Haunted by a Scent

Have you ever smelled a smell that just stays with you?   Yesterday was a day like that.  I met Becky for brunch at a cafe by her house in LA where I ordered a chicken pot pie which turned out to be a very unappetizing pile of ooze dumped on a biscuit.  I ate very little of it but still managed to daintily dribble some on my shirt, which even when the visual effects were cleaned up, haunted me all day with it’s lingering smell.  This led to some good natured grousing with Becky throughout the day about the horrible scent that wouldn’t go away and brought to my mind a tale of another smell I could not shake.  Something far far worse I am afraid...

I was working at the time as a safety consultant for an Insurance company, fresh out of college and really enjoying my job and my sense of being an intelligent, sophisticated young woman in the workforce.  The job involved visiting all kinds of different manufacturers and businesses and  reviewing  their operations for safety hazards.  On this memorable occasion my boss was accompanying me for the day,  as a ride along performance review to see how I was doing.  When we got to my first appointment, neither one of us was really prepared for what was awaiting.  The business was a cow hide house located in the oh so beautiful city of Vernon Ca, near Los Angeles.  Stepping out of the car we were met with an absolutely overwhelming stench.  Imagine the worse smell you’ve ever smelled... times 100.  The hides arrived at this facility fresh from the slaughter houses.  Chunks of fat and meat still attached.  They then stripped the remains from the hide and cured and dried them.  Because this was not a food processing plant things were much more lax for cleanliness and the rancid bits of fat and meat were everywhere and stunk to high heaven.  We began our tour of the facility and the smell hit us both hard.      

Right off the bat I spotted the dreaded beast of a machine used to strip the remaining fat from the hides.  I looked at it with pure dread because I could tell it was a real hazard.   It was about 3 stories tall with several layers of workstations that I had to traverse up flights of steps on the machine to see, while my boss waited gallantly below. The machine was filthy and a major source of the offending smells.  Of course once I got to the top the oh so helpful supervisor that had been showing us around shouted up to “watch out for the rats” and I knew he wasn’t kidding.  I kept myself from jumping off and was proud of that fact and ultimately that this was one of those times when I knew I had done some good in the world because the machine was extremely dangerous.  It had two giant rollers being hand fed with hides.  The rollers caught the hides and drew them into the next portion of the machine that was blades on rollers to strip them clean.  Of course if anyone were to get a small part of their fingers or hands caught in the first rollers the machine would just keep drawing them in until they were crushed and sliced.  This machine was unprotected and definitely needed some modifications so the machine couldn’t roll until the hands were out of the way.  Ta Da!  The young, competent safety professional woman saves the day and maybe a life or arm by outlining all of the necessary safety controls needed and all gloriously right in front of her boss for her review.  

Once we left there we headed to lunch before our next stop and I just couldn’t get that horrible smell out of my head.  We ordered food but we really couldn’t  eat it, the memory of that smell just wasn’t going to go away.  Our next stop was a large outside cemetery and we walked all around in the open air and still that smell seemed to linger.  I finally said to my boss that I just could not get that smell out of my head and he said that it was haunting him too but off and on.  Finally before heading back into the car for the long drive home I  went into the ladies room and turned around and saw that globs of the horrible orange fat from the beast of all machines was smeared across the back of my black slacks and had in fact been riding around on me all day. I was going to be sick. Seriously.  I went out and told my boss and looking forward to our hour and a half car ride back, he then suggests that I should take them off and leave the pants in the trunk.  Really!  Can you imagine?  With my boss in the car?  Which is how the brilliant young college graduate sophisticated professional woman ended up riding home from Los Angeles from her first ride a long review with her boss..... in a trench coat and panties. 

Dr Seuss Birthday for Cali

Happy Birthday little Cali

Your soon turning one

One is a great age

It’s really quite fun!

I wish I lived closer 

Where we could both play

But I still really want 

To be part of your day!

So I made a few things

 To send you, you’ll see

To help your mommy throw you

 a stupendous party!

When your mommy is done 

Adding more fun and treats

I think that your first birthday 

Will be super sweet!

These banners I made 

From fabric and thread

To hang from the ceiling

Up over your head.

I got out my paint brushes 

And made a few of these

Pictures that are knocked off 

From my friends on etsy.

Thing one and Thing two 

And that Cat in The Hat

And a big sign with your name 

What do you think about that?

A very fun thing 

I like to do at parties

Is put quotes all around

 to put guests at ease.

And who better to quote 

Then the big quote-a-roo

Dr Suess, he’s amazing 

but you know that don’t you?

Believe it or not I had these hats at my house

My garage is where I found them.

And to all those people that know me well

It really won't astound em!

I hope you like 

green eggs and ham

do you like them 

Cali I Am?

I hunted and gathered 

and I’m sending you some

A little egg hunt to play 

with your sweet  friends that come.

And I’ve thought and I‘ve thought 

And I’ve made up a list

Of other fun games to play 

With a Dr Seuss Twist

Like One fish two fish 

Red fish blue fish'

Use a pole 

And catch some new fish.

Bags of goldfish crackers 

Would be fun to do.

Cause those are the kinds 

Of fish you can chew

(This photo from kitchendoughdough.blogspot.com
and she has instructions too!)

And these I cannot send to you 

cause I’m much too far to bake them 

but they are so stinking fun and cute 

I hope your mom will make-em.

I am sending you this birthday gift

 For you to open a bit early

I hope these Dr Suess books

 will make you giggle, little girly.

And for this special birthday book 

It  really would be sweet

If your party guests all signed it

I think that would be neat.

Then each year as you get older

 You can read it on your day

And know of the all the love shown to you 

To start you on your way.

So Happy first birthday Cali

I’ll get this stuff all in a box

And get it in the mail to you

And send it from the docks

But I hope you will remember

Though we are far apart

That I think you are really special

From the bottom of my heart.

The Perfect Storm

Little did she know the fury that was about to unfold when she made the decision to walk around Dana Point Harbor.  Sure there were clues, but she was distracted by the smell of the sea and the sight of the sun sinking low into the water.  Maybe she should have felt apprehension as the sky turned to black, for they were there, whirling and churning. The darkened sky filled with the shadows and anguished sounds of the wretched sea fowl.  She took note of the spectacle and yet suspected nothing of the destruction that was about to unfold.  She walked, peacefully gazing at the boats moored in the inner part of the harbor, blissfully unaware of the desecration ahead.  

She enjoyed her walk, confident that she had left her vessel moored securely in the safe part of the harbor.  But as she approached the vehicle, it became clear that a terrible tempest had erupted in her absence.  Fury had rained down on her beloved vessel.  A fury that had left her vehicle defiled and defaced.  The perfect storm had seemingly come out of nowhere.  A squall of excrement so fierce no part of her vessel was left  untainted.  Apprehensively she approached the vessel, but the fury had passed.

Tentatively she climbed in, all was quiet, eerily calm.  There was nothing left to do now.  Nothing she could do now, but put her chin up high and be grateful for the cloak of darkness.  The cloak of darkness that shielded her from all but the nearest travelers.  And with as much pride as she could muster she made her way back to her homeland. To make the journey easier she allowed her mind to wander, pretending that she was royalty traveling in a magnificent carriage, instead of the truth.  The ugly truth; she was that person.  That person you can’t help but point at and laugh at when you see them out on the highway.  She was the tortured soul in the polka dotted car spewed and splattered with the waste of hundreds of effluent sea fowl.

A Day to Play!

I had a fun day playing at Irvine Park with three of my favorite people; Melody, Jaina and Gavin!

We rode the train!

Jaina loved the ponies!

 We had fun feeding the ducks, they made it look so delicious, Jaina ate a lot of the duck toast herself!

Then we played on the swings....

And the slide......

And Jaina served me up some delicious bark cakes at her restaurant!

So much fun in the sun!

Play time in the Garden

I feel instantly happy as soon as I step foot in a Garden Nursery and see all of the cheerful little flowers smiling up at me.  My favorite place to go is Green Thumb Nursery.  Not only do they have beautiful plants and flowers, but as an extra  special  bonus you get to shop with a little red wagon.  As soon as I grab the handle, I am a little kid again and I want to load it up with as many pretty things as I can find.

And sometimes I get a little greedy and my little red wagon becomes a train, which is even more fun, although a little hard to get around with.

I brought these treasures home and Dale helped me plant them all in our Garden!  

"Just living is not enough...one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

- Hans Christian Anderson

Yep it's a 6 foot Rooster

One of the many reasons I enjoy shopping at Homegoods. Yep it's a 6 foot welded metal rooster for a mere $199.   Enough said!

Welcome to the garden

Oh hello there pretty little succulent garden pots, welcome home to my garden.  I hope we are going to get to be good friends.  I noticed you right away in the nursery waving your cute little flags that said "Drought Tolerant".  That's what really caught my eye, you know?  I could feel the other plants in the nursery pulling away from me as I walked by, not want to catch the eye of an occasional waterer, but not you!  You stood tall and flirty.  Drought tolerant...that means that you will like it when I go weeks at a time without waving a hose in your direction, right?  As long as you keep your end of the bargain, we should get along just fine.