Shake It Out, Baby

First it was the Great Handcar Regatta. Then it was the Blessing of the Animals. Now it is going to be the Great California Shake Out. But wait--I forgot to bring you up to date with the local version of Blessing the Animals.

When I was a church organist I hated the Sunday when people brought their critters to church. Most of the pets were dogs, a cat or two but ALWAYS a snake or rodent. Those creatures inevitably belonged to 9 year old boys who felt compelled to shove the freshly-blessed trap bait up at my face while I tried to keep playing "All Things Bright and Beautiful."

But here in SeniorLand there is a winery nearby called the St. Francis winery and it seems only natural that instead of a church the Blessings should take place in the winery courtyard. And what an upgrade that turned out to be! There were HUNDREDS of people there and almost as many animals. How "sonoma-ish" can it get? Every breed of dog, a few exotic animals like a camel and macaws, wine tasting, wine buying, hired pooper-scoopers in uniforms, beautiful scenery.....sure beats bad hymns, inside and a long sermon!

I did have some coordination problems. While I can drive, use the cell phone(but never text), put on lipstick and manage a Starbucks latte, I could not handle a 70 pound Labradoodle, the new heavy camera, take pictures and do wine tasting. I never thought the wine tasting would have to go but since Mr T opted out for a hike, I was stuck --no wine. The line for animal blessing was long but the company was lovely. I think it was long because most dogs insisted on drinking the holy water as they were sprinkled so the supply had to be renewed about every 10 blessings. All in all, it was a very civilized event.

But now comes the really exciting civic involvement--I have been asked to be a "victim" in the Great California Shake Out next Saturday. This is going to be the biggest Pretend Earthquake ever. Of course, in my mind, it is very bad luck to do this. It was like Chevron naming their drilling platform in the Gulf "Typhoon" and then being surprised when Katrina smashed it to pieces. What do you expect when you tempt fate like that?

In any event, I am to be an earthquake victim, taken to the triage area, given a dread diagnosis and transported to the emergency care center. My only requirement was that I have no broken arms so I can photo-doc this entire Shake, Rattle and Roll. Meanwhile I need to practice my moaning, shrieks, and swooning. The pretend earthquake is supposed to be a doozy so maybe a few drinks from the wine from the Blessing of the Animals will make things more authentic when it comes to swaying and stumbling around. More to follow--I wonder if Hollywood will have agents watching.

http://www.shakeout.org/

(Sorry there weren't more pictures. After the first photo, I could only get "Server Error" messages.)