29 June 2006

Unending Love

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times,
In life after life, in age after age forever.
My spell-bound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs
That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms

In life after life, in age after age forever.

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, its age-old pain,
Its ancient tale of being apart or together,
As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge
Clad in the light of a pole-star piercing the darkness of time:

You become an image of what is remembered forever.

You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount
At the heart of time love of one for another.
We have played alongside millions of lovers, shared in the same
Shy sweetness of meeting, the same distressful tears of farewell -
Old love, but in shapes that renew and renew forever.

Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in you,
The love of all man's days both past and forever:
Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life,
The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours -
And the songs of everypoet both past and forever.


~Rabindranath Tagore


Coalescence by Catherine Andrews

28 June 2006

Poem Before Departure

by Jean Burdeu
Winter 1962
First Prize Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards 1963

This place moves from me like a slow tide pulling out against the moon.
It does not matter if I push up earth against the door,
or turn the key within the lock;
even as I lean,
the tree trembles in the wood,
the pebble flies within the rock.

Or if I stay like a crouched animal within,
I watch the walls move back, grow membrane thin;
leaves sprayed against the pane blur a little at the edge;
vines pale and loosen on the sill.

It does not matter that I prop beneath the knob tables, chairs.
Something recedes that once was still;
what was mobile, stares.

The time is soon though I, longing to be caught by root or weed,
resist departure as a kind of death.

Something began and ended here.
One morning, whether I dare or do not dare,
I shall look up, unroofed to sky;
I shall gaze through timber
that I once leaned my fear against, and knock on air.




Spirit of Flight by Josephine Wall


I shall be older than this one day,
I shall think myself young when I remember.
Nothing can change the slow change of masks my face must wear,
One following one.
These gloves my hands have put on,
the pleated skin, patterned by the pale tracings of my days...
These are not my hands!
And yet these gloves do not come off!
I shall wear older ones tomorrow,
'till glove after glove,
and mask after mask
I am buried beneath the baggage of Old Woman.
Oh, then, shall I drop them off
Unbutton the sagging, misshappen apparel of age,
and run, young and naked,
into Eternity.

~Joan Walsh Anglund

I love collecting Joan Walsh Anglund books, those precious little books of poetry and tender illustrations that provoke feelings of nostalgia and sentimentality for my youth. This poem, however, is written for a more mature audience, and it too is very special to me.

21 June 2006

Happy Solstice

I received the following in an eMail, its source is unknown to me:


"The Solstice this week is a profound expression of the times we live in, the path we have chosen.

Solstice occurs when the Sun enters Cancer, this year at 8:26 AM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time), 5:26 AM Pacific, 12:26 PM GMT on June 21. There are layers upon layers of significance in this moment.

Our level of consciousness as we pass through the Solstice gateway will be imprinted into future generations. The implications are limitless. Energetically, the Solstice chart for June 21, 2006, resembles the Grand Fixed Cross Solar Eclipse of August 11, 1999, and the Harmonic Concordance of November 8-9, 2003, two pivotal moments in the transformation of consciousness leading to and through 2012. Both accompanied mass spiritual awakenings.

Solstices and equinoxes are cardinal points of the solar year, marking special alignments of Sun, Earth and Moon as the Sun makes his annual journey through thezodiac. On the Solstices, we have the longest andshortest days of the year; at equinoxes, day and night are of equal length. These, along with the cross-quarter Sabbats, are highly charged energetic portals when the veils between worlds thin and our intent radiates throughout the galaxy.

While the Equinoxes are a point of balance, the Solstices are a point of extremes. We're certainly seeing extremes played out in our world today, as well as in our personal lives.

A new paradigm is being born. At this Solstice portal, we have a special opportunity to:
- Redirect the focus of the self in relation to the collective
- Reach beyond our individual lives, beyond our communities and nations to connect with the Cosmos
- Heal personal wounds so we may walk fully in our power and serve at a higher level
- Merge the spiritual and material planes

Within the tense squares and oppositions of this cross, there's tremendous energy for change. In an instant, we could release the past and emerge as bold, courageous, creative, empowered individuals expressing a specific destiny and purpose.
Or we could lock ourselves down in old, comfortable, outdated patterns, allowing the emotions of past hurts to control us or diminish our highest expression."


Verily, from time immemorial, humans have celebrated the solstice time of year with bonfires, rituals, flowers and herbs. In this way we honour the gifts of Mother Earth and Father Sky. I may not be able to make it to Stonehenge, but I will endevour to visit our tree goddess, an ancient hollowed out redwood, in a sacred forest. There we will recline, meditate and whisper sweet promises of love to each other until the light fades into darkness. And then perhaps we'll dig out that old Mickey Rooney film A Midsummer Night's Eve to watch this weekend.

I hope the season makes for wonderful renewal in your life.

19 June 2006

Almost guilty

Had a great weekend, especially after the heat subsided. Saturday we went to the nursery and bought a fuchsia for the hummingbirds and a couple varieties of coleus and several herbs; parsley, cilantro, chives, basil, oregano, thyme, purple salvia and two mints and a lavender, as well as several pots to put them all in. Watched a couple of William Powell and Myrna Loy movies on Saturday evening. On Sunday we potted all of our new babies. And then after hosing down the front patio, sat and drank a beer in the cool afternoon breeze enjoying the fruits of our labours while trying to be still so as not to frighten off the purple finches as they dipped timidly into the bird bath. Sunday's dinner was a feast of scrumptiousness. Catfish filets marinated and simmered in cajun sauce. Artichokes w/ hollandaise for dipping. Coleslaw and potato salad. It was so very delicious that I almost felt guilty. Almost.

14 June 2006

Meditative Rose





You Are Best Described By...









Meditative Rose

By Salvadore Dali



Flag Day

In honour of Flag Day, I have taken the liberty to express my freedom by taking some poetic license with the Pledge of Allegiance. While I do consider myself to be patriotic and a proponent of the ideals upon which this country was founded, I am saddened when reality falls short of those ideals. I am appalled by fanatics who staunchly believe that this government can do or has done no wrong and when I see the hypocrisy in the killing of innocents in the name of freedom and liberty. I deplore the jingoism and and nationalistic tone of so many Americans especially in the post-nine-eleven era.

Every Friday at noon in my hometown, factions from both side of this debate gather at the main intersection as they have in earnest since the start of this so-called non-war in Iraq. On one corner you have the Women in Black keeping their silent protest. On the opposite corner you have a flag waving, "Honk if you love our troops" guy saluting and standing at attention. As well as other individuals, a clergy member and regular citizens who all assemble together, on each of the four corners with their signs of protest and "Thou Shall Not Kill". My silent recognition, shows which side of the street I throw my own allegiance in with.

Today the local Boy Scout troop has put out flags up and down each side of the main thoroughfare as they do on each national holiday. That's ok with me, it's part of the charm of living in a small town. I was a Girl Scout in my youth. I was a Colour Guard. I was taught to respect the flag of our country.

And while I do honour the traditions of this country and respect it's heritage, I realise that we are now, more than ever, global citizens and our prosperity can not be at the expense of others. If we truly wish to live in peace, we cannot be simultaneously disturbing the peace of others. And in keeping with this thought I have changed the wording of the traditional pledge to the following.

"I pledge allegiance to all the flags not just the United States of America and to the Republics for which they stand, one world, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

08 June 2006

Ringo.com is BOGUS

If you get an invite to view a friends photos at Ringo.com and are asked to provide your eMail address and password, Ringo.com will send an invite to every name in your address book, whether you want them to or not.

This program has an advanced feature in its EULA (End User License Agreement) which allows the website to send the invite to all of your friends as a 'convenience'.

There are other websites and programs that do this also.

Unfortunately, unless you read the big long legalese terms of use agreement you might not know until its already gotten into your address book.

This is BOGUS and ABUSIVE. Always question when an unsolicited eMail or website asks for your passwords. Be safe.

Thanks to my lovely, intelligent niece Sarah for figuring this out.

06 June 2006

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy...


It is with utter sadness that I read today of the death of Billy Preston.

May God bless you on this journey and may you rest in peace, dear Billy.

Mr. Preston was an integral part of one of the pivotal moments of my life, when he was a member of the 1974 George Harrison tour and I attended my very first concert on 13 December for that historical occasion. I will never forget the funky, raw rhythms of his organ playing, his infectious gap-toothed grin and his overall jovial, good-natured, fun-loving playfulness. I just love you Billy.

9/9/1946 - 6/6/2006

The Journey

I chose to re-name my blog after the Mary Oliver poem Hummingbird Pauses at the Trumpet Vine because I like the poem and the imagery it creates and I am a fan of Oliver’s other work titled The Journey.

I stumbled on The Journey at a critical time in my life. The strength that I gained by its message was incalculable at that crucial time. After years in an unhappy marriage and the efforts made to repair the damage proved unsuccessful, I made the decision to leave.

It was the year before my 40th birthday. My daughter was a senior in high school, soon to be 18. I watched in collective horror as events unfolded on 11 September. George Harrison passed away soon thereafter. All of these events coalescing caused me to examine where I was in my life. And truth be told, I did not like what I saw. I determined that I was better off being alone than being unhappy.

The frequent fighting caused by the family struggles was starting to show in the attitude of my young son. My daughter was acting out. And my husband wavered between being unsupportive and a full on instigator of the tribulation. It was an unhealthy situation on many levels and had been allowed to percolate for a very long time. I take my share of the blame in that regard. But by the time I tried to wield an influence for positive change the dye had been cast.

I gave ultimatums. I gave warnings. But it all seemed to fall on deaf ears. And the reaction to my final act of desperation seemed to come as a total surprise, as if they never expected mom to really go through with it. But I had to do it. And I have not regretted it for a moment. My only guilt is in not having done something sooner.


The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

© Mary Oliver.

05 June 2006

Oh Happy Day....

With many thanks and kudos to Harley I have found a solution for my blog template. I am so very grateful and happy for this help. Now I am psyched to get back to my blogging routine.

I went to the doctor today for my post-op appointment and got a clean bill of health, so I am very happy about that as well.

For a Monday that ain't too bad.

01 June 2006

someone stole my template!!

http://blogger-templates.blogspot.com/2006/03/tropical-dream.html

and the blogger message on the page where I downloaded it from says it has exceeded its bandwith.

Boy am I bummed - what a waste of time....Grrrrrrr

The Shoreless Lake of Peace


Fix your mind inwardly between the eyebrows [as in meditation] on the shoreless lake of peace. Watch the eternal circle of rippling peace around you. The more you watch intently, the more you will feel the wavelets of peace spreading from the eyebrows to the forehead, from the forehead to the heart, and on to every cell in your body. Now the waters of peace are overflowing the banks of your body and inundating the vast territory of your mind. The flood of peace flows over the boundaries of your mind and moves on in infinite directions.

~Paramahansa Yogananda
"Metaphysical Meditations"