I looked upwards at the tall pine trees of the Prescott National forest, and could not frame them entirely in my camera's viewfinder.

They simply would not be framed entire!

''Look up,'', Laura cried, ''Take a picture of the tree tops!''

Only with head bent back completely, can you see the tops . . .

The path we followed traced alongside a creek. Its soothing sounds added to the charm of our sojourn. At one point, Laura saw a large rock of an 'island' in the creek's middle, and made her way to it.

Laura, in the middle of water . . .

We did not spend long on the path. We could have followed a branch that led who knows where, but Laura was beginning to tire, so we turned around and headed back to the car. We'd spent enough time to enjoy the cool pine scented air and the sights, anyhow.

Lunch was next on our minds. I'd thought of Prescott as a small town, but it's grown considerably. I spotted a Thai restaurant, a Peruvian restaurant, a couple of health food co-ops, a yoga new age store - it was apparent the new comers were not of simple rural tastes. Perhaps a good many were transplanted Californians. There was a air about the place of California without the smog and the crowding. We did not visit one of the exotic restaurants, but chose instead a Golden Corral. Yes, even Casa Grande has one of these 'homestyle' all you can eat places. But still, the food there is usually reliable. There are slight differences restaurant to restaurant. This one offered baked sweet potatoes as an option, which I took advantage of.

Well sated, we left for home. We did not want to be late to pick up Julia from work, and we weren't keen on encountering the Phoenix rush hour traffic. We made it back to the relatively flat arid desert lands of Casa Grande by 3:30pm. It was almost as if we'd magically transported there, having left Casa Grande so soon before, after we dropped Julia off at work earlier that morning.

Somehow, I felt as though I should look out our home's windows and see forest. It WAS a magical time. Several times on the path, Laura and I paused to hug and give each other long, lingering kisses. Something about that air brought out the romantic in both of us. We even stopped for a lengthy smooch outside of the restaurant. My 'brave' spontaneity surprised Laura. In town, I am usually not that demonstrative, perhaps a quick peck at best. But there was just something special about this day.

I will tuck these memories close to my heart, so I'll not lose them. Every once in a while, we are lucky. MAGIC happens. Thus it was this day.

Time waits. I don't wait so well.

The other part of the blame may go to frustration with this sense of being 'in limbo'. I've still not yet heard on that before-mentioned opportunity. There's nothing that can be done about either the weather or the waiting. So I will tackle some of those messy spaghetti covered dishes and then join Laura in bed. Perhaps I'll have better luck tomorrow.

The Barnes and Nobles, where we shopped the day before yesterday, doesn't carry the hearts - and - flowers endless passion type of cards so I was forced to improvise with another type of card. Thus, I chose one with these two cuddly prairie dogs, for they remind me of Laura and I when we're cuddly! Who knows, but perhaps cuddly animals feel much of what we feel when we're cuddly with someone we love. Okay, they may not have moments of beholding their partner with overflowing joy and wonder, but they seem to enjoy it nonetheless.

And so I'm wishing Laura the cuddliest and happiest birthday ever. One thing our relationship has always been rich in is cuddles. We may or may not always have had lots of what may be termed ''sizzle'', but we've never been deficient in simple, warm, comforting hugs and cuddles. The comfort of a hug says: ''I trust you, I feel safe in your arms. I know you love me and I feel secure in that. Whatever happens in our lives, we turn to each other for the love that nurtures.'' This is the bedrock that a relationship ultimately is based on. ''Sizzle'' may add its spark, but it's not what sustains a relationship in the long haul. Laura and I, through out our fourteen years together, have faced many things together. Yet, our deep love has sustained us. I'm grateful for all the good cuddles Laura and I, and Julia!, have shared.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

First I gathered the biggest pieces, putting them into a discarded food box in the trash, then took wet napkins to collect the increasingly smaller pieces until I could find no more glassy crumbs.

Fairly certain the floor was again safe for tender feet, I once again headed for the door and work, hopeful the broken glass was not indicative of how the night would be. In my lunch box rested a stainless steel mug. How I have enjoyed these durable mugs, as so many glass and porcelain cups have met their shattered end at my hand.

Once at work, chores proceeded a pace until I was filling the clear plastic canister that holds coffee beans ready for the grinder below. The unwieldy large silver bag got a little out of control and some of the brown oval pellets spilled all over the shelf. I tried to gather them into my hand, but several cascaded past it to land on the floor. No matter, I'd just sweep them into the dust pan.

Beans now in the pan, I took it to a wastebasket, where once again, they missed their designated destination to end up on the floor!

I swept them with a forceful flourish again into the pan, and finally they landed into the trash can. I would make sure to be extra cautious through out the day.

Those beans showed up later in a poem:

Why do I try? Because I'm so curious. However the mysteries will just have to wait . . .

Yet I've learned I'm still in the running for the thing I've been keeping under cover. Once more test, and soon I'll ''spill the beans''.

NO, I DID NOT GET THE JOB!!!!

I got through the oral board, and the team of three asking many varied questions. I got through the background check, but no, I did not make it through the vocal polygraph!

I held nothing back from that man. I revealed everything in my past, spilled more ''beans' than I ever have to a stranger. But still, my voice recorded signs of stress around certain subjects. I suggested to him that perhaps it was the very sense of shame I'd had in the past over two ancient ( over twenty, and nearly fifteen years ago) job firings that still caused my voice to have stress in it now, even now when I revealed those things, so many years ago in the past. I poured my guts out to him. I doubt he's ever had a more honest person in front of him. But because my voice showed signed of stress, then I must, perforce, be lying and withholding information from him!

This man has perfect, total, unwavering trust in this system. But I tell you, it is a fraud, and years from now, these tests will be proven to be inaccurate. They only record stress, they do not record the WHY of it. Therefore that man has no doubt approved many people who do not stress out, simply because they don't care about the things they've done. Lack of stress also has many reasons.

The test is BOGUS!

And so I'll be back on the hunt for a better paying job . . .

Sigh . . .

But, as I've said, the long wait is now over. There's relief enough in that.