OMHOG...I almost forgot Love Thursday ~ 04.30.09

(red banana coming out of hibernation...slowly)

I love this plant.

bear with me

(carving at the black bear diner)

We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.

~ Mohandas Gandhi ~

share the wealth

(trees in bend, oregon)

I knew Dollywood would be a great business for me, but I also knew it would generate a lot of money in that area and provide jobs. That's true success—when everybody's making money.

~ Dolly Parton ~

do what's right

(at lunch one day on vacation)

You should never let your fears prevent you from doing what you know is right.

~ Aung San Suu Kyi ~
Nobel laureate and leader
of the nonviolent movement
for human rights and
democracy in Burma

a time to heal

We are called to assist the earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own -- indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty, and wonder.

~ Wangari Maathai ~
Kenyan environmentalist, political activist,
and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

NEWS FLASH! Giveaway winner announced!

The winner of the Tshirt giveaway is...

[drum roll]...

Margie of soeurs du jour!

Margie, email me at whatwouldwandado@comcast.net to choose your shirt and tell me where to send it.

Thanks for joining the fun everyone.

work to be done

(see the diamond in the middle?)

As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from being free, there is work to be done.

~ Rosa Parks ~

a last look at wildlife and then i'm homeward bound

We must not only speak about forgiveness and reconciliation -- we must act on these principles.

~ Desmond Tutu ~

We started our day's adventure and stopped before we left the resort to take pictures of these...

(two of about 8)

They are already much bigger than they were earlier in the week when we first spotted them.

(vigilant parent watching over them)

On to Pilot Butte, where we had a 360 degree view of the Cascades and the spectacular mountain peaks.

(the sisters...appropriate, don't you think?)

After a brief stop at Smith Rock (where I didn't take any pictures), we continued on to Richardson's Ranch. It was closing time when we got there so we only had a brief tour of the rock shop; however, the owner graciously told us we were free to look around outside. While we toured the specimens of rock, we were entertained by peafowl.

Only one of the males opened his tail. He was running straight toward me when he did it. Peacocks can be aggressive, so I removed myself from his path before I even thought about getting the camera from my bag. By the time I realized he (and his buddy) were following a peahen, the opportunity had passed--once again. So I contented myself with taking posed pictures of the other guys.

(sooc blue)

This is not really a headless peacock. This shows the extent of the tail feathers in unexpanded mode.

(that tail looks like a heavy load to me)

Emus make a sound like a drum. I had never heard them before. I guess it is their chirp. This one came to the fence and "talked" to me. I think it was feeding time.

(don't you just love that face?)

Emu feet are positively prehistoric...



This guy never moved.


Next post from home.

If you haven't already...remember to enter the giveaway!

things i learned at the pool...

(the water at Kah-Nee-Ta)

1. There is more than one way to be an asshole.

2. I would rather deal with 30 excited and exuberant fourth graders than two thirty-something adults who won't follow the rules...

3. Or six twenty-something foreign visitors who think making big splashes on their girlfriends is worth splashing and soaking everyone else in the pool...and all of their dry clothing outside the pool (read "me" and "mine").

4. Ninety-six degree water is warm enough to dispel 50 degree air.

5. Mineral water heals.

6. Being the only person in the pool is heavenly--even if only for a few minutes.

7. Ten 9-year-old boys and two dads executing a simultaneous cannonball create a tsunami.

8. They still splash less than the 20-somethings mentioned in #3.

9. I can still be cranky in idyllic conditions when surrounded by the oblivious.

10. Nine year old boys are still sweet and unjaded enough that a stranger (me) can ask if he wants to do her a favor (place her sunglasses on the chair) and he will say yes and when the stranger says "thank you," he says, "you're welcome."

Love Thursday ~ 04.23.09: for earth day + giveaway reminder

Since I missed it yesterday...Love the planet.

Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness, and pride of power, and with its plea for the weak. Christians are doing too little to make these points clear ... Christendom adjusts itself far too easiliy to the worship of power. Christians should give more offense, shock the world far more, than they are doing now.

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer ~

Wednesday's deer sighting...

Eight of them!

Bedding down for the night.

Just a reminder to enter the giveaway by Sunday 5:00 PM PST--in response to this post.

new meaning to "don't make me call my sister"

According to research*, people who have sisters are happier. You know what I say to that? Duh.

Seriously, when there is a girl child in the family, everyone communicates more about feelings and what is happening. The relationships are deeper and issues get worked through.

So thank your sister. And if you don't have a bio sister, choose one. We all need sisters in our lives.

While you are at it, enter a comment on yesterday's post and win the Tshirt giveaway. That's what I'd do.


*Sources:
The Telegraph (April 3, 2009)
British Psychological Society Annual Conference (Brighton, United Kingdom, April 1-3, 2009)

response to missed photo op + giveaway!

In response to yesterday's post, I received this comment:

Fogged in

Visibility under one-quarter mile

Big fat fly

Buzzing around in front window

Non-descript gray bird

Pecking for food

In the grass

Camera on the table

No batteries

I loved it. It cracked me up and that set me to thinking. I'd like to have you all share a poem, an extended haiku, a free verse--something you wrote about a missed opportunity (photo or otherwise). Make it funny, poignant, silly, absurd, real--your choice. Leave it in the comments and I will pick a random commenter to receive a Tshirt of your choice from the options on the right. Two options that are not pictured include "Don't Make Me Call My Soeur" (for my Canadian friends) and "Don't Make Me Call Your Sister" (for those of you who don't have a sister--born or chosen).

Since I am out of town, I will choose the commenter at random on Sunday the 26th at 5:00 p.m. PST. I can't wait to read your entries.

To make up for the missed op, the deer arrived in the back this morning, giving me ample opportunity to shoot them--photographically, of course.






This was over my deck railing. They really did get this close:

missed photo op

Sunday morning
Top down
Headed for adventure
Not one
Or two
But six

Deer

In the neighbors' yards

All seemed young
Yearling sized

One had antler bumps
He looked up
When I noticed them
And spoke to him
Then went back to grazing

Good grass here

My camera
In the bag

thought i was screwed

You can do anything you want to do as long as you keep a good attitude and keep working at it. But the second you give up, you're screwed.

~ Dolly Parton ~

...but I didn't give up.

I am on vacation this week. I didn't know if I would be able to upload pictures or my blog. My first attempt, I said, "I give up." And then I didn't. Hallelujah--pictures and blog seem to upload.

i love dolly

I have a place of worship in each of my homes. Even in my apartment, I have a little pray-do where I can kneel. I pray as I walk around, but it's a way to remind you that it ain't gonna hurt you to get on your knees and humble yourself before God.

~ Dolly Parton ~

The latest AARP Magazine printed an interview with Dolly. Go ahead and click the link to read. What an amazing woman! I love her tenacity, common sense, sense of humor, and self-confidence. You'll be seeing more quotes from her here.

I also love The Muse of South Prairie. Go on over and read her latest essay/post. Dolly ain't got nothin' on her--except a few million dollars. And after you read it, go on...shake your booty. That's what I'd do.

Tell Pesticide Peddlers: We support Michelle Obama's organic garden.

From TrueMajority.org

Dear Friend,

The Mid America CropLife Association (MACA) has a bone to pick with Michelle Obama. MACA represents chemical companies that produce pesticides, and they are angry that - wait for it - Michelle Obama isn't using chemicals in her organic garden at the White House.

I am not making this up.

In an email they forwarded to their supporters, a MACA spokesman wrote, "While a garden is a great idea, the thought of it being organic made [us] shudder." MACA went on to publish a letter it had sent to the First Lady asking her to consider using chemicals -- or what they call "crop protection products" -- in her garden.

I just signed a petition telling MACA's board members to stop using Michelle Obama's garden to spread propaganda about produce needing to be sprayed with chemicals. I hope you will, too.

Please have a look and take action.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/wh_garden/?r_by=-2003055-elkVfHx&rc=paste

Thanks!

Love Thursday ~ 04.16.09

Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.

~ St. Augustine ~

virtue

Virtue means doing the right thing, in relation to the right person,
at the right time, to the right extent, in the right manner, and for
the right purpose. Thus, to give money away is quite a simple task,
but for the act to be virtuous, the donor must give to the right
person, for the right purpose, in the right amount, in the right
manner, and at the right time.

~ Aristotle ~

explanation and update

Apparently, the sign in yesterday's post doesn't make sense unless you understand that I live in the Pacific Northwest. I love bamboo and tropical plants. I have several tropicals in my yard, so when I saw the sign at Cistus, a wonderful nursery on Sauvie Island, I knew that explained my "disorder."

Here's the latest on the garden:

(herbs)

(lots of other stuff)

(celery)

(red leaf lettuce)

(romaine)

And now for the bamboo update! Get a load of this:

(the new shoot is the one in the foreground--it is now at least 18 inches tall)

No other new shoots have been spotted to date. If it ever stops hailing and the sun comes out, I am sure the next ones are just waiting to pop through the surface.

i've got it...bad

Welcome back from the weekend, everyone. I hope you are all being "passed over."

happy easter

"It makes you feel better about your own success if you don't just hoard all that money. I always pray to God, 'Well, give me enough to share and enough to spare.' "

~ Dolly Parton ~

raise your hand

God has no other hands than ours.

~ Dorothee Sölle ~
German theologian and writer, Suffering (1973)

i probably shouldn't post this picture...or this quote

(I am starting to place peanuts in the crook of "Frank's" arm so the squirrels will get used to going there to eat. I am hoping to start getting some pictures of him holding them. I guess you could say my timing was off.)

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: "No good in a bed, but fine against a wall."

~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~

You gotta love that woman.

love thursday 04.09.09 ~ oh, what relief!

What a tremendous relief it should be...to discover that we don’t need to prove ourselves to God.

~ Desmond Tutu ~

yes...what then?

(calla lily)

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?

~ George Eliot ~
Middlemarch (1871)

transformation

These...

...became these...

(daffodil)

The first principle of nonviolent action is that of

noncooperation with everything humiliating.

~ César Chávez ~

Bamboo shoot update:


Compare it to this. Today, after two days of 75 degree weather, the shoot is 7 inches tall. Two days ago, it was about 4 inches tall. Now it is past the third knuckle. No new shoots on any of the other plants so far.

what would wanda drink?

(aquarium at harbour towers hotel, victoria, bc)

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.

~ W.C. Fields ~

How about you? What do you drink? Oh, come on...share with us.

3rd party csa

Do you know what a CSA is? It's Community Supported Agriculture. In a traditional CSA, a farmer sells "shares of the farm" and the shareholders receive a portion of the crop. It is a great way to get fresh organic vegetables and fruits and a good way for farmers to stay in business in this economy.

For a couple years, we were "sharecroppers" with a CSA in the region. This year, they decided not to continue to serve the area in which we live. I'm not sure why, probably because it involved trucking the produce a couple hours and gas prices continued to rise. Also, they may have had enough customers in their immediate area that they were able to meet everyone's needs (theirs and their customers) much closer to home.

We were left with "What to do?"

S.O. did the research and came up with "Your Backyard Farmer"...right here in our area. YBF provide several different levels of service and this year, we are having them do the whole thing. They prepare the area, irrigate, plant, harvest, and send us recipes. Works for me. Maybe next year, we will go up a level and have them teach us how to begin working the farm ourselves.

(our garden plot...or farm close to home)

(the cardboard kills the grass and they don't have to do
the back breaking work of removing the sod--plus,
they participate in recycling by having a relationship
with a local appliance store and take their
large boxes off their hands)

(step two: bean poles and pea vines are up)

I have a purple thumb myself. I've never been very good at keeping plants alive so this is a whole new adventure for me. I am so looking forward to having live food--fresh, organic, live food.

I'll keep you posted with pictures along the way.

OUTRAGE

If you haven't yet, please go here. And then go here.

And then, write or call your congress people.

Because if these bills pass...what will it mean to this?

(our organic third-party csa garden)

More to come about the garden.

bamboo update

If you compare this:



...to this:



...you'll see that the shoot has grown a couple more inches. In the first picture you can't even see the knuckle joint. In this one? Way past.

Oh, this is going to be a fun spring and summer...

...if it ever stops raining...

...and the sun ever comes out.

They say it will be 70 degrees this weekend and that should bode well for more new shoots. Stay tuned.