Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect; it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections.~Unknown~
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Cherry blossom festival is still going on in Macon. It was really great when we gathered the kids at work and decided to do an afternoon ride at the cherry blossom trail. Although one of the girls was unpleasant just because she just wanted to be difficult, we went ahead and cruised up, to and fro the neighborhood where there were lines of cherry blossoms. Aside from the cherry trees there were a lot of colorful blooming trees and shrubs and flowers like daffodils and tulips and some ground covers along the street. We passed by some farms with horses and we also passed by several lakes with geese and Arabian ducks. It was fun, we enjoyed the sceneries while our driver Mr. Harold pointed out to me the old farm houses and the names of the trees that grow mostly in the South and in Georgia. Some of the places we passed by were cotton plantations during the olden times. And some of the farm houses still exist to this day with the same architecture and that brick walls and brick chimneys. But we could see that in between these farm houses are newly built modern houses.
I was able to sneak out and went to see what was going on downtown. We were able to see a part of the parade I was not impressed probably because I have seen more glamorous parades back in New Orleans. But yes, it depicted some other countries with their own representatives from Australia, United Kingdom, Taiwan,Japan, Ghana Africa, Falun Gong and many student representatives from different school. And representatives from a lot of the sponsors of the festival like Gieco, Clear Channel Radio and different organizations here in Macon. The Marine, the Navy and etc.
It is just so exciting now that it got warmed up. We to watch the cherry Palooza band and I helped J, gave away Q106 T-shirts. It was a rush to be up on the stage with a bunch of people screaming at you. That was cool. I saw a bunch of teenage girls and guys wearing all black with that vampire theme. Maybe not vampire but sort of gothic. They were doing some kind of a ceremonial rite, they formed a circle and they danced in a semi-circle at the very front of the stage while the band was playing. It was interesting. Most of the viewers were the young generation, a few older folks. But, Cherry Palooza is a local band so most people especially in Macon tries to support the band.
We also went to the Third Street Party on third street of downtown Macon. It was partly J's work and at the same time a promo that the radio station is doing annually during cherry blossom festival. There were long lines of folks lining up for free cherry ice cream and free soda.
It was pretty out there where a lot of people wear colorful clothes mostly pink and red hats. The cherry trees were decorated with Japanese lanterns. There was a free carriage ride too. There was also a stage where they played jazz and rap at the middle of the street. We made a few rounds strolling then I sneaked for a short shopping until we headed for lunch.
So far that's what I have seen and done during the festivities. There are still more things and activities going on but I think I might not be able to see them especially the grand finale.
We draw our inspiration from a lot of different sources. Sometimes from the most unusual or from the most unexpected sources. Sometimes one has got to keep the fire burning while the flame is hot. When you take your time, sometimes the fire dies so quickly. Don't you have those days when you feel very enthusiastic a bout something, inspired and wired up? But then there are days that seems gloomy and lacks the luster and vibrancy. I guess it's just the natural occurrence of life. But when you get that vitality, don't you want to catch it and keep it in a bottle and just drink it like a magic potion? Sometimes we wish we always be that animated and bubbly.
I just had that great vitality today when we got back home from the mall. I was almost sick this morning, on and off headache. Miraculously, I was alive and kicking when we got back from the mall. We had a tall cappuccino mocha which is of course fortified with caffeine. Maybe that has something to do with it. But I would like to think that it's a state of mind. You can do anything where you set and what you set your mind. The mind is very powerful. You could actually think what you want to feel and it's all depends of how determined you are affects the result. You could will yourself to do a lot of wonderful things.
I can't believe I actually cleaned our entire place from bathrooms to closets. I even arranged a lot of clutters. I dusted and vacuumed every corner. I wiped my dressers. I threw away the old papers and magazines. I did my laundry. I watered my plants. Everything looks so tidy and spick-and-span now. I am not that clutter free but I want things clean and moderately in place. I can be a slob sometimes, but I can't really stand my premises to be that dirty. I would say I am moderately clean and tidy. I just had to find time and motivation to do the cleaning. I don't have to do it everyday, but I feel better about myself if I regularly keep my place neat and tidy. I can't stand using bathrooms that have these yellow line or whatever color moldy lines in the toilet bowls. I had to scrub them before using it. Anyway, that's my good house keeping for today.
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My asparagus fern is growing wild. It has grown into a vine so I had to put a steak to hold it. Now it has climbed by our window blinds. I think I will just let it be there and see what happens. I have to bring out my ivies and cactus as soon as the weather gets warm again. Too bad the cold weather is not yet over. At least we had a few warm days and perhaps these few cold days will be the last of the frost season. Can't wait for spring. It looks like spring is starting to bud. All over the roads we see flowering trees and flowers and ground covers. I"m sure it will be wonderfully pretty when spring fully blooms.
Here in Macon, they would celebrate "Cherry Blossom Festival" during spring time when the cherry blossoms bloom in spectacular colors.Cherry blossom originated in Japan and was brought here as gifts from the Japanese supposedly to start of a formal relations between Japan and the US. Here's the history and photos. In Japan they also have cherry blossom festival which they call "hanami" meaning "blossom viewing". Anyway, they do the same if not similar things here in Macon. And the theme for this year is "Think Pink". There are cherry blossom plantations around Macon and tour buses would go around full of tourist and locals to view the pretty blossoms. We actually live along one of the streets where a lot of cherry blossoms are planted. They beautifully line the roads and streets. We even have some Yoshino tree right in front our place. Here are some webshots taken in Macon, Georgia during the festivities. We might try the hot air balloons if they are for rides during the festival.
"People are like stained-glass windows.They sparkle when the sun is out,but when the darkness sets in,their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. "
~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross~
It is such a wonderful day. Nice, warm and inviting. It's almost impossible to resist not to go outside and enjoy the day. I know that in some parts of the world it's still gloomy and cold. Lucky for us on this side of the globe.
But on our attempt to seize the day, we got caught in the middle of an aftermath of a car accident. We were cruising down Pionono Avenue, from a distance I could see that there was a car wrecked that has just have been cleaned up. The tow truck was on the side of the road. There was a police officer on the side of the street just behind the tow truck. I could see that the other cars kept moving and the officer wasn't directing the traffic. Suddenly, he extended his arms with a hand signal the index and the middle finger out. J kept moving and even fast. He couldn't have seen him since he was at the side of the road. But to me, he was visible but his hand signal was not clear to me whether he meant "stop" or not. The window of the car on the passenger side was open so, we were able to hear him shout "stop!" He came over on my side of the window and yelled " Didn't you see me letting somebody out?". He was referring to the tow truck. He then yelled some more "Pull over on side!" We pulled over on the side of the street and waited. He continued what he was doing then came over and asked for J's driver's license and insurance. J, brought out the document. The officer got them and went to his car. It took him a few minutes to come back, probably checked J's driving records and came back with a ticket. I was a little pissed off about it. It's probably a minor offense but I just hate being caught in a situation at the wrong place and wrong time. I was about to scold J but I just let it go. I didn't want to upset him even more. It was my idea to go out anyway. For some reason he was just following the cars in front of us and probably didn't see the officer signaling vaguely for us to stop. And I have learned not to argue with police officers because it just mounts up the offense. I just hope that he was really doing the right hand signal. To me, it wasn't the regular traffic hand signal for "stop". But still we got a ticket. He probably checked J's records and didn't find anything and was a little bit apologetic when he handed back J's documents, but I was bothered. It's probably a gray area, but I'm gonna take this incident as a lesson to find out the ordinances or laws about involving such situations. I'm sure J didn't intentionally just run over a stop signal by a police officer. It happened so fast. I don't even know why J chose to take that short cut. That was our first time to cruise on that street. It only shows that anything could happen. Sometimes people are just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
And now I keep thinking about the whole incident all afternoon. It felt like we were big offenders even if the offense was just very minor. But I am probably just shaken by what happened. It is very rare to be pulled over by a uniformed officer. I should probably stop thinking about it since we didn't intentionally ignore him. I still think that we shouldn't have been issued a ticket. I would like to think that he was just doing his job. And not just feeling a big authority with his big head on top of his shoulder. I grew up in a place where cops have a reputation of being filthy and corrup, so it is hard for me to think greatly of cops. I hope that in this situation, this certain cop was merely doing his job since we got caught in a not so common situation.
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Each one of us has his or her handicap. It may not always be physical. I have worked with some kids who maybe slow in some aspects but intellectually gifted. I admit I have my own handicap. There's this boy named Alex at work, he is autistic, but he is very intellectual. He could memorize the driving direction even if he had been there once. He could be very funny too. Sometimes, just watching some of these kids do the innocent things is priceless. They could be the best comedians in their own way and doesn't even know it. But they are also very sneaky and clever. One time, I was wondering why Nick was wearing his sweater even if he was sweating. It was hot and sunny and he had been running around. I asked him to take off his sweater only to find out that he was wearing a shirt he is not allowed to use to school. He had been hiding it all along. And I wasn't even suspecting anything. They are just funny to me. Smart and clever too. I am sometimes captivated because some of the little boys are just so cute and adorable. But they could be so defiant too. It's rare to see a nice whole package. I had been thinking what my children to be would be like. It's just wishful thinking, you know. I would sit there watch them and would wish that I might one day have a kid as cute and as nice as one of these kids. It's still hard for me to comprehend how is it like to be e mother. That day will come. Just one day, one of these days.
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I feel so much better to have finally talked with Vee after a long silence. It was actually a sort of miscommunication. I had been trying to reach her in the past months but wasn't able to. I thought she had been hanging up on me because she picks up the phone, I could hear her saying "hello" but she doesn't seem to hear me. I was able to reach her through another person on her cell phone and it turned out she had been trying to call me. Only she kept dialing the wrong number and that their phone was messed up. It had been months but I didn't give up. I wrote her letters after letters until she finally got my last letter. It was just that feeling that I was being ignored that hurt me. But it turned out, she had been trying to reach me too. It really feels better knowing that a person whom you consider a true friend is out there from distance. There's a lot of catching up to do, but it's okay. It feels like there's so much things to share, so much stories to talk about but there's not enough time. It's kinda' hard to fill in the gap in between now and then. But I guess the only thing to do is to keep moving on. And just look back to those days that are fun and memorable. I know that there are a lot of things that could happen to anyone's life. Sometimes unbelievable, sometimes amazing, sometimes sad. But things change, people change and change keeps changing. It's just wonderful that there are friends, to share the sorrows, the happy moments and not so happy moments. Sometimes having friends is already a great blessing. Sometimes, it's just so hard to find the people whom you can call a friend. They come rarely in life. Treasure them and try not to lose them. They are treasures one could have in life.
