Return to the scene of great times! 1st bike ride of 2025 -the micks #mondo
.. from lake anderson/coyote creek visitor center 15 miles to hellyer county park; and back. a 30 mile bike ride that is as pretty as it is peaceful. this ride kick starts our bike riding season.. blessed to see a colorful variety of wildflowers along the way.. squirrels, quail, variety of birds.. horses.. gorgeous trees we know by face but not by name.. water levels high.. God's gorgeous landscape in every direction your eyes land along the way.. this is our "Thank You!" prayer.. selah! hallelujah! and amen..!
#themicks #favoritebikerides
Berryessa Blue Zone Driveway Happy Hour April 2025 #vellumdays
"Thank You Again!" Awesome Neighbor Friends..
You look gorgeous in blue -All of you do!
and another spectacular and delicious variety of food and drink & desserts!
a toast... "to living long, and living happy.. the berryessa blue zone... cheers!"
love, the micks
P.S.
for fancy nancy fans..
#fancynancy
picture of her fishing-in-monterey-with-her-husband fashions...
amazing! write... i could go on and on about this outfit! i love every piece! every layer! every accessory! every fabric! every texture! every color!.. extra love the high neck collar!
and then, they brought the fish they caught to share at our berryessa blue zone happy hour
pretty awesome..
"Thank You!" so much..
#vellumdays giant "THANK YOU!'s" -that was awesome.. amen!
WHAT'S BLOOD, got to do, got to do with it... by (me!) sandra, topps, writeousmom
that's the song playing in my mind, tina turner's, what's love got to do with it, but i need to change and play with the words to make my point
my promise
my promise is this: when it comes to true love: TIME -quality time together; getting to know each other is far drastically more important a factor; than blood; biological connections themselves, do not result in love.
we live in a time when great emphasis is placed on -blood; dna.. our ancestry
i repeat here, when it comes to my day to day life, my decision-making, my behaviors, my relationships.. on and on. -being a CHRISTIAN is far, far, far more important and relevant than any 'dna' report results sharing about ancestors i never have and never will meet; living in times severely different from today in places i'll never visit.
but i bring this up for a different reason. my motivation is a conversation i had some time ago with our daughter in law; mother of our 3rd grandson..
we are a blended family -they are family through marriage not blood
and i was holding, loving on our youngest grandson.. staring into his eyes.. falling deeper in love..
when our daughter in law commented.. [something like, not verbatim]; bet you'll love it even more when your daughter and son have babies..
did she say 'even more?' maybe yes, maybe no, but my immediate (and admittedly potentially incorrect interpretation) was that she was making a distinction between loving a biological grandbaby vs a through marriage grandbaby
my immediate internal reaction was.. defensive..
another promise i can make write here and now: i could not love and adore all 3 of our grandchildren more than i do.. i am crazy in love with each one!
do i love this precious grandchild from God i'm holding in my arms.. less than i will one day love my future biological grandchildren from God
this is a very clear and very easy no.
but not without an important distinction; not without a caveat..
i have known my son, via marriage, only 8 years.. but we have spent a lot of time together.. living together for a bit.. traveling together; long road trip together... deep conversations and many of them..
i have known my daughter in law, his wife, only 6 years (?).. and we have spent -some- wonderful time together.. weeks at time,
i love them both! and now i love all three of them! son, daughter, grandson.. no blood relations needed or required
the reason IT WILL BE DIFFERENT when my own, biological adult children, gift us with grandchildren is because..
i have know them -deeply known them- and crazy loved them from inside my womb! the relationships are long and deep.. from skinned knees & first days of school (pre-school, elementary, middle, high, college..) -every dentist appointment, birthday party, Christmas, broken heart, best friend, -favorite shows, what makes them laugh, cry, scare, brave.. the list is too long, but you get the idea.. years and years worth of time together...
this TIME TOGETHER usurps any and all other factors, like dna, when it comes to true love.
so, while my LOVE, will not be greater with biological grandchildren.. i have no doubt, it will be different; enormously rewarding: getting to see my babies, have babies.. when my parents graduate to great grandparents..
what i share here has been proven out time and time and time again.. just sharing this common knowledge in my own words, based on my own life; adding to the choir of love songs
LOVE DOES NOT REQUIRE, is not at all dependent on a biological/blood connection.
it is most definitely not: the more blood you share, the more love you feel..
it is most definitely:
a great pleasure, rewarding honor getting to know and fall in love with each other; which is directly and inextricably dependent on time.
wait.
in no time at all! i fell in love with our grandsons..
3 seconds tops! love at first sight!
i crazy loved you from the very start!
if it's not reliant on time? nor dependent on blood..
could it be... love's a natural spring from our hearts?
what's blood, got to do, got to do with it.. what's blood but a flesh consideration..
In i-spend-a-lot-of-time-with-Jesus, name.. God IS love.
hallelujah & amen.
the point being... #vellumdays
vellum days are not exclusively attached to vacation days; those are included. vellum days are finding a thoughtful surprise welcome home gift; family dinners; romantic dinner for two; crazy good left over lasagna & italian sausage for breakfast; a little league game, delighting in the flowers and trees in bloom; "we made it to spring!" - 'the heart seen' in the ricotta; listening to great music while spring cleaning the house, snuggling on the couch and watching a great movie/series... some vellum days present themselves quite naturally, but we create them too; with intention and purpose..
p.s.'s
* taco, cat, goat, cheese, pizza.. "thank you!" here to my bmf, carla for the recommendation; big hit with the grandkids! and "thank you!" here also to youtube.. watched as a family, how to play, before getting started..
* speaking of "thank you's" and youtube..
i listened to this album; both sides, while doing some pretty thorough, detailed spring cleaning around the house. OUTSTANDING ALBUM! earth, wind & fire, gratitude. -remember i used to teach dancing to children.. movers & shakers; well, maybe not this week, or even this year.. but i am inspired to come up with some choreography to the song gratitude on this album.. have the kids perform at church.. hallelujah & amen
* also, snuggled on the couch, and binge-watched this:
and book shelves and visual platforms are all pretty saturated, in my experience and opinion, with apocalyptic theme stories, but.. WOW from both my husband and i on this hulu original. so engaging! well cast, well told, well paced.. look forward to season II "thank you!" here to solomon, AKA, FIL [Father In Law] for the recommendation.
this is the day the Lord has made..
we have re-joyced! and are glad in it...
hallelujah & amen.
potty talk table of 4 (robert! sandra! jack! n taryn!) #magicofmacys
if you had to guess... what might this family of four be talking about over such a lovely, delicious, dinner?
at an elegant restaurant.. sipping from a shared bottle of the recommended tempranillo..
politics? the days activities? recent memories? plans for tomorrow? hopes and dreams? food allergies and allergy season? prayer and our spiritual life?
we covered many topics, but the stand out for me personally.. potty talk. like, at some point we got on the subject of how our bodies do [and do not] digest certain food and beverages..
each one of us unique in our bodies reactions to this or that... my husband jokes, instead of dr pepper and mt dew, i call them "dr pooper & mt. don't"
but then that lead to an entertaining circle of personal stories about our common experience of emergency trips to the nearest restroom.. and just funny bathroom experiences in general..
what i wouldn't give to be able to hold court at a table.. tell my stories verbally, -extemporaneously, as well as i can write them..
but! hey, -once again, this is how blogging is such a gift to me..
i write it better than i could ever tell it. and in re-reading it myself, years later.. laugh pretty hard at my own embarrassing moments.. #magicofmacys
-and it's been too long for my son to remember what his most embarrassing story was all those years ago.. and too long for me remember too. but! i'm pretty confident, somewhere in my paper archives, i hand wrote down a synopsis version of what he shared with me; wanting to honor and respect his privacy at the time.. one thing to share with your mom.. another to have it published.
Thank God for
plumbing and public restrooms.. hallelujah & amen
give me some classic rock! lessons from the professor of.. for (me!) -sandra, topps, writeousmom
pretend you are a passenger in my jeep, this past saturday morning, k.
i ALWAYS bring my phone, press a button or two which allows me to play and listen to my spotify [COMMERCIAL FREE] music playlist instead of having to
click.. commercials... click.. more commercials... click, click.. is anyone playing music? anyone...
so,
i rarely, if ever, listen to the radio.
but what happen saturday.. , as you know, my imaginary passenger.. i held my phone near the radio in my jeep.. wouldnt link. tried several times, -exact same buttons i use every time, in the exact same order... no link. tried a few new pathways... nothing.
this was not a leisurely drive, for the fun of it.. we have an appointment to get to. with no time left to figure out the glitch..
-surrendered to listening to the radio..
KLOVE is preprogrammed, but, -there is just some Christian music that..
well, if you are currently in the pit -the music will resonate.. it will validate... it will commiserate..
why are you drivin' so slow /says you, my imaginary passenger
but let's say you've graduated out of the pit.. you are in your 'more than a conqueror' season of life..
listening to still-in-the-pit music is the last thing your heart/soul/spirit want to do..
i look at you, my pretend passenger.. glance and press the button..
"can't stand to wallow..." i say with a smile..
and Thank God, i also have 98.5 classic rock pre-programmed -so, with the press of a button, the vibe of our ride went from a slow, whiny wallowing...
to
are you trying to get a ticket? /says you, my imaginary passenger why are you driving so fast?
[insert mutual laughter here]
but then, -we started getting to learn 'about' a song that would be coming up.. a little history..
and the first wonderful thing we both loved, is that.. the radio announcer.. he explained how he doesn't necessarily like the term 'one hit wonder'
rather, he likes to call the songs/artist that fit in that well understood category lightning in a bottle.
immediate interest and respect!.. one hit wonder has a subtle critical tone -it acknowledges a rare success while simultaneously dissin' it for the same reason.
the attitude embedded is, unless you can do a countless number of remarkable things.. don't do anything remarkable at all
i agree with the attitude embedded in the announcer's lightning in a bottle philosophy..
if you only do one (or only a few) remarkable things -lightning!
while your fans may, quite naturally, long for more, the absence of it should do nothing to rob or diminish the impact of that original, remarkable lightning..
we agreed, didn't we imaginary passenger.. and listened intently to who we know by now goes by,
the professor of rock -super cool name.
the professor then shared an audio clip of an interview he did with the artist of a song, he regards as lightning in a bottle..
in the audio clip, the song-writer shares how the song came to be in the first place.. paraphrase to capture the essence..
i had done something, i dont know what, but must have pissed someone off, on the road.. then they chased, caught up to, threatened me.. i locked all my doors trying to stay safe..
the professor of rock chimes in with, 'road rage'
there is more detail.. but then, the artist and song are formally introduced..
a song we havent heard for... forever, but is IMMEDIATELY familiar as a treasure in the archives..
and as we are nearing the parking lot, on time for the appointment..
CARS by gary numan is boomin' from the speakers..
and we hear the lyrics, and hear the song, in a very new, much more meaningful and enriching way..
never knew ANY of the background to this remarkable, cool, very catchy song..
"Thank You!" Professor of Rock! Gary Numan.. 98.5...
i will make a point to find your program in the future..
and wouldn't know about it at all without that glitch.. God using all things for good, yes..
hallelujah & amen.
*****
will be a while before i can organize pix from our recent trip to puerto ricoOOooo; but, have a short list of fun things to write about in the interim.. the above, one of the them.
****
tbc.
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