Our weather is so warm this January, and although it dips into the forties at night, the days are in the high 70’s. It truly feels as though we skipped winter and marched right into spring. This inspired me to clean closets and dresser drawers – a chore usually left to the spring of each year. This must be true for many in our desert community. When I made a stop at our local thrift store to drop off some cast offs from my closet and casually mentioned spring cleaning, the woman laughed and said, “Must be catching, we seem to have a lot more contributions than usual for January.”

When I sat down to write for the Friday LBC (Loose Bloggers Consortium) a smile crossed my face when I saw that the topic was “Joy of Giving.” I must say there is a doubling of joy in sorting out and giving away clothing and accessories. There is an amount of joy in the passing on to others the items that might be useful to them. There is an equal amount of joy, in the letting go of no longer used items that are cluttering the closets and drawers.

As I wove my way through the piles of discarded clothing, I vowed not to take a second look for that would surely tempt me to bring something back to the now orderly closet. All the bags and boxes were immediately put in the car for the trip to the Thrift store and hopefully new owners. Oh the joy of giving! That is until the furnace went out last night and the temperature in the house dropped to an uncomfortable 64 degrees. That is when I realized the warmest pair of sweat pants and matching sweat shirt were hanging cozily on a rack of bargain priced clothes at Goodwill and I was in need of some very warm pajamas!

Still I must admit now that I have survived the cold night and the furnace has been repaired and is heating the house beautifully, that I have regained my sense of joy. However those now empty places in the closet and that one empty drawer in the dresser are calling me to fill them once again. After all, there is great joy in giving and a rather annoyingly sweet joy of looking forward to a spring shopping spree.

The subject for the Loose Bloggers Consortium is Birds of the Air. I thought immediately of the Bible quote and then set that idea aside. I am not in the mood for” Letting Go and Letting God.” So like many bloggers searching inspiration, I turned to the internet for inspiration. I discovered Victoria Vox, a thirty three year old singer who was born in Wisconsin, but has travelled the world. She plays the ukulele and the mouth harp and for me her style is similar to the folk music of the 1960’s and I am intrigued not only with her voice, but her choice of instruments that accompany her songs. Since my original search was for Birds of the Air, I discovered this delightful little animation of her singing and accompanying herself on utube. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.

Now time to read a few more posts about birds so please read a few from other writers. They are listed on the right hand side of my blog under Writers Consortium.

The subject for this week’s LBC’s writers is gratitude. Granted there is much I could write about gratitude, but this has been a week where my faith in people has been shaken. Well not all people, just the Son of a Witch or Sons of Witches who stole my car last Friday night.

With two cars parked in the driveway directly in front of the garage door, albeit about 8 feet back, someone or more entered the garage late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Three things made this easy for them. First, our garage opener had been stolen about a month earlier, second, the side door was not locked, and third, a key was left in the ignition of my Ford Taurus.

Nothing seemed unusual when I went to breakfast early Saturday morning. The garage door was closed and I had no reason to enter because I drove the SmartCar which was in the driveway and which I parked in the same spot when I returned from breakfast. However, when I returned from walking the dogs later in the day, Bob was waiting at the front door. In a grave voice he announced, “We have a problem.” Indeed we did. As we walked the few steps to the side door of the garage and looked into a vast empty space, we were totally without words.

The Ford was gone. Two cars blocked the driveway. Had the car vaporized? It was close to comical if it had not been so serious. We went back into the house and thought back to the last time I used it on Wednesday. We even took time to list all the places we had been on Thursday and Friday hoping we had not absent-mindedly left it somewhere and walked home. This happened to my father once when he thought his car had been stolen, but we had only been places too far away to hike home leaving a car behind us.

It was as though time stood still as we tried to figure out what had happened. I called the guy from our Pest Control company because he had sprayed the garage on Friday afternoon. He assured me the car was there at 3:30 in the afternoon when he sprayed. Knowing that it was in the garage at that time, gave us the momentum to call the police and report the Taurus missing.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Officer Hamilton arrived. Checked the garage, and noticed tire tracks at odd angles. He then looked out front and came to the conclusion that our thieves had put the car in neutral, maneuvered it around to a thirty or so degree angle and pushed it out. No, they couldn’t use the driveway with the Smart Car and the PT in it. Instead angling it carefully, they had backed it out and across our lawn and out the neighbors driveway.

Officer Hamilton called the act brazen and was sympathetic to our guilt of leaving a door open and a key in the ignition. We live in a small town and have that small town mentality when it comes to safety. That was then and this is now. I no longer am so naïve or innocent about theft. Ours was not the only stolen car according to the Officer. There had been a rash of them, as well as, a recent burglary a block away.

Shortly before 11 that same night, we received a call from the Police Department announcing that our car had been found in a neighborhood a few miles away from ours. Officer Hamilton would be waiting for us at the recovery site. We were told to bring a key since there was not one in the ignition. As I dressed, Bob checked the address on the computer and wrote down directions. Although we know the town like the back of our hand, unfortunately this was on the outskirts and not an area with which we were familiar.

The night was damp, cold, and windy. Totally the kind of weather designed to make people want to stay inside and near a fireplace, but we were elated that the car had been recovered and happy to brave the harsh weather. I drove and it took a while to find the address. We must have looked comical as we stopped at each intersection for Bob to run out with a flash light to see the street name.

Finally, we turned the corner, saw the lights of a police car, as well as a flood light from a second cruiser. Officer Hamilton greeted us and said the car had been dusted for finger prints, seemed to be in a good condition, although extremely dusty probably from being driven on desert dirt roads.

Relieved, we looked it over inside and out. All looked reasonable so Bob and Officer Hamilton started back to their cars while I revved up the motor. It hummed immediately and sounded wonderful. However, my sigh of relief was premature. When I put the car in drive, it simply sat there like an obedient Doberman on a stay command. Quickly, I yelled to Officer Hamilton and Bob not to leave. I was afraid that like the Ford, I was about to be abandoned on a dark street on a night not fit for man or beast. Of course both came to my rescue, checked the hand brake, and then flashlight in hand, knelt down to see under the car. Sure enough, big hole in the transmission pan and all the oil had drained out.

The Ford was not going anywhere unless it was being towed. I went back to Bob’s car and called AAA for a tow truck and returned to where the men were standing. Officer Hamilton suggested we go back to the PT, turn on our heater, and wait for the tow truck. He said he would do the same and wait in his patrol car so we would not be alone.

Half an hour later, we saw the yellow lights of the truck and a friendly driver. Officer Hamilton said his good bys and headed off. The Ford was towed to the local Ford dealer and Bob and I headed home. No sleep for us as tired as we were. My feet didn’t warm up for an hour and I kept thinking both of us were perfect candidates for pneumonia.

Sunday was a quiet day. A few phone calls to family. Some good advice and our promise to add a security system to the house. We were anxious to talk to the folks in the Ford Service department. Would they be able to fix the problem? Would the insurance company pay for repairs or total the car? On the one hand, it was ten years old, but on the other, it only has 65,000 miles and was in mint condition.

Monday morning found us talking with the repair shop and the insurance company. Papers were faxed back and forth and even notarized. Early afternoon there was a phone call from the Police Department to come in and identify items taken from the car. We hurried down to find that we were not the only victims there to view a room full of loot. At least two others were looking over items found in the home of the suspect, a nineteen year old when we arrived.

The detective on duty said they had picked up the alleged thief driving another stolen car. This one was stolen a block north of our house. Seems this crook and his still free buddies really liked our neighborhood. We picked up the few things belonging to us which included the registration and proof of insurance and left for home.

The Ford dealer called to let us know that our insurance company had given them the go ahead to fix the car. Parts however, needed to be ordered so it would be sometime before the work could be done. With two cars at home and one of the thieves in jail, we assured him that we could wait for our poor car to be repaired.

So back to the subject of gratitude. I am grateful that we are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I am grateful that we did not know about the theft for I shudder to think of the danger of confronting hoodlums. I am grateful that at least one person involved sits in a county jail for grand theft. To show what a kind, compassionate person I am, I hope that while Bob and I enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner, the low-life that stole our car enjoys a pressed turkey bologna sandwich on white bread – no mayonnaise for his Turkey Day

There are many excellent writers in the Writers Consortium. They are listed on the right side of my blog. Please take time to read some great posts on Gratitude.

I relaxed so much that Friday rolled by and I missed writing about the subject of Relax. Truth is I was down visiting my daughter and family. Kristi’s delightful life partner has a wonderful way of making me feel so included. She once again planned a Mother-Daughter night for us. Unfortunately her mother was not able to attend, but I was there and loved and appreciated every minute of her well-planned evening. We drove into Los Angeles and saw the famous Riverdance at the Pantages.

Perhaps it is because I am working on Memory Book pages right now, but not only did the delightful music and the well executed dance steps held my attention, but all through the performance I had a heightened sense of awareness for scenery, lighting, costumes and the subtle blending of color of all three. It took my breath away.

So now on to the LBC Friday subject of Relax. For me the word immediately brings to mind our hot tub. It sits on the sun porch at the back of our house. Bob uses the tub for exercise in the morning, but I love a quick dip before bedtime. To lean back and view the stars through the window is a simple thrill. The 103 degree water relaxes my muscles and I feel the tension of the day drain from my tired body . It is a great sleep-aid.

Above all I love the time we soak together in the hot tub. It is a time for quiet reflection and a time for listening. We often plan our day or week there and of course ideas about our next cruise or RV trip come from hot tub conversations. All great reasons for the reason hot tub equals relaxation in my mind.

Now is not the time to relax. It is time to read other bloggers writings on the subject. The list of Consortium Writers is on the right hand side of my blog. Please take time to read a few of their thoughts on the subject.

Time to write again. For the first week after the cruise, the boat was still rocking. It got better each day and is totally gone now, but I have always had this problem after a cruise. It takes my middle ear awhile to settle back and all though not debilitating, it is annoying. I have the suitcases unpacked, started work on the memory book, and have the house in a reasonable order. Life is nearly back to pre-cruise semi-order.

The cruise was absolutely wonderful and I will share more photos as time goes by, but here is my very favorite. The twins love and admire their Papa Bob and one of my goals was to get a photo of Bob in his Officer’s uniform with Danica and Eric. He understood my goal and was most willing to wear his uniform once again on our tenth anniversary – the last formal night of the cruise. This picture tells it all and will remain among my favorite memory makers. I pray it will do the same for the kids as they grow up.