Tuesday, August 31, 2010

I Spoke Too Soon

Clearly, I was mistaken. It's back in the wilting 90's again. Will stay that way for the entire week. Red sky at morning? Ask a sailor what that means...

Summer roars back again. After all, it is only the end of August. So, Summer, listen because I'm only going to say this once, "You were right; I was wrong. You win." For now.

Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly
view from my coffee cup

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Silent Sermon Sunday


Every time I despair about our Human Race, because we can be so cruel, so mean, so brutal...
I stop and remember that while that is true, these are the same creatures who...
Just the same as Angels,
Can sing and make music.
And, that brings me hope and peace.

Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly
Images courtesy of The Internet

Monday, August 23, 2010

The Crow Knows


~ The Demise of Summer ~

In the quiet of the morning
I hear the sound
The one for me that tells
The season is about to turn.

In the open hayed field beyond
The crow sits perched and yawns
And caws and caws to say
Summer is going.

I wait each year for this sound
To tell me another summer is bound
To fade away with its heat and fierce beauty
It bows out as Autumn sweeps in, colors flowing after her.

Cawing, Cawing, the crow announces
The fields are ripe for picking
Left overs are there for the taking
Summer is leaving and fall is coming
Most welcomed by me.


Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly
Images courtesy of the Internet; Round Table art by Marion Rose

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Silent Sermon Sunday


"My prayers are becoming more deliberate and specific. It has occurred to me that it's not much good to send prayers out to the universe that are lazy."
~ Liz Gilbert


Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly
Image courtesy of The Internet

Monday, August 16, 2010

So Now What?


...yeah, Summer is like that. That's just from one time picking. Ideas? Anyone? I'm open to your suggestions.

And, since we all face this embarrassment of riches this time of year, I'll share one of Nanny's best recipes for summer eating. This salad is best made a day or so in advance...if you can restrain yourself.

~ Neapolitan Salad ~

(This is all done to your taste, so don't get upset that there are no measurements.)

- green peppers sliced thin
- ripe tomatoes of your choice
- extra virgin olive oil
- basil fresh if you have it, and also dry.
- salt
- cracked black pepper
- garlic minced fine. A lot of garlic is needed to flavor this salad.
- hint of sugar.

Slice the green peppers thinly and put them in the bowl with the olive oil, and the other ingredients. Make sure they are coated nicely. Dice your tomatoes and add it. Mix. If you have the fresh basil, dice fine and add in. You can add fresh mozzarella to this but mix it in just before serving. Some people like to add slice onion to this, but we prefer it without.

Mangia Bene!


Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Silent Sermon Sunday


"Proceed with a joyful heart and know that all will be well."


Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly
Image from my garden '09

Thursday, August 12, 2010

I Don't Even Know What To Title This


"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." ~FDR

The fact that someone already made these words famous means that our countries, our world has seen frightening, nerve-wracking times before. And, lived to tell about it. But, the fact that these words could apply just as equally to our time as to the one that spurred those words does not make me feel any better.

In fact, I am truly resentful and actually confused by how I feel about everything. I only know that I think it is absolutely unnecessary and wonder how we can continue to allow things to spiral so out of control.

You know I'm not an alarmist by nature. I pretty much face a day with the notion of "Sufficient unto a day it's own troubles..." I don't go borrowing angst and worry. As much as I'm pretty calm in the face of crazy, my brother Glenn, is even more calm. There are times when you want to check to make sure he has a pulse!

Last night we're on the telephone catching up and he asks, "Did you see the news story on CBS Evening News about the new community of tunnel/under bridge dwellers that has formed in Las Vegas of all places?" When I said I hadn't, he started to tell me some of the details.

It seems that so many have lost their homes, their jobs, their stuff, that they've formed communities under bridges and in tunnels for shelter. They showed a guy taking a shower by standing under the run off that comes from above when it rains. How disgusting is that? He says to me with incredulity, "What the hell is wrong with the people who are supposed to be in charge of the United States that they would let this country come to this!?"

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I was shocked by that story. Not because I'm clueless about the homeless people in our country. I did, after all, grow up in a major metropolitan city. Yes, homeless people are part of the background of life and an ongoing problem. But, in Las Vegas? Really?! "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," now takes on a completely new and disturbing aspect!

I countered with the Atlanta story that has me concerned, where so many people waited in a parking lot just to get the APPLICATIONS for Section 8 Housing, that the crowd turned violent. There were people waiting in that parking lot who had traveled from Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee! REALLY? Just for the application, just to get the paper work, to HOPE that they might end up with a place to live. Getting into fights over the hopes of living in shit-box Section 8 Housing!!!

This is another one of my open ended blogs. Because, first of all, I can't get my head around the desperate measures and times we are finding ourselves. It's not just the U.S.; it's almost a global epidemic! And, secondly, because I have absolutely no idea how this is going to turn out or what can be done to course correct. I want to do something about this but I don't have a clue as to what that might be...

For me, what has my mind chasing in circles is the extremes of the spectrum I keep reading about. The increasingly clear differences between the haves and the 'sucks to be yous'. It's not the facts of any of these stories per se, it's more about what I'm afraid they're illustrating.

For instance, as far as I'm concerned, it's not about the First Lady recently taking a plane to SPAIN that we payed for as tax payers...a plane holding all the Secret Service etc, that must go with her when she travels. She has a right to vacation and take her daughter there. She has the right to have her friends all stay in the suites she reserved in the luxury hotel of her choosing.

She and her husband are millionaires. Did you know that? Yeah. They are. They don't breathe the same air as the majority of us. She doesn't have to. And, because she has that sort of money and life style, she has the privilege to spend her vacation as she wants. Where she wants. With whom she wishes to share it. But, can she really be that insensitive and uncaring? Or, am I expecting too much of her?

Someone in an OpEd compared her behavior to that of Marie Antoinette. And, I say shame on them! Because Marie Antoinette never said, "Let them eat cake," when the French peasants were starving. No, that was the Queen two queens before her, the wife of Louis the XIV who said such a inflammatory thing. Marie was actually a pretty caring Queen and did a great deal of good works...her major flaw was she didn't have me as her PR person.

Even though Marie didn't say that line, it's pretty clear what the writer meant by that comparison. I can't say that I can argue against it. Sure, she paid for the vacation, but the very steep transportation to SPAIN, (did I tell you she spent her money in SPAIN?) Well, that we didn't need to take on right now...

I point that story out because it's almost like something from Dickens...isn't it? It was the best of times; it was the worst of times... A 21st century version of a Tale of Two Cities.

The divide between all of us as individuals seems to be turning into a chasm that is likely to swallow up the world as we know it. I'm not sure that it can survive if it keeps on this path. Actually, with each day that passes, I'm becoming more certain that it won't survive.

The First Lady of the United States, aka Michelle Obama, went to Spain with friends on her vacation, while a man in Las Vegas stands in the run off from the road above to keep clean. And, my head can't make those two extremes come into focus as being acceptable.

I am generally hopeful and trust in the rightness of things as they are in the moment that they are...but I swear to you...I feel trouble, cataclysmic trouble heading our way. And, I don't know what we can do to stop it before it slams into us. Indeed it is the best of times and the worst of times. Only to get worse and worse before it can ever get better.

That's all I got for now.

Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly aka She Who Is Afraid

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Silent Sermon Sunday



What we see is not nearly as important as how we see it.


Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly aka She Who Is Learning How To See
Image from December '09

Friday, August 6, 2010

Five And Fabulous!

Rory and Fiona were born ten days apart. She's older and bossier. They are half brother and sister; same sire, different dams. He was a busy Scottie five years ago! Sadly he came to a very tragic end when he escaped shortly after and was struck by a car. That makes these two the last of the line. Sadly.

But, today's story is about birthdays and many happy returns of the day! In the mail came a package addressed to me but was really for the two of them. Sarah Sullivan made them tie-dye bandannas! And she even popped in a wee Halloween treat for me.

I am continually struck by how the blog world has grown so many friendships for all of us that would not have happened otherwise. We all live so far from each other, but here in the blog-o-sphere, we're able to be friends and care for and about each other. Able to celebrate our fun times and support each other in the sad ones. And, even though many of us will never have the opportunity to meet in person, the friendships are no less real.

Thanks, Sarah, for such cute scarves and making a 5th birthday so special. I know these two wild highlanders of mine really think they are, as Rory might say, "Grrrrrand!" Happy birthday to my wonderful Scotties!

Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly aka Mommer

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Wishcasting Creatively


Jamie asks what do I wish for my creativity? I wish...I wish...I wish I respected my individual ability to create as much as I admire the creativity of others.

I wish that I could see it as readily as I'm able to see it in others.

I wish I were more kind with my own attempts as I am with the attempts that others make and miss. Yeah, I wish that I cheered for myself as much as I'm always cheering for those around me.

I wish that I did all that and opened my abilities even more.

Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly
Photo one of my water color attempts

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Summer Ahhhhh.....


Heirloom tomatoes just picked from my garden! 'Nuff said...

Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly aka Farmer Dietor
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