Francie's Blog Posts ~ enjoy

TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN Two days ago another of my special friends was plucked by God, in her sleep, completely out of the blue to

Monday Evening– Ten day-ish ago….time? What has happened to linear time? Gone with the wind…..a breath-taking morning…I was walking and looking up…marvelling internally at the

December 16, Long Beach A ‘friend’ on FB that I do not know but whose posts I respect and delight in, posted something this morning

Long Beach–Monday Morning, December 15 THE APPROACHING SOLSTICE AND NEW MOON This year the winter solstice on Sunday, December 21st, marks the END of a

OTTER WOMEN There is a tribe of women in our midst that moves and grooves, inspires and solidifies future generations silently, with no recognition. And

Flashback—Charleston, South Carolina—1984 After auditioning for a production of ‘California Suite’, the director pulled me aside, said that I was not right for any of

Monday, December 8–Marina Del Rey– Another old find–written 14-ish years ago–during the homeless years MOUNT OF OLIVE One spring weekend, lifetimes ago, my best friend,

Written 15 years ago! SNAP! On my way to meet a friend for tea this afternoon, I spied a garden full of snap dragons. There

Marina Del Rey—Saturday, December 6 Last year on November 22nd, the Malibu Fire burned from Pepperdine down PCH with mandatory evacuations for everyone on my

Sunday, November 30—Marina Del Rey ‘Quiet’ has been my soul’s desire for these last weeks while finishing a series of children’s books that I began

Sunday, October 26 “The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing wax— Of cabbages— and kings— And

October 17—Marina Del Rey No Kings Day tomorrow…warrior time….the contradictions of one’s humanity crystalizing in this moment on earth to FIGHT. The ‘I am grateful

October 16—Marina Del Rey Just another evening.  Seagulls line up at dusk, settle into the sand, close thier eyes and face the ocean. Pelicans float

August 31—Santa Monica Feelings. Sacred in that every single one is unique to its owner. And here they come again. Eighty-five years ago today my

August 24—Long Beach Every time OATS cross my path, ’Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey’ rings forth. MOM! Little did you know

Hello. Hello. Do I know you?I don’t think so.What do you do?About what?I mean in life…what do you do?Many things.What is your profession? How do

August 23—Long Beach Heat. We, in California are so spoiled…it is rarely hot…it is rarely cold…and any deviation from 60’s and 70’s temperatures creates much

August 21—Marina Del Rey Margaret! I wish that we could have tea. My sister Margaret was 18 months younger than me. We could not have

August 20—Marina Del Rey Tubes out!!! Joy! Joy! Joy! The sweetness of freedom, the beauty of the body, the miracle of healing, and now, HERE!!!!

Sunday, August 17—Long Beach During this post surgery chapter, I am allowing extended magic carpet rides in my brain to have their way with me.

August 16—Long Beach Post Fire Reflections The sorrow, inexplicably expressed but dealt with around the loss of home, its treasures, its haven-ness, its memories, itself…the

August 16—Long Beach Experiencing ever changing altered consciousness with the comings and goings in this post surgery state, whilst acclimating to the specifics of maneuvering

August 14—Long Beach Two days ago I had a surgery. I felt positive and strong moving forward, but hidden underneath apprehension was present as well.

Malibu—Friday, August 8 As today’s Lionsgate portal, a vibrationally throbbingly impactful event, grrrrr-ed at me early this morning, I decided to drive up to where

Santa Monica—August 6 This morning on the news, a reminder that 80 years ago today ‘the bomb’ was dropped on Hiroshima. A personal story: In

Sunday, August 3–Long Beach Right now we are in the vortex of The Lionsgate Portal. This significant happening occurs every year around August 8 and

My mother was born in 1918. Her father had been born on a farm in Iowa and had walked to the big city of Des

July 31—Long Beach Background to the present…many of you are familiar with the cliff note version of this. December 3, 1995—NYC Whilst attempting to capture

Is there a place where our vanished days secretly gather? Yesterday a birthday. Two birthdays. A single calendar day honoring two entirely different loves and

Wednesday Morning, July 23, Melanie’s Birthday—Long Beach Oh Sacred Day! Flashback—July 22, 1976—Excelsior, Minnesota A tiny cottage perched on a grassy hill over-looking Lake Minnewashta.

Several days ago a conversation that had taken place at an entertainment business gathering was shared with me. The primary theme being TERROR for the

Sunday, July 20—Long Beach Flashback, summer of ’67—Frankfort, MichiganAs my parents’ lifelong passion for humanitarian work extended itself to us, the offspring, and did not

Friday Evening, July 18—Marina del Rey Byron’s Birthday! Flashback 1955, Frankfort Michigan Before India we lived in Concord, New Hampshire, and after India we lived

Wednesday Evening, July 16—Cardiff By the Sea Late this afternoon I ventured into a ‘protected wetlands’ area, as its woods and tangled dappled vines, shone

Cardiff By The Sea—Tuesday, July 15 A buzzing…familiar from a lifetime of insect cohabiting…there was no doubt. Fly buzz is particular. With no specific feelings

Cardiff By The Sea—Tuesday Summer heat, ocean breezes and plunging, and flashback to cool summers in northern Michigan and my first boyfriend…as a sixteen year

Marina del Rey—July 7 Yesterday I visited my bluff…again. It was the six month anniversary of the last full day living in my cottage…my haven….little

Ever since the fire, which is now almost six months in the past, I have not been answering crisis calls. I have been being quiet…watching…listening…maneuvering

Last Friday I drove down to my daughter’s home, as Luciana, my almost 14-year-old grand daughter’s two week theater camp presentation was to be performed,

Sunday, June 29—Santa Monica Yesterday, on my meander towards the rose garden, which prior to the fire had been almost a daily ritual, I crossed

Meandering my way through dripping children, haphazardly flying fish rods, pecking pigeons, and waggling dogs on the Seal Beach Pier this afternoon I found a

Long Beach—Saturday Morning—June 21 The planets have been positioning themselves in a new way, significantly, outrageously, powerfully for weeks, and at the moment Saturn and

June 20—Friday—THE SOLSTICE–Long Beach The longest day…light? Yes please. We humans do worship light, but we don’t seem to acknowledge universally the need to grow

Hello Dad….Dad? Hello? Dad? You RASCAL! Even now? Family stories cite that upon my emergence into this world YOU were my north star…as in I

June 7, Long Beach Yes. Five months since that bright morning when I walked out on my bluff, and was awestruck by the giant orangish

May 23—Long Beach May 23, 1918—Des Moines, Iowa Mom! You arrived! And you chose a doozey of a family, yin and yang to the nth

Ode to Mom Oh Mom, on this Mothers Day, I do hope that your earthly sadness has been lifted and blown away and that you

Morning!  This time on earth is a time of harvesting, if we move aside from our particular angsts and allow the wisdoms of our souls

Tuesday Afternoon A few days ago, after a strenuous day trying to track down a miracle potion from China that has been keeping my inner

Wind in palm leaves carries me back to childhood days in Sri Lanka. The emotional memory is one of peace and yet there were violent

Long Beach—May 2nd Yesterday sparkled with warm sunshine and geraniums popping in amidst mysterious giant succulent blooms that I cannot name, but today? Misty fog

Tuesday Morning—Long Beach On Sunday, I extracted my ‘residents only’ green pass out of the glove compartment, positioned it in my lap and headed towards

Palm Sunday—Long Beach My indoctrination into the church at an early age was beautiful. Before we went to India, my father was the minister of

Long Beach—Saturday Morning Long Beach—Saturday Morning As a tiny girl in India, my sister and I were perpetually buried by garlands of flowers. My father’s

Long Beach—Monday—April 6 Morning musings. This past weekend…a fire fundraiser on Saturday morning….Hands Off in downtown LA on Saturday afternoon…a Malibu gathering on Sunday, more

Long Beach….Friday afternoon…. Where did theses words filter in from? A gentle reminder in the midst of chaos: A courageous heart will go forth and

Friday , April 4—Long Beach Yesterday morning I once again filled out paper work for an appeal to FEMA as they have not yet come

Sunday Afternoon—March 30—Long Beach My favorite writing spot in Long Beach is in front of a stretch of grass with willow trees and quiet picnic-ers,

Long Beach— Thursday early evening, March 28 Rhythms….in the soul music accompanying the picnic over yonder….in the trees, as the wind expands and sighs…..in the

Sunday Afternoon—March 23—Long Beach Corniche. This morning, this word greeted me and the very sound of it felt friendly. It means ‘a road cut into

Long Beach—Saturday Morning Yesterday afternoon, after navigating traffic snaffus on the 405 and attempting to find parking in Beverly Hills for a medical appointment, one

Long Beach—March 20—SPRING!!!! In the years that I taught wee ones, mid morning outside play was fluff time. Spring flowers seduced bees to come thither,

Long Beach—Wednesday Night—the last night of winter In 1969 I quit college…actually took a leave of absence but never returned…to work in a state institution.

Long Beach—Wednesday, March 19 There are black and white tiles on the floor of my Long Beach shower. My grandparents lived in a ‘gilded age’mansion

Long Beach—Tuesday Afternoon Every single morning during my teenage years, the household was WOKEN by my mother’s piano playing, which always began with the hymn,

Long Beach—Tuesday Afternoon—March 18 THIS recently appeared in my ….do we call it ‘feed’?  Earth based souls are designed to incarnate and evolve in body

Going on 9 weeks since the fire. At that time, the question “What are you going to do? Are you going to stay? Do you

Long Beach—Friday Morning, March 7 Eight and a half weeks since The Fire. Shock, disorientation, immediate moment by moment survival…this has setlled…and now? The longer

Wednesday Morning, February 26, Long Beach An astrological ‘thing’ describing the inner and outer affects of the extraordinary planetary alignment that is approaching and where

Tuesday Morning, February 25—Long Beach A bit of levity. Yes. I am blessed. Yes. I have landed in a spot near the ocean and am

PROLOGUE Concord, New Hampshire Mid 50’s Before India, my father was the minister of the First Congregational Church in Concord, New Hampshire. Our family’s life

Saturday Afternoon—February 22—Long Beach It has almost been 7 weeks since the fire. For the world ‘out there’ it is a time of no time.

Long Beach, Tuesday Morning, February 18 Tenderness. Tenderness lives in our hearts and souls, BUT during times of trauma it gets tossed about and often

Monday Afternoon—February 17— Long Beach Long Beach? Yes. A week ago today was my last day in my Mount Washington retreat apres the fire. My

Tuesday, February 11, Mount Washington My sparkling pink and turquoise fingernails are the gift of Goddess Indra. otheriwise known to me as Raindrop Rosebud.  This

Tuesday, February 11, Mount Washington As the world throbs with upset during this time, human beings’ innate natural spirit of caring, connection, generosity and standing

Tuesday, February 11, Mount Washington Five weeks ago this morning I woke up in my Malibu bed, greeting the birds, the trees and the day

Friday Evening, January 31—Mount Washington Having heard yesterday that one could now acquire a certificate from Malibu City Hall that would allow one to go

Thursday, January 30—Marina Del Rey Even though my introduction to the world of CBD gummies was wondrously fun, I have not actually partaken any. They

Chinese New Year and the Year of the Snake arrive today. Snakes. Snake medicine, snake mythology, culturally passionately polarizing.  Who really knows a snake? Who

January 28, Evening, Mount Washington Three weeks ago today, in tandem with the fiire, my historically low blood pressure decided to re-create itself and sky

Mount Washington, Monday Morning, January 27 I grew up in South India. As a tiny girl, the ‘custom’ was for American children of missionaries and

The Temple Of Leaves Every human choses how to ride the waves of life, how to show up to others, and how connected to be

Sunday Evening—Mount Washington A few days ago, a daddy longlegs, with gangly wildly unpredictable dancing legs, catalyzed a flash for me on Danny Kaye in

Wednesday Night Riding the wave of surrender and healing is as indiviual as we humans are. Personally, the shock, then the tears, then a verison

Tuesday Evening—One week after……                                          

As the fire was coming and there was no time to THINK, I grabbed a few little hats sitting on the table that I had

The fire burned my home. Every treasure from artwork, to books, to my mother’s diary, to photos, to my father’s briefcase, to creations of my

January 5, 2025, Malibu Spontaneous sharing here. On this human trek, I have bid farewell to NUMEROUS crucial comrades…meaning they have died and I have

January 1, 2025, Marina Del Rey Pondering in the wandering, ever transfixed humorously by what appears. I spy, with my hazely eyes, sea birds and

2025! Here we go! And I thank you ALL!!!!! Here, There, and Everywhere, you magic wanded my birthday with warmth and exuberance and phone calls

Happy New Year to you ALL!!!!! Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!! YES, my beginnings and endings happen all at once. In astrology, Capricorns youthen as they

We bless this year for all we learned, For all we loved and lost And for the quiet way it brought us Nearer to our

December 21, 2024—The Solstice—-Malibu One week and one day ago PCH was opened and those evacuated for the Franklin Fire were allowed to return home.

Beverly HIlls, December 20, 2024 Whilst pumping gas, a woman at the next pump whimpering to her partner, “I’m lost.” Shuttling to a crisis call

Malibu, December 20, 2024 Tomorrow the winter solstice.   A cellular rush,  apres le Franklin Fire, is just now relaxing.  For one who has forever

MALIBU, December 10, 2024 Maybe one day in the grass green sky… But not today. Last night,  or was it this morning? Knock Knock Knock

Tenafly, New Jersey, Mid 1960’s Whilst acclimating to life in America after having lived years in India there was MUCH to get used to. Christmas

Malibu, December 2024 Fog laden, wind wild, light piercing, or roseblushed still. No matter what the world is doing, singing perches outside my window in

Open your arms and your heart to peace. Breathe in calm. Invite angels or guides or Ganesh or whoever your supporting beings are to allow

November 2024, Malibu The creatures are misbehaving. The fires are burning north of here. I was called to ‘help’. It mystifies me that there is

Cyber Monday.
Vas is das?

Two sea lions dipping and diving like giant sloths….

Every single one of us is alone in the world. It takes courage to meet the full force of this. Until we learn to inhabit

Waban, Massachusetts, 1960 We sailed for India in 1957 and returned to the States seven years later,  HOWEVER right in the middle, in 1960, we

I wonder what it is to be you. Somewhere from my ancient past, THIS:  (Did I read this or hear it or know it when

Charleston, South Carolina—1985 The Spoleto Arts Festival was spectacularly in full bloom, with Charleston throbbing and spilling over with musical, theatrical and dancing artists from

Last night I treated myself to watching ‘Ladies in Lavendar’, being reminded of this gentle, innocent, magical story with the news of Maggie Smith passing

I think I’ll call Mom. Oh, that’s right, Mom….You….left 17 years ago…as  in your body….not sure you actually left as I feel you all the

Every year on this day, phone calls and messages come through and waves of wonder, sadness, gratitude, and love blow through my heart. I was

Oh Sacred Day! Mom. Seventeen years ago you left….you set yourself free….and I see that it was perfect…now. You ignited a chapter…you lit a fire…family

“And so here we are”, said the spider to the fly. “Yes indeedy”, said the fly to the spider. “What to make of IT?” said

February 1968, Northfield School, Northfield, Massachusetts Then: On a freezing evening in a chilly auditorium, the weekend movie had been announced but as not many

A spider and I have accidentally grown a relationship, and I know that my mother is smiling. Back story: Perhaps because of ‘Charlotte’s Web’, perhaps

In the midst of the froth from heaviness and  confusion to joy and hope, a dragon card appeared with a message for us all in

Clockwork Orange, poisonous toads and saving the crocodiles. Yesterday while driving up PCH I was drawn into an NPR report on crocodiles in Australia being

The moon, pale as swan wings, watched as they moved over the blue. The swan felt the warm weight of the woman resting on his

As I watched a miniscule bee traverse one kitchen tile back and forth, back and forth, he/she was clearly befuddled. A tiny voice tinkled out

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my darling MELANIE!!!! What you bring, who you are… there are no words, only music and awe and wonder that you chose ME

July 22, 1976…Excelsior, Minnesota Nine months pregnant, the weather was hot, the mosquitoes were feasting on every bit of flesh they could find, and I

Perhaps because I do not express my political opinions publicly, the supposition seems to be that I am uninformed….perhaps…because I have received at least TWO

My hood is inhabited by numerous Trump supporters as well as numerous non humans. It seems that the non humans are more tuned into the

Down by the sea, this elegant adorable spindly legged graceful creature struggled with itself over ‘Do I go into the water? Do I not go

The coast has been invaded by boisterous partying heat escapees. The pelicans do not seem pleased, the sea lions are keeping their distance and the

Yesterday evening,  standing on the edge of my bluff, beholding the golden light, soft winds and rustling leaves above the ever expansive sea and feeling that all really is well with the world in spite of…..

The Santa Anas have arrived in fulll glorious might resulting in a myriad of responses.

Tiny birds, as in so small that one could sit comfortably in the palm of one’s hand…

Meandering by the sea lions after a debacle with my bank….

Recently the words ‘ If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back at you’ crossed my path.

Sitting at a stoplight on PCH, a small creature that is not the usual four legged vagabond in this hood,  scampered out into the middle of the intersection…

Three days after the three days of isolation that the atmospheric deluge commanded.

During my flu recovery this week, I began watching a mystery and withiin the first five mnutes knew everything that would happen and who had DONE IT.  

This morning the word ‘apricity’ wafted through. Oh, hello! But it isn’t THAT chilly!

Is there a mouse in the house? or something bigger? or maybe under the house, trying to scramble in? 

January 6, Malibu, 2024

Epiphany Day, otherwise known as Three Kings Day.

Yesterday morning a teenager in crisis. This was the beginniing:

The prediction of torrential rain exploded joyful ecstatic impishness in my core yester eve …but…I will WAIT until the heavens have really let it rip before venturing forth on my bluff, says I.

As baby teeth loosened, popped out and found their way under the pillow, a winsome, poetry laden tooth brownie found his way to our home every single time, and left wee treasures, ALWAYS with a note scratched out on a tiny slip of paper.

As many know, decades pour moi in the healing arts:

Sitting at a traffic light in my blue Taurus station wagon on East Bay Street, in Charleston, contemplating how on earth I was going to pull off participating in the ‘Proprioceptive Writing Course” at The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York. I needed to do this.

May we learn to walk upon the earth

With the confidence and clear-eyed stillness of animals,

In the late 60’s, living in suburbia New York, my mother’s passion for ‘doing’ rose up with a no-turning-back vegeance and she announced that she needed to go back to India, to gather information on the famine so that she could write THE BOOK.

1970—Lexington, Massachusetts

Once upon a time ago, when I lived in NYC, my nest was half a block from Central Park and two blocks south of the Natural History Museum.

There is a turkey over yonder making a racket.

“I wandered lonely as a cloud…”

May you have friends who can see you, may your senses be windows of wonder and your mind a prism of spirit.

‘By the skin of my teeth’ floated through my so-called mind this morning as I pondered how on earth my existential reality is managing ever snce the writers’ strike obliterated my income.

For 22 days I have been on the receiving end of calls from Israel.

Late late, too late, I finally slipped into bed, opened the window and where was I? And when?

Time out this afternoon for a barefoot sea meander.

My stunningly brilliant, queen of communicating and passionate pianist mother was stroked at the age of 83.

Yesterday and last night the deluge…

A storm is coming and vibrations are dancing.

‘The color gold represents success, affluence and luxury, evoking a feeling of grandeur and sophistication.’

Feet in the ocean, after a few days of Maui despair and then a call from a young girl who lost her brother to opioid overdose.

Once upon a time ago in Sri Lanka, when the monsoon winds howled their way to our bungalow, my sister and I nodded to each other and headed for the beach at a breakneck speed.

There is a tribe of women in our midst that moves and grooves, inspires and solidifies future generations silently, with no recognition.

As the strike continues for this third month, we whose livlihood has depended on ‘the industry’ have been called to pull back burnered thises and thats to the forefront to handle our existential survival.

Somewhere in the recesses of my so-called mind, I can see and hear Clint Eastwood (r-e-a-l-l-y?)

Question:

How many memory triggers does one brain hold?

Oscar, my singing frog, has disappeared. I miss his rowdy presence but life does have a way of moving on in mysterious ways.

“I wonder as I wander out under the sky”…another gift from lifetimes ago when osmosis-ing hymns while sitting in pews was a Sunday happening.

This morning I was called to ‘be with’ three families that are hovering on homelessness as a result of the writers’ strike.

The re-location of a funky pet store and its bright blue-ness lured me yesterday.

Oberon. One day, while Obie and I were innocently standing on the sidewalk waiting for a red light to turn green, an animal psychic slid up next to us and said “Every dog has a soul mission. This dog’s mission is to bring gentleness to his male master.”

A few days ago, a heart stopping, soul vibing journey into the world that I grew up in, in South India, captured and carried me back into itself through Abraham Verghese’s book ‘Covenant of Water’….

Jose and Matilda, my guardian lizards, were sitting on my doorstep dreaming in their lizardy way, when wafting through the cosmos, 

Shifting winds, shifitng planet and the creatures that inhabit our bluff are dancing to the shifts!

Yesterday a stroll.

And what did I see?

This week has been one of my phone ringing non stop with people in crisis. Crisis? Disharmony with reality. Unacceptance of what is. Pain, frustration, outrage. Each one needing to vent and be heard.

In her late 80’s, my mother, having not only survived two massive strokes but also defied all odds by negating the prediction that she would never be  restored to being a recognizeable verison of herself in language or limb usage, would sit and say “I am of no use! I must be of use!” I listened and comforted her but now?

If you see me walking down the street…

There’s more to the Julius story…there’s an ‘after’ which is also a beginning. May I?

The parrots in my trees are raucous, chatty, screechy, non stop vibrationally wild, but this morning?

Julius had been born on the third floor of our funky green house by the sea in South Carolina and had been my best friend through the trials and tribulations of mothering my girls, following my dreams, facing dragons and meeting angels in every size and shape imagineable….he was my partner.

Fall, glorious fall!

Shhhhhh.

Avec my Saturday morning haferflocken (oatmeal, thank you, Norman!), I watch a children’s odyssey program and I inhale the most wondrous collection of intriguing tidbits.

Saint Exupery, a north star for me from wee-dom,  said: 

Pumpkin, pumpkin, what kind of word is pumpkin?

Rain! Rain! Rain!

Oh world, there you are, but wait a minute, Snake Medicine again?

As a girl in South India, my sister and I had the incredible good fortune to study with one of the prima bharatanatyam dancers in the country, as she was on maternity leave for two years.

Sitting, watching a giant hawk circle and glide in its magnificence while two baby hummingbirds innocently flit from blossom to branch to me.

I took a bath in the wind today

On June 4th, 1957, my mother, father, two older brothers, younger sister, nanny, and I, climbed the gangplank of the SS Mauretania in New York City, waving good-bye to my grandpa, who thought he would never see us again, as we were heading for exotic, mysterious India, on the other side of the earth.

The cold drink display in Whole Foods is in the very front of the store and impossible to ignore if one has one’s eyes open.

As my eight year old grandson, Huck, has a passion for snakes, and knowing that I had a weakness for all tortoise related creatures, I was coerced into watching a documentary on reptiles with him. 

Last week, a special friend of mine gifted me with an expedition to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

This afternoon, as I stepped out of Trader Joe’s heading for my car, a robust, shining African American man came out at the same moment, flung his arms open wide and said ‘What a beautiful day!

Once upon a time ago I created and directed a children’s theater company in Charleston, South Carolina.

The runniness of my morning egg triggered a rumbling in my memory banks.

In between life…as in taking a break from brain, I watch people….and specifically zero in on one particular person at a time who catches my eye and I wonder what it would be like to be that person.

The Jewish mafia shook up my life….for one day.

This afternoon I stopped at Santa Monica Seafood to see what was what in the way of dinner. 

From John Masefield’s ‘Sea Fever’ (thank you, Mom, for imprinting my being with poetry and literature galore!). These words ran through me in broken intervals for those eight years of being a gypsy:

In Hinduism, Brahma, the creator, sits on a lotus.

In 1970 I was working the night shift at a state institution in New Hampshire.

The road that leads from my bluff to civilization, swerves by a view of a canyon that opens on to the sea. Every single time I drive past this canyon, I flash back to a memory from my girlhood in India.