“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Plan on getting back into my own pace of blogging which is usually not every day. But you never know when I will be moved to break with this pattern. Keep posted.
“Keep knocking and the joy inside will eventually open a window and look out to see who’s there.” -Rumi
One Liner Wednesday. Featured image of Door by Life-of-Pix on Pixabay.com. Rumi quote from Mellie O’Brien on Everyday Mindfulness.
When you walk through a grove of trees, depending on the type of trees, you are walking over fallen leaves, twigs, small cones, pine needles,and dead foliage and such. The twigs,leaves, and cones crunch under your feet yet muffle the sound of your step and release a woodsy frangrance. Besides providing a fragrant carpet these leavings return nutrients to the earth. Let me leave something that contibutes to life.
Did you see the Google Doodle about Fred Korematsu? January 30 is Fred Korematsu Day in California, and he would have been 98 years old. He died in 2005. He was a civil liberties activist who fought against the internment of the Japanese during WWII. I don’t know how he survived psychologically all the oppression he experienced, but he did. What an inspiration he is. If I could have a fraction of his courage. Click on the links and read about him, you won’t be disappointed.
This is the last entry for JustJotItJanuary hosted by Linda G Hill. The word prompt for today is ” detritus ” suggested by Lorraine of Lorraine’s Frilly Freudian Slip https://myfrillyfreudianslip.wordpress.com/
I have aimed to keep my posts positive lately in hopes of uplifting spirits. We are in an unsettling transition time that feels like the ground is moving under our feet. We must speak up if we think something is wrong. Featured image is of ‘Fallen Giant Sequoia cones and foliage; Sugar Pine and White Fir foliage; other woody debris’ by Walter Siegmund via wikimedia. Photo taken at Mariposa Grove, Yosemite, California.
I am not blue about the winter weather in Southern California. I am liking it after 6 years of drought. It is nice to have colder temperatures and rain for a welcome change. I am working on keeping an even keel and not feeling anxiety about this transition period in my country’s leadership. There have been other times during my life that there has been tumultuous and anxious times in my country. The country and its people survived. The featured image at the top is ‘The Umbrellas’ by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1881-86). He used a lot of blue in this painting. The pigments used for the blues were cobalt blue and ultramarine. I am wondering why he chose to use to so much blue . It was a popular fashion color in France at the time. Many artists use color to express a feeling. Could it be that the rainy weather calls for a subdued color pallette. Subdued is a good feeling right now. I would like to maintain that feeling, calm and subdued but not blue.
A short video about the painting by The Frick Collection on You Tube:
JustJotItJanuary is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt word for today is ” blue” suggested by John Holton at The Sound of One Hand Typing, https://thesoundofonehandtyping.wordpress.com/.
Sequoia sempervirens, Coastal Redwoods of California, can grow up to 367 ft (112m) tall, 22 ft wide ( 7m) at the base, the size of a 35 story building. Your kind has been on the earth for 22 million years, in the same location, from Big Sur to the Oregon Border. You receive moisture from the foggy ocean mists, you are resistant to insects and fire. You regularly live 600 years and can live up to 2000 years. You were around in the Jurassic Era, 160 million years ago. What did the dinosaurs call you? You ranged across 2 million acres and now your protected forests are down to 4% of that due to the logging that has occurred. I have walked among your groves and felt very small, felt like I walked in a prehistoric landscape of giant trees. What wisdom would you have to share? I will keep your secrets.
Beautiful photos by National Park Service via Redwood National and State Parks, California, where you can find more great photos. Most of the Information for this post via the same website. I have visited these magnificent trees. 🙂
Stream of Consciousness Saturday and JusJotItJanuary hosted by Linda G Hill. Prompt words for today “wood/would.”
We are often seeking something outside ourselves but we already are complete.
“To be beautiful means to be yourself.You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself. When you are born a lotus flower, be a beautiful lotus flower, don’t try to be a magnolia flower. If you crave acceptance and recognition and try to change yourself to fit what other people want you to be, you will suffer all your life. True happiness and true power lie in understanding yourself, accepting yourself, having confidence in yourself.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh
JustJotItJanuary is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt word is “incomplete” suggested by Cyn K of That Cynking Feeling, https://cynk.wordpress.com/. I decided to write about the opposite. Featured image is of the beautiful Redwood National Park, California via Pixabay.com.
“Laughter is to the soul what sunshine is to a flower.”-Peggy Toney Horton
Reading funny commentary has been a real stress reliever for me lately. Being able to laugh at something is truly healing. Laughter is one of great pleasures of life. Maybe comedians are truly healers.
“Laughter is a powerful weapon for it carries the light. To laugh is to defy the darkness.” -Isobelle Carmody
One Liner Wednesday and JustJotItJanuary.
On a lighter note, I have been looking for a good red wine for a moderate price. I do prefer California wine because it is local and I am in love with our wine countries. There has been an explosion of wineries in California and this makes it hard impossible to keep up with all the labels. So just doing some quick research (Google) and happy to see there are some wines that are affordable to me. ( $20 and under). I really like the richer flavored red wines, like Cabernet, and found out that some of the best are from Napa Valley. Here’s another list of red and white wines and some from other countries. And another list of California Cabernet, from different regions, under $4o. One more list of 100 wines from California and other countries for $15 and under. Hmm, lots to explore and my research may take some time…..
Glass of Napa Valley Red Wine by Ash Berlin
Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill and the prompt word for today is “glass.” Featured image is ‘Vineyard bathed in light [Sonoma]’ by torbakhopper on wikimedia.
“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us. Our flesh-and-bone tabernacle seems transparent as glass to the beauty about us, as if truly an inseparable part of it, thrilling with the air and trees, streams and rocks, in the waves of the sun,—a part of all nature, neither old nor young, sick nor well, but immortal.” -John Muir
I have had my transcendent experiences in nature, or in listening to great opera, or even eating great food. How about eating great food in nature while listening to opera. But nature is pretty high on my list. Even enjoying the nature in my small backyard. I agree with John Muir that nature is essential to our well being and our very spirit/soul. It is where we find that we are truly connected to the earth and all its inhabitants and feel awestruck by its beauty.
JustJotItJanuary blogging challenge hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt word “transcendent” was suggested by me. 🙂 The Featured Image at the top of the page is called ‘Transcendent Moment’ by Joel Penner on Flickr.
The JustJotItJanuary prompt word for today is “rubbish.” Here in the US we do not refer to our rubbish as rubbish, we call it trash or garbage. We use the words in a similar way either literally or figuratively. So somehow this reminded me of another word we have used to describe something we think is rubbish, trash, or garbage…and it isn’t a swear word.
The word is baloney and an old American expression is “You’re full of baloney” or “That’s baloney” which means that’s crazy, nonsense, rubbish, crap, BS, blarney, garbage, hogwash, malarky, gobbledygook….you get the idea. Baloney ( proper name balogna) is also a luncheon meat that many of us took to school in our lunch boxes as kids. This image below makes me hungry for a baloney sandwich and I really don’t like baloney all that much. And it is baloney on white bread, probably with mayonaise. It does sound good though. It looks like the white bread we used to eat when I was little, called “Wonder Bread.” Now when my kids were growing up white bread was out and wheat or whole grain was in. Nowadays it might be gluten free. And that’s no baloney.
Baloney Sandwich for lunch
JustJotItJanuary is a blogging challenge hosted by Linda G Hill. Prompt word for today is “rubbish” suggested by Wendy of Wendy’s Waffle . Featured image of old fashioned lunch box by Scott Rubin on Flickr. Image of Baloney Sandwich by Diderot’s Dreams on wikimedia.
