Friends Forever

Dear Friends,

This is dedicated to all my California friends! I miss you all and the club.

Clubs….hmm we all know them , have all joined them, and loved them or quit them…..~smile~

I was in the ranks of the Circle of Royal Sisterhood ( C. Ya ya’s lovely ladies of C….hehe) We wore crowns made of flowers ( thanks Dear Deb) , prayed for each other, had tea, bible studies, talks and a great time, memories , laughter and sunshine. I will never forget you and will be back sometime to meet again.

Until then here is an Irish blessing my friends:

May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hand. May God be with you and bless you: May you see your children's children. May you be poor in misfortune, Rich in blessings. May you know nothing but happiness From this day forward. May the road rise up to meet you May the wind be always at your back May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home And may the hand of a friend always be near. May green be the grass you walk on, May blue be the skies above you, May pure be the joys that surround you, May true be the hearts that love you.

This made my day Dear Cali friends ! It is so true. I was a NY girl who moved to California; fell in love with everyone and everything there. I made them giggle when visiting the beach in winter with beach attire, use to ride up the mountain with high beams in the fog until gently reminded ( blinding everyone in front of me all the whole way up),picked out everyone from their cars, rode on my ranchers friends private property looking for wildlife ( and having them think I was a poacher ….LOL but they loved me …explained property boundaries and let me go and with tours and permission from then on as a special friend…LOL, wore high heel hiking boots the first time hiking with my DH and had him and his friends in hysterics ( hey I was a NY girl) , thought the post office was a rest stop when first moving there, ( hey it looked like the ones on the side of the NY thruway), told my California friends I was excited it was going to rain and they stared funny and pointed out that my forest was on fire …..( ():( and it was fire season up in the state forest and that was smoke not NY fogginess with rain clouds)….., made them prove there was such thing as donkey basketball as a fundraiser, had my family and friends from NY worried I knew everything about wine….hey we lived near the Valley ok….. and the best let my friends horses out on the main road when I was the first to arrive for my campaign committee meeting ( I am so sorry for that one and glad they all got rounded up safely)…. Grateful for my friends pointing out the overnight weekend I was bidding on for my family when they came to visit or a weekend with Darling husband was a n*u*d*i*s*t colony…..Um and the best almost bought 50 pounds of brown rice at a school auction…and am still thankful to my Dear friend Bill to this day for explaining it was horse rice…and no I didn’t have a horse just was thrilled to participate in good cause , and thought the price was awesome have you seen the price of 50 pounds or organic brown rice…

So my Dear California friends sent me this and it is so true about where I use to live and dream about going back to someday!

You know you are from California….Lake County if:

Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.

"Vacation" means going to San Francisco for the weekend.

You buy all your clothes at once (because the closest place to really shop is in Santa Rosa)

You measure distance in hours. (I mean does anyone really know how many miles it is to Santa Rosa. No, but everyone knows it's about 1 1/2 hours away. 2 hours if your my grandpa!)

You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.

You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

You use a down comforter in the summer.

Your grandparents drive at 65 mph through a raging rain storm without flinching.

You don't freak out when driving through the fog, and you know to put on your low beams.

You try to beat your last time over highway 20. How fast can I make it to Williams?

You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

You carry jumper cables in your pickup and your whole family knows how to use them.

You think of the major food groups as only organic, seiten, beer, wine, abalone, elk meat, dried fruits and other herbs. (Herbs? Why, whatever do you mean?)

There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at the Exxon station store at any given time.

You design your kid's Halloween costume to accomodate a raincoat.

Driving is better in the winter because almost everybody stays home.

You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still raining, and construction.

You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and flannel pajamas.

It takes you 3 hours to go to the store for one item even when you're in a rush because everyone in town expects to chat at Harvest Market or Safeway (or the Post Office).

You know its tourist season because people ask you where the ocean is. Or better yet, "so that's Lake Mendocino?" (yeah, cuz the pacific ocean looks SOOO much like a lake.)

You call into your work and tell them you can't get out of your driveway because a tree fell across it and your boss says it is ok.

Your idea of a good party is a tire fire in the woods or a bonfire on the beach. And the music is blasting from several pickups.

Not only do you know everyone from your high school graduating class, but you know their last names, their parents, what they did last night, and where they'll be tomorrow.

You've jumped in the freezing ocean to swim, and actually believed yourself when you said, "it's not too cold once you're in!"

On the coldest nights of the year you still order glaciers from "the coffee house."

You'd rather pee in the woods than search for a bathroom.

You can't tell the homeless people from the large property-owners.

People look at you funny if you AREN'T naked at the river.

You know people by there cars, e.g. You say,"You know ___?". Your friend answers, "No." and you say, "Yeah, you know the one with the black lifted Toyota" and your friend says, "Oh, okay now I know who you're talking about."