love thursday 07.14.11 ~ as i have loved you

(mijo)

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

John 15:12

Well, that's clear.

I have my good days and my bad days in the Year of the Beloved on the Love for No Reason at All path. Doesn't that commandment sound like "no reason at all"? Just because. Because you exist. Period.

Oh, man. Lately, the best I can do is remember to add it. Love still does not supersede my impatience or frustration. However, at this stage, even when I recognize those in myself and add the Love, that changes my impatience and frustration. It changes me.

I like that. And I am looking forward to the days when I start there.

You know, if everyone were orange and fuzzy (see above) this would all be a lot easier.

that's how the beloved works

(yep...again)

You can never bring about the Kingdom of God by means of fear (see Romans 14:16-17). It is not by definition the Kingdom of God if it is brought about by fear or coercion, but a mere Pax Romana maintained by force and power. It is not the peace of Christ at all.

God allows and respects the freedom of creatures, even to the point of allowing rebellion and blasphemy against God! Inner freedom is a prerequisite for all virtue, just as it is of sin. This is God’s great risk—and God takes it—refusing to use dominative power to force his will, even in the presence of evil. This is really quite amazing, humble, and patient of God.

Richard Rohr

I thought the year of the Beloved would be more...warm and fuzzy. Not so much.

Car problems, cat problems, computer problems, work problems, weather problems...and more. Right down the list. I guess this is my opportunity to be in love with the Beloved for no reason at all. It's certainly not because I am receiving lavish gifts and being kept in the manner to which I hope to become accustomed.

Today begins the Fourth Night of the 9th wave of the Mayan Calendar. This 18 day period is about expansion of the new energies. I think of the "nights" as introverted times where we complete the work of the previous "day" and get ready for the next day. We've come through the introduction and the resistance. The Fourth Night is about incorporating all the energies that have come in so far, getting ready for the budding and bearing of new fruit in the next day.

I'll be sitting over here, continuing to love for no reason at all--working to find peace and equilibrium in the midst of it all.

I wish peace, equilibrium, and lots of the Beloved for you, too.

shhh...healing in process

All is well. He is getting pain meds every 12 to 15 hours. He can do stairs. He can still play aluminum foil soccer.

The sound of cars scares him and he runs in the house. That's good.

Once his hair grows back he'll be his old self again.

let patients help

Become an e-patient:

simon lewis @ ted

Amazing on so many levels...not the least of which is the low standard our medical system sets for discharge. But look what more can be done for people...

and now for something completely different...

"there is no wrong way to have a body"

Everyone who has one must read this.

love thursday 07.07.11 ~ happy birthday, brother

(me...in the pea patch eating from the vine)

You need not think alike to love alike.

Francis David

I am learning much from Love For No Reason at All, including the reality of the quote above. If we can't and don't love in spite of our differences, we are still not getting the "no reason" part.

I have a habit of thinking that people I know and love tend to agree with me. Then, when I find out they disagree, I am often shocked. It's good for me to be shocked. It's good for me to know that I love them even when we don't agree. I hope they still love me, too.

I don't know how my brother feels about blogging. I don't know if he even knows I have a blog, so I am not posting a picture of him here, in spite of the fact that I am celebrating him.

There are some things we agree about. Some we don't. One thing we do agree about is that we love each other. How does it get better than that?

Happy birthday, big brother. (Just as a side note, I often mistype "brother" as "bother." Hmm....) I do love you and I hope you have a great day followed by many more great years.

want

Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches as to conceive how others can be in want.

Jonathan Swift

Today I discovered that the a/c in my car blows hot air. The sheets on my bed have holes in them.

I have more sheets. I can put the top down.

May your wants be wants and not needs.

misi

(misi @ 17)

Peace is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.

Thomas Merton

Misi doesn't get much air time. Part of that is because she doesn't like to be seen. She rarely holds still long enough for me to take a picture and she would rather be under the bed than in front of the lens. But she is lovely. She is dainty and sweet--then out of nowhere she will let loose with a blood curdling scream for no apparent reason. I don't know. Maybe she is singing.

She turned 17 this month. For a cat, she is approaching the age they call "extreme geriatric." Human equivalency would put her in her 80s. I hope she lasts a long, long time. And I hope she is at peace here and now.

Update: HoneyBoy is doing well. The staples come out today. Mijo is doing well, too. He's been pissed off that we make him come in early, but the fireworks have been relentless and we don't want him to get spooked and run into danger. We will all be glad when the explosions stop.

my morning of cats

(sitting on the edge of my bed, i look to the right and see
misi, fresh out of the hot box, staring at mijo
doing full-otter in the hallway)

(to my left, honeyboy sleeps in his own little blue cocoon)

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?

Henry David Thoreau

I wonder what it would be like to look through their eyes. I wonder about the emotions they feel--and yes, I do think they feel emotions. Perhaps they are not driven by them like many humans are, but they do experience them.

Since HoneyBoy's accident, he has been more affectionate with me. Some of it is probably the endorphins of his pain meds. Some of it, I believe, is because he knows we are taking care of him and I think he appreciates it.

What I know is that these beautiful and wonderful creatures bring great pleasure and companionship to my life. I know that everyone is not an animal person. Maybe you aren't. Maybe you don't know what it might be like to look through my eyes in this instance. I do hope, however, that you have some pleasure that is comparable to mine.

May the Freedom of the Fourth be with you!

update on love for no reason at all

(a few of my favorite things: french press coffee on the
front porch on a summer morning, hawaiian prayer
flags, banana, and purple clematis...oh, yeah--and sun)

If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.

Dolly Parton

At the butcher counter this evening, after preparing our purchase, the man behind the counter said, "Have a blessed weekend."

At the deli counter, the man who weighed my order called me "dear."

I went to the check stand to claim my bottle deposit refund. "I have 137 bottles," I said.

"Oh, thank you for counting them! I could just hug you."

"Okay."

"Really?" said the checker in high pitched disbelief. "I really needed a hug."

So we did.

I guess what goes around comes around.

update on the three c's

My computer is home, but not fixed. I have a "loaner" external display. Two trips to the computer store to get it all working, but at least I can now do what I need to do on my own machine. Theoretically, they will call me next week when the part is in. Having their monitor increases the likelihood that I will hear from them.

On another note, the battery is completely dead. So dead that it was interfering with the machine's ability to boot up. Will. Not. Charge. That's how dead it is. Sitting in the shop for two weeks not being plugged in completely drained it beyond redemption. So, now I get to buy a new battery, too. Sigh.

When I left the computer shop, my car wouldn't start. This is an ongoing, intermittent problem. Unfortunately, the replacement of the alternator earlier in the week didn't fix that, too. Oh, well. It runs. I am grateful. When this happens, I just take the key out and reintroduce it to the car--remind them they know each other.

The cat improves daily. The incision is looking well-healed. We have been able to spread his pain meds out a bit. He's getting around better all the time. We found out he can run, too, even though he is not supposed to. We were outside. He was wearing his collar and leash, as per instructions. A car went by and scared him. He ran. I didn't have a good enough grip. He took off into the greenspace and I did what I always do in those situations. I swore.

Fortunately, he was easy to catch. I expect it didn't feel very good once he stopped running. That was a lot of effort and he is not supposed to run or jump for another week. Here's hoping he didn't hurt anything.

None of the three c's is well. All are workable and improving. And for now...that's as good as it gets.

second friday this week

I swear, all day yesterday was Friday. I like Fridays so if I am going to have two of anything, this is a good day to double up.

I'm picking up my computer this morning. "Oh, they fixed it!" you say.

No...not so much. I insisted that I have it back because I have deadlines to meet and my anxiety level is rising steadily. They'll call me when the part is in. Yes, the bulbs that will allow me to see the screen.

I asked if they have an external display that they could rent to me for the duration. I think they are actually going to loan it to me.

I decided before I called them today that I would practice Love For No Reason at All. My computer isn't fixed, but I have a short term solution and I feel better about all of it.

That counts.

love thursday 06.30.11 ~ love and compassion

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

Dalai Lama

Recently, I read Love For No Reason at All. It was not unlike many other books I've read over the years about lovingkindness and choosing love in all situations. For some reason (or no reason at all), this book got through to me at a new level. Maybe it was the book. Maybe I was just ready.

Whatever.

I have a new practice. When I get frustrated or angry at someone in traffic, for example, I express myself through expletives then I catch myself and say, "And I love you for no reason at all."

Perhaps one day I will go directly there as my default

wednesday will be even better

How do I know? It's massage day.

I.

Am.

So.

Ready.

tuesday has to be better

On the way home from work Monday night my car quit. My computer is still in the shop. My cat is...see the previous posts.

Is it too late to choose door number one?

grateful

(banana with clematis in bloom)

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.

Luther Burbank

I look forward to returning to mundane conversations instead of convalescent reports. However, in the meantime, the convalescent is doing quite well. We are able to space out the pain meds a bit. He spent the afternoon on the bed with me, wrapped in my down comforter. He's eating and drinking, and all bodily functions are "go".

I am grateful. These days, gratitude is top of the list.

What are you grateful for? I'd love to hear.

learning to live with disability

the garden

You know how bad you feel when you didn't know your cat was under your feet and you step on him?

Imagine your cat has only 3 legs, is newly out of surgery, finds moving to be painful, and still isn't very steady.

Sure, I was barefoot and didn't kick him hard. But it didn't take much to knock him off his one good back leg.

Yep. That's how awful I feel.

he's home

Except for the collar and the little bit you can see of his partially shaved tail, you'd never know from this picture the trauma he's been through in the last 48 hours.

We got home about 5:00 on Friday. He got himself out of the crate and proceeded to make his wishes known. He headed straight for the kitty door...which I had locked. Then he tried to hop up on the dining room chair...which I prevented. Next he went to the stairs...which I body-blocked by sitting on the bottom step. He lay down and sized up the situation, looking for the openings...which he found. I intercepted him, but he was not going to be deterred. Finally, I convinced him to let me carry him upstairs.

He is not supposed to run, jump, lick, or climb stairs for two weeks. We'd been home less than an hour and he'd tried them all. On one hand, that its a very good sign. On the other, this could be a long two weeks for the humans.

Once upstairs, he tried to crawl in his favorite cubby to sleep. With the collar and missing one hind wheel, he couldn't navigate getting in and turning around like he ideally does. He lay on the floor by it and slept for almost an hour. In catly fashion, having slept that spot dry, he headed for his next favorite perch--the office chair in my room--and once again, I interfered. Persuading him to let me help, I lifted him up on the chair where he remains almost four hours later.

And we are watching him like a hawk lest he try to get himself down.

He's doing well on pain meds every six hours. We will decrease them as he can tolerate and we have good markers to recognize when pain increases.

Welcome home, HoneyBoy. Thanks, everyone, for your support and prayers.

honeyboy update

HoneyBoy (and all the rest of us) had a hard day. Here's the short version:

He came in the house about 11:30 on Wednesday night with a badly injured back leg. We packed him up and took him to the emergency vet clinic as quickly as we could get there without causing any of us more harm or injury.

The vet on duty (who used to work at my regular vet clinic) said it would take him a couple of hours to clean him up and splint it. We could wait or go home and come back in the morning. We chose to go home...and pretend we could get some sleep. HA!

He called shortly after we got home and said that the leg was not viable. It couldn't be saved because vasculature was too badly damaged and without circulation, the tissue would die.

SO and I picked HoneyBoy up Thursday morning and took him to the regular vet where they did the surgery in the afternoon. He came through the surgery fine. We picked him up at the vet clinic and took him back to the ER to spend the night on IV fluids and pain meds. This morning we'll take him back to the regular clinic to spend the day and after work will bring him home.

We are exhausted. Everyone we talk to or read tells us that cats manage very well with amputation and it is harder on their humans than on them. I hope that is true. I hope it is easier on him.

Thanks for all your prayers. We appreciate continued good wishes for him in his healing.

May you be blessed.

love thursday 06.23.11 ~ honeyboy prayers

Please pray for HoneyBoy. He apparently got hit by a car and is having surgery today. I will let you know more later.

The whole family thanks you.

summer list

Things that made me feel good today:

Freshly shaved legs.

Kitties coming in when called.

Mowing, edging, blowing, and even whacking the ditch.

Dinner on the porch.

Seeing a friend...though brief.

Fixing a computer issue and having the parts on hand to do it.

Finally getting communication from the shop that has my computer and learning that it can be fixed.

Receiving a check in the mail.

Sitting outside at 10 p.m...in the warmth and twilight.

Sun...on the first day of summer.

And you?

summer

The earth has received the embrace of the sun and we shall see the results of that love.


Sitting Bull

Because some of it has finally arrived here...on this first day of summer! Hallelujah!

almost two

Three days without my computer...

...but I still have my kitties.

another day of this

Ergo (don't you just love that word?), I didn't get much accomplished...including writing. To those of you who gave me prompts or resources for prompts, thank you. I will check out the links and respond to the prompts.

I will be without my computer for a few more days so it may take me a while to get oriented. I am using my Droid and a loaner computer in the meantime and I am a bit discombobulated. (Try writing that word with Swype!)

Have a happy sabbath, Sunday, and/or Father's Day...or Feather's Day, according to Swype.

exhaustion

Like he, I am exhausted. I hope to be striking a similar pose soon.

My computer is in the hospital. Maybe for a week. I will be challenged, using my Droid to post.

Bear with me...please.

prompts

All of you who are writers...

How do you get started?

What motivates you?

I would very much appreciate anything you have to share.

And if you are so inclined (whether you consider yourself a writer or not), I'd love it if you'd give me a prompt. I'll see what I can do with all that are left for me--either as a comment or an email.

I thank you in advance.

carl calleman on the mayan calendar

Some of you have expressed an interest in the Mayan Calendar. This is an interview with Carl Calleman who is an expert on the Calendar. He is the one who has stated that the calendar ends on October 28th of this year. That's right...2011.

The 2012 date, he says, has no meaning and that whatever happens will be a process--not an event.

I think that he is describing evolution--biological and spiritual.

See what you think:

if you eat, you must watch this

I'm on her team...

midnight at the oasis

appearances

(pilot light)

A monk of the Thebaid received from God the grace of ministry, to serve the poor as they had need. In a village once he happened to be holding a love-feast. A woman dressed in rags came up to him to receive her share. When he saw the rags, he meant to take a great handful, so as to give her a big helping: but his hand was kept nearly shut, and he took only a little. Another, well-dressed, woman came up and, seeing her clothes, he meant to take a little handful for her but his hand was opened, and he took a big helping. So he asked about the women, and found that the well-dressed woman had been a lady who had sunk to poverty and still dressed well because she felt that she had a standard to maintain for her family. But the other had put on rags so that she would receive more.

The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

The pilot light on the fireplace puts out plenty of warmth for a furry orange-ness on a rainy day. He never worries about what to wear.

security

Security is mostly a superstition.

It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

Helen Keller

Security is a myth. Beauty is reality.

quality and equality

Quality is good for ice cream. Equality is good for the soul.

Ben & Jerry

solutions

Peace is not just the mere absence of violence or disturbance. It's when there is a possibility of conflict, but you deliberately avoid violence and adopt methods to solve the problem through peaceful means. That is real peace.

Dalai Lama

love thursday 06.09.11 ~ love.

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

Mother Theresa

thank you

If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is "thank you," that would suffice.

Meister Eckhart

message of peace

guitar players

A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.

Leopold Stokowski

I know this is the wrong response, to the following video--but I may never pick up my guitar again....

merton

"…for nonviolence seeks to 'win' not by destroying or even by humiliating the adversary, but by convincing [the adversary] that there is a higher and more certain common good than can be attained by bombs and blood. Nonviolence, ideally speaking, does not try to overcome the adversary by winning over [them], but to turn [them] from an adversary into a collaborator by winning [them] over."

Thomas Merton

from Faith and Violence: Christian Teaching and Christian Practice

borrowed planet

And there’s something else that always irritates me. There’s a saying, “We haven’t inherited this planet from our parents, we’ve borrowed it from our children.” When you borrow, you plan to pay back. We’ve been stealing and stealing and stealing. And it’s about time we got together and started paying back.

Jane Goodall

jane v jane

(zippy, not cheetah)

I was so jealous of that other wimpy Jane. I knew I would have been a better mate for Tarzan myself. I was jealous!

Jane Goodall

I rather wanted to be Cheetah, myself. Or Tarzan--so I could have Cheetah for my own chimp. That's probably how I came to want Zippy and love him so much.

How about you? Who did you want to be?

love thursday 06.02.11 ~ love the difference

Here's the article.

That's right love the difference.

And you know what? We're all different.

Truth.

higher order

(black bamboo shoots)

Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.

Wendell Berry

I've been ruing the fact that I am driven by biology--somewhat like the rats and roaches. So much is required to keep the form working.

Like eating. I love food--don't get me wrong. But it takes a lot of time to find food, prepare, and eat it. Why can't we just eat once a week? Or even once a day....

Showers--I mean, really. Some days I just don't even want to get wet.

Sleep? Mini death every night? And theoretically it takes up 1/3 of your life.

But Justice and Mercy--those are always welcome and always in season. Surely. Goodness, too.

post memorial day post

When it shall be said in any country in the world, "My poor are happy...the streets free of beggars, the aged not in want, the taxes not oppressive, the rational world is my friend because I am a friend of happiness," then may that country boast of its constitution and government.

Thomas Paine

I missed it, but it is never to late to be grateful for those who give and serve. I remember. We remember. And we need to take care of them.

We also need to take care of the rest of us. It would be a cryin' shame if we didn't...after all they've done for us to get us this far.

red convertible

Red convertibles are popular in our neighborhood. This one belongs to my three year old neighbor...the one who shared his M&Ms with me of his own volition.

Isn't it sweet of his mom to let him park his car in the garage and leave hers in the driveway?

under our skin

Watch it.

recognizing limitations

(rainy day kitty sleeping spot)

I went in with the youthful vigor that I could single-handedly change the world. But you fast come to the realization that you're 1/435th of one-half of one-third of the government.

Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX)

on first-year Republican members of Congress finding
out how difficult it is to get things done in Washington

That's how it is. We all have limitations. Some are more obvious than others, but that shouldn't stop us. We just need to know what they are so we can work around them or within them or to change them.

I have often thought about this issue in our government. We all want things to change, but even with the best of intentions, one person can't do it. It takes a village. Sometimes that village is the whole country.

i planned to mow

Not until Sunday now, it seems.

Sit with God as you might with the ocean. You bring nothing to the ocean, yet it changes you.

Sean Caulfield

love thursday 05.26.11 ~ open heart

(banana is happy)

Loving people doesn't mean you have to enjoy their company, want to see more of them, or even respect their values. It means you're willing to keep your heart open to them, show them compassion, and accept them for who they are.

Marci Shimoff

Wrap your head around that if you will. I'm working on it. Believe me...I'm working on it.

Happy Love Thursday....

bus ride

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.

Oprah Winfrey

Tonight, I get to go to dinner with a friend I know would ride the bus with me. (I have a couple like that.) We're going out for Ethiopian at a place neither of us has been before.

SO is out of town, tending to an ailing parent. Amazing how much we get used to having someone around. I do pretty well during the day--getting things done that need to be handled...running errands, doing chores...that kind of thing. When evening rolls around, the house is very quiet and...well, watching movies alone is not the same at all.

Just a couple more days.

Any of you want to take a bus ride with me?

on being wrong

So...what have you been wrong about today?

a radical experiment in empathy

behold...the washing machine!

Who wouldn't want one of those?

good for all

The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain, is floating in midair, until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.

Jane Addams

Love Jane Addams. In fact, we should know a lot more about most of our presidents' wives. No doubt the best presidents listened to theirs.

Oh...and in case of the rapture, this may be my last post.


CORRECTION: oops...Jane Addams not Abigail Adams. (Thanks, Mom, for bringing my error to my attention.) Jane Addams was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She received her award in 1931. My bad. However, that doesn't change the fact that our presidents should listen to their wives!

even being beloved can have its travails

A BELOVED DISCIPLE

John is not only the archetype of the mystic, the lover, the chosen son; he is also the bearer of the agony of all chosenness. Election is seldom appreciated by others; it is seldom honored as a true touch from God. Our personal insecurity and neediness are too great to recognize and delight in the specialness of anyone else. Others are a threat to our zero-sum existence. Beloved status is almost always mistrusted, envied, judged, and even persecuted. That is the burden of being a chosen son or daughter.

Read the lives of saints and religious founders. Most of their persecution comes from their own families, and very often from church authorities. In the book of Jonah, it is the good and pious men who throw Jonah overboard (Jonah 1:14-16), while covering their attempted homicide with prayer, God-talk, and the making of heroic vows.

Richard Rohr

Welcome to the first day of the Third Day of the final wave of the Mayan Calendar. Let the "sprouting" begin. I am ready for new growing energy. The resistance of the Second Night has kicked my butt.

love thursday 05.19.11 ~ the devil made me do it

A brother asked Pambo, "Why does the enemy prevent me doing good to my neighbour?" He said, "Do not talk like that or you will make God a liar. Say, 'It is I myself do not want to be kind to others.' For God came down to us and said, 'I have given you the power of treading upon scorpions and snakes' (Luke 10:19), and so you are beyond the power of the enemy. Why then do you not tread down these evil spirits?"

The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

I. Love. This.

I've often wondered why people of faith are so afraid of "the Enemy" when they've been promised the power of the Heavens.

There you have it. Choose Love.

butter

As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists.

Joan Gussow

If it's partially hydrogenated, it's not food.

If you can't spell it or pronounce it, it's not food.

If it comes from a natural source...like cows...it probably is food.

If it has to be approved by the FDA...not likely.

Just so you know...butter is health food. Especially, organic butter. Uh huh. It is. Enjoy.

PS - Aren't you glad I told you?

birds of paradise

(paradise)

The community today can be no single tradition; it is the planet. Daily the world grows smaller, leaving understanding the only place where peace can find a home.

Huston Smith

Sunday I visited a friend. I drove to her house with the top down, but put it up when I arrived. We had a lovely visit talking about wedding plans (hers) and how I get to participate in the ceremony and preparations.

When I left, the sun still shone so I put the top down again. Just as I did, a bird (probably an angry bird) flew over and dropped...not an egg--oh, no...not an egg. Hit my seatbelt, vest, shirt, hand, pants...oh, yes, it did.

Fortunately, I keep a towel in my car. I used it.

When I put the top up at the end of the day, I saw all of the places that the birds had been using the top for target practice while I visited. Oh, yes--they did.

Monday, I had a late start at work so I decided to wash the bombs off my car. The sun was shining. I finished the job pretty quickly, sat down to rest, and...it rained. Truth. Minutes after I finished.

I hope they were birds of paradise. Oh, yes, I do.

high road

Foolish, selfish people are always thinking of themselves and the result is always negative. Wise persons think of others, helping them as much as they can, and the result is happiness. Love and compassion are beneficial both for you and others. Through your kindness to others, your mind and heart will open to peace.

Dalai Lama

This is what I call taking the high road.

I do try...even though I don't always succeed.

Taking the high road doesn't mean avoiding conflict or sweeping difficulties under the road. For me, it is about facing reality, feeling my feelings, and still being compassionate to the one with whom I am out of sync.

No one ever said the high road is an easy path.

head and heart

(fuzzy new bamboo shoot)

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.

Nelson Mandela

...and it is a challenge to keep them in balance. One without the other is much less potent. When one is wounded, balance is even more important.

Neither can take the place of the other. However, each keeps the other well-tuned and functioning.

duct tape

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.

Mother Teresa

Even if the only thing you have to do it with is duct tape.

See the side of the house? Those dark spots in the lower right are bird poo--clearly, the bird had been eating berries of some kind. And those squares are vents.

On the right hand side, the middle slat was missing and birds were flying in and out. I worried that they were building a nest in the vent. It doesn't appear to be the case; however, I decided to remove the temptation.

I moved the bottom slat up to the middle and replaced the lowest one with...duct tape!

In our family, you either fix it with duct tape or a hammer. This time a hammer wouldn't work. And so far, the duct tape is holding.

friday the thirteenth (of may)

Above the storm, the smallest prayer will still be heard.

from Dolly Parton's Facebook page

(don't know if it is a Dolly quote)

And today, my friends...that's all I've got.

love thursday 05.12.11 ~ just do it

God is love. Therefore love. Without distinction, without calculation, without procrastination, love.

Henry Drummond

Today I didn't do such a good job of that. Too many people "in my way" instead of by my side--or in my line of sight to love.

I keep bringing back the focus. Truly I do. What I say here I bounce off the mirror for myself. If it is uplifting to you, I rejoice!

Happy Love Thursday. I mean it. Really.

turtle

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can transform one million realities.

Maya Angelou

I wonder if he is dreaming of swimming with the turtles. I am. Several years ago I was snorkeling at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, "the place of refuge," on the Big Island. One of these turtles--about two feet across the shell--swam right up to me and looked me in the eye.

What a thrill! In my desire to share with my friends, I popped my head up to tell them...and Turtle was gone. Guess that visit was just for me.

rain, rain, rain

(the garden: pea trellises made partly from our bamboo,
cold frames allowing us to garden in this unseasonable
spring, slug traps full of beer)

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

At least the wind isn't blowing. Remember that tarp I lost several months ago? No? Maybe I didn't tell you about it. I was uncovering banana and blackbird. The wind blew mightily. I turned around and the tarp I removed was gone. Simply gone. About a month ago, I found it. Across the street. In the neighbor's tree.

The cold frames I built for the winter garden didn't do what we had hoped. We didn't get much harvest from our plantings. However, they are working well for starting the garden this spring. Otherwise, it would be too wet and cold. Nothing would grow. It would simply drown.

We've been eating salads from our garden already. Yum. Something about fresh cannot be improved upon.

good news

(banana is getting enough sun to start turning red)

Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.

Hafiz

Tony has been located and he is okay! This news was a wonderful Mother's Day present--not only for Tony's mom, but for all of his family and friends. He is safe. He is okay.

Thank you to all of you who have been joining in prayer and holding the good thought for Tony and his loved ones.

YES! I love stories with happy endings.

mother's day 2011

Moms rule the world and dads are kind of aware they are on one.

a facebook friend...a man

Happy Mother's Day to all of you and your mothers. May you have all the love your heart can hold.

banana made it through the winter

raise your hand...

...if this looks like the kind of Friday

you'd like to have.

Happy Friday!

love thursday 05.05.11 ~ the gift of belovedness

The greatest gift my friendship can give to you is the gift of your Belovedness. I can give that gift only insofar as I have claimed it for myself. Isn't that what friendship is all about: giving to each other the gift of our Belovedness?

Henri Nouwen

My sister-in-law's brother is missing. He left home a few days ago and no one has seen or heard from him since. He is a good man. He's been going through some hard times. Please pray (whatever that means to you) and hold the good thought with us on his behalf...on behalf of the whole family.

I wonder how much difference it might make in someone's life if we were to give them the gift of their own Belovedness.

Tony, you are Beloved. Be well.

And, I offer the gift of your own Belovedness to each of you.

truth

Since I got my Droid X, I have been staying up way too late playing Angry Birds.

Mom is coming tomorrow and I am looking forward to her visit.

I have lots of little stuff I need to accomplish and...see line one.

Maybe I will have more to say for Love Thursday...or not.

dinner

The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you.

David Foster Wallace

I shared this.

one love one world

target

Thought for the day:

Don't shop at Target while wearing a red shirt and khakis.





(I saw this on www.parentsshouldnttext.com. )