brazilian cardinal

the daughter of the drunk at the bar

(click on the picture to see the whole sign)

Undressing Learn the alchemy true human beings know. The moment you accept what troubles you’ve been given, the door will open. Welcome difficulty, as a familiar comrade. Joke with torment brought by the Friend. Sorrows are the rags of old clothes and jackets that serve to cover and then are taken off. That undressing, and the naked body underneath, is the sweetness that comes after grief.

Rumi

Michelle O'Neill at Full Soul Ahead sent me a copy of The Daughter of the Drunk at the Bar so that Janie could go on vacation.

She liked it so much, she stayed. Now she lives at the Kailua-Kona Public Library.

Aloha, Janie.

Mahalo, Michelle.

(If you haven't read it yet...do. It's powerful!)

the clan waiting to be fed

Along with love, compassion is the face of altruism. It is a feeling from deep in the heart that you cannot bear others’ suffering without acting to relieve it. As compassion grows stronger, so does your willingness to commit yourself to the welfare of all beings, even if you have to do it alone. You will be unbiased in your service to all beings, no matter how they respond to you.

Dalai Lama

I'm such a softie and these guys got my number. They are feral cats who do quite well getting the tourists to feed them.

One of the orange guys didn't look well. He had weepy eyes. He looked old. As we were leaving on the last day, he came out of the garbage can. I don't know if he was rummaging or had spent the night there. I managed to coax him back to our unit where I put out a can of food. He was the only one there at the time so I hope he got his fill before the others arrived.

 I don't know whether they made me miss my kitties more or less....

coconuts and trumpets

love thursday 09.06.12 ~ love in the airport bathroom

Let me tell you how to love all equally…Do not demand anything from those you love. If you make demands, some will give you more and some less. In any case you will love more those who give you more and less those who give you less. Thus your love will not be the same for all. You will not be able to love all impartially.

Sarada Devi

blackbird of paradise

 

According to the Talmud, every blade of grass has its own angel bending over it, whispering, 'Grow, grow.'

Barbara Brown Taylor

I have never seen one of these before.

foliage below the lanai

 

morning moon from the lanai

Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

Henry David Thoreau

hawaii--where the serengeti meets the ocean

(my sister went to hawaii with
me and we got the giggles taking
this shot, so i had to share it)

Laughter is an instant vacation.

Milton Berle

Magic Sands Beach. With a name like that, one hopes for good things.

The shorebreak looked like fun. Not so much.

And that is where the Serengeti met the ocean. The sunglasses, not the desert.

I made an offering. I hope Mother Ocean is styling with her new shades.

looking for signs?

(photo by my sister)

Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.

Kahlil Gibran

hawaiian kitty

Holiness consists in doing God’s will joyfully. Faithfulness makes saints. The spiritual life is a union with Jesus: the divine and the human giving themselves to each other. The only thing Jesus asks of us is to give ourselves to [God], in total poverty and total self-forgetfulness.

Mother Teresa

A small colony of feral cats live at the resort where we are staying. Though skittish, they are very sweet and grateful for whatever food the guests supply.

One night we fed them left over dinner meat. The next morning when I opened the drapes to the lanai, two kitty faces waited for me. They know a sucker when they see one. From then on, I couldn't not feed them.

All I can say is, it is good I didn't stay longer or my poverty would be much greater...and I would have lots of cats.

love thursday 08.30.12 ~ love bomb

We are love, and we are made for love, and our natural abiding place is inside of divine love. As St. Catherine of Genoa said, “My deepest me is God!”

Richard Rohr

My least favorite part of traveling is the airport. Now that we have to undress and parade our toiletries while being x-rayed, it's a bit more than my delicate sensibilities can handle. I decided to change the experience.

When I arrive at an airport from which I plan to travel, I love bomb them. I create a big sphere of love energy around myself and send it in the door before me.

I'll take off my shoes and jacket. I'll put my liquids and gels in a baggie. I'll put my computer in its own tray.

I won't be x-rayed. I opted instead for the pat down. In spite of all the horror stories I have read about people being groped and otherwise handled inappropriately, that risk was much more acceptable to me than being exposed to the rays. I know a doctor who says, "They can give me a rectal exam if they want. I'm not going through that machine."

The woman who did the pat down was very nice--respectful. She told me what to expect and did exactly that. She asked if I hurt anywhere that she should know about. She was pleasant and her touch was--well...nice! As she ran her hands down my back, I said, "Who knew I would get to start my vacation with a massage!" She laughed.

Later I said to SO, "It's kind of fun to love bomb people and see how nice you can get them to be."

If you're going to the airport, I recommend Love Bombs. They can only be detected by seeing others' kindness and pleasantness.

For me, love bombing sets the tone for the whole trip.

last artichoke update before pruning

do snakes have souls?

Wherever you stand,
be the soul of that place.

Rumi

Do cucumbers?

blooming artichoke update

Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.

Mark Victor Hansen

Each step of the bloom has its own level of beauty.

vipers

(cucumber)

You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

Matthew 12:34

Not only are we what we eat...we are what comes out of our mouths. May we speak words of kindness and lift one another up.

naked lady

Never think that you need to protect God. Because anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure that you are worshipping an idol.

Stanley Hauerwas

Did I get your attention? That's the name of the plant...naked lady. She's about to bloom.

I suppose some people worship naked ladies. I wish more were interested in protecting them.

this is how i ought to feel

When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is how I ought to feel.

Rabbi Harold Kushner

Surely, this is how the lime tree feels about these future limes, too.

love thursday 08.23.12 ~ love in the dark

Love is what carries you, for it is always there, even in the dark, or most in the dark, but shining out at times like gold stitches in a piece of embroidery.

Wendell Berry

Or new limes on a tree.

eternity is now

Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Yeah...what she said. Eternity is what you make it NOW.