I miss you Sam!!

I miss you Sam!!
I miss you Sam!!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Evening Words, Wisdom and Beauty


Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
Kahlil Gibran

May you all have a beautiful evening and a lovely Sunday filled with peace and beauty and love.

Shadow Shot Sunday!


Hey! it's time to join Harriet and all the rest of us shadow chasers for Shadow Shot Sunday! Click here to sign up and play!
And remember today is Harmony Day! Celebrate diversity!!!
I was down at the park above the harbor this morning, enjoying a little sunshine and catching some shots -- and surprise, surprise! I even managed to find a few shadows! It is amazing that even a garbage can makes a lovely shadow!

Then there was the fence that keeps people from tumbling into the harbor!
Then there was the lovely yard across the street with green grass and blooming bushes and soft shadows!
And then after I returned home, I got caught in the stair well!!

Have a beautiful Shadow Shot Weekend from spring-hungry Seattle!

Spring Really is Here!!

We had a little dab and dribble of sunshine today and I took the camera and Sam and headed to the park above the harbor. There were sailboats out on the water and if you enlarge the pictures by clicking on them you can see the Cascade Mountains in the distance. There was even a tiny patch of shivering daffodils! They looked scrawny and a little beat up, but it was a spot of color!



As I started back to the car I noticed a yard across the street that looked so lovely even though the tree and shrubs were really just beginning to blossom out, but again, it was the first real sign of spring that I've seen and it looked gorgeous! Again, to really get a good look at them, click to embiggen!

Happy Harmony Day!



Join Australia and Celebrate Harmony Day! Everyone Belongs!!

Breaking News!

To save the economy in 2009, the Obama government will start
deporting all of the weird old people in order to lower Social Security
and Medicare costs.

I started crying when I thought of you.

Well....what can I say? The weather has been cold and miserable....someone forgot to tell the weatherman here that Friday was the first day of spring! Besides someone sent this to me, and I'm not going alone!!!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Evening Words, Wisdom, Diversity


Ever since I found out about Australia's Harmony Day, which I wrote about earlier, I've been thinking a lot about the idea of diversity and why as our world shrinks in size we -- as a world, still seem to have difficulty with the idea that we are all one human race regardless of color, religion, location. So I went looking for what other people have said about it. These were just a few of the quotes I found.

Diversity is not about how we differ.
Diversity is about embracing one another's uniqueness.
Ola Joseph

Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes

Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common.
Celebrate it every day.
Author Unknown

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.
Anne Frank

We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.
Maya Angelou

Hopefully someday, we will all find a way to embrace and celebrate our diversity as the beautiful thing that it is. Everyone Belongs!

The Nightmare of Illegal Adoption

The following is from a post by Sujatha of Blogpourri It is a heartbreaking story of illegal adoption and I would urge you to read it. It is one more instance in our world today where money is the only thing that matters to many. Forget the heartache, the agony that parents feel when they lose a child, not just to death, but by having them literally kidnapped and put up for sale.

When International Adoptions Go Terribly Wrong

Scott Carney traces the journey of one Indian boy snatched from the slums of Chennai and then passed off as a child who'd been given up by his parents to a couple in the American Midwest who eventually adopted him (via).

Ten years later, during which the boy's parents refused to give up their search for their son, they know exactly where their son is but can do nothing about it. Painstakingly recounted, bathed in empathy, Carney's essay makes for a harrowing tale.

It was every parent's worst nightmare. Sivagama and her husband, Nageshwar Rao, a construction painter, spent the next five years scouring southern India for Subash. [...] To finance the search, Nageshwar Rao sold two small huts he'd inherited from his parents and moved the family into a one-room concrete house with a thatched roof in the shadow of a mosque. The couple also pulled their daughter out of school to save money; the ordeal plunged the family from the cusp of lower-middle-class mobility into solid poverty. And none of it brought them any closer to Subash.

Five years after he was kidnapped, the police chanced upon a drunken brawl in a bar at which people were arguing about grabbing children off the streets and selling them to an adoption agency. The police found that the agency then placed these children in homes as far away as Australia, the US and Europe.

The ingredients in this international adoption cocktail cannot but lead to skewed incentives - desperate, childless couples with the ability to bear the cost of international adoptions, abject poverty and millions of disenfranchised parents in developing countries, and most importantly, no rules for how much money can be demanded for placements.

"This is an industry to export children," says Sarah Crowe, unicef's media director for South Asia. "When adoption agencies focus first on profits and not child rights, they open up the door to gross abuses."
The saddest part of this heartbreaking tale is where Subash's parents realize this has gone too far along, that they've lost their son. That even if they know exactly where he is, there is nothing they can do to bring his child back to his family.

When I tell Nageshwar Rao that I'll be traveling to the United States to make contact with the family, he touches my shoulder and eyes me intently. [...] With the few words of English at his disposal, he struggles to convey his hopes. Gesturing into the air, toward America, he says, "Family." He then points back at himself.

"Friends," he says.
Oh my god.

All the father now wants is at least some contact with his own son, to be his 'friend'. And it looks like even that might be impossible. No matter which way you look at this, every one comes up a loser.

Sujatha later added the story of King Solomon and how he tested two women to see who was the real mother of a child in question. It is a story I was familiar with and I'm sure most of you are as well, but I've included it as well.

"Nageshwar Rao's acceptance of what must be reminds me of one of the wise King Solomon tales.

Two women are fighting over a child, both claiming to be the mother. They go to King Solomon and present their case. The King says he'll hold a contest. He draws a line on the ground, tells the women to stand on either side. He gives the child to them, the hands to one woman and the feet to the other. He tells them to pull. Whoever succeeds in pulling the child to her is the mother.

The two women pull. The baby starts crying. Then, one of the women, unable to bear the child's cries, lets go. The other woman triumphantly turns to the King. King Solomon takes the child from the woman and hands it to the one who let go. Only a mother could do what she did, he says. Feel the child's pain."

Like Sujatha said in closing and totally agree, I can't get past the fact that he said that - that he would be willing to be just friends, that he's with family in America. Just so heartbreaking.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Evening Words, Wisdom


When I read this quote tonight needless to say it really hit me in light of the AIG mess -- among others, but then I guess greed is definintely nothing new and has been twisting people's lives from the beginning of time. So, there is wisdom from Tagore, but the beauty tonight has to be found in the skies.

The greed of gain has no time or limit to its capaciousness. Its one object is to produce and consume. It has pity neither for beautiful nature nor for living human beings. It is ruthlessly ready without a moment's hesitation to crush beauty and life out of them, molding them into money. ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Sky Watch Friday


Join us and show your skies today. Sky Watch is hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise and I want to thank them for their time and efforts so that we can each enjoy skies from all over the world. And remember March 21st is Harmony Day in Australia -- wouldn't it be great if it could be Harmony Day all over the world! Everyone Belongs!

I don't have anything to equal the spectacular storm cloud photos of last week, but our skies here in Seattle are always beautiful and sometimes different!

X marks the spot! I walked out of the house and there were vapor trails criscrossing across the sky. Click on them to enlarge and see more detail in the texture.


This one looked as though it was pouring some kind of grainy solution into the cloud below! Oh, I know! I am all too imaginative! But look closely!

And then toward the end of the day the soft, lovely deep shades. I do love our skies!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Everyone belongs! Let's Celebrate Diversity


I believe that we should all follow Australia's example and do all we can to promote this idea, this belief. I found out about this from Bobbie's blog, Almost There, this morning and decided that I would do all that I can.

The Diverse Australia Program is an Australian Government initiative and replaces the previous Living in Harmony Program.

It is about dealing with cultural, racial and religious intolerance. They are doing this by promoting respect, fairness and a sense of belonging for everyone.

They provide information and funding to help ensure all Australians are treated fairly regardless of their background.

Everyone belongs!

March 21st is Harmony Day

Celebrate Cultural Diversity on Harmony Day 2009

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Evening Words, Wisdom and Beauty


When we turn to one another for counsel we reduce the number of our enemies.
Kahlil Gibran

Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.
Tagore

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
moments that take our breath away.

ABC Wednesday -- I


It's ABC Wednesday again and I want to share my Images for the letter I!

Imagine being able to see this lovely Impala on your morning stroll! Or happen upon the Imperial Moth!

And there is the plant I didn't know anything about until today and I found it so interesting!

Monotropa uniflora, also known as the Ghost Plant, Indian Pipe, or Corpse Plant is a herbaceous perennial plant, formerly classified in the family Monotropaceae, but now included within the Ericaceae. It is native to temperate regions of Asia, North America and northern South America, but with large gaps between areas.[1] It is generally scarce or rare in occurrence.

Unlike most plants, it is white and does not contain chlorophyll. Instead of generating energy from sunlight, it is parasitic, more specifically a myco-heterotroph.

And those are just a few of the lovely things that inspired my post for ABC Wednesday.

The Wearin' O' the Green

Today is the day fer the wearin' o' the green.
Today is the day when the little people are seen.
Today is St. Patrick's Day, so if ye'r Irish me lad,
Join the celebratin' fer the grandest time ta' be had.

Ya' put yer hand up in the air, the other hand on your hip.
Ya' tap yer toe, ya' tap yer heel, ya' bounce yer knee a wee bit.
Ya' prance 'n dance around the room, n' circle one two three.
The saints be praised, I must admit, ya' all look Irish ta' me.

My best wishes to all of you for a great day! May you have sunshine and blue skies! May you have laughter! May you love and be loved! May you find beauty wherever you look! And double click on the picture to embiggen!

A Look Back -- and What a Difference Time Makes!

Back in the 1929 Financial Crash it was said that some Wall Street Stockbrokers and Bankers JUMPED from their office windows and committed suicide when confronted with the news of their firms and clients financial ruin ... . . Many people were said to almost feel a little sorry for them . . . . . .

In 2008 the attitude has changed.


Monday, March 16, 2009

Evening Words, Wisdom and Beauty

Want of love is a degree of callousness; for love is the perfection of consciousness. We do not love because we do not comprehend, or rather we do not comprehend because we do not love. For love is the ultimate meaning of everything around us. It is not a mere sentiment; it is truth; it is the joy that is at the root of all creation.

Tagore

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

Kahlil Gibran

That's My World -- Oregon, Washington Coasts


That's My World is hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise. Click here and join them and the rest of us to share your world.

For My World today, I will show you some of the spectacular beauty of both the Oregon and Washington coasts. Driving along either of them will always take your breath away. In Newport, Oregon you will also find the Oregon Coast Aquarium where you can visit with sea otters in their caves.

Washington has Mt. Rainier and Oregon has Mt. Hood, another spectacular sight. Mount Hood, called Wy'east by the Multnomah tribe, is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about 50 miles (80 km) east-southeast of the city of Portland, on the border between Clackamas and Hood River counties.

Mount Hood's snow-covered peak rises 11,249 feet (3,429 m) and is home to twelve glaciers. (Older surveys said 11,239 feet (3,426 m), which is still often cited as its height). It is the highest mountain in Oregon and the fourth-highest in the Cascade Range. Mount Hood is considered the Oregon volcano most likely to erupt,[7] though based on its history, an explosive eruption is unlikely. Still, the odds of an eruption in the next 30 years are estimated at between 3 and 7 percent, so the USGS characterizes it as "potentially active", but the mountain is informally considered dormant.

Washington has Snoqualmi Falls and in Oregon there is Multnomah Falls, another spectacular waterfall.

These next few shots are just a few of both the Oregon and Washington coasts. The first two are along the Washington coast.

Ane this one is the scenic train you can take for a really spectacular ride on the Oregon coast.

This shot is of Ruby Beach in Washington.

As you can see, somedays it's hard to get a sunny shot and both states do have a lot of fog and gray days along their coasts. But there is beauty even then, just a different kind. Both coasts are mostly wild and rugged although both also have some lovely flat beaches such as Cannon Beach in Oregon, seen here.

Whatever the weather, the beauty of Oregon and Washington is very hard to beat. Enjoy My World!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Evening Words, Wisdom and Beauty


I was browsing through some poetry/quotes as I do almost every day because I've found there is always something by Gibran or Tagore that I can learn from. Usually I settle on one to share for the evening, but today these four grabbed me for whatever reason, so I decided to share all of them this evening.

If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were.
Kahlil Gibran

If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect flowers to bloom?
Kahlil Gibran

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
Kahlil Gibran

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.
Kahlil Gibran

Sisterhood Award!


I have been very honored today to received the Sisterhood Award from Frankie Anon of Object Wisdom. Thank you so very much, Frankie, I love your blog!

And now I have the pleasure of nominating other fantastic bloggers that share so much with me and all of you, every day. They bring laughter and wisdom and joy and love to each of us over the weeks and months that we have been indulging in this marvelous, brain-saving, joyful world of blogging.

Frankie beat me to Blogpourri because I would have chosen her, too. So, I will begin with Deborah of Notes From the Cloud Messenger who always has beauty and wisdom and laughter to warm the heart and lighten the day.

Lilly of Lilly's Life who also has an abundance of wisdom and laughter, who struggles along with me in dealing with some of those things we all have trouble coming to grips with.

Peggy from Musings of Meggie who teaches me on a daily basis what courage is and whom I so deeply admire.

My dear "Pagan" friend at Pagan Sphinx who has inspired me with her bravery, her compassion, her understanding and her devotion to her daughters/daughter-in-law.

And last, but by no means least, Indrani another beautiful friend from India at I share Beautiful words, beautiful photos and wisdom to spare.

I feel so honored to know these women, to have them as a part of my life.

Now, here's how it works:

1. Put the logo on on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 5 blogs which show great ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link this post to the person from whom you received your award.

Now DO go read these wonderful blogs which have so much heart, love, compassion, gratitude, and joy!

Questions???

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea....
Does that mean that one out of five enjoys it?

Why do croutons come in airtight packages?
Aren't they just stale bread to begin with?

If it's true that we are here to help others,
then what exactly are the others here for?

What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks... so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use. Toothpicks?

Is it true that you never really learn to swear until you learn to drive?

As income tax time approaches, did you ever notice:
When you put the two words,
'The' and 'IRS' together, it spells THEIRS?

Life's too Short..
Dance like No One is Watching You!

What Can I Say?

What Can I Say?
I'm interested in almost everything. Use to like to travel, but it's too expensive now. I take Tai Chi classes, swim, volunteer in a Jump-start program for pre-schoolers. I'm an avid reader and like nearly everyone these days I follow politics avidly. I'm a former teacher and Special Projects Coordinator for a Telecommunications company, Assistant to the President of a Japanese silicon wafer manufacturing company. Am now enjoying retirement -- most of the time. I have two daughters, one son-in-law and two sons scattered all over the country. No grandchildren.

Portland Time