Making Memories ~ Palm Springs and Seal Beach

Rejoice with your family 

in the beautiful land of life!

~Albert Einstein

Somehow, we'd never thought of it before! Then, came an email. An idea, from my cousin Kate, asking if all the girl cousins would like to get together for a "Cousins' Retreat" at her family's timeshare, in Palm Springs. Immediately, emails started going back and forth. Yes, yes, yes! 7 out of 9 had RSVPd in the first 24 hours.

All 9 of us were able to make it. 

Palm Springs, California

It was the first weekend in October, that I picked up my cousin, Allie, who also lives in L.A. and headed to Seal Beach to her sister Jen's place. Then, we hit the road to meet the rest of our cousins, in Palm Springs.

We all arrived Friday afternoon and I don't think anyone expected that we would barely leave the room until the next day, to hang by the pool. Usually, when we get together there are 40 (?) of us, with the aunts, uncles, kids, and so on. This time, it was just my generation and it was ... really, really, special.

Kate said they'd never had one huge round table in a room, at this timeshare, before. All 9 of us could fit around this one large table and tell (ghost) stories, and funny stories, and laugh and cry ... and laugh again. It was perfect and meant to be!

These sunset shots were taken from our patio.  Beautiful, huh?

Call it a clan,

call it a network,

call it a tribe,

call it a family.

Whatever you call it,

Whoever you are,

you need one.

~Jane Howard

 Here's the time share ...

Palm, looking up from the lounge chair ...

That evening we all went to dinner in town and then walked around, ending up in a hat shop ...

Where we got super silly and took a million pictures. No idea how long we were in there!

Oh, and if you're curious, we span 25 years! 25 to 50!

Families are like fudge -

mostly sweet

with a few nuts. 

~Author Unknown

(And I might be the biggest nut in the bunch! ;)

Sunday we packed up and headed to breakfast in town.

It was such an amazing time, it felt weird to leave, but we made sure to make our plans for October 2015! Can't wait!

Jen, Allie and I headed back to Seal Beach.

Allie and I decided to stretch our legs, with Jen and her husband Phill in Seal Beach, before heading back to Hollywood. As you can see, it was a gorgeous day!

Jen and Phill

The happiest moments of my life

have been the few 

which i have passed at home

in the bosom of my family.

~Thomas Jefferson

Jen and Allie on the pier ...

My amazing, wonderful, hilarious, crazy, fun, smart, beautiful cousins ...

Can't wait until next year!!!

The first night, after chatting around the table for hours, I showed them a video I made of all of us. Well, a slide show with music, that spans about 40 years. (It jumps around but you can tell a lot by the clothes.) It's 2 songs long. And yes, there are boy cousins, and they are in the video! ;)

My sister and I spoke that following week, a few times, and we just kept saying how lucky ... how blessed we are!

And, thank you cousin Kate, for your beautiful idea, and making it happen!

I hope you are blessed with a wonderful family. Whether they are blood or not, it doesn't matter. You you love them, and you hold them dear. 

You don't choose your family.

They are God's gift to you,

as you are to them.

~Desmond Tutu

Blessings and light!

The California Desert ~ In Color and Black and White

These photos were taken in Southern California on the back Road to Big Bear. Some were taken out the window. (No I wasn't the driver!) A few were taken on a pit stop, in search of a restroom. Anyway, there is something strangely beautiful about this landscape and I love the Joshua Trees. They look otherworldly or like something Dr. Suss would have created.

My Great Grandmother lived on an Indian reservation, when she was a child, and rode on horseback to school. Ever since I was little, this captured my imagination. I would try to imagine what that must have been like ... so different than my life near the beaches of Southern California. She wasn't Native American though, that bit of ancestry comes from my Dad's side of the family. 

Anyway, I love the Native American flute, and many of the Native Americans' teachings, and thought they would somehow fit this post.

Here is the beautiful music of R. Carlos Nakai

Native American Prayer

Oh, Great Spirit

Whose voice I hear in the winds,

And whose breath gives life to all the world,

hear me, 

I am small and weak,

I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty 

and make my eyes ever behold

the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made

and my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make me wise so that I may understand the things

you have taught my people.

Let me learn the lessons you have hidden 

in every leaf and rock.

Prayer excerpt, translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887.

In Black and White

Honor the sacred

honor the Earth,

our Mother.

Honor the elders.

Honor all with whom we share the Earth:

Four-leggeds, two-leggeds,

winged ones,

Swimmers, crawlers,

plant and rock people.

Walk in balance and beauty.

Native American Elder

Hold On

Hold on to what is good,

Even if it is a handful of earth.

Hold on to what you believe,

Even it it's a tree that stands by itself.

Hold on to what you must do,

Even if it's a long way from here.

Hold on to your life,

Even if it's easier to let go.

Hold on to my hand,

Even if someday I'll be gone away from you.

~ Pueblo Indian Prayer

Blessings and Light to you all!