Saturday Walk; outing #2 (And cookies Recipe #?)

After a long week: nine days of up and down and up and down (and we're not talking about those cute little exercises Winnie the Pooh does each morning) and lots of rain I was ready to get out and get moving. I needed some fresh air, some green trees and a quiet walk to ease my mind.

I thought I would head down to South Pasadena and take a loop around my short-term summer neighborhood. There's a 2.8 mile square with only about 2 stoplights which is perfect for an afternoon stroll. I let my mind wander freely, walking through the past few days, working out the questions and trying to create some sort of organization for the days to come. The cool clean after the rain air helped me to detox from it all. The mountains were snow-capped and the plants were saturated from the long rain. I was finally able to break free from the tension and questions as my heart-rate rose and body warmed up. My fingers weren't cold any more so i rolled my sleeves up and fixed my gaze ahead.

I walked past an art store I had notice a dozen times before, and decided today was the day to take a look. The artist was extremely prolific and had a beautiful collection of paintings. Many abstract, some of women, animals, vases and voluptuous characters. I have been waiting to fill a space above my couch and was looking for a painting to place there. I found one which suited my taste, but not my wallet (of course). It was red, orange and yellow; rectangles arranged in a circular pattern. Dark and rich colors were the background for a demure tree; black and leafless. Two branches stretched away from each other but close enough as if each branch were still looking at the other--questioningly, painfully, betrayed.



I thanked him for his time and talents, said I needed to think about the painting before I would make a decision about purchasing it. I continued my walk up Fair Oaks for which there is very little to report. The rest of the day moved along with purpose but without haste. I had decided to try a new recipe for Chocolate Chip cookies and altered it a teensy bit myself (Kahlua instead of Vanilla Extract (it is a little thicker and adds a hint of coffee to pair with the chocolate); and a combination of semi-sweet choc chips and dark-chocolate chunks). I must say they are delicious (I have probably had a dozen myself!).

(Next post I will make sure to have the right numbers for my tally).