Wildfires

Every year I am mindful of the fact that we seem to have one really large fire that comes into our area and makes life uncomfortable, filling the air with smoke and ashes and dirties the car if I've left it parked outside. I've lived in the Santa Clarita Valley now for seven years and we've been pretty lucky that we've only had one that got a little close.

So my family and I are out at Disneyland, blissfully unaware of what is going on at home. My son starts to get panicked text messages from his friends back in town, telling him that there are fires everywhere and they have to evacuate. Even my boss texts me and tells me to get to get home asap.

What I see when I break the top of the hill from Golden Valley Parkway from the Antelope Valley freeway (looking down into Canyon Country) is not good. Flames are all over the hills just east of us.

Luckily the fires are still maybe 3-4 miles away from us, but the high winds are unpredictable and blowing every direction. I can see from our townhouse window that the ridge just north of us is glowing from the fires. Its enough to have me start packing the car just to be on the safe side in case we get word that we have to leave our home.

I pack the essentials and the important stuff, but I also made sure I tucked away a few pairs of Melos, fringe belts, jewelry and coin bra. As I sit here in front of my laptop and watch outside the window, I am mindful that even if the fires were to be all over us and if I had to evacuate and leave my stuff behind, I still have my family and my friends. I love all you guys and wouldn't trade you for anything!!

My First Performance at the Poppy Festival

My first public performance was yesterday afternoon at the California Poppy Festival in Lancaster, CA. Nothing could quantify the excitement and nervousness that I had ben experiencing in the days that were leading up to Sunday.

I practiced in the days leading up to the final day. If it weren't for the taxes due at the beginning of the week, I would have practiced then, too.

In the end, it all went in a whirlwind of excitement. It seemed to have come and left so quick, but it was so much fun!! And even though there were a couple of mistakes, I knew the public would have never figured out that it was minor mix ups. And I had a lot of fun at the end when everyone was on stage dancing.

And I almost forgot to take off my socks and shoes before lining up to go out for performance. What a mistake that would have been!!

Tribal Caravan 2007

Had a wonderful time at Tribal Caravan this year. I got there bright and early to attend Frederique's class on Technique at 10 AM. Let me tell you, it was not an easy class, but it was DEFINITELY fun and entertaining. Fred has a great personality and wack sense of humor. She had me laughing from the beginning. Drills, drills, drills, but best of all, there was a good chunk of work on arms, which is something that I haven't had a chance to really concentrate on. And I loved her wide choice of music.

By the time the workshop was over, the place was in full swing. Dancers were performing, vendors were selling, and the place was filling up. I did a decent job not overspending this year but I still picked up several things, including another pair of Melodias. Like shoes and purses, I think that there can NEVER BE ENOUGH Melodias!

After a great vegeterian meal and some shopping, I took Heather Stants' choreography class at 2:30 PM. Heather is a great & thorough teacher, and it was very interesting to me to see the fusion of bellydance and other styles of dance rolled into one. This also was not an easy class, and I would have liked it better if I could have taken a set of classes on the dance work instead of one. I know I won't remember all of the choreography by the time the day is over, but at least I will have come away with some of the main points and ideas.

My biggest regret is not being able to watch and support my belly sisters of Desert Lotus Tribal & Hiplash, who are dancing on Sunday. I KNOW that they will be fabulous!!

Tribute To My Friend Jenn Dieges, 06/06/69 - 03/19/05

Its been two years since one of my best friends from way back when passed away. Jenn lived her life fully, even though her physical body started to break down slowly years before her passing. Loud, opinioniated, passionate and compassionate, Jennifer believed in making a difference and acted on it. She loved her friends fiercely. An eco-feminist, poet, activist, camper, backpacker, worldwide traveller, Jennifer did things most of us wouldn't do in ten lifetimes.

Part of my motivation for getting into the interests that I am involved in was partially due to her. Living life without regrets. Doing something about what you love and what you love doing. As her friend Jesse said "Jenn never let the cancer define her life-she lived life like she didn't have cancer."

One of my other friends posted one of her poems as a tribute. I'm throwing up another one as a remembrance to her, a beautiful soul.

When I Die....

When I die lay me down,
so my pine-crested spine breaks,
through Sierra snow capped blue.
Let pumas wander
over my freckled backside hiding moles,
let fiddleneck grow from my ear cliffs where hawks nest,
let deer drink from my mouth pond
with hound's tongue and butter cups,
let chipmunks fill my cheecks with acorns stolen from jays,
let Indian brush paint brush red
the bridge of my nose, a cave where bats slumber and
let blackberry thorns and larkspur tickle my ribcage.
My eyes rise full as blooming prickly poppies
on a deserted burial ground,
where coyotes howl
in the ripples of my choya cactus tangled hair,
mice and jackrrabbits shiver my skin
when fear scampers their feet,
tears trickle down to hidden boulder pools
turning my brain downy as thistle sage
and wind disperses my memories.
My hips round redwood ridges to hide
fox and squirrel and erode into silt,
the fertile earth a wetland Valley of my navel.
There, white egrets hide in my marsh grassed loins and
mud swallows swoop to catch bees from my honey belly,
over rivers springing from my breasts
where oak trees root in my rocky nipples.
My knees and elbows bump into the spread
of my arms along the Coastal Range.
Fingernails full of dirt,
my hands hold mounds of lupine and blue grass-nut,
curl to manzanita, haven for the love song
of the blackbird.
My toe wriggle in the foam of waves,
heels dug in with sandcrabs,
gray whales sing my funeral hymns,
kelp and sea stars wrap around my ankles,
tugging my driftwood into the ocean
where grain by grain
I dissolve.

-- by Jennifer Dieges, 2000.

Bellyvision In the House!!!

Bellyvision is the name of our group here in the Antelope Valley, Cindy's class. First big performance for me is coming up in April, at the Lancaster Poppy Festival! I am completely excited but absolutely nervous. I am afraid that I'll get that "beginner's freeze", that moment when I look out into the crowds of people and think "what are they looking at, oh wait, I'm here..."

Practicing, practicing. I think if I practice more then that feeling won't be as bad as I think. Have taken up some stretching and yoga to loosen myself up more. My confidence is a lot better than where it was two months ago.

First the Poppy Festival, then Cairo Carnivale in June. In between, taking workshops at Tribal Caravan and at Cairo Carnivale. Here's to looking forward to a productive future!!!