"nine years of bliss and hell..."

we went to lake arrowhead for levon's wedding, then to victorville-route 66 museum-elmer's bottle ranch. that last one i've wanted to see for 25 years. that last one was beautiful, spooky, & spiritual, & i found myself sobbing like a loon. the first was exclusive, like an alpine resort. i felt like my bargain-shopper butt was sneaking into the ritz. the drive up to arrowhead, a steep, winding, windy climb, reminded me of the chase scene in a bond film; we should've been in an aston martin instead of ruby the sewing machine (my little ride). the mountaintop lake resort reminded me of years ago, being in switzerland w/james's band. in one of many happy moments, james filmed a video; some of these pix are screenshots from it showing my hubby's happy reaction to my half-joking summary of our marriage... tonight he is not here & i miss him, so i post these pix. i had kissed him right before the video, so his lips look a little funny. those lips. and my gray hair, i shoulda dried it because it looks like silver straw. but overall, we still get to be here, so no complaints... yes, we got to celebrate our anniversary early on the heels of young levon's betrothal. the hotels were nice, the company nicer. my dear james. my dear, dear husband. my dear dear dear dear james... this past weekend i worked like a maniac to finish the trailer (henryed the roof, duck-taped the bottom w/silver insulation & green tarp), & last night the demonic winds screamed over the mountain followed by thunderous rainstorm. boom! the trailer had been completed just in time... except the winds wrenched one of the ceiling vents clean off the roof & threw it over the fence into the front yard. fortunately this vent was over the bathtub, so the tub filled with rainwater, then drained, so i will fix it all later... we are doing the chango jam ("because big manny loved christmas") again this year, this time in pico rivera at a hall. james went to place the downpayment, then got stuck in the southland, so the animals & i sit here & wait for his return. i have played the piano all evening, in my current mood, singing & pounding & rolling, & then i wrote three songs. haven't written songs for over a year. it felt cathartic & right & like i was doing something.... so this is where i sit at age more than one-half century... still not pushing up daisies, as do so many loved ones, dear friends, & heroes of mine... so can't complain... btw, check out the gorgeous boogie-woogie prodigy ladyva. she is astonishing, the mozart of the barrelhouse... i don't have a video handy, but just go check her out right now: she is really something special...