Greetings,

It is 8 AM, Sunday morning, and darn if I didn't wake up early enough to watch my favorite TV show of the same name!  Ah, well, next week. 6:30 AM is an indecent time on a Sunday morning. Maybe I'll remember to tape it.

The streets are wet.  It must have rained.  

I had a vivid dream just before awakening, perhaps a dream that's trying to tell me something. 

We were at our friends' home, except it wasn't their marina home or their mountain home.  Pierre and Claudie had another home that we'd never been to -- in Provence in the south of France!  

From the portico at the back of their house, we stood admiring the panoramic view of the French countryside. This was serene living, so beautiful and so peaceful. 

Like living in a dream. 

Then we heard a yell. Pierre was in the kitchen behind us, clutching his chest.

Heart attack!  

DH and I had been recertified for CPR two months ago, and we hopped into action.  With an arm over each of our shoulders, Pierre was lead to a divan on the portico. He was coherent, although in pain.   

I ran to the phone to call 9-1-1.  There was no answer.

At that moment, I awoke. OK...so what does it all mean? 

• No EMS services in Provence?  

• What does one do if there is no one answers?  

• Call the nearest hospital?  Call his doctor?  

• No answer there.  What next?

• Drive to the nearest hospital?

• Pierre, are you okay?

Thank God for the Net.  With help from google.com, the answers that eluded my subconscious mind -- and troubled it enough to dream about it --  were at my fingertips:

• Heart Info - Emergency Care Review
  (Aspirin is a good thing for cardiac arrest)

Other good sources of information: 

• American Heart Association

• Emergency Medical Services (EMS - 911) WebRings

• Are You at Risk?

If all of this reality info makes you a tad squeamish and uneasy, there's even an EMS humor site to break the tension right here.

As I "preach" at work, prevention is best, so today I will walk my talk.  Literally.

Today, I will have a long, enchanted walk with my DH and our dogs in our community park, maybe even the regional park.  Maybe Disneyland to watch the light show? 

• I want more warm and tender embraces.

• I like cuddling up close, when it grows dark.

• I want us to enjoy more "good old days."

So I'm off, putting my dream to good use.  Now you run along, too.  Or at least walk along.  

Shoo.

 

By noon, we were up and at `em, driving over to Blockbusters to buy the Snow White & the 7 Dwarves DVD.  Our first DVD ever.

Did you know there were originally 20 dwarves?  They were down to 8, when they caught Hungry, redhanded. 

If you didn't get it, not to worry.  DH didn't.  Nothing's worse than having to explain a morbid joke.  

Next stop was Best Buy to looky-loo digital cameras.  Maybe the Sony?  Perhaps the Nikon? DH is a professional researcher, whose skills spill over into our lives.  We were doing field work.

I'm your basic "point and shooter".  I don't plan to do portraits, but hey, ya never know. My needs are modest:

• something mid-range:  > 1 megabyte, < 3  mb. 2 is about right
• small enough for my handbag, about the size of my present Olympus non-digital "point and shooter"
• uncomplicated downloading  

Any suggestions?

We were getting hungry and drove down the freeway to Downtown Disney, to the Rainforest Café, a heavily-themed restaurant that fits perfectly in DD, complete with a waterfall, rain, animatronic elephants, gorillas, and toucans. It was our first time, and my, my, it was a jungle in there.

I was impressed with its most amazing gigantic salt-water aquarium -- two 8 foot, floor to ceiling, vertical cylinders connected by a horizontal cylinder above the entrance of the restaurant.

Although the wait was long, I didn't mind it at all. I was mesmerized by the salt water, tropical reef fish. Vibrantly colored or iridescent, each was a masterpiece of Nature's art. I grew up with many of them, swimming with them in Hawaiian reef waters. I never appreciated them as I do now.

Seeing the fish from the bottom up, as they swam from one vertical cylinder to the other via the horizontal passageway, was trippy.  Kinda like looking up girls' dresses through an acrylic floor.  Trippy.

Talking about trippy: The "rainforest canopy" was definitely trippy for us plant-lovers.  Maybe someone should have consulted a horticulturist? Five different species of flowers blooming from the same vine is botanically impossible. 

I especially loved the midnight sky above us.  The pinpoint stars were actually twinkling with occasional meteors streaking by. I would have loved to take that sky home with me and install it on our bedroom ceiling.'Trés romantique.

>> Take a look at the stars

Our server was warm and friendly Kelly, always with a smile, and unflustered in spite of the non-stop busy-ness and requests for picture-taking, at least three while we were there.. 

The surprisingly good crabcake sandwich and BBQ beef wrap with fries, washed down with tall glasses of draft beer, made for a thumbs up, tasty lunch for a Sunday afternoon. The servings were ample, and I was too stuffed to have the dessert I had anticipated, an Almond Mocha Cappuchino.  Instead, we opted for regular black coffee, perfectly brewed.

We experienced three thunderstorms, once every half hour. The roar of the thunder is (very) LOUD and the streaks of lightning, dramatic against the threatening skies.

Like I said, it is very theme-y. Between the storm and the (way too) LOUD Brazilian music, this is not a quiet, romantic restaurant, and it was a challenge to talk above it all.  Blue Bayou is far superior for relaxed dining and wooing and romancing. I think the concept folks should visit a real rainforest. Except for birds singing, they are very quiet, peaceful places...

Overall, for a complete dining experience worthy of Disney, tasty food and lots of it, friendly service, and ambience, I give it *** out of ****.

We walked across the way to the movie theatres and bought our Harry Potter opening day tickets (next Friday).  M'm m'm.

We browsed the candle and silver shops, walking off our lunch.  We decided to forego the crowds in the parks, and postpone the light show to another night, maybe a slow Wednesday night?

On the way home, DH dropped me off at our nearby Barnes & Noble bookstore, and I browsed to my heart's content, while he went home to browse digital cameras on the Internet.  I ended my day with three purchases: the classic Pat the Bunny book for Cee's newest nephew, Kelen; a Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul book; and a Log Home Living magazine.

Right now, it is 10:41 pm, and I'm writing this, half watching the 50th Anniversary of  I LOVE LUCY, which means the show is almost exactly as old as we are. Time flies, memories remain.

past    the present    future

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