I am now able to send text to my blog... This is a test.

Where Am I?

Proof again that no one is reading this. I have not posted in more than a month... I suppose that not telling anyone that this is here might have something to do with the lack of traffic. Hummmm. We are still here, alive and kicking... clawing actually in beautiful sunny always smiling Brayton, IA. Many ups and downs... many. It is now nearly the Summer Solstice... but before we even get there - Anya's birthday is this weekend. She will be 4. Wow. Time flys... I remember her birth as if it were last weekend. And now she is walking (running actually), talking, and swinging from things... a personality is emerging that is full of light and curiousity. I know that everyone says that their kid is smart... but she really is... you can see the little wheels turning as she problem solves on the playground and in the livingroom. It is very exciting to watch my daughter as she learns new things... because I learn as well by watching her discover her world and how it works.
My goal this week is to not get hosed by my landlord - who sprung on me at the last minute that mowing the lawn was "my responsibility" - I had asked about mowing back in March - and got told by the maintenance guy not to worry about it. His mower sat broke for a while. Like knee high grass a while. I emailed the landlord and said no prob... Next time I go back to Iowa City I would be happy to bring mine back and do the mowing. Somehow she missed that line in my email. So, in the meantime... someone was hired to mow... and now I am paying for it via. cheap labor by installing windows. (?!) Something got way lost in the translation... but whatever. I'll do the stinking windows and just let it go. It is easier that way.... path of least resistance... I'll just let it be something else...
It seems like southwest Iowa is in some kind of psychic slo-mo - which I am only now coming to understand. The only way I can think to describe it is... did you ever get your cat wet... you know how they suddenly seem like they are very very heavy and can't move until they shake off all the water? Yeah, it's kind of like that... except add one step forward and two steps back. I get it now... I understand how people get stuck here and never leave. Never. There might need to be some Vikings invoked around here... which should be easy considering the number of Danes living here... !
Coming, there are updates with pictures. We are going to NE to celebrate Anya's BD - we have friends who are helping us do a party in Lincoln. Fun, there will be belly dancing and fire spinning. : )

Where I live is a place called Brayton, IA - according to
http://iowa.hometownlocator.com/ia/audubon/brayton.cfm :

Brayton is a populated place located in Audubon County at latitude 41.544 and longitude -94.924. The elevation is 1,207 feet. Brayton appears on the Exira West U.S. Geological Survey Map. Audubon County is in the Central time zone (GMT -6). Observes DST? Yes.

Brayton had a population of 145 with 73 housing units; a land area land area of 0.62 sq. miles; a water area of 0 sq. miles; and a population density of 235.43 people per sq. mile for Census 2000. Updated Census Estimates for all incorporated places in Iowa.

So, basically Brayton is not so much a "town", as it is a "populated place" - kinda funny.

Talking About the Weather (again)

Spring was apparently just teasing us. I mean, it's not January in Iowa cold, but... it is cold enough that I dug out some long johns to put on to go shopping. I think I just need to have warm happen now. The wind yesterday was so intense that the part of the roof that covers the porch came apart and blew off. There was a section of flashing and small chunks of shingles all over the side yard, in front of the garage, and slightly past the water plant next door. Not surprising I suppose, but I am pretty sure that Brayton Place would not have survived if the winds had gotten much higher. Here I am talking about the weather again... very midwest no? On the one hand I know that there are a lot of people here who farm, or are affected by farming in some way... That explains (partly) the fascination with conversations about the weather. There's that, but I wonder sometimes if talking about the weather is a way to stay with something that is common (between those conversing) yet firmly on the surface... there are a lot of people here who know a lot about their neighbors and fellow townies... my friend at the post office for example, she's the Postmaster of a really small town... which means, by virtue of doing her job she knows whose getting what mail and when. She hears things because the post office is somewhat central to this place... it's not a bar by any means, but I have walked in on hushed conversations and caught people emotionally relieving themselves at the counter. But does my postmaster friend really "know" the people that live here? I really have no idea. I am not sure that I would want that resposibility and information stomping about inside my head. I keep hoping that this whole thing, this whole Brayton experience, is a sindicated episode of "Northern Exposure" and we'll just wake up in Alaska or something. Nice carabou. It needs to get warm and stay warm now.....

From Today On...

I learned something new from Joe Vitale today.
It goes like this: I'm sorry, please forgive me. Thank You. I Love You.
It is a simple conversation with the Divine.
I like when things are simple.
I have been spending a lot of time working on myself. A lot of time.
We (Teresa and I) have been working diligently to get our metaphysical shit together.
And like any process, that takes time and effort. There have been many ups, downs, and distractions.
I have much to blog about, or not. I am not even sure where I would start.
I do know this. I feel very clear. Very Clear. And the universe is in motion around us.
We must expand in order to be in alignment with our universe. Expand and expand some more.
Perfect alignment is the goal and destination.

Life Get's in the Way

Life gets in the way of documenting life...?! Yeah, it's true. I now have a small backlog of stuff that I want to add here. Stories and pictures soon to come. But in the meantime, just checking in - with myself mostly. We are in the latter part of February and things in my life are chugging along at a just beginning to thaw pace. Work is slowly starting to come my way. New people. New experiences appear as a train in the distance. I am waiting at the station. Quite patiently, I am waiting. I know that when the train finally gets here that everyone rides. I am looking forward to the ride as it will be a good one, with a good time had by all. Anyway, Life Get's in the Way of the documentation of Life... sometimes that isn't a bad thing. The sun is out and it is slightly warmer than it was yesterday... I am smiling and waiting at the station.

Tuesday Darts

Darts will be throw tonight at Big Dawgs in Atlantic. I am sub to the sub to the sub or something like that... I may actually just be cheering and eating popcorn. My favorite thing to do at the bar is people watching, hours of entertainment. I will admit to feeling like that scrawny kid sitting on the bench hoping that the coach will look his way. In time I suppose. I am having a pretty fantastic day so far though. I went into Channel 10 to transfer more Super8 film to video - came home and did some body art with Teresa... After eating a small mound of spaghetti a piece we did some drawing with make-up pencils and lipstick on each other... we laughed a lot, I feel quite blessed to be in a relationship with someone where there is joy and laughter. It makes even a really bad day not so bad after all.