June/July 2006

    Birth-Death-Dog-Pilgrimage-Email Server. Those events took precedence over sending The Spiritual Times these past months. I hope you have missed it.
    In February, Mike's daughter, Michelle, gave birth to two beautiful baby girls, Lucy and Abby. It is fascinating to watch these tiny distinct personalities develop and makes me think we are more about nature than nurture.
    In March, a message of sudden death came from Texas. My former husband, Dan Alexander, had heart failure. Years ago Dan had asked me to be the executor of his will because he was estranged from his daughter, Kristen. I was sure it was a temporary situation. But the time went by and that reconciliation never happened. Kristen flew from London to attend her father's memorial in Texas. She scattered her father's ashes on the beautiful pond near Dan's house where he and his friends had fly-fished. Then everyone tossed a red rose into the water. As the wind carried across the water Dan's ashes and red rose after red rose, I came to a different feeling about cremation. One of his friends tossed a yellow rose signifying to me Dan's adoption of Texas.
    In April, an Australian Cattle Dog appeared on our door step at Lake Aluma. For three days we ignored the trespasser and then Mike threw water on her. The next morning Mike opened the door to get the newspapers from the driveway and saw this friendly creature sitting beside the papers she had delivered to the doorstep. "This dog is working on my mind," Mike begrudgingly announced. Shortly the dog was wearing a purple collar. There were some tense adjustments (that would be after our new canine friend destroyed the screens on a mere eight doors- counting the ones she destroyed right after we had replaced them.) But now she is here to stay and her name is Aussie.
    In May, we went to Israel. We (and eight wonderful others) ran where Jesus walked. It was a trip of a lifetime. Mike's vast knowledge was a learning feast. From the thousands of mosaic tiles-so small and colorful- to the gigantic stones weighing several tons that formed ancient buildings and their adornments, Israel is a land of contrasts. And to think one year of one man's life over 2,000 years ago changed the world.
    My former email server was a disaster constantly kicking back emails. I now have an AT&T card and Google email. My new e-address is Lolly7rules@gmail.com.
    June is almost over. My most exciting news is that I have a production schedule in place for finishing my book, Magic Refrigerator. That book signing in Paris is getting closer and closer. I am thinking February 2007. I hope you will join us.

Movies, books, ad trivia.

We saw The DaVinci Code and were disappointed- at least compared to the entertainment quotient surrounding the novel. I love Tom Hanks, but perhaps Harrison Ford would have made a better lead. Mike thinks Catherine Zeta-Jones would have been good in the female lead but I think he says that remembering her legs in Chicago.

YBD- Your Bounden Duty    PYE- Part of Your Education (acronyms à la Archibald Edwards)
                                   MNH- you Might Need a Handkerchief (à la LA)