First Fragment with a Star

Thank you Traci, from A Star in My Own Universe, for taking over Friday Fragments, a very happy place for us to go weekly to share bits of our lives. We also get to read about the bits of the lives of other friends.  It's always a fun place to go for me, and a great exercise in mental health to express the joys I have been blessed with over the week.

We had the most exquisite rainbow this week in Chicago.  My picture does not come close to the impact I felt as I embraced it.  It was the biggest rainbow I had ever experienced...so big, that I couldn't capture it all in one shot.  I came upon it a few minutes too late to shoot both ends of it, but the part that I was able to capture speaks for itself.  I found a little chuckle in the fact that it either began, or ended behind our local bowling alley.  I have a friend who has won many accolades in the sport, and I have come to respect all who participate.  It's not a wussy sport...it's a skilled sport that must be practiced and performed.  What I love it about bowling is the immediate gratification of accomplishment...for me that would be anything that isn't a gutter ball!  

Thank you for allowing me to share this week.  I look forward to reading and reconnecting with others who visit.

Thank you again Traci, and I wish you the best in this wonderful adventure!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sundays in My Old Home State

Have you heard of Unknown Mami? She has a delightful blog where she shares photos of her city on Sundays. She invites the rest of us to link up with her and share some of our own city's photos. Click on the logo to visit Mami's Sundays in My City!

I live in St. Louis, Missouri, but today I welcome you to my old home state of California!





We have had somewhat crappy weather in St. Louis for the past weeks. If it's not rain, it is snow; if it's not snow, it's sunny but in the single digits. However depressing the weather has been here, it is nowhere near what my old stomping grounds have recently endured.


All of the pictures in this post were sent to me by my sister-in-law who lives in Southern California. I have been to most of the cities that are represented here. I have stood on the beach piers basking in the warm sunshine, smelling the salty air and feeling the gentle ocean breezes. I worked in one of the buildings depicted in the Downtown LA skyline.


Southern California is not commonplace for flooding, tornados and strong winds. It is a place were there are mudslides after heavy rains, due to the loss of vegetation from the seasonal wildfires of the previous fall. It also is a place where multiple award shows are held on consecutive weekends, regardless of the weather.


The Californians will rebuild, most likely in the exact same places where buildings were damaged or destroyed. The water will evaporate and the electric company will repair their fallen lines. Although there is unbelievable damage to structures, and property, not many lives were lost here.

The pictures are of nature having a temper tantrum. As bad as things look, it is nowhere near the devastation resulting from the earthquake and multiple after-shocks in Haiti. I'm sure you've seen pictures of those events, and how people from all over the world are opening their hearts and checkbooks to help the country heal. Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers.

I feel blessed to be where I am, in body and in spirit.