Divas vs. the goddess

I was with my young niece on a kid's horse ride outside a market and I asked her where she was going on the horse. 
"For a ride."
Where to?
"Whole Foods."
Me (after laughing for a moment):  "And what are you going to get at Whole Foods?"
"A special drink.  Something with coconut water in it.  And a special drink for the horse, too."


Favorite recent Facebook post (thanks Elise):
A man sitting outside Community Market, sighing, talking on his phone:  "Yes... there are a lot of divas in Sebastopol..."

"Mom, am I allergic to gluten-free?  Because I had gluten-free today."
My young niece has also taken to telling me, when I eat at her house, that something doesn't have dairy in it as I can't have dairy.  It is very sweet, and often I'm eating things such as steamed green beans or quinoa when I'm there.  But I did notice recently she informed me some black bean tacos didn't have dairy, and they actually had melted cheese.
I asked her if the rice and veggies were dairy-free and she said yes, which was true.  Then I asked her if ice cream is dairy-free and she said yes.
"Do you know what dairy is?"
"No," she said.  "What is it?"

And another from a woman I was helping out in the kitchen, preparing for a tantra workshop.  Another female flitted in and talked to us for a few minutes, using the word goddess liberally about others and herself.  When she left, I noted to the woman I was cutting mangos with:  "I don't think I could ever refer to myself as a goddess."
She chortled and replied, "I think most women who use the word goddess a lot are really talking about divas, not goddesses.  But don't repeat that here, this is not a diva-free zone." 
Which reminded me of a "historical" quote from a former co-worker and Sebastopol resident:  "I liked the word 'goddess' until I moved here."

There were many people around here in deep mourning for Harbin Hot Springs which was destroyed in the Valley Fire.  I did have my own humorous Harbin story, from years ago.  It was the first time I went, and having just moved to the northbay from Palo Alto I was still acclimating to Sonoma County.  It was a stretch for me to go, still shedding elements of the conservative religion I was raised in.  My friend said, "No pressure, just take a bathing suit and wear it.  Nobody will care."  I felt like I stuck out all day with the suit, and probably had more stares because I was actually clothed.  After a long afternoon sitting in the May sun I was in the changing room hiding in the corner.  Out of the blue, in the middle of changing (i.e. wearing next to nothing) a dude exclaims:  "Look at her sunburn!"  I didn't even realize he was talking about me until 30+ people turned around to look at my sunburn.  After walking around all day in a swimsuit, a one-piece no less, it was definitely unexpected to have dozens of people scrutinizing my tan line.  For me it wasn't the pools.  That was my Harbin baptism.  


(apparently my main hobby now is license plate gazing:)
MR MAPLE
MMOO MOO
NO GAS NO