Author Archives: lifelessons

Unknown's avatar

About lifelessons

My blog, which started out to be about overcoming grief, quickly grew into a blog about celebrating life. I post daily: poems, photographs, essays or stories. I've lived in countries all around the globe but have finally come to rest in Mexico, where I've lived since 2001. My books may be found on Amazon in Kindle and print format, my art in local Ajijic galleries. Hope to see you at my blog.

Yellow Hibiscus: Flower of the Day, June 29, 2016

2 Replies

Today when I went out to the front garden, the hibiscus bush had so many blooms, each at a different stage of development, that it looked like a staged demonstration for a class in plant development.  The blooms at every stage were so uniquely beautiful, that I took a few dozen shots, almot all of which turned out.  Since I’m going to be traveling over the next few days and I’m not sure how many flowers I’ll see, I’ve decided to show you one or two of the blooms a day for the next few days.  They won’t be in any particular order––just what catches my eye each day as I dip into my cache of beauties.

 

https://ceenphotography.com/2016/06/28/flower-of-the-day-june-29-2016-camellia/

Strange Bedfellows: Garlic Blossoms and Aloe. Flower of the Day, June 28, 2016

2 Replies

DSCN1524

Here is another unlikely bouquet.  This time it is aloe and garlic blossoms.  My semi-wild garden creates some strange bedfellows.

https://ceenphotography.com/2016/06/27/flower-of-the-day-june-28-2016-yellow-heirloom-rose/

Pool Party

14 Replies

Okay… It is finally happening, and the gang has collected to supervise. Our newly refurbished pool is finally ready for water and the water we put in has finally decided to stay put.  Hot water is coming in from the street, cooler water from a hose connected to the cistern and more hot water piped in from the hot tub. I’m excited because I haven’t been able to use the pool for over two weeks.  The kids are excited because finally their really big water bowl is going to be full enough for them to reach the water to quaff their thirsts! I keep telling them they have to be patient. I’ve done all the work of turning on pumps and hooking up hoses. Now all there is to do is to watch.

When is it all gonna get here, ma????
I remember when I could walk to the other side!
Pacing the floor won’t help, boys.

Can you match the photo above with the dialogue below?

“Pacing won’t help boys, but hey, if it relieves the tension, be my guest.”
“I remember when I could walk to the other side!”
“So are you ever going to fill our little dish again too, ma?”
“HEY..MA!  IS IT HERE YET?”
“You keep an eye on that one and I’ll supervise this one.”
“Then we can switch.”
“What I can’t figure out is how is the water getting from this one to that one?”
“Oh the water is wiiiiiiiiidddde, I cannot get o’er.”
” Morrie, are you supervising, having a drink or just admiring your new look?”

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/water/

Morrie’s New Look

10 Replies

Morrie still has his usual beard and facial hair because the groomer had to use a muzzle as he kept trying to bite him, but I don’t mind the hirsute look.  I told him I didn’t want the classic Scottie haircut of short on top and long on the bottom.  I think he looks pretty cute.  Diego and Frida are busy sniffing him because they know something is different, and Diego was beside himself when we left without him this morning.  Now we’re home and ready to dig into our old life again. Internet is restored, at least for the time being..

IMG_9534

Palm Tree Skyscape

7 Replies

I saw this cloud/jet trail combination from where I sat at an outside mall restaurant.  I jumped up and  tried out several locations, but decided I liked this view the best. This is my favorite type of palm tree.. such a beautifully sculpted trunk.  It gives a bit of texture to this otherwise pretty smooth scene.

IMG_8780

https://beccagivens.wordpress.com/2016/06/12/sunday-trees-239/

Deprived????

7 Replies

IMG_9488

HA!!!!! The prompt for today is “deprive.”  Perfect.  I have been without internet since last night, my pool has no water in it, I  went to three banks before I could find one where the ATM worked and four restaurants before I found one open so I could use their WIFI to post my blog.  I would say I am the definition of deprived. Two mornings ago  I awoke to discover the water I had stayed up all night to pump into the pool as per instructions from Chino had vanished!  I opened the valves from the street water and alas, for two days,no water.  It rained all night but this morning when I went to look, still no water.  Luckily the rain wet the pool enough, I hope, to cure the new grout and concrete before we put the hot water from the street.  When Pasiano arrived this morning, I discovered he’d left the filter drain open.. something I had no way of seeing, so it seems to have emptied the water right back into the cistern!

I drove through pounding rain and flooded roads to I leave Morrie off for his summer haircut and a bath, then  went to four pharmacies before I could find the prescription I needed. I have two more days to prepare to leave for the states and have a million things left to do and it seems like one thing after another has happened to slow me down. Am I not meant to go? Am I just meant to go more slowly? I’ve learned this lesson again and again over the past few years and so now I need to listen again.  Nothing that has happened in the past week is life or limb-threatening, so I’m going to sit here, enjoy my eggs and take a bunch of deep breaths. How can I feel deprived in this beautiful place where we are getting much-needed rain and where someone has just cooked me a beautiful breakfast?  I guess whether we feel deprived or not is just a matter of which details we choose to concentrate on!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/deprive/

Marigolds and Aloe: Flower of the Day, June 27, 2016

4 Replies

Version 5

https://ceenphotography.com/2016/06/26/flower-of-the-day-june-27-2016-poeny/

Buttercup, Buttercup: Flower of the Day, June 26, 2016

8 Replies

I found this little buttercup in the San Juan Bautiste procession the other day.  If you’ve had sufficient hibiscus and bougainvillea from me, perhaps you’ll appreciate the switch:

IMG_9373

https://ceenphotography.com/2016/06/25/flower-of-the-day-june-26-2016-spring-tulips/

Mending Wall and Mending Pants!!!

5 Replies

I agree that “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors, ” but fences, schmences.  Although the topic today is “Fences,” I think walls are close enough to fences–just a matter of material and “I have miles to go before I sleep” thanks to packing, purchasing, organizing  and copying things I need to take to the states on Wednesday, so taking the further risk of alluding to Robert Frost three times in three sentences, I am going to avail myself of a link to an old parody of “Mending Wall” (entitled “Mending Pants”) that I wrote 2.5 years ago before most of you had even heard of my blog.  I hope you enjoy it and approve the streeeeeetttttccchhhhh of the theme for today.  Guess you could call them stretch pants???

DSC09502 IMG_1447

Robert Frost seemed to have a thing about boundary markers.  “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors,” and “Mending Wall” are the most notable indicators of this.  Several years ago when I had only a few faithful followers, I wrote a parody on “Mending Wall” which I’d like to share with you again.  Judging from the likes, the faithful Angloswiss was my only present follower who read it and if some of you are like me, even if you read it two and a half years ago, you probably won’t remember it, so please indulge me and go here:
 https://judydykstrabrown.com/2014/09/17/mending-pants-with-apologies-to-robert-frost/
and I’ll get on with my packing, ordering, xeroxing and house ordering for my housesitter.  Only three days to go!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/fence/

Precognition

5 Replies

IMG_8780

Precognition

I don’t want to know what I’ll do ’til I do it.
If it’s preordained, it’s too late to eschew it.

If it’s a surprise, I would say that I blew it,
for there’s no surprise when we simply redo it.

With each future sorrow when we must preview it,
there is no advantage—just more time to rue it.

The vase will still break and we’ll still have to glue it.
The syrup with spill and we’ll have to ungoo it.

Would I accept foresight or merely poo poo it?
When push came to shove, I guess that I would boo it!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/prophecy/