Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Daily Reminder # 365


This is the one year anniversary of my daily reminders. I know that Memorial Day was yesterday, but  the PBS News Hour ran this segment this evening, and I found it profoundly  moving. I think I will even skip my gratitude list this evening and let this beautiful poem speak for itself with a prayer that the day comes - and soon  - when we will no longer have to mourn those killed in war or write poems for them. And with a prayer that somehow all of our crueler impulses will become odd memories of who we once were and never wish to be again.



PEACE BE WITH US
IN OUR HEARTS, OUR MINDS
AND IN OUR DEEDS

Monday, May 30, 2011

Daily Reminder # 364

Sorry to be posting the reminder late. Couldn't make blogger work last night. Since I'm so late, just gratitude and a few pictures today:  I'm not feeling very well this morning. Anyone who would like to send prayers my way, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.


George is back.  He spent a fair amount of his time
chasing Gwen away (or doing something else with her)
so there's still a little seed left this morning.

Some pictures - there weren't many yesterday....


I don't know why, but he reminds me of Elvis. The
goldfinches are great at posing. This guy looks like...
"Aren't I just th handsomest bird in the flock?"
She's kind of a flirt too...
George.

Gwen
I've lost my hummingbird mojo.... best I've gotten lately is a head.




Some things I'm grateful for today: (items in red are pre-gratitude, an attempt to bend the Universe to my will.) 

  • Angel and Tara Grace
  • ceiling fans
  • coffee and International Delight
  • bananas
  • bird feeders
  • birds
  • chipmunks
  • woodchucks
  • my camera
  • the computer
  • the internet
  • ceiling fans
  • floor fans
  • thermal curtains
  • wet washcloths
  • water
  • paper towels
  • my kitchen
  • the refrigerator
  • my house
  • my back door
  • Delaware Opportunities (coming soon)
  • life
  • zero balance on my credit cards
  • renewal
  • winning lottery numbers
  • a truckload of money (big bills
  • $5,000/week for life from PCH
  • a clothes dryer 
  • more flowers in my back yard
  • a paid off mortgage
  • freshly painted living and bedroom walls
  • Nintendo
  • a sun room on the back of the house
  • reiki
  • angels
  • Netflix
  • friends
  • my nieces, my nephew and their families
  • that they are happy
  • Sam-e
  • Ibuprofen
  • Dennis Puffett
  • poetry
  • reading glasses
  • books
  • the ability to read and write
  • my heart
  • sight
  • hearing
  • taste
  • touch
  • smell
  • music
  • the ability to cry
  • compassion
  • those who risk their lives for others
  • President Obama
  • kindness
  • hope
  • inspiration
  • words
  • the colors of the rainbow
  • movies
  • being an American (we are flawed, but still a great country)
  • imagination
  • resilience
  • love
  • life






HAVE A GREAT DAY! 

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Daily Reminder # 363



Lazy. Just gratitude tonight.  The Spring that took forever to arrive has quickly moved to summer. It has been 80 the past couple of days with thunder storms and rain. An hour from here they had really violent storms and a tornado and 15,000 people lost power, so I'm not going to complain. The yard has been quiet. I guess critters are smart enough to rest in the heat. The goldfinches came back and Gwen Chipmunk proved that there's more than one way to be incredibly greedy. Other than that it was a dull day. I still owe wordzzles a mega and don't feel like doing it. I think the friend for whom I write these posts is about to make a big shift so if you want to send prayers her way, it would be much appreciated.







I wish you could have seen Gwen's cheeks - they were
so full that she actually looked deformed.  Alas,
she refused to face me so I could get a good shot
of her face full on.  Hopefully these shots give an idea.

Cheeks empty, ready to start again....
Some things I'm grateful for today:

  • Angel and Tara Grace
  • my house
  • fans
  • ceiling fans
  • Sam-e
  • Vitamin D-3
  • Omega-3
  • IP-6
  • water
  • ear phones
  • Pandora radio
  • music
  • hearing
  • sight
  • touch
  • taste
  • smell
  • chipmunks
  • the microwave
  • electricity
  • peach/mango yogurt smoothies
  • coffee and Int'l Delight
  • my camera
  • digital cameras
  • my computer
  • the internet
  • gold finches
  • the bird feeders
  • mail
  • Netflix
  • a clothes dryer
  • zero balance on my credit card
  • more flowers in my back yard
  • winning lottery numbers
  • a truckload of money (big bills)
  • $5,000/week for life from PCH
  • paid off mortgage
  • freshly painted living and bedroom walls
  • Nintendo
  • a Bose sound system
  • a sun room on the back of the house
  • books
  • reiki
  • angels
  • miracles
  • hope
  • healing
  • resilience
  • my red chair
  • my cane
  • that my legs still kind of work
  • my TV
  • the remote control
  • the flowering quince bush
  • paper towels
  • Tara being almost snuggly
  • paper
  • ballpoint pens
  • talcum powder
  • toothpaste
  • my electric tooth brush
  • teeth
  • Listerine
  • hands
  • feet
  • the telephone
  • friends
  • my nieces, my nephew and their families
  • that they are happy
  • email
  • my mattress
  • open windows
  • words
  • books
  • google
  • you-tube
  • lots of things I'm forgetting at the moment
  • beautiful things
  • plants and flowers and trees
  • birds and critters
  • some insects (not many)
  • art
  • my rock collection
  • the ability to read and write
  • the ability to type
  • Angel's face
  • Tara's face
  • the smell of white sage
  • ideas
  • imagination
  • curtains
  • my Tibetan salt lamps
  • photographs
  • memories
  • compassion
  • love
  • life




May Your Day Be Rich in Beauty, Love, 
and New Horizons

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Daily Reminder # 362



Quiet day here. Even though it's a few days ahead of time, my neighbor pulled up a tree that had planted itself in a spot destined to take a wall down and as long as he was here, mowed the lawn a few days earlier than expected. Since there has been so much rain, it really needed it and it was nice to be able to see the bunny when it visited and Chauncey and Gwen and the birds. I was going to share the book marks my friend Viviane Laios makes and sent to me but I don't like how I photographed them so it will have to wait.




















It has gotten late and I have 5 people to reiki so I think I'll just post pictures and gratitude this evening. I still haven't done Wordzzles. I'm playing all by myself, so I think maybe their time has passed, but I'll give it a few more tries, I think before I give up completely. That's it for now.




And a not totally awful video.  It's not sideways or upside down. I don't think video making is my calling, but... 





Some things I'm grateful for:  (Items in red are pre-gratitude, an effort to inspire exceptional generosity on the part of the Creative Forces of the Universe and inspire it to be aimed in my direction.)

  • Angel and Tara Grace
  • my camera
  • my house
  • blue jays
  • crows
  • sparrows
  • Good Chipmunks (Gwen)
  • Chauncey Woodchuck
  • brown thrashers
  • hummingbirds
  • birds in general
  • the bird feeders
  • the flowering quince
  • trees
  • grass
  • my friends
  • my neices, my nephew and their families
  • reiki
  • angels
  • hope
  • miracles
  • computer games
  • water
  • sunshine
  • a freshly mowed lawn
  • my microwave
  • strawberry/banana yogurt smoothies
  • music
  • ear phones
  • my computer
  • the internet
  • email
  • mail
  • paid off mortgage
  • zero balance on my credit card
  • a truckload of money (big bills)
  • $5,000/week for life from PCH
  • winning lottery numbers
  • more flowers in my back yard
  • a sun room on the back of my house
  • freshly painted living and bedroom walls
  • Nintendo
  • a Bose sound system
  • a clothes dryer
  • the colors of the rainbow
  • ceiling fans
  • floor fans
  • open windows
  • indoor plumbing
  • yogurt and gogi berries
  • electricity
  • my Tibetan salt lamps
  • my TV
  • the remote control
  • paper towels
  • Dr. Bronner soaps
  • ideas
  • the ability to type
  • words
  • wordzzles
  • poetry
  • the ability to read and write
  • the ability to think
  • imagination
  • humor
  • laughter
  • my rock collection
  • beauty
  • taste
  • touch
  • sight
  • smell
  • hearing
  • resilience
  • vitamin D-3
  • IP-6
  • Omega-3
  • Sam-3
  • Netflix
  • love
  • possibilities
  • kindness
  • freedom
  • enough to eat
  • life





Wishing You a Splendiferous Day!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Weekly Wordzzle Challenge # 157



Perhaps as a measure of the fact that I'm playing pretty much alone of late, I completely forgot that today was Wordzzle day until just now (7:00 pm).  As has been turning into a habit, I guess I'll post Mr. Linky and the new words in the deluded hope that someone else may be pining to post something and do my own exercises later this evening or in the morning.

Word for this week's 10-word were: independent, cheese, digital camera, lilacs, history, bells are ringing, hand cream, muffler, hopelessly devoted to you, thunder and lightning  And for the mini: discussion, jail, flood, computer games, summer


My 10-word:

Looking at the antique hot-rod rolling (which needed a was in desperate need of a  new muffler) down the street with the song "Hopelessly Devoted to You," blaring from its radio, Megan wished she had not left the digital camera at home, as the sight drew her heart back to a sweet time in her personal history, when she was young and independent and very much in love.  It was had been a summer of lilacs and roses.  It's funny how sounds and smells can move you through time, she thought. The hand cream she used wasn't that good, but it was like bottled a memory of George and going to the movies - they had seen Bells are Ringing - and afterwards there was a big storm with thunder and lightning and he had held her shaking body close (she hated storms) and then taken her for cheese burgers and a shake and asked her to marry him. And she had said yes and never regretted it for a moment of the 40 years they had been together. Even though he was gone, she often felt his presence, still protecting her. And as if to confirm that thought, the a gentle breeze brought the sweet scent of lilacs and roses to her. "Love you too, honey," she whispered. 


My mini: 

Listening to her children's animated discussion of their computer game (the one under discussion at the moment was something called Jail break Justice or some such thing) strategy, Martha was flooded with a memory of her own youth and what she sometimes referred to as the Summer of Zelda. It was her deepest secret that in Fall and Winter - when the kids were at school - she allowed herself 2 hours each day to escape the humdrum reality of motherhood and housekeeping on one mystic adventure or another.  She viewed it as an exercise in keeping her inner child alive and well. And it was fun. Even mothers deserved some fun. Smiling at her kids, she asked, "Anyone want to go for ice cream?" 


And the mega:

"Say Cheese!"  Alice Flood called to her husband. He was standing in front of the lilac bushes and she thought he was as handsome as the day she had met him what seemed like a hundred years ago. Alice thought that the invention of the digital camera (and the computer) was one of the best things to happen in the long history of her life. They had met as teen-agers at a gas station, of all places. He had a summer job and the car her father had reluctantly given her was in need of a muffler. For his part, Hank never forgot that first moment of seeing her. It was as though time stopped and he even thought maybe there had been thunder and lightening as though a goddess had come down from the heavens. He had lost all capacity for independent thought and in his memory (though perhaps it hadn't actually been written yet in reality) he heard the song "Hopelessly devoted to you" consuming his brain. It had been love at first sight, alright... and lucky for him, it had been only gotten better. She had laughingly brought him out of it by pointing out that "bells are ringing," (a reference to three cars which had pulled in and made the little bells they had in those days ding their presence).  He had made it a point to be there when she returned the next day to pick up her car. He had combed his hair and even used hand cream to try and disguise the damage working on cars all day did. Somehow - they had gotten into a discussion of movies which led to politics which led to him asking her out and her saying yes. They married young and never looked back. He went on to become a computer geek and made a lot of money creating  computer games, the most popular of which was something called Jail Break.  In between being a mother to their three amazing children, she had written a novel and then a book of poetry. Best of all, they had been friends and companions to one another, giving support in dark times, inspiration in all good times and love in every moment.  "Say Cheese, you big ham," she repeated and as if by magic, the camera caught not only his handsome smile but a life-time of love with it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Words for next week's 10-word challenge: illegal, idiot, imagination, ivory, ignorance, improper, I think we're not in Kansas any more, iridescent, iris, idol



And for the mini: dog food, diagram, dismiss, daring, diabolical


Thanks you for playing.  Newcomers can check here for some guidelines to make the game more fun. There are no rules, just some general guidelines and tricks.



Daily Reminder # 361


Very quiet day here (except for thunder storms in the evening). Hot. Almost 80 degrees. Margaret refilled the feeder while she was here, but I guess the birds were keeping a low profile in the heat. Towards late afternoon, a couple of little sparrows stopped by. And the purple martin and blue jay stopped for a second or two each before flying on. Greedy George stayed away, which pleased me. I'd really like some birds to eat the seeds too. Chauncey came and I taped him but am not happy with the results. I'm going to keep trying, though. So, anyway, just some sparrows a blue bug, and gratitude this evening. Received a lovely package from my friend Viviane in Greece. I'll take pictures of her handiwork and post it tomorrow.






 Some things I'm grateful for today: (Items in red are pre-gratitude, an effort to entice the Universe to bring me money and other good and desirable things.)

  • Angel and Tara Grace
  • my house
  • ceiling fans
  • floor fans
  • the Daily Puppy
    Not fond of bugs and have no idea what this is,
    but isn't he beautifully blue?
  • Margaret
  • groceries
  • the bird feeder
  • sparrows
  • Chauncey woodchuck
  • Greedy George's day off
  • my camera
  • a package from Greece
  • peach/mango yogurt smoothies
  • cream cheese
  • Sam-e
  • Vitamin D-3
  • Omega-3
  • IP-6
  • a good knee day
  • my Tibetan salt lamps
  • electricity
  • my rock collection
  • my kitchen
  • TV
  • the remote control
  • a truckload of money (big bills)
  • more flowers in my back yard
  • winning lottery numbers
  • freshly painted living and bedroom walls
  • zero balance on my credit cards
  • a paid off mortgage
  • a sun room on the back of the house
  • a Bose sound system
  • Nintendo
  • $5,000/week for life from PCH
  • a clothes dryer
  • reiki
  • angels
  • the colors of the rainbow
  • the colors of Spring and early summer
  • my nieces, my nephew and their families
  • water for drinking and bathing
  • resistance to fracking
  • my computer
  • the internet
  • computer games
  • google (how did the world manage before google?)
  • Dr. Bronner soaps
  • my friends
  • inspiration
  • ideas
  • the ability to read and write
  • the ability to type
  • vacuum cleaners
  • the sense of smell
  • touch
  • hearing
  • music
  • purrs
  • Pandora Radio
  • sight
  • beauty in all its forms
  • art
  • nature
  • faces
  • touch
  • kitty fur
  • textures
  • the feel of water
  • Netflix
  • that the GOP seems to be falling into disfavor
  • my SSD
  • food stamps
  • Tara Grace's grumble
  • open windows
  • AIM
  • SKYPE
  • email
  • imagination
  • resilience
  • endurance
  • my belief in Angels
  • therapy
  • love
  • hope
  • life

Wishing You a Grand and Glorious Day!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Daily Reminder # 360



Thanks in part to the work of the infamous Greed George, it was a very quiet day in my back yard. I can't blame it all on George. For some reason when it's sunny and good photo weather, the birds hang out somewhere else. It was generally pretty dull here today. Tara seems to be feeling a bit better again. She's staring at me as I type this. Angel has been sort of lethargic and put upon. Most of her toys are lost again so we didn't play much. The big excitement of the day was the unexpected visit of the contractor who will be doing the work for Delaware Opportunities. He came, he measured, he left and said he'll probably be back in a couple of weeks for a couple of days.





Some things I'm grateful for today: (Items in red are pre-gratitude, an effort to encourage, inspire, cajole, entice the Creative forces of the Universe that the really, really would be doing the right thing to bring me stuff, especially that truckload of big bills.)

  • Angel and Tara Grace
  • sunshine
  • my house
  • Greedy George
  • the bird feeders
  • my camera
  • bunnies
  • birds
  • ceiling fans
  • open windows
  • Delaware Opportunities
  • Ibuprofen
  • Sam-e
  • Omega-3
  • Vitamin D-3
  • IP-6
  • Strawberry/banana yogurt smoothies
  • my TV
  • the remote control
  • the U.S. mail
  • eye drops
  • litter box changed and garbage out
  • clean laundry
  • birch trees
  • bunnies
  • Netflix
  • a clothes dryer
  • zero balance on my credit cards
  • freshly painted living and bedroom walls
  • paid off mortgage
  • a sun room on the back of the house
  • more flowers in the back yard
  • a Bose sound system
  • Nintendo
  • a truckload of money (big bills)
  • $5,000/week for life from PCH
  • winning lottery numbers
  • my shop vac
  • paper towels
  • cheese
  • lemon sherbet
  • the sound of purring
  • kitty hugs
  • reiki
  • angels
  • miracles
  • inspiration
  • computer games
  • coupons
  • sales
  • skin lotion
  • my Tibetan salt lamps
  • electricity
  • email
  • my nieces, my nephew and their families
  • that they are happy
  • my friends
  • the colors of the rainbow
  • humor
  • laughter
  • Oprah
  • my rock collection
  • ear phones
  • music
  • words
  • poetry
  • the ability to read and write
  • the ability to type
  • the ability to think
  • my red chair
  • my cane
  • that my legs get me from room to room
  • my mattress
  • an abundance of water
  • the smell of white sage
  • my electric tooth brush
  • teeth
  • toothpaste
  • Listerine
  • the sense of smell
  • sight
  • hearing
  • touch
  • taste
  • imagination
  • the Shawanagunk Redemption
  • ideas
  • hope
  • resilience
  • beauty
  • love
  • life

Wishing You a Wonderful Day
and Victory in all Your Struggles