Monthly Archives: June 2015

Favorite Quote: Day 3: Wanderlust

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A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it. ~George Moore

This quote says succinctly what I have been saying to friends lately.  I no longer feel the push to travel but would rather stay home and think and write.  At first this made me feel old and then I started to realize that it is in the natural order of things to seek and then reflect.  It is not just a question of energy, but more a matter of the direction of one’s curiosity.  The more I traveled, the more I found that things do not vary that much.  Everywhere I’ve gone, the same personalities are sprinkled over the landscape.  Only the landscape and the percentages change.  Once you’ve found a place where there are the greatest number of people who appreciate you for who you really are, you have found home.  Then the task is to go inwards. That is where the real journey exists.


Favorite Quote: Day 2

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Peruvian children, Amazon River trip.

“We acquire the strength we have overcome.”
                                                                                –Ralph Waldo Emerson

In some primitive cultures, it was believed that if you ate the heart of an enemy, you acquired his strength.  I stop short of this, but I do know that standing up for ourselves or others in spite of our fears does strengthen character. I think this is what Emerson is talking about. One of my greatest weaknesses is, I know, wanting to be liked by all. Now and then, however, I have rebelled and  stood up for what I believed in spite of popular opinion or in rebellion against the powers that were at the time. Luckily, all usually came out well even though I chose to put myself at risk. Then, back to a comfortable life.  Not for me the perpetual picket line or protest.  The rest of the time my pen is my placard.

                                                                     Prairie Grass

IMG_0108Prairie grass waves over the spot where my parents’ house used to be. Its roof was blown away in a tornado years ago and the house leveled, the basement filled in. What physical remnants of my past remain beneath this dirt I’ll never know as members of the family were all far-distant when the tornado hit and no one ever went to clear out items stored in the basement. I’m told townspeople came in and scavenged in the basement before it was filled in.  A friend took my childhood books for her children.  I have no idea where other letters, books, trophies and assorted treasures from my past ended up. Perhaps they are buried there.

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Across the dirt road is the cemetery where we all will lie beneath prairie grass one day. Yes, I was moved to tears both by the beauty and the inevitability that all our fuss and bother will result in this simplicity. We rise from the earth, feed on it and in return are fed upon. No person is so special as to survive the inevitable leveling force of nature.

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Daily Prompt: In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Moved to Tears.” Describe the last time you were moved to tears by something beautiful.

Mundane Monday Photo Prompt

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Mundane Monday

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Mundane objects transformed. Found in Hell’s Kitchen, Minneapolis.

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Nature’s collage, spied at the beach in La Manzanilla, Mexico.

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Fishing Nets, Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico

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Where else but Mexico? The ubiquitous red clay pots.

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Natural find: Heart of stone, La Manzanilla Beach, Mexico.

https://trablogger.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/mundane-monday-challenge-11/

The challenge here was to post pictures of mundane objects. I tried to find mundane objects with a twist.

Doors

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                                                                          Doors

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Because I was asked to participate by one of my favorite bloggers, namely Victoria at https://theemptiednotebooks.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/1512/ I am going to post  a favorite quote each day for the next three days.  As I explained to her, however, I’m not going to nominate three particular bloggers as there are so many excellent blogs that I’m following that I can’t really choose three.  Instead I’ll ask any of you who wish to do so to publish one of your favorite quotes on your blog.

Here is my quote for today:

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones that open for us.
                                                                                                 –Alexander Graham Bell

This is a quote I used to introduce one of the chapters of my book, Lessons from A Grief Diary. It is probably the one that best encapsulates the theme of the book–merely that the main power we have in life is just to keep living it no matter what, creating the greatest amount of joy possible for ourselves and those around us.

Where Does the Wind Live?

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Where Does the Wind Live?

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Behind the unfurled sails of sailboats

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In spaces between raindrops

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In the arms of windmills

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Behind the Clouds

http://jennifernicholewells.com/2015/06/16/one-word-photo-challenge-windy/

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Between

I like the middle seasons, the rising and falling.
As in a good novel or a good life,
that is where the excitement is.

Summer’s heat and brittle winter
are for avoidance and snuggling in,
protection from the extremes.

For me it is the in-between, when flowers bud
or leaves turn brilliant and fall to cushion the earth
and blanket it from the cold comforter of December.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Turn, Turn, Turn.” Seasons change so quickly! Which one do you most look forward to? Which is your least favorite?

Crisis Reasoning

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I’ve often thought about how I might react in a crisis and generally I have feared that I would become scattered and rattled and not be of much use.  When I think back on past crises, however, it seems that I act the opposite of how I project I would act in future crises.  What I have done in the past is to calm down and think very quickly of possible responses to the situation, settle on one and act.  The fact that I am still alive is testimony to my actually being able to act very calmly in a crisis.  I think I’ve described all of the situations in past posts, so rather than repeat them here, I’m going to try to find links.

Kidnapping in Africa: Naive in Africa
Shooting incident in Africa:
Trapped Outside in a Mountain Blizzard in Wyoming:

Well, due to my terrible tagging, I could only find a link to one of the stories.  I’ll keep searching, but in the meantime if anyone else can find a link to these other stories, please HELP.  I’m trying to remain calm in spite of my frustration over this crisis!!!

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “In a Crisis.” Honestly evaluate the way you respond to crisis situations. Are you happy with the way you react?

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/in-a-crisis/

Black and White Sunday Challenge: Macro

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Black and white Sunday Challenge: Macro (3 images)

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https://bopaula.wordpress.com/2015/06/14/black-white-sunday-macro/

Skewed: Travel theme, off-center

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Skewed:  Off-center, tilted, to one side of the middle.IMG_0535DSC01154 IMG_0726

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2015/06/12/travel-theme-off-centre/