BLOGG # 62 THE GREAT DELUGE

Well it is finally here- the Great Autumn Deluge! Two days ago, I was sitting on the patio of my favourite coffee shop basking in the sun for two hours in my brief summer top, and today it is raining. I use ,deliberately, this West Coast understatement to describe today's weather. I watched the deluge from the window for some time, the rain slashing down sweeping sideways in the strong wind and forming lake- like puddles on the pavement, then impulsively decided it was time to go out for a walk in it. There followed a flurry of hunting for boots, rain jackets, scarves and umbrellas.Suitably clad, I ventured forth in the deluge and immediately my umbrella inverted and broke. So there I was sloshing through the puddles under my broken umbrella, my waterproof jacket, sweatpants and sturdy boots soaked through. Was I unhappy? Was I miserable? not on your life!  A true West Coaster, I happily slogged along, reminiscing about other walks in seasonal rains- Spring rains in Melancholy Barcelona two years ago,walking ghostlike through the abandoned narrow streets heavy with atmosphere - a black and white forties' war movie- and ending with a coffee in a Tapas Bar- a pensive very long walk I did on a late winter evening in Vancouver as a young woman with a broken heart, in a cold foggy rain, ending up in a coffee shop for a warm-up coffee and talking to a stranger for comfort- and the best of all running barefoot through a sudden summer storm on the farm in Alberta as a child, arms flung wide, head tilted back and mouth wide open to catch the refreshing raindrops.  After all this reminiscing in this very wet walk I came home happy, soaked and satisfied. Autumn is here!  There is nothing so exhilerating as seasonal changes. So take my advice-again- dear readers, don't fall into the trap of autumn- rain depression, but gird yourself in all your rain gear and brave the wonderful elements that nature in her abundance gives us.

BLOGG# 61 LIVING SPHERICALLY

As you no doubt know, constant readers, I have not written in my blogg for many months. The reason is that my life has been rather complicated and many layered and to survive in my usual smoothly unperturbed sophisticated way, I decided to take that wise Italian film maker- Fellini's advice- ( I am now watching again the old iconic LA Dolce Vita and Julliet of the spirits" his great movies) and live spherically- which I have done.What does this mean? To me, it means to live enthusiastically at all levels in a globally embracing way without judging events, embracing all  in open arms even these events that are unpleasant or hurtful. This takes energy and concentration and this Blogger needed it all to live spherically. I can now say this way of living works and my life is smooth. But now I see you need an example. Last winter due to having to eat a restrictive diet for health reasons, I delightfully lost weight. This,as all women know, means new clothes and lots of shopping and I applied myself enthusiastically. I am sure you all read my favourite magazine- Vogue- and are aware that the new spring pant was a pencil thin and delightfully colourful one so I embraced this pant happily and spent the summer months smugly sporting this new look and it was good. An enjoyable summer. Unfortunately as the summer advanced to Autumn, so did my waistline and these lovely pants, even though made of stretch material, could not expand at the same rate. I realized the pants must go- the same way my too big pants went last spring-to my favourite second hand store known as "My sister's closet". Living spherically, I bundled  them up and with tears in my eyes took them to the shop so some slim Sylph -like creature could enjoy them, and perhaps, if lucky, repurchase my once "too big" pants. I was in luck- the shop owed me fifty dollars from the sale of the big ones and I could now buy "new" ones in my new size. You see now dear bloggers how well living spherically works and I advise you to do the same. You couldn't do better than listen to Fellini.