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 |  It's about adventure! Life, Scouting, Family, writing what else is there? |
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WELCOME TO: GEMINI RISING   UPDATED INTRO 25 OCT 2021: Just a little about me. I've been married for 30 years in NOV this year!! and currently live in Southern California, but I grew up in New Hampshire. I've got 2 boys in their teens. I work as a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. I enjoy my job a lot. I love to write, but since I've been so involved with the Boy Scouts program since 2015 (now Scouts BSA since girls were invited to come on board) I haven't written much. I hope to get back to more writing soon, as I'm scaling back my BSA commitment. Update on this: I was able to get out 2 stories that were previously published. The update/publishing is going slow. I like to get out in nature, take walks around Castaic Lake, drink coffee and watch football. Here's a little bi about my zodiac. GEMINI: Gemini, the sign of the Twins, is dual-natured, elusive, complex and contradictory. On the one hand it produces the virtue of versatility, and on the other the vices of two-facedness and flightiness. The sign is linked with Mercury, the planet of childhood and youth, and its subjects tend to have the graces and faults of the young. When they are good, they are very attractive; when they are bad they are more the worse for being the charmers they are. Like children they are lively, and happy, if circumstances are right for them, or egocentric, imaginative and restless. Their good qualities are attractive and come easily to them. They are affectionate, courteous, kind, generous, and thoughtful towards the poor and suffering - provided none of the activities resulting from expressing these traits interferes too greatly with their own lives and comforts. Geminians can be successful in many walks of life though their general characteristics tend to make them unreliable. They are often skilled manipulators of language, in speech and writing, and may be: debaters, diplomats (though in politics they are more interested in theory than practice), orators, preachers (brilliant rather than profound), teachers, authors, poets, journalists, or lawyers. This is me. I am a Gemini. Pure, Raw, passionate. The NEW focus of this blog is to share my adventures, book reviews, thoughts, opinions, and writing adventures from actual writing, writing/editing tips, marketing, research. I'll get there.  Find me at: WEBSITE: http://www.stephanieburkhart.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor GOOD READS: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart YOU TUBE CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee Previous GRATITIOUS Warning, that I decided to keep in case I post about something that might offend.  WARNING I intend to be open, honest, and forthright. No topic is off limits from religion to you name it, I'm going there. If you think you might be offended...back up now - this blog isn't for you. For those who "dare"  check out the "Gemini Rising..." |
| Last Saturday, the family had a day off. It was going to be hot in Santa Clarita, and Castaic Lake was closed (since it is the command post for the Lake Fire) and we needed to get out. We've been a good little family since COVID restrictions hit. We don't get out much, but there's not much to get out to. Here in So Cal, especially LA County, a lot of things are still closed. Nail Salons/Hair places can only operate outdoors. Restaurants can do take out or offer outdoors patio dining. (That's tough because it's HOT and not a lot of ppl want to eat outside in the searing heat) School are closed and are online ONLY. The Pac 12 is not playing fall sports which in include football, so no college football. Our typical day is: I go to work, do physical therapy, (on my knee, this is my last week) go home, eat dinner. Watch TV, do housework, read a book, go to bed. The boys go to school online, and hang out at the house. (The one plus is that Joey is signed up for a Volleyball clinic so we got out of the house last night) -- The bowling alley is closed. There's no boy scouts. Everyone wears a mask and even at work they preach social distancing. sigh... If anything, it's mentally draining. The amusement parks are closed. The only thing open is the beach. So last Saturday we said, let's get out of the house and go to the beach. The good thing about the beach is that it's usually 10-15 degrees cooler than the searing heat of Santa Clarita. It was nice because it was off the cuff and nothing was planned. We just went with the flow. We left around noon and our first stop was the Outlet Malls in Camarillo. As we cruised through Ventura, we discovered a rally on the corner of a park. People were wearing red, white, and blue, waving flags. There were two banners -- back the blue and Trump. It was heartwarming to see since I'm a 911 dispatcher and a veteran. The Outlet Malls were packed. Some stores had waiting lines outside of the establishment so as to mind social distancing. We found some athletic shorts that my son liked and then it was off to the local seafood place. The local seafood place is in the Ventura Harbor and it's called Andria's. The fish there is very fresh. I split the meal with my husband. We had a mixed platter with beer battered fish, calamari, scallops, and shrimp. Yummy. My fussy son got chicken nuggets and fries from a place close by. The temp was 82 but it was humid so it felt hot. We ate outdoors, so it was a tad hot for us (but not as hot as it would have been in Santa Clarita!!) Afterwords we crossed the street and put our foot in the water. On the beach, it felt much cooler. I love the water. I'd love to live in Ventura (or Catalina Island) when I get old and retire, but it probably won't happen. Next we go, we'll plan a tad better and be a bit more organized, but not bad for a spur of the moment pack up and go. I'd love to hear what you do to stay cool or what stuff is open in your part of the USA. Have a good one Steph |
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I love gyros. We have a Greek church and restaurant in town and a festival. But... I'm not there. 