of course and stopping in the park to chat and play.  Sometimes we drove down to ‘Around the Corner’ and then headed out to Oval Beach to watch the sunset over the lake.  No matter how we got there, Charlies Around the Corner Ice Cream Shop was, and still is, famous for the cheer and delight it brought to Mason Street with the ragtime music that was always pouring out from the balcony and into the smiling audience.

The Sign at Charlie's Around the Corner Ice Cream Shop and a Homer Look-Alike

Homer and Hannah.  They were my childhood pets and well, they were basically imfamous throughout the neighborhood.  My mom has said for years that she should write a childrens’ book series on the stories of those two hounds and yes, I have to say, all of their antics would probably make one heck of a book.  On one occasion, Homer made his was all the way town to Charlies Around the Corner Ice Cream Shop to sit and mooch off the cones of innocent ice-cream enjoyers.  We found him perched right out front, listening to the great music and tasting one to many ice creams cones!  The dog in the photo isn’t Homer, but he does look very similar.  We decided Homer was a mix; part Airedale and part Lituanian Fish Hound.  Airedale because he had the look, Lituanian becuase that’s one lineage of my family heritage and Fish Hound because well, he always seemed to smell like fish.  It’s really a wonder he was getting ice cream rather than a swat with a broom.  Poor Homer.

I tried to touch them, but when I did they resorted back to the grunting and hissing.  I wanted to try and let them eat from my hands, but decided that the dock (within 6 inches of my hand) would be close enough.

Although, I did manage to get them to eat from the cereal box without much difficulty.  This guy really loves Kashi!  He almost tugged the whole thing right into the water!

Most patrons opted for the more secure seating.  One kid almost got swept away while others were up to their rumps in excitement – thank goodness for guard rails!

I came home to a calm and cool apartment. Poured some cereal, splashed on some milk and hunkered down in bed for a little sitcom entertainment. Now I’m up blogging and enjoying the carefree joy of surfing the web and pondering how awesome it feels to be on my own. Sitting down with a cup of tea, chillin’ out in my very own apartment. I would definitely recommend this to any young female trying to find themselves in this big, bad world. This is what I call a “Care Bear Moment”. In other words, I feel as though at any moment, my chest could burst open and a bazilion tiny hearts would shine out as in the traditional Care Bear Stare. The Care Bears were one of my most cherished childhood cartoons. Despite all the current events happening around us, there is so much to be happy about. I love bright colors. I love rays of sun that come through the trees and into windows. I love catching tiny crabs you find while walking on the beach at sunset. I love good jazz, hot tea, and fresh socks. I am crazy about funky coffee shops and good books on the couch. Lets not forget warm, cozy mornings when you wake up right before the alarm goes off and you have just enough time to snuggle down into your pillow and really take in all its greatness. Pens that write well, cheerful smiles on faces, and the innocence of children. Today at work there were a lot of little kids on the floor. Some were there to visit, some were accompanying someone home, but each was so cute. Little faces that smile and giggle at simple joys.

It’s true that there are unfortunate things that happen and sad moments to every day, but life is what you make of it. There is always some good that comes of sad events and some fortune to the misfortune. Sometimes its hard to see the good parts of the day, but they are always there. Life is Good. So are Care Bear Moments.

Tonights Care Bear Moment partly contributed by Tiny Crab pictured above. He was not injured in the making of this photo.

The next little creatures I scouted out are some of my favorite! Baby Clams!! I’m not sure what these are actually called – I’m sure there’s a more scientific name, but I just call them baby clams. They hang out right at the waters edge and when the waves uncover them, they use their tiny little foot to dig back into the sand. I actually met these friends a few weeks ago, but I decided to take some pics since I had the camera out. And like I said – they are definitely one of my favorite beach friends!

When I was young, I made a haunted house. One of the elements of my house of horrors were some mystery boxes in which I put various sorts of grossly textured object – one of them being peeled grapes. They were supposed to be eyeballs. The last beach friend I found brought me back to my childhood. Too bad he wasn’t around to make my Halloween guests shriek. I’m not sure what would be more horrifing – a bowl of eyeballs or a bowl of slimmy jellies?!?! I’m naming this friend Peeled Grape Jellie.

See you next time beach friends!!