Monday, August 4, 2008

Enjoy Your Trip? Now Get back to Work!


Greetings!

After a short jaunt across the Coastal Mountains to visit the ocean (the seaside community of Fort Bragg), I am back. Can’t say I’m thrilled to be sitting here in my living room, the suburban sounds of lawn mowers, delivery trucks, and screaming children replacing the serenity and seductive purr of the Pacific. I look out my window at my neighborhood—a nice place, don’t get me wrong—neatly stacked with row after row of similar looking houses and sun-swallowed foliage and feel a longing for the fresh, cool air and sandy scenery of the beach. A far (gull’s) cry from the spectacular views of whitecaps cresting multi-hued water that I espied from my hotel room window. Oh, well, life is not a vacation but a journey of understanding, searching for purpose and fulfillment, with most of what we get out of it dependant upon what we put into it.

But it was fun while it lasted. My lovely wife and I crammed a lot of life into a few days at the coast. Besides soaking in the stunning seascapes, we enjoyed leisurely long walks along the steep cliffs that separated us from the ocean below, strolled the quaint downtown shops and restaurants, and survived the twisty, rocky mountain pass that brought us to the foot of one of the tallest and oldest living things on this earth—the giant redwood Chandelier Tree. This colossus is 315 feet tall and 21 feet in diameter—so wide you can drive a car through it. In fact, we did just that, since someone was kind enough to hew a six-foot wide tunnel through this baby’s middle. These magnificent trees are thousands of years old! If you’re ever in this neck of the woods (pun intended), do yourself a favor and take the drive; it’s well worth it.

When I returned from my brief respite, I was not only greeted with mid-90 degree heat (the average summer high temperature in Fort Bragg is mid-60’s!), but over 1000 emails! I have managed to make a huge dent in the massive pile and, along with jumping back into those social networking chores, should be back to semi-normal soon. I appreciate your patience and interesting comments on my last post about blockages, especially writer’s block. The irony was not lost to me, having not posted in a week right after writing a post about how to avoid writer’s block. No, I have not been blocked (in any area, thank you!), just away.

While I was away, I was nominated for a Brillante Weblog Premio 2008 Award by Rebecca at Creating Wealth and Health. If you have not visited this site, I highly recommend you do. Rebecca offers many of the same healthy, positive methods that I advocate at livelife365.

Now, I don’t know much about this cool award, except that it is a wonderful honor to have anyone think my blog is worthy of any recognition—so, thanks, Rebecca. With this award there are some rules, and here they are:

l. The award may be displayed on a winner’s blog.
2. Add a link to the person who you received the award from.
3. Nominate up to seven other blogs.
4. Then add their links to your blog.
5. Add a message to each person that you have passed the award on to in the comments section of their blog.

Here are a few great blogs, from the hundreds that I visit every week, that I would like to nominate for a Brillante Weblog Premio 2008 Award:

The Junk Drawer

This is one of my favorite blogs to read. Kathy writes about ”anything that amuses me, confuses me, or makes me blow a gasket.”

Communication Exchange

This is one of the better written blogs you will find, exploring any topic worth discussing.

Monkey Fables and Tales

This blog makes me laugh just about every time I read it—and I read it all the time!

Daisy the Curly Cat

To be honest with you, I never in a million years thought that I would love reading a blog from a cat’s point of view, but this is one cool cat—and one good blog.

Confessions of a Fitness Diva

You know how I love healthy living and fitness—this is one healthy and fit diva! A blog worth reading!

Ruminations of a Small Town Mountain Boy

Eric is one of the nicest bloggers around, and his two blogs are great reads(visit his other blog, Chihuatude). Where else can you find the word “ruminations” in a blog title?

Miz Fit Online

Excellent fitness blog, told in a unique voice. Lots of videos and useful, informative posts.

Wow, seven already? I could easily add seven more—dozens more. It makes me wish that I win more awards so I can give kudos to all the other great blogs out there worthy of recognition.

Until next time…

peace,

Mike

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR KIND WORDS (and the great company into which youve put me including yourself!).

MizFit

Kathy said...

Thank you for nominating me. I happily accept the award! Most of all, I'm happy that you find my blog entertaining. Some days, I shake my head that people keep coming back!

Glad you had such a wonderful trip. Welcome back!

p.s. I feel the same way about Daisy. She's the best blogging cat around!

Daisy said...

Those trees are very cool! It is my lifelong dream to climb a real tree.

Congratulations on your award, and thank you ever so much for thinking of me, too. You are nice!

Unknown said...

I too went away for a week and, man, did reality hit hard when I returned! I got a ticket on the way home, my hubby lost his cell phone, we returned to no kitchen -- it's being remodeled and was supposed to be done -- HA!

Anyway, enough about me, sounds like a great trip! Don't let reality get you down! :-)

Anonymous said...

It is great to be able to get away from the hustle and bustle of life, once in a while. Good to hear that you and your wife had fun while it lasted. My husband and I are about to head off soon to another state in Australia where it is warmer (it's currently winter where we are) and we can get in touch with nature and away from city living, so looking forward to this.

It is hard to get back into the swing of things after a nice and tranquil vacation. The best part for now, is to plan your next holiday break!

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear that you've enjoyed your vacations. That picture is simply stunning, wow! I hope to go there once in my life =)

Eric S. said...

Mike, first off welcome back I have been missing your posts. Glad you had an enjoyable vacation. The normal Humdrum of home can be boring after a nice relaxing vacation, but know you I'm sure your turn that around quick enough.

Second, Thank you so very much. I am honored, and very appreciative. I am taken totally by surprise and just don't know what else to say.

Anonymous said...

Welcome home Mike, and congratulations on a well deserved award!
Good for you!
Skip

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a lovely trip. It's difficult to come back to "real life" after vacation.

That's why I moved to the beach, so I can feel like I'm always on vacation. lol

The Fitness Diva said...

Thanks so much for your kind generosity in nominating my blog!
I appreciate that you enjoy it enough to feel it worthy....

Now, what exactly am I supposed to retrieve here? I'll go to the award site and see...

You have a great day!

Anonymous said...

Hey...you were in my neck of the woods. hahaha. The Chandelier Tree isn't far from where I live. You managed to get some nice pictures. And congratulations on your award.

Also, it appears you got back in time from your trip to be tagged by me for "7 Facts About Me." I hope you don't mind. You can get the information on my site. Welcome back.

Anonymous said...

Lea,
please leave me your site address--I cannot find you! Thanks.

peace,
mike

Anonymous said...

Hey Mike
Whats up with you whacky CAlifornians YOU know there's only ONE FORT BRAGG and it sure isn't in California or near the ocean.It's where I had the Honor to watch,see and meet thousands of Beautiful Young Men and Women stand PROUD and STRONG and evolve into the finest HUMAN BEINGS on Earth.Many of them no longer with us.They laid their blood so I can have the Freedom to do whatever I want to TODAY and I want to honor them on your BLog if I may.
And I love California in fact I plan on living in San Diego one day and I never been there;)
YET-your the best.Thanks for all the great videos :) and knowledge and support I have received since I found your sites.
I owe you;)
Peace and God Bless America
I'm crying right now but don't tell no one;(

HEALTH NUT WANNABEE MOM said...

I love the picture of the tree bridge with the car. What an amazing tree. I love the blogs you nominated and congratulations on your award!!! You are one of my favorite sites!

Anonymous said...

Hi Mike

My site is www.oceanofperspectives.com. You've dropped your Entrecard on my site a few times. So once you see it, I'm sure you will recognize it.

Skye B said...

Hi Mike,
Well guess what, I hadn't been to your blog since this post, and guess what, you have been chosen again to receive this award from me. So stop on over by my blog, and collect your second award. See that just shows you just how great a blog you do have!
Thanks, Skye ;_)