Quote For The Day

” We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”

-Maya Angelou, poet (b. 1928)

Quote for The Day

“The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.” Buddhist quote

Buddha In The Backyard

Where are all these giant bumblebees coming from, with their tumbling into my kitchen before I awake to find them staggering or still in stupor?

Two seasons ago there was a dearth of their ilk and an anxiousness about their survival in years to come and here they are two to three times their large size to so big it seems unimaginable that they could take flight.  Each a Spruce Goose of the new millennium; worthy  and weighty of mention in pages from  Howard Hughes creations.

We catch them up off  floors and carpets from laundry room warmth to dining room coolness and cart their dizzy selves out to whoosh them into the greenery of hedges.  We perform these Buddhist rituals of catch and release back into the wilds of the suburban backyard.

A talk is in order with these giant fuzz balls of yellow and black with small wings and spindly legs.  It might go something like this:

“Hi. Nice to see you so robust this year. We thought we might never see you again and the flowers would miss you so much. There’s just this little thing we need to mention and please take no offense but we need to set out some boundaries for the safety of all concerned. Outside the human dwelling of house is the place for bees and insects.  The garden with all its flowers are waiting for your touch which helps them blossom to their fullest.  Inside the dwelling is for human residence.  It is best for coexistence if you confine your meanderings to the exterior places where you have greater freedom and lots to eat for your nourishment.  We thank you for refraining from coming inside the human home.  You are allowed to leave those quarters if you have already entered. Thanks for being and for being out in your element while we are in ours.”

Of course it occurs to me to hold up a can of Raid to show what the alternative could be…perhaps with a codicil of ‘you don’t sting me and you won’t get stung.’

it is a struggle to stay the path of best for all instead of fear of stepping on one in the middle of the night & winding up pain puffed in the E.R. getting slap jabbed with antihistamines.

Still we try to stay the middle path with honor for all.

The pair of Mallards who fly in each day to our backyard pool, which is still in the stage of more lovely, greenish, Monet pond than Summer splashing place, share the blue slate coping around its edges with the two cats who have adopted us up to the allowing us to feed them and provide shelter on our front porch.

These  sets of furred and feathered beings have found their own balance between drooling over a bigger and better meal than merely a medium size dive bombing Blue Jay from a safe distance for all concerned, to the odd crouching, stalking and sidling up for a leap wherein the ducks quack quack up a storm and hop without hesitation into the water to laugh at  the measly cat dreams dastardly dashed before the attack is launched.

Then the two felines have to make do with kibble and kind words from the humans and content themselves with dancing atop the fences between us and our neighbors; happily taunting the Great Dane next door into a deep throated barking frenzy in response to  kitty cat  ‘Nah nah! You can’t catch me’ cattitude.

One good turn of teasing deserving another.

We find everyone wants to get into the act when one of the gardeners tries to catch the ducks until he’s stopped mid ‘oh i just want to take them home with me’ gestures by our ‘no no’ wagging fingers and upraised eyebrows.

And now there are two spotted fat frogs in the pool who are way larger than tadpoles.  They swim and use the uncovered shallow end steps for concrete lily pad like sunning.

Butterfly wings are flitting across the yard and birdsong fills the air. sometimes so raucous as to prod the occasional human lapse of patience descent into ‘oh shut up already! I can’t think here!’

A large white heron alights for a brief, foggy afternoon visit and soars off on wide wings to the clouds, reminding us of the year the Christmas Crane and the Blue Heron stood outside our kitchen window; standing unmoving like 4 year old child size statues on the patio table Christmas and Thanksgiving Day morns.

Doves coo and owls whoo whoo..  Seagulls and pigeons spiral skyward.

We marvel at the myriad  Mother Nature parade in a patch of personal paradise so near the cityscapes so close to our community.

What will arrive next?

Bumble  bees are back and anything is possible.

It’s a jungle out there…and in here too.

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Thanks Martha

Sometimes gifts in a day are unexpected; softening the heart which may not have known was a bit clenched on automatic…

Like running into a friend one hasn’t seen in many years and spending a few minutes out of a busy day reconnecting in the warmth of the sun.

This pause refreshes not only the moment of meeting, it transcends that time frame and flows like a river of mmmmmmmmm into the rest of the day; leaving trails of smiles on the road to tomorrow.

Quote For The Day

“True teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create their own.” -Nikos Kazantzakis, poet and novelist (1883-1957)

The Gratitude Pool

Big G for what makes our world green and growing and flowers blooming all around us in the most unlikely places.

Rain!

Day In Haiku

Cascading petals

Covering green with pink snow

Cherry blossomly.

Living In The Leap

Many people have e mailed or phoned me describing ‘being ok’ yet feeling ‘ookie,’ blurry, ‘in a fog,’ ‘a bit off somehow;’ a feeling akin to rattling around in a suit of clothes that doesn’t fit right.

Schedules change and things lined up seem to go their own way no matter how hard one tries to keep it all together and on track.

Right thinking keeps taking a left turn and no matter how much gingko one takes, brain fuzz creeps in to shroud one in a mist of unclarity.

This can be moments, minutes or hours and recur with haphazard frequency, like what some call ‘senior moments’ and yet hit and run with age irrelevance.

Thank you all for having the courage to share openly so we all can see that none of us is going to die of terminal uniqueness and that six degrees of separation is probably down to the one right next to us.  There’s a cameraderie and community closeness in knowing that we are all experiencing variations on a theme and the Universe isn’t taking perverse pleasure in singling us out as the dunce.

I have had several days where I questioned, “Am I peaceful or depressed?”  And decided to simply be quiet and experience letting go of lists and have to’s and should’s.

Attempting to hold more rigidly to soldier-like footwork and expectations for outcomes, dancing as fast as I could, only left me feeling alternately frustrated, ineffective, exhausted  and a resident of the land of blah.

So, I decided to roll my shoulders gently, remember to breathe fully and deeply, pause in all my planning and allow the Universe to bring me better than I could imagine.  I went for balance and took it easy on myself for a change and allowed myself the wonder of wondering what was evolving to greet me with positive surprises instead of being anxious as to what might befall or behead.

I started each day with gratitude for being alive in a new day and for whatever healing had come my way while sleeping.  Thanking my body, no matter what state it was in, expanded the cells of my being with a soft glow-sort of like a smile.

Looking around and listening more than talking helped me notice the myriad delights around me.  Whether it was a bright red cardinal singing in the hedge near my car in the rain or a cup of coffee that tasted creamier than ever in the mid morning break; a taste sensation or the aroma of how grass smells new in dawn’s dew; whether the glint of sunlight on skin was seen and felt with a clearer, sweeter warmth which reached the body, going in to encompassed the heart and soul….all these experiences counted and added up to a fuller feeling of well being day.

I’m reminded that it is in these so called small moments, the Universe is bringing Highest Good to us; coordinating and working for our benefits outside linear time, in the flexibility of Angel Time.

In the feelings of what’s missing here? or why can’t I accomplish or have what I want and need right now?  or what’s wrong with this moment? there really is nothing wrong.  Something is running the bases and sliding into home plate for us or we are catching up to where things will be more perfect for us; a conjoining of elements which meet and make a perfect batter for a premium custom cake.

After all, we are petitioning Heaven for Highest Good-not the just ok good which isn’t bad- but the Highest Good-the best of the best- which we are all worth!

Might as well give the Universe time and credit for the space in between the spaces where creation is a-brewing.

So Dear Readers, please take heart.  We are living in the leap and, like the invisible path of Indiana Jones’ escape route across the abyss, merely awaited the sprinkling of pebbles and a bit of dirt to show it was there all along just waiting to be seen with the human eyes, breathe in.  Believing is seeing.  We are all connected in energy-and there is more than enough to go around for us all.