A flurry of good news!

First off, got a lovely end-of-the-year report from my daughter's preschool teacher. It begins with "X. excells in all areas of devlopment." It  goes up from there commenting on a range of things from her deep love of books to--get this--her INTEGRITY. "X. has a vast knowledge of people and issues in the environment that help form her solid sense of integrity." Or something like that. Lucky for you lj-ers that I don't have the report with me or I'd give you a full citation. Aren't proud parents like me insufferable?!

Secondly, we're moving. Goodbye to the interminable commute. Goodbye, I hope, to street violence. I feel a little guilty about the move. I'm leaving Santa Ana, but I don't intend to turn a blind eye to the social injustices I see around me. It seems that a lot privileged OC people want to pretend that the gardeners, maids, aids and nannies they hire on the cheap don't have to live somewhere in this overpriced region. Since 2004, 75% of loans in Santa Ana have been subprime. 80% of the city's residents are Mexican or Mexican American. Can you say modern-day red-lining?! The foreclosure signs are popping up all over like dandelions used to on my Virginia lawn.

Speaking of lawns, ours is in a bad way. Our failure to adjust has occured on many fronts--like the front of our house. Yikes! Every night now we announce, "time to waste Colorado's water," then dump gallons on the green. Or greenish brown. We replaced the dead azaleas in the back beds with native plants like Mexican lobelia, sunflowers, wild lilac and sage. Why don't more Californians use native plants? (Aren't pc know-it-alls like me insufferable?!) Well, wish us luck. We need to get the yard in shape before we leave.

Got some nice summer plans, including an arts workshop for the whole family and a camping trip to see the Sequoias. Originally I had planned to go back east for the entire summer. It's hard to describe the loss I've felt this year to folks who've never left their home region. I read lj entries like the one  <lj user = "jbknowles"> wrote about the bears on the road or look at <lj user = "cynthialord">'s husband's photos and feel a lump in my throat and a terrible longing for familiar greenery and running brooks. Ok, once or twice when looking at images of ice-covered everything I thought, "hey, short sleeves in February isn't so bad!" The robbery, the drive-by shooting, the hours lost behind the wheel have been stressful, but made much worse by the endless urban-suburban sprawl and palm-tree dotted brown vista that confronts me everyday. Gradually I've come to realize that I'd better find something pleasing about California because it appears that we are not going anywhere else anytime soon. So this summer is about discovery, about finding interesting things to do and places of beauty to offer me some consolation for my loss.

I got some writing done this week, but not enough. Before I get back to it, I want to mention a few books that I've recently read and liked. Two were recommendations from <lj user = "annemariepace">. Loved "A Drowned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama" and "Journey to the River Sea." Read them! Also, has anyone heard of this book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone?" I read it yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I predict a hit!