What a Buzz !

B.B & i are recuperating this week from our Bumble Bee flight to far Northern California to see Onyx-Rose, my Mother.

   It was quite a buzz- literally... my head is still buzzing from the whole experience and i'm trying to put it all into perspective. It went by Way too fast in 'real-time' and in my mind, my heart can't seem to flesh it all out..not yet anyway.
  Most California freeways are set to a 70 mph frenzy that we have not participated in for years so this in itself was mind bending. Leaving in the early a.m. was good since it made the scorching desert miles between us and the main freeway less hazardous despite the insanely paced traffic, But the darkness made it a bit like a trip down the Rabbit hole for me. Vertigo plagues me at the most inopportune times... it's better  to leave the "Dark-thirty" driving to Bill. i do my best to relax & try to enjoy the 'E-ticket' ride til the sun comes up and helps me focus further up the road.

     Anybody out there remember 'E-ticket' rides? i'm showing my age; Aye? Glad to be aging though,  i tell ya.... there've been times i wasn't so sure i'd be doing this. Though this "E.I."  may not be fatal... there are times it seems it will be. This trip up north  and the toxic minefield we encountered was one of those times and an example of why we came to this desert island and are planning to move further out away from the Human Beehive... we just aren't far enough, though it is much better here than any place we've been so far.

   Those who know the road from Needles to the I-5 freeway understand the Tehachapi's mountain pass is a big hurtle before reaching the flat valley stretches... we made it over in record time... Yippee!! or so we thought...the descent into the Valley below soon made it clear to us that i was not going to have the most enjoyable encounter... because the air down there was NOT clear... it was So hazy and acrid i could taste it on my tongue. My eyes, nose and lungs began to burn like a fire had scorched the air around us; it was so bad even B.B. complained! If you've ever had a breeze change direction at a camp fire you know how that smoke can burn ??.... Uh-Huh...  that's how it felt for me driving into that toxic smog bank. If i hadn't had the urgent need to see Onyx and the rest of my family we would have turned around right then, but we had already stretched time out too long between visits, there was no going back.

As the old saying goes... it was all downhill from there... even our hope that there would be clean air up north was erased.

     i follow fire reports for the North California forests because My family lives in The Siskiyou National forest area and i am always aware of the conditions. i used to work for the U.S.F.S.  where i learned a little bit about weather and it's effects on the forest eco-system.... i also  track fire activity and keep family and former co-workers in my prayers when fires occur. Well, there had been lightening strikes all along the Northern forest with fires still smoldering when we arrived, so there we were.

Whats that??  "Out of the frying pan... into the ....?" ... Yup... & breathing it!

   One of my sisters commented how there had been none of the normal breezes to clear the air... and people in the area were having trouble with allergies & such. The break we had desired was denied.  

 

We checked into a Motel close to family as all of them had upheavals within their homes... one sister was having major re-modeling to her kitchen, the others Husband had just had knee surgery and my mothers apartment would not allow Abby because she's too big and scary . So here's a shameless and unsolicited plug for Motel 6 who welcomed our big girl without even flinching and also did not clean the room with smelly chemicals while we were there... they just vacuumed, changed the linens and gave us fresh towels. What sweet hearts! We brought Abby specifically for Onyx as she is a dog lover above all and this trip was for her as much as us... we joke back and forth about her looking forward to seeing Abby more than B.B. and i... it may be true ;) So anyway we were very Thankful to Motel 6 for making our time on the road so much easier. (and No i am not being compensated in any way, shape or form, they were just very good to us!)

   As we were settling in our room my Sister & Mom drove up having themselves been on the road from a trip to the Dr.s ...A sight for sore eyes. Many kisses and hugs and nonestop talking then my sister left Mom with us at the Motel and we shared some time. She & Abby bonded as only a Grandma and "child" can and we were all happy. 

 

The next hurtle for me was at Mom's apartment... the building was highly scented with all those things people use in public places...scented air "fresheners", cleaning products, bengay and old spice, all those lovely things people can't live without and i can't live with. Mom's personal apartment had been cleaned beautifully spiffy and of course there were fragrances of her own special choice permeating her environment. i did my best to cope and not breath too deeply... not easy. {*-*}

   Well, i need to take a breather so i'll have to get back to the "rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say, on the next post... or as my Sweetie B. always says "But wait, there's more!"

   Till then ...  Bee Well and Bee Swell... Blessings from above.

*kare