"Para"normal Insanity

I have been thinking alot lately of out of body experiences and ghosts and such, AND not just because Halloween is coming on us. It started with Paranormal Activity beating Saw VI out at the box office last weekend. I don't know why that stuck with me. I don't go to see scary movies anymore. The last scary movie I saw in the theatre was The Exorcist in 1973 and I was 18 at the time. I just don't like horror that much. And every 18 to 24 year old man (it was X rated then) in that theatre was making exagerated sounds at the bodily functions going on in that movie and cracking jokes. However, I did have nightmares for the next few weeks.

I have had many out of body experiences and a paranormal experience that keep me wondering about some aspects of the afterlife all of the time. I have a guardian angel that has watched over me most of my life. It's not the guardian angel of money however. My guardian angel has saved my life numerous times.

I swear to god that I had an encounter with Henry Lee Lucas. No, I'm not crazy. Google him. My truck had broken down on Britmoore Road in Houston on my way back to work from lunch one day back in the mid-late seventies. I was in blue jeans and my office was about a mile down the road so I stuck my thumb out to hitchhike (not something done now or shouldn't have been then). A red mustang pulled over and offered me a ride. When I opened the door, I remember the driver's eye being all crumpled up and caught him pulling a revolver off the passenger seat. I couldn't slam the door fast enough and say, "No thanks." Goofy, Goofy girl. Guardian angel.

Actually, the out of body experience and my dream last week are really what I want to share. Back in 1983 (still in Houston and married), I was returning from a urologist appt. in the medical center and crying my eyes out because I was going to have to have my first operation...sort of. A cystoscopy where they go up and pull a kidney stone out with a basket. I was petrified and paralyzed. However, many years and kidney stones later I could probably reach my hand up there and pull one out if I needed to now. Ewww! I was driving on a one way street totally distracted and came upon a rather busy one way street. I stopped briefly and still crying hard, drove right into the path of another vehicle. The vehicle drove right through my body and my car. No shit. My lips to God's ears. It left me with a vibrating feeling and I looked twice at the car going on down the road. Twice! Now, I know what your thinking...but! maybe the other driver had a guardian angel too. That's not impossible people and this is my blog by the way.

Last but not least, the dream. Do you ever have recurring dreams? I have lots of them. One of them is that I'm in this old farmhouse, don't know where, but I'm younger. Part of the farmhouse is blocked off by a wall of windows and is in disrepair, like covered furniture stacked against each other, no cobwebs. Actually it's pretty bright until you get up the wooden attic stairs (yes this is a dream and in color) that go all the way to the ceiling of the attic. There is a door in the ceiling of the attic that you just push a piece of wood out of the way to get in the dark room above the attic (my dream folks) with one window. If I go over to the window as I always do with another person (don't know who), all of a sudden there is a frightening pushing back. It's a ghost, I don't know who, but it's so violent it pushes me back out of that room where I came from and it's angry and overwhelming. And it's a physical push and yet invisible. AND WHY DO I KEEP GOING IN THAT DAMN ROOM?! I know it's scary and I don't want to be there, maybe I'm trying to find out who is the ghost. I haven't had the dream in quite awhile but I had it this week, again.

Ruffinism for the day: Eat, drink, and be scary.

A Critical Look at the Fat People

Living in constant fear of finding a picture of myself on The People of Walmart site, I have had more than a few epiphanies lately regarding my weight. It is a hilarious website, but most of the people they make fun of are overweight, unless it's some loser with outrageous hair or dress (note the irony of my prejudice.)

The Fat People. There's so many more of us now. We could probably take all of you skinny and average people out and rule the world except we have no self esteem nor motivation to do it. The Fat People are on TV now, every Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. on NBC. I sit and watch them working out, huffing and puffing through their exercises while I enjoy popcorn and my adult beverage. Very entertaining.

They use every excuse for their "weighty" predicament. I myself blame my 22 year-old son, Clif, coming out of my body a while back and not taking the extra weight with him as he exited. And I also hold Liggett & Myers directly responsible, as their "Lark" brand of cigarettes was so ensconced in my bloodstream 23 years ago that it took massive quantities of food to de-sconce it from my body. Additionally, I fault God for bestowing upon me the disease of ulcerative colitis which required huge amounts of steroids for multiple years, which in turn begats a ravenous appetite.

No! It is not the fact that I drink and have drunk approximately two Co-colas every day of my soon to be 55 years old life. Or that at the age of 15 (coinciding with the death of my father, but I'm not blaming Nancy) my nightly dinner fare was the home of the Whopper. Or that I love steak, fettucine, cheese, lobster, pistachio nuts, mint chocolate chip ice cream, Paula Deen's gooey butter cake, Tex-Mex food, lasagna, foccacio bread, olive oil, and other food too numerous to count.

I am owning up to my addiction and I have begun to do something about it. I now go after work to The Fat People's work out place, a/k/a Willis Knighton Wellness Center in southern Shreveport and do my share of huffing and puffing on the recumbent stairstepper, recumbent bike, and treadmill ending with a climactic and well deserved swim in the lap pool. I love the water, spread my ashes in Lake Sam Rayburn although I'm sure that is not approved by the EPA. And why am I doing this now at this juncture? Because I went to the orthopedic surgeon for my left knee pain and he said I need knee replacement surgery but I am too fat. There I said it, it's done. I'm heading off in that direction. Say a prayer or two for me.



We went down to Baton Rouge for the LSU game on Friday and the following picture pretty well sums up the weekend. And phooey on the LSU Tigers. I am a "fair" weather fan.

Ruffinism for the day: One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti (he was one of the fat people)

October Fest

Jim and I went to Lake Sam Rayburn this weekend and brought Norman along. It was a nice relaxing weekend and not crowded at all. Hardly anyone was there and we had beautiful weather...except for the flies. During certain times of the year and when the weather is blowing from the wrong direction (or not blowing at all as you would have it), the biting flies overtake the peninsula where we camp. And there is nothing to do but keep moving or go in until the wind comes up or the sun goes down. And because I'm so sweet, they like me most. And they bite hard...and they bite often.

Jim had a spill on his bike. He rides Norman on a leash while pedaling his bicycle until he gets out of the park, whereupon he lets him go to run with him. It's all very rural with no traffic. Saturday afternoon they were riding and a family of deer crossed the road in front of them. Norman bucked so hard that he pulled Jim straight off the bike. Jim came back with a very nasty cut on his upper arm, road rash all over and a strawberry on his knee. I felt like a mom patching up her 7 year-old.

Jim and Norman, pre-"flight". Actually, doesn't Jim look like he would be a great candidate for People of Walmart?

Norman, very vocal and animated about going for a run. Do notice the state of the art bicycle that Jim owns, complete with rusted fender, duct-taped seat and broken pedals.

Jim, post-injury, look at that knee.

We headed to the marina midday Saturday for lunch, leaving Norman in the fifth-wheel. Norm doesn't appreciate being left behind most of the time and this is what he does for revenge when we're in the fifth wheel. Eh-hem...

You can just see him saying, "Yeah, I'm up here, how was that lunch?"

I've been reading my camera book trying to improve my pictures. I know I need tons of help but bit by bit I think I'm improving. What do you think? Below is Snake Island all the way across the lake.

Some bad rain blew in Saturday afternoon, but I think it makes the lake even more beautiful.

Some tiny flowers I found near our site.

Ruffinism for the day: Guilt is simply God's way of letting you know that you're having too good a time. Dennis Miller