Campus Wildlife
I have often said that the campus I work on is the most beautiful academic campus in the world. Not only are the views of the ocean and city amazing from the top of our highest building/block, the tropical wildlife (counting the children) are a regular, welcomed distraction from class.
Toucan perching on the ledge of one of our balconies a week and a half ago.Even I, the teacher, have been known to stop class, take everyone to the balcony outside and watch as monkeys or toucans play in the trees outside my window. Despite what the Fruit Loops box taught me as a kid, toucans' beaks are not striped.

The Beach Story
(This blog entry contains sexual content)
So a couple of weeks ago, late on a Friday night/early Saturday morning, I was hanging out at the beach with some friends and witnessed one of the funniest things of my life. Since that night/morning, I have shared this story with several friends here. Today I was prompted to share the story with my blog readers. It goes like this...
The hour is approximately 2:30 a.m. I'm sitting on the steps leading to the sand in Leblon enjoying the enormous waves crashing onto the shore. The weather was changing (again, as it does from day to day during the winter here) and another frente frio (cold front) was on its way. Because of the climate change, the waves were particularly high. If I had to guess, I would say they were at least 50 feet at times. (My spatial reasoning is not my strength) The music of the waves crashing and the back splash they produced were hypnotic. I stared at the water coming in for over an hour that night. Well, around 2:30 an energetic couple entered the beach, descending the stairs near where I was sitting on their way to the sand. The man resembled the old man of the sea--white haired, full beard, leather tan skin and probably 60 something in years. The woman looked like someone enjoying her glory years--mid 40s, fit, smile on her face from ear to ear, happy to be hand-in-hand with the old man of the sea.
They descended the stairs and proceeded to walk the beach away from where I was sitting. The street lights iluminate the beach at night but create shaded areas every 60 yards or so. The spry couple found one of these shaded areas and made themselves comfortable. Mind you, the space is only shaded. It is not dark. It is not concealing. The silhouette of a person in the shaded area can be clearly made out from several yards away.
Once the couple was settled, I went back to the enticing beauty of the waves, marveling at the fact that the residual waters were nearly reaching the steps where I was seated about every fourth wave. They were magnificent. They were powerful. They were forceful.
For a reason I'm not sure of, I glanced back down the beach where the couple had been. And what do I see??? The woman, lying on her back in the middle of the beach. I squinted, wondering where did the man go? Just in time for my eyesight to adjust to the light difference, I notice the man too is lying down, not beside the woman, not under the woman, not even on top of the woman. He was, however, very near her. With tuned eyes the silhouette of the man's head comes into view--facing the woman, but between her thighs! Yes, you read correctly. They had a very adventurous evening in mind when they descended those steps. And although they carefully chose a shaded area of the beach, they in fact were clearly visible to anyone sitting on the boardwalk, walking by on the boardwalk, riding a bike on the boardwalk, most likely even to anyone driving by on the avenue above the boardwalk.
Of course I immediately call the attention of my friends. We all enjoy a shocked moment of "Wow! That's courage. Must be a turn on to know people can see you." before one of those powerful, forceful, particularly large waves crashed to the shore near the mans feet and commenced to engulf the horny couple and all of their belongings.
Both the man and the woman, rapidly rose (the lady without pants mind you) scrambling to grab anything they had laying next to them on the sand before the water whisked it back out to sea as it receded. They hustled up the beach a little further to safety, searched for the poor woman's pants, to no avail. Can I just say that at this moment, I had tears streaming down my face at the sight. The couple successfully find something for the woman to put on. They exit the beach. I am still crying in laughter. I think their moment passed. I think the mood was altered. I think next time they'll pick a different location on the beach at night.

Checking in on H-Town...

As many of you know, I lived in Houston, TX for 5 years. Sierra was born in Houston. Although the state of TX has been known to produce some scary thinkers, I have a special place in my heart for Houston. During my 5 years in TX, I experienced the wrath of several hurricane producing tropical storms. The week after I sold my house in TX, my neighborhood flooded as a result of a hurricane. They are unbelieveably strong forces of nature. When water falls horizontally, it is frightening. Well, Ike made landfall in Galveston early Sat. morning, ripping apart much of the coastline. This storm was so strong there is hurricane damage as far as downtown Houston--approximately 60 miles north of the coast. Windows in skyscrapers DOWNTOWN were blown out.
Saturday morning, I attempted to call several members of my TX family. All I heard were busy signals. I think the lines are still down.
As of this morning, I have heard from LaShunda, KaSandra, and Cindy. All of them and their respective family are safe. KaSandra had evacuated to Odessa where her extended family lives, but she has no true idea of the condition of her home near Houston. LaShunda was hiding behind a bed for fear of the wind crashing in the window, and with the exception of some leaks in the roof and a few windows Cindy's house is in tact--as well as her loved ones.
I'm just waiting to hear from Lorry. I am assuming she too is without power and cannot access email or telephone lines.
Big hugs to all of you and sending as much energy as you may need in the clean up process.

Of COURSE I had to play with a picture of Sierra too....

Here is what she would have looked like in 1984.

And in 1978 she would have been one foxy momma!!

LMAO!!!!

You have to try this site: http://www.yearbookyourself.com/

Here are my results....First there is me in 1956...so scary I have no comment!

Then there's me as my MOM!! in 1966. This is strikingly similar to her.

Here's me with sexy, long straight hair in 1974.

And as my sister in 1976!!

And this one (1990) is so similar to my actual senior picture I peed my pants when it loaded!! Even the pose is the same! Oh, Aqua Net!

And then I loaded this one from 1994, and I realized this is closer to what I actually did with my bangs during that period of my life! What was I thinking?

Thanks Jill, for providing the link on your site--http://brennekids.blogspot.com/. It made my night.

New painting for the house...

pretty, huh?

When you rise before your alarm and are greeted by awesome beauty....it makes it ok! (even at 5:30 in the morning)

I've been doing a lot a thinking lately. Not just the every day thinking. The deep, introspective kind of thinking. The kind you can get lost in. Too many ideas have crossed my mind in the past month to list, but two very important goals have come from hours of sitting still:

1. Don't borrow worry Sara.

2. Capture moments.

I'm making a conscious effort to avoid overly stressing out. I am working to not fret about the small stuff. Most importantly, I am letting go of things I can't control. Why worry about something that will never be? It takes too much precious energy. Life is fragile.

As I find myself more and more often with a large grin on my face, I am stopping to breathe in the moment, to capture it, to freeze it in my mind's eye. It comes from being so completely grounded and emotionally healthy--it is an amazing feeling.

But these things are sometimes easier said than done. However, I think a higher power is keeping His eye on me, helping me to stay on track with these two personal goals I have set, for when I might be losing perspective, I am gently reminded with an awesome view like this:and I remember that beauty surrounds us, people are priceless, time will pass but memories are forever and this life we each trudge through is a true blessing!