This was the sky I woke up to this morning, the promise of rain so close as the clouds slowly drifted into my line of vision.  A promise given of another day to savor life to its fullest.  If we don't do this each day, we have no one to blame but ourselves.  Stop to look around you occasionally at the wonders of the world.  Did you look up today to see what might be floating above you?   Perhaps a dragon, or dolphins at play in the sea foam?  When did you last see a sunrise, I was fortunate enough to see a very special one just a few days ago......

This is just one of the pictures I took, it gives me the sensation of being in space, looking down at our planet, as the orange tide ebbs and flows beneath me.  I share these pictures on Facebook for anyone and everyone to see.  But even more than seeing someone elses' pictures, look up once in a while.  Sunsets are quite lovely also, and to be shared.  I wonder how many people never notice them, so sad.  Have you walked in a park lately?  Stopped to smell a rose?  Taken notice of the birds, heard their songs or the staccato tapping of a woodpecker?  Life is so much more, please don't let the beauty of it slip by you.  Learn to listen, give more than you take, love as if it's the greatest gift that you can give and keep your eyes forward.  That which is behind you is just that, behind you, we move and grow and that allows our universes to expand.  Be safe, be free, be loved...........

I really like this picture, there are a few more similar to it that I like just as well, it's very unique, al least for me.  I just happened to be lucky enough to be up that particular morning and catch this spectacular sunrise.  It just took my breath away, I felt so blessed to a viewer of the pageant that played out for me for those fifteen or twenty minutes.  The colors were spectacular for that little slice of the day, I felt as if it was just for me.  Maybe it was, these days so many things inspire me to write, and it's a very good thing I don't have to put film in a camera anymore.  I can't get enough clouds, the variations are never-ending.  Trees, flowers, moss, lichens, wood, you name it, it's a picture in my head already.  The camera just allows me to put it here or on Facebook to share with my friends.  I dream of having an opportunity to put these in a book, a book of clouds, sunrises and sunsets, they stir my soul each and everyday.  We need these moments, we need to remember there is more than keyboards, moniters, televisions, steel, bricks and mortar.  I'm afraid if we forget those things, we'll all end up in a horror novel, cold and alone, having forgotten the the words to the song of life.

What happened?

        Do you ever just sit and wonder at how the world has changed?  I'm 61 and have seen a lot of things come and go just in that short time on this planet.  Sometimes it's absolutely overwhelming.
        What happened to food servers that wear hairnets, for instance?  Have we progressed so fast and so far in our lives that we no longer mind finding hair in our food?  I know I haven't hit that particular pinnacle.
        What happened to the simplicity of childhood?  We ran and played until that last loud yell-KIMBERLEY!-made me know I better move my little butt and head for home.  The cowboys and indians, the princesses and their courts , all had to be sent on their way too for the night.  Now we listen to the news of our children and video games, childhood obesity on the rise and wonder why.
         What happened to sitting on our porches, swinging gently to the music of the night?  Talk, or not, hold hands, or not, watch the stars as they leisurely stroll across the skies, sadly, all lost arts. 
        What happened to manners?  Consideration for others?  I cannot remember the last time I was out in public and didn't have to listen to someone else's conversation filled with the "F" word.  It's tossed around now like a basketball, no regard for age, gender or location.
         Progress, oh yes, I hear that, and in some respects, yes, we've jumped by leaps and bounds.  But, have we progressed in the things that truly matter?  When it all comes crashing down around us, do you know your neighbor well enough to go and ask for help?  My mom told me so many times, stop and smell the roses. 
           I got it mom, thanks.....

Judgement

     I did my best as a mother, there's no instuction booklet handed out as you near your delivery date.  Maybe you're lucky enough to have been given some guidelines by family, or maybe motherhood is suddenly dropped in your lap; here ya go, ready or not!
     But the point of all this is, we do the best we can with what we know.  As our children grow and have families of their own, if they feel they are a better parent, perhaps they're not remembering how they learned to be a good parent.  Where do those lessons come from?  From being loved and nurtured throughout your early years and feeling confident about your ability to pass those teachings on as you grow and mature. 
     I grew up a happy child, certainly there were problems in my life, but overall I was blessed with a mother that loved me and I knew that.  We played in the rain, ran barefoot through the puddles and she was there for me to help me raise my two children.  We didn't always agree, but even those times were a learning experience. 
     Be careful how you judge others, each person does the best they can with the knowledge they have at the time.  It may not meet your standards that you have today, but you can't always know what drives a person.  Until you have walked in their shoes, until you can say with all certainty you've done a better job, then hold your tongue.  We are all fallible, don't be so quick to say another is more so than you.  Accept the results and move on to living your life the best you possibly can, you may be in that same position one day.  The only judgement that really matters comes much later in the game, many of us have tried ourselves and found a guilty verdict.  We can't go back, all that has gone before this moment is a done deal.  So choose how you live very carefully, you only get 60 or 70 years to get it right.  It goes in a blink of an eye.
      Love unconditonally, give all you can give, each and every day that you walk the planet.  Every moment of every day is an opportunity to lessen the weight of that guilty verdict.  Make each day count, we only have a limited window open to us.  As Picard would say...."Make it so"

Good day, bad day..........

       I can't say my day today was a good one, I won't bore you with the whys and wherefores, you will just have to take my word for it...I find, as I age, I'm not as patient as I used to be.  Is this because the realization that our time here is a lot shorter comes up to slap us in the face?  Pay attention!  Appreciate all that you have, look around and take an inventory for yourself, of yourself. 
       There are no words for me to describe the incredible value of our friends, the English language is quite inadequate for this purpose.  My friend helped me tonight, just by being here for me.  In learning to appreciate all that I have, my friend tops the list of fineness. 
        Maybe my first statement isn't an entirely true one, maybe what happens each day and how we 'rate' it on a scale of good to bad, lies in the eye of the beholder.  If things go our way, it's a good day; should someone or something throw  a wrench in the works, it's not as good as we hoped it would be.  So where does the responsibility of how it goes rest?  If I could rise each day, expecting nothing except good things, would that direct my brain to interpret only positives no matter what takes place?  Would it be better to expect nothing at all, leaving the possibilities wide open?  Maybe there would be no disappointments since expecting nothing leaves no room for that?  Somehow that sounds so.......apathetic?  That isn't a viable choice, apathy, lethargy, inertia aren't on the list of options either.
      Could it be that my day wasn't really bad, but that my attitude toward the events that took place was bad?  Can we teach ourselves to find the good in everything, see another persons actions as just that, actions.  If we don't take it personally does that eliminate another persons ability to hurt us?  To that, I say yes, it makes sense to me that we allow that to happen.  I'm thinking if we're satisfied with ourselves, if we believe in ourselves, then  no one can hurt us.  Because we refuse to take on their baggage, it cannot weigh us down, we can stay free and clear, content with our knowledge we are good enough.  No one can take that from us as long as we hold strong.  Do not loosen your grip on your life, live it to the fullest and revel in the music that we dance through life to.

Hear me

     I was stabbed in the heart yesterday by the sight of an elderly man, standing on a sidewalk and holding a sign requesting help with his wifes' medical bills.  He was neatly dressed and must of been feeling desperate beyond most of our scopes of experience.  My heart broke at the sight of him and I wanted to help, but I don't have any money to give him.  I contacted our local news station and posted on Facebook, asking others to do the same.  If there is enough noise made, maybe they will do a story on him and he will receive some help from those more able to give.
     How did we get here?  What happened to our morals and love of our fellow humans on this planet that led us to situations where our elderly have to beg for help?  I cannot begin to imagine how emasculated and vulnerable he must have felt, we've all had bad times, but this....This just screams "WRONG, WRONG, WRONG"
     Pointing fingers, naming names, flinging accusations-none of these will solve our problems,  I believe it is up to us to stand up and say no more.  Can you help someone today, open a door for someone whose arms are laden with packages, let that car out into traffic even though you want to get home as well as they do.   Spend a dollar on a simple meal that might be the only one that somewhat raggedy person might have today.  I don't have all the answers, I just know if we don't start helping ourselves out here, all that is good about humanity may be lost in the fray.  We have to stop looking to someone else to fix what is wrong, if "they" were going to fix it, it would have been done by now. 
     To me, this gentlemen epitomizes a very scary concept, that after having worked most of our lives, we all end on on that curbside with a sign that says "I gave it all, I did my best.....I guess it wasn't good enough"

Ok, help me out here faithful reader, I have questions without answers brewing in my head.  We all do, I feel sure, but I just have to get them down on 'paper' so to speak, and see if it helps!

1.  Who decides the name of a font? 
       Is there a Font Namers Society with a huge board of directors?
      Do you submit the chosen name to a committee, with some obscure place of origin, like Fontville, Liechtenstein?
      Is there an award for being the best fonter?

2.  How stupid do the makers of commercials think we are?
      Do they test these ideas out in front of three year olds and if they don't puke, that's an approval?
      Is it necessary to show the same one two or three times in a row because they think we don't get it the first time?
      Is there anyway to shorten the 'shelf life' of a commercial so after seven days we never have to see it again?
      Does anyone remember the movie where the people in a care facility made up commercials and they were the truth?  I think Dudley Moore was in it, but memory is somewhat iffy these days.
     Can one submit ideas for better commercials?  I'm thinking my cats might be interested!

3.  Visitors to our lakes, rivers, ocean, parks or cities that leave a trail of trash behind them with no regard for anyone else.  
        It grieves me to no end to drive through the Columbia River Gorge, or ANY area, and see the debris left behind.
        You carry it in full, haul it up or down as needed, how hard is it to pick up your empties and properly discard them?
       
     Enough for today, the list is pretty much endless-tail gaters, rude people, abusers of anything two or four legged and parents that neglect their children.     

Life Tides

          Hurtful words.  Ammunition that can never be taken back; bullets that hurt and maim the heart and soul as surely as real ones rip through flesh.  Is the line between love and hate that thin?  How can an emotion such as anger obliterate that line to the extent that love ceases to have a say?  How many times can you crush love before it's unable to get back up and bring peace to the chaos that is anger?  It must be different for each person, just as the degree and intensity changes with each difficult encounter, so must one's ability to cope.
            We all have baggage and we all get angry from time to time, but why is it that we lash out at the ones that love us the most?  Why do we aim for the heart of the one person that stands when you stand?  Is it that we feel we don't deserve to be loved?  Can you stand on a beach, or a mountaintop and not realize we are but a blip in time and space?  Our time here is a blink of an eye in the scheme of things, wouldn't we all be better off it we could spend it in comfort, at the very least, if not sharing love?  Don't we all deserve that kind of respect for each other?
             A lot of questions, I believe there is no pat answer, that each of us has our own path to walk, and if we're fortunate enough to walk arm and arm with a friend, well, all the better for both.  Once in a while we are lucky enough to find a friend that will stay with us, despite our efforts to push them away.  Treasure that, know how special that gift is, love each other as fiercely as you can, for there are those that would tear it asunder; anger, grief, apathy and hate, just to name a few. 
            Hold on to your gifts, dreams and hopes, without them we are but an empty shell at the mercy of the tides of life.  They don't have to be huge, it's not a matter of degree, but of belief.  Every grain of sand hopes to be caught up in the swirl of the surf, every movement an adventure.  Ride the waves with me, let us share the rest of our time here linked by love.
           

What

       I cannot forgive myself for wrongs I have committed, so how do I think I can tell anyone else they should forgive. 
        I cannot forget wrongs I have done, so again, how can I tell anyone else to do that very thing.
        Is it an emotional shortcoming on my part?  Some mechanism not properly inserted?  More like a lesson still unlearned on my part, a part not nurtured properly for reasons long forgotten.
        Perhaps I saw that inability as a vulnerability; many of us developed coping skills as children to deal with situations we had no way to understand.  People used us a whipping posts, both literally and figuratively, so we had to create a place where the real world couldn't touch us. 
         I could blame it on my parents, they are no longer here to defend the truth of that reflection, but that would be less than candid of me.
         I could take responsibility for it, now there's a concept, and accept that I did hurt people, some knowingly, some not.   I wish I could personally apologize to everyone I have ever hurt, but that's not possible.  Nor am I able to 'fix' all the wrongs I have done.  As for those that have wronged me, I guess that is their cross to bear.
       Having said all of this, I can only humble myself before all concerned and ask for your understanding and compassion.  I stand before you, contrite; yet exposed to the emotions that bombard my senses.  They flood my field of vision, surrounding me as if standing beneath a waterfall.
       I don't know where to go with this....I feel....I feel....I feel...........