Sunday, July 31, 2011

Does this not make your heart ache ?

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you;figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.

Barbara Kingsolver

Photo from:Robin Good Master new media, Soldier and working dog

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

How do others know you ?

"Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image"

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Monday, July 25, 2011

You will know what you want when it calls you

"

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one."

Elbert Hubbard

Saturday, July 23, 2011

A taste of secular humanism

"The superior man is the providence of the inferior.  He is the eyes for the blind, strength for the weak, and the shield for the defenseless.
He stands erect by bending above the fallen. He rises by lifting others."

Robert Green Ingersoll

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Being ready for the unexpected

Blogger Post 7/19/2011

Being ready for the unexpected : The Egret

As an early riser I have the pleasure of seeing a beautiful sunrise over the wetlands behind my home. I never fail to appreciate this beauty of each day. My view from my sliding door and grand window offers the ever changing scenes of every season. I keep both binoculars and my camera within reach. Having lived here a

year now, I have captured PICS from every season. This has been part of my morning ritual.

We occasionally have a major problem with geese in our area, however, the Geese Patrol manages to occasionally remove the gander and then the open water reservoirs becomes calm without a ripple.

The past couple of days there has been a great white bird, I believe it is an Egret. It has been alone and gracefully meanders around and then settles in one area of our dried water basin. I have not seen another bird settle there for days. I wondered if perhaps she had a nest in the area. I began to look for this Egret every morning and she was beginning to look like elegant statuary. I often wondered if this Egret saw me every morning. My small digital camera lacks the ability to take PIC at that distance. I always hoped it might come a little closer.

Today, after taking a picture of the sunrise. My camera blinked that my battery needed to be charged. I proceeded to do that. I returned to my kitchen and looked out the door. YES, it finally happened. There in front of me, as if having answered my silent call was the beautiful white Egret on the fence just outside my terrace area. I looked at my camera charger with the barely charged battery. I decided that even if it was charged enough for one PIC I would be happy. Sometimes it's the little things.

I did get a couple of PICS that I am sharing with you. However, the Egret appears to have said her goodbyes and has left this location. I hope she returns another day. Or that she is adding some light to someone's dark day. Or perhaps even making a young child smile.

A little like life, the Egret shared her graceful beauty and allowed me to capture her PIC even with a half dead battery. She stood out there for days before gifting me with her presence close up. Sometimes its just being in the right place at the right time, and always being ready for the unexpected..

Sunday, July 17, 2011

It is what it is



No ..were' not going to like the changes we never do...however, like the growth of omeba they will come. In every area of our lives the only constant is change.

We are always socially and politically evolving into God only knows what. ..Oh, I just forgot they want to keep God out of things don't they? They are trying real hard without him. As if we all live under a rock and respond to the least common denominator, often the noisiest among us. Yes, that always gets our attention. Like a naughty child acting out. Unruly and sometimes embarrassing in public.

Who are “they” anyway..we always say “they.” I guess it depends on where we are standing. Sometimes “they” are us and sometimes “they” is the other guy, the one we are disagreeing with..
Your following me right? Its O.K. I appreciate that you stopped by.

Have a nice day and don't let anyone take that away from you. Don't let anyone spoil it for you with our political unrest or our country's struggle to maintain the values that it was built on. So what if other countries want to dilute them with one broad stroke of the same color for all. Don't let them.

There is a lot that is good in our country, everyone wants what we have. We are all different races, creeds and color, we like it that way. But they don't want to share in our county's hard work and struggles. They want us to give all the rewards away to them, free and clear without any reciprocal responsibilities.

Now its time for our leaders to get off the pot...enough is enough, pull the band aid off quick and it will hurt less. But trying to cover it up, or spend time praying that it will all go away. Won't work anymore.

.“ Common sense is compelled to make its way without the enthusiasm of anyone.”

Edgar Watson Howe

It is what it is. Just saying thats all.


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

In honor of Caylee Marie 2011

Look the other way if you must
Don't see this small child's frame
Or comfort what was a crying child
as she lived through her final pain


Her once smiling face surely feared
letting go of the someone she loved
Wide eyed did they see her last struggle
As our God looked down from above


Was the warmth of her small body lost
in the taped plastic bag overnight
Did her small blanket keep her warm
or comfort her in her fright


Who will speak for this child
Left in waste on the roadside
Who's fractured little body in parts
dismembered as time had enabled


We haven't forgotten you little one
for we surely know, that your little soul
now rests on the lap of our God
With a love that will never let go

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Olivia's Open Book: The Spirit of a child

Olivia's Open Book: The Spirit of a child

The Spirit of a child

Yesterday's child By Petra Newman

White cloud
A veil concealed
Moved gently over time;
An image
Moving,running,
Laughing,playing
Joyous,carefree
Innocence
Pure

Dreams of tomorrow
Happily ever after
A fairytale
No pain or sorrow
She twirls
And dances
To songs of the wind

A ballet
To earth's rhythm
Perfumed breezes
Plucking ribbons
Red ribbons from hair
Delightful
Charming
Beautiful and fair

Running barefoot
In strawberry fields
Chasing rainbows
Butterflies
Exhilarated
A soul so free

The child stopped and turned
She faces me
Beguiling eyes
Searching
Watching
Seeing
What might have been?

Who is this child
So fair and free?
My heart stood still
The child was me

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Happy 4th of July

"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him "

Abraham Lincoln

Friday, July 1, 2011

Waiting for the other shoe to drop



I often find myself worrying about my loved ones. I am, as others are, saddened about the state of our country, our troubled economy , and most of all about the threats to value systems we have struggled for so long.

As we watch the many changes in our society take place and see the evolving challenges ahead of us, there is only one area that provides me with the assurance that I seek. That is the faith I have in knowing there is a divine hand in play. Regardless of our faith ,or lack of it, divine interventions will take place in their own time. Reinforced by the power of our prayers the often unsubstantiated blessings will continue to happen in their own quiet ways.

After being proactive in the support of what we value, perhaps we should not be too anxious over which we have no control. Maybe, we should just believe that the other shoe will not drop.