Something to Ponder

I have been watching the news for almost 48 hours now and the images are overwhelming of all the destruction and water.  We have many family members and friends that were impacted, and some that still remain without power, by this now, historic storm.   We continue to pray for their comfort and safety.

The videos of people being carried from their front door over three feet of murky water to a boat, the photos of the Battery Tunnel filled to the brim with grey and green water, and the helicopter shots of the New Jersey neighborhood completely buried in sand remind us so quickly that life is fragile and should never be taken for granted.

photo credit

What I find most comforting in listening to the reports is the willingness of everyone to help those in need.  It makes me feel so proud of where we live.  People helping people.  It’s not a story of a Democrat helping or a Jew helping or a white man helping. 

This is a true story of people helping people.

Why does it take a tragedy of any sort to bring out the best in us?

Clearly some food for thought.

Today as you take yourself out into the world, think about how you interact with others you know and don’t know.  Do you hold the door for the gentleman behind you or are you too busy talking on the phone?   Do you let the driver meeting you in the grocery store parking lot have the parking space or do you  thump the steering wheel as they pull in?  Do you hug your children as they get into the car from school or do you scold them for being ten minutes late?  

Where is your focus? Where is your heart each moment? 

Something for you to tuck into your pocket today.  I know I will be tucking this thought into my pocket today and and will remind myself to be my true self and not the self-absorbed being we can so often become.

Pause and Reflect

Where ever you are today...

What ever comes across your path today...

Pause...

The pause again...

Embrace all that it is and know that life is beautiful.

Thinking Aloud on Thursday

Some random thoughts as I pull up my chair to my ever faithful digital daughter…

It snowed last night for the first time this season.  Nothing much, but it’s quite cold, so it’s still resting on the grass and shady areas.  It’s lovely.  It really is. 

My eyes are giving me troubles recently.  I supposed I'm at that age where bifocals are soon to be my friend.  My neck aches from tilting back and forth.  If I take them off, I get a headache,  and if I put them back on I get a headache.   Ugghh.  Gonna have to make an eye appointment I guess.  

I’m struggling to find new things to make each night for dinner.  The same things over and over.  Boring. Boring. Boring.  I’ve searched Pinterest and there are so many I get a little overwhelmed because I know my bowtie pasta and spinach will never look like the photo let alone taste fabulous.  I’m beginning to think cereal and bagels for breakfast AND dinner could be a doable option.

I took a few photos of the snow on a walk this morning and nature always has a way of making everything look clear.  The leaves on the snow….the water dripping from the gutters and the tree branches as the dusting begins to melt.   Just beautiful.  

I’m toying with the idea of completely eliminating make up from my routine for a bit and give my skin a break.  Pondering this….

Our two older cats were sitting on the table the other morning and acted like they were posing and waiting for me to take their picture.  They never moved while I turned it on and adjusted the settings.   Aren’t they cute?

 The dryer just buzzed, again, so will wander from here for a bit and try to plan something creative for dinner, and fold the towels.  I hope you enjoy your Thursday because tomorrow is Friday!!!

A Brotherly Moment

It took only minutes and the snatch of two Sugar Babies from his box

They were off and running

“Those are mine.”

“You have a whole box. I can take two.”

Sternness from both

Each holding their ground with furrowed brows

Spiral notebooks with mangled pages of boys,

Pencils missing erasers and teeth-mark tattoos

One shoves the computer into the other’s space

The other shoves it right back with a huff

The power cord clanks to the floor

I watch and can taste the frustration in the kitchen

Soup boils on the stove filling the tense room with chicken wafts and splatters

Procrastinators sit on chairs as the sunlight bothers one

“Could you pull the blinds shut?”

No please of course

“Why should I?”

“Just close them.”

“No.”

I stand and close them and hold my tongue but not for long

It happens too often for me not to know

This will escalate and they will get loud

I will have to be louder than them to gather the peace that is scattered on the kitchen rug

I know they are upset with themselves

They wear their procrastination around their necks

Heavy with paragraphs, reading and algebra saved from the week

It will pass, but not as quickly as I would like

They will finish later than sooner this day

Soup is slurped in silence until one opens the laptop cockeyed on the table

“Did you see that YouTube video of the guy who is skateboarding and…”

The video loads between spoonfuls of soup

They laugh together

The other then searches for the other video of the kitten that falls asleep on the aquarium.

They laugh again.

Breath of Life

drawn to you at morning’s reach

reach for you to hold me close

close enough to know one truth

truth of light running throughout

throughout my heart now drawn to you

you alone doth know my breath

breath you hold at morning’s reach

awaken my spirit and light within

within the knowing of clear truth

truth of gifts, breath of life

life begins to inhale my soul

soul now drenched with love delight

delight in your embrace do I

I now await your light within

filled with knowing spirit of one

one who loves most simple form

form me into the light within

within your breath is life for all

all who come as I to know

know of love and sweet embrace

embrace, life breath, spirit of one.

Wisdom

I am enjoying a beautiful on-line course with Liz Lamoreux called "More Poem It Out".  Throughout the next four weeks or so, I will be sharing some poetry exercises and poems of mine.   We are exploring poetry through assignments, journaling and photography prompts and am loving every exercise we do. I hope you will come along with me on this poetry journey and continue to visit my little corner of the world.

Today I am sharing a poem I call, "Wisdom".  I gathered words from a book and wrote them down and then created a poem from the collected words adding as few words as necessary to create flow or meaning.   (The words in italics are the gathered words.) The word wisdom actually appeared twice during my gathering so thought it necessary to use it twice.   Perhaps this week you can check out a book of poetry and try some yourself.  I've found it to come very easily for me and is often a more meaningful way to express myself than in complete sentences.  I don't think in complete sentences, so it seems only fitting to write this way as well. 

Happy Poeming.

WISDOM

the soul, pierced brave,

rises merely above the precipice.

deeper grace possible

echo lurking inside the ravine

wisdom will sustain the erosion,

wisdom, will remain, wordless.

Kenmore's Symphony No. 4

I’d never given it any thought

   and if I did, it was that it was loud       

   and annoying at times

   and always takes forever. 

Today I gave it some thought

   and it isn’t annoying.

I listened and didn’t just hear

  and I listened more, this time harder.

The symphony, not quite is it yet

   and yet it is.

Every piece plays its role for the audience

   and they start with no hesitation.

There is purpose in their song

   and they want to be heard.

The sleeves hold the solitary chestnut 

        towel  

   and swim together in harmony as I 

        take a peek.

“Mountain Fresh” fills the tiny room

   and the symphony goes on.

The heat thaws my cold fingers at its touch

   and I close the door.

The gold zipper makes its entrance

   and “KA CHA” is heard again and again.

Drums beat over and over as the zipper “KA CHAs”

   and tiny buttons “ting” their way through.

The song is ever changing

   and when it’s over, it’s over.  No more.

A blast signals it is time to applaud.

   and I do.

And I do.

An poem exercise from an on-line course, "More Poem it Out" with Liz Lamoreux.

Twenty Words

My mom and I love to read and have shared many books with each other over the years (and probably could have shared so many more had I not been so slow to transition to the reading corner of the world, but am trying to catch up with her now).

“Oh, you have GOT to read this one.” 

“This is one of the best books I have ever held in my hands.”

We swap books and always come back to the same thought.

How does someone write something so beautiful, so profound to move us so? 

We always comment how we know all the same words the author does, but somehow the order they end up in on the pages of a book, the order they are arranged, make all the difference in the world between something that grabs us or something we leave on the library shelf. 

Last night, while the boys were busy with homework (a.k.a. listening to music on their ipods and texting while the textbook is open on the kitchen table) I checked my email then scanned a few posts of my favorite bloggers then took a quick peek at Pinterest.  (For those of you who don’t know what Pinterest is, well, let’s just say, you’re behind the times and we’ll come back to it another day.) 

When I opened my homepage, my eyes drew quickly to a quote someone had posted.  (Unfortunately I cannot give you the link as it ends up in a black hole of linkdom.)

I read it, then read it again. 

Twenty words…

Twenty words that spoke to me at that moment.

This moment.

I have been on a path that is unique to me and it may not be like your path and that’s ok. 

Or is it? 

It is. 

For me, I cannot be on your path as I enjoy the quiet woods to your ticker tape parade.  I enjoy sweetened tea to your lemonade. I enjoy fishing on the lake to your white water rafting.  My path may wind to the right and up the shoreline and yours run straight for miles past the open countryside. 

They are different roads, but each allow for such great joy and fulfillment that is unique to that path.  Our roads may wrap around the same forest and each can see the gorgeous light reflected through the trees.  We see our own unique sunlight shining through the bold branches, but does that mean my view is more glorious than your view?  Does it mean I am lost because I cannot see your view of the sunlight? Does it mean you are lost because you cannot see my view of the sunlight and are in need of a new compass?  I think not.  The paths are wide and vast on this journey we call life and I heartfully respect the road that you travel, even though it may be unlike mine. 

Your road is what makes you, you. 

Your path is what shapes you into beautiful, you.

Twenty words…

Twenty words my mom and I both know. Twenty words we’ve read thousands of times. Twenty words we’ve written hundreds of times. Twenty words that were put into the right order for me upon this day. Today they are my twenty words and I embrace them tightly and share them with you all at the same time.

Instagram Your Life

I love taking pictures with my camera.  It’s exciting for me to take 300 all at once and then download them to see if I snapped anything special that captures a moment.   I never watch the pictures load either because I want to be surprised and browse through them one by one deleting or tweeking as I skim through them.  Such joy in simple things.

Lately, I’ve been enthralled with Instagram on my phone. I've been using it for a while, but have really taken to using it to document my day or mood. I adore this app and don’t think I could live without it.  (Yes, I know I could, but it’s just a saying.)  It can change the emotion of the photo so quickly, adding a hint of highlight or definition or dating it to the 70's style of photography (one of my favorites).  If you don’t already have the app, I highly suggest you get it soon. You can download it from itunes (if you're an iphone/mac user).  It will change how you take pictures. I promise you.  It's very simple to use and will change what you take photos of.

For this lovely Sunday, I thought I’d share with you some of the photos I’ve taken with Instagram recently.  You may have seen a few of them already so forgive the duplication.  Enjoy your weekend.

Weekend Eve

the weekend eve is upon us

i am ready for the time at home

soup, chili, stew

snow in the forecast

baseball games cancelled

soccer game cancelled

score ten points for the all day pajama fest beginning now

enjoy these few hours of rest and relaxation

the weekend is a gift