Daily Reminder # 84

Apparently, the muse has left town and has taken all the birds and squirrels and chipmunks and woodchucks and... you get the idea. No new pictures, no inspiration. Something about August being vacation season or something like that.... Anyway, I will try to add something tomorrow morning, but for the moment, I'm just going to offer this... by way of thanks for visiting and reading....

THE FLOWER

What sweeter gift

Than one small burst of living beauty

For what is friendship

But a flower?

- Katherine E. Rabenau

Some things I'm grateful for today:

• my niece's Diana's significant other, John... Happy Birthday to him!
• my niece Diana and her sister Cynthia and their brother Matt
• cat toys (the girls got some new ones)
• flowers
• the Muse (even when she hides)
• Reiki
• water

I Hope the Muse is With You

Since She has Abandoned Me

Daily Reminder # 83

(Please scroll down for the Weekly Wordzzle Challenge.)

Old photos and old poems and incoherent rambling tonight.... the photos are from August 2 years ago when my camera didn't yet have the same issues it now has with focus and its light sensor. The poems are from my youth. I haven't written anything new in a while and I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel now.

This first one is a kind of secret love poem inspired by a book and author whose name I no longer remember. I read it during my Creation Theology phase. I googled my way to finding Mathew Fox and the book Original Blessings, which reminded me of the phrase creation theology, but I haven't been able to find anything that reminds me of the name of the author. Getting old and forgetting stuff really sucks. You know it's bad when even google can't get you there.

Anyway, among the thing I most remember was him writing about his experience of going to - I think it was Peru (it was somewhere in South America) and experiencing himself in a new and humble way because he was very verbal and even though he knew Spanish well, compared to the population, he was verbally a child. He was much more eloquent than I'm being. But I think sometimes when we are in situations that are new to us, we are able to open ourselves in ways we can't normally. I remember that my first solo vacation was to Jamaica. I'm very shy but because I was alone, somehow I made lots of friends there and experienced myself in a way that was different than my normal life.

But I'm just rambling. Here's the poem for what it's worth. I was in un or semi requited love with my pastor at the time. I wrote this for him (but that was a secret).

I and thou

Reaching out in fear and hope

Rejoicing in our separate unity with God

And our togetherness with man

I and thou

Reaching outward towards our deeper selves

Unclosing doors

To let the stranger enter and be known

I and thou

Reaching out with open hands to God

Our lives a song of joy

A psalm of praise

A prayer that flows unceasing from our souls

I and thou

Reaching out to love and life

The journey in itself a prayer

The joy of faith a benediction.

- Katherine E. Rabenau

And then this little poem... the country feels so fractured right now... I just thought I'd share this one

LINCOLN

Men have called me honest

Said that I was wise and good

But all I saw was a nation, dying in my arms,

Burning with a fever I could not quell.

- Katherine E. Rabenau

Some things I'm grateful for today:

• friends
• water
• colors
• netflix
• Neal Donald Walsh
• The ability to walk
• new cat toys
• pictures from 2 years ago
• the guy who wrote the book I can't remember the name of

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Weekly Wordzzle Challenge Week 123

It's week 123 of the Weekly (formerly known as "Saturday") Wordzzle Challenge. Special thanks to Please Don't Feed the Pixies for supplying me with words for this week's challenge and to Argent for next week's words. Much appreciated indeed. I have enjoyed a break from making them up myself, thought this was a REALLY tough set of words to deal with. Whew! Glad to be done even if my efforts are not the best.

Words for this week's 10-word challenge were:

rocks, rip this joint, casino, tumbling dice, frayed, angel, cup, on the run, ventilator, face   

and for the mini: 

wine, plundered, signifying, river, survivor

My mega:

Marcus looks at the woman with the face of an angel entering the casino and everything blurs around him - the tumbling dice, the roulette wheel, the crowded room. His cup of coffee falls from his hands. His chest tightens, signifying the onset of an asthma attack and he wishes his ventilator wasn't up in his room, which seems miles away. But then the present seems far away too. That face has transported him back in time. He is on the run, his boat and body broken by the raging river and the rocks. His clothes are torn and frayed and he is exhausted, almost at the point of death. The plundered wine has been taken by the water. He hears death stalking him, surprised at the music - Rip This Joint - that will escort him to the other side. His eyes focus briefly he sees that death is a woman, stunningly beautiful - could it be he will go to heaven despite his sins.... Next thing he remembers is the smell of perfume and the sound of soft humming and he realizes that he is a survivor. Death has not taken him after all. He groans softly and the humming stops. The kind face is looking down at him, spooning soup into his mouth and then she is gone. It is all a haze of memory, but he has been looking for her ever since, not sure if she was real or truly some guardian spirit. Now - his breath ragged - he wonders if she is his angel or death or....

My 10-word:

Angel Ramirez gently put the cup of the ventilator mask over the face of the man lying on the floor of the Tumbling Dice Casino. He wrapped the slightly frayed blood pressure cuff around the man's arm and was glad to get a good reading and to find his pulse strong and his consciousness returning. Whiskey sour on the rocks, his patient mumbled, apparently unaware of his present condition. "No more for you tonight, sir," he said gently, "we're going to take you to the hospital and get you checked out. Do you remember collapsing?" Angel loved being an EMT, loved the excitement of a job that kept him on the run and allowed him - sometimes - to actually save a life. He felt so fortunate that when he made his big mistake the judge - instead of punishing him with jail - had set him on this path. He had saved his life... and 3 years later, Angel had had the good fortune to return the favor quite literally. Today was going to be another happy ending. Once he and his partner got their patient settled, he turned up the volume on the abulance's stereo (Rip this Joint was playing), turned on the siren and hit the road. Life was good.

and the mini:

Wilson Braveheart looked at the small sign that had been erected near the twisted old oak tree signifying the spot where the Wine River Massacre had taken place almost 100 years before. The white soldiers had attacked the sleeping village - which consisted of mostly women and children - raping, murdering, plundering in a blood-bath so violent and viscious that even the Indian fearing society of that day and time had been horrified. Wilson's grandmother had been one of three survivors. She wouldn't speak of it, but his mother had told him the story. He had looked for it in the history books, but mostly they were silent. That's why he had decided to come here to the spot. He would write the screen play and make it into a movie. Such events should not be allowed to be forgotten. Since he couldn't take away his grandmother's pain - it had been unmistakable to him even when he was a child - he could at least make sure that it was not forgotten.

***********

Thank you Argent for next week's words!

Words for next week's 10-word challenge are: corner, cold-stone, rolex, sole, effortless, raindrops, eyebrow, speaker, amusing, leapt

And for the mini: fluid, acreage, fasten, tripe, pages

Thank you for playing! Newcomers can check here for some guidelines (and they are only guidelines, not rules) to make the process more fun.

Enjoy! See you next week!

Don't forget to add

your name to Mr. Linky!

Al Franken on Net Neutrality

This man is brilliant, funny and this is an important issue for all of us and our future.

and this Daily Show piece on the "Ground Zero" Community Center is worth listening to as well... Don't know how I'd survive without Jon Stewart...

Extremist Makeover - Homeland Edition

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Daily Reminder # 82

I received two e-mails today that had seemed to point to a theme about asking and receiving as well as taking note. The synchronicity of these two items made me think maybe they offered a message to share as today's daily reminder. So...

The first one came to me from my friend Nancy. She was a complete skeptic when I first met her, but her reiki experience with me (I think she said this to me) was one of the things that opened her up other possibilities. Anyway, the item she sent is anonymous in its source, but I like what it says.

GOD, PLEASE SPEAK TO ME!

A man whispered, "God please speak to me,"
And nearby a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear

So the man yelled, "God please speak to me,"
and thunder rolled against the sky
but the man did not listen

So the man looked around and said,
"God please let me see you,"
And a star shined brightly,
But the man did not see.

And the man shouted,
"God, please show me a miracle,"
And a life was born.
But the man did not notice.

So the man cried out in despair,
"Touch me God and let me know you are here,"
Whereupon God reached down and touched the man,
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

Don't miss out on a blessing
because it isn't packaged the way you expect.
I found this to be a great reminder that God is always around us
in the little and simple things we take for granted.

Expect the unexpected!

And then a while later I received my daily I Believe God Wants You to Know message from Neale Donald Walsh... Seems to me there's a theme here....

On this day of your life, dear friend, I believe God wants you to know...

...that God is talking to you every minute of

every hour of every day.

You are never alone, or without help or guidance,

counsel or advice. You need but purely and earnestly

ask a question and God will answer you, directly

and immediately.

The answer may come in an unexpected form, but it

will come.Your only job then will be to not ignore it;

to see it for what it is. For all you know these very words

may be an answer to your question about whether God

is even listening to you or offering you guidance.

My apologies for today's photos. The back yard has been a touch stingy. This bunny showed up late yesterday afternoon as the light was going and insisted on hanging out WAY in the back... but he was the only visitor, so he's all I've got... blurry as he is...

Some things I'm grateful for today:

• ears to hear
• Chocolate Soy Silk
• Huffington Post
• The Daily Show
• small miracles
• big miracles
• medium sized miracles
• Life

MAY YOUR DAY BE FULL OF MIRACLES!

And may you recognize their presence.

Daily Reminder # 81

Sometimes it's good to just take a break.

So that's what I'm doing tonight.

Some things I'm grateful for today.

• Cinna honey (REALLY good)
• clean litter box and garbage put out
• laughter
• my sister's children
• the ability to read and write
• eyes to see
• friends

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Daily Reminder # 80

I get very frustrated by politics. I really should avoid it, but it has a certain siren call for me. I love my country. I love what we have stood for for most of my life, although I feel these days like we aren't standing for it well. We seem sort of like the good Christian woman who, having been disappointed by the preacher, throws her faith and ethics out with the bum who betrayed her trust. We experienced terrorism once. It was horrific, but it wasn't an excuse to throw away our constitution, our values, our moral compass or our brains, yet many of us did so, particularly those in power. Still, the foundations on which my country was built are profound. What we have aspired to as a people - even though we fail miserably much of the time - is noble. The trick is holding to those values when things get tough and not damning the possibility because we fail to achieve the ideal.

So anyway, two VERY old poems - I was SOOOO young when I wrote these - but I guess in some ways, I'm still as young as I was 40 years plus ago. I just wish my body was keeping pace with my Spirit instead of limping along like it was 150. But at least it's limping and I digress...

I AM TOO YOUNG TO WRITE A LONG POEM (1969)

I am young and do not know enough to write a long poem
I do not understand the evils that men do
That they see each other only cruelly
And thereby justify their own injustices
I do not understand why cages are so necessary
To protect us from each other
Or why, locked in those cages
We put on masks to keep back even those we trust
At the same time pleading to be loved
I do not understand what I can do in so big a world
Where we are all crowded so far apart
And where we talk, not to each other,
But to audiences, and majorities, and minorities
Where awareness and humanity are catch-phrased out for us
By mass media and men with charisma
I do not know what I can do
And I do not understand why even though I don't believe in fear
I sometimes feel it surging up inside me
So that I want to run and hide, to get away
I do not understand that I am useless
In a world that has so many problems left to solve
Yet I have no solutions
Easy answers, yes,
But I am just old enough not to believe them
And just young enough to still have hope
But still in all, I do not understand why fear can conquer trust
Or greed abolish dreams
And so I am too young to write a long poem
Which ought to have answers.

- Katherine E. Rabenau

DEMOCRACY

I do not know if it is America I love
Or just her promise
If it is the Declaration I cherish
Or just it's poetry
I cannot know if the framers of those pretty words
Were good or evil men
Nor should it matter really
For can art be judged by its' creator's merit
And should the dream be condemned
Because reality betrays it?

- Katherine E. Rabenau

Some things I'm grateful for today:

• idealism
• my country's founding fathers
• sunshine
• birds
• beauty
• soap
• coffee
• religious freedom
• freedom of speech

Have a Great Day!

Late addition:

Going to just add this at the bottom of today's post because it made me laugh out loud. I LOVE it!

Jon Stewart on the "Mosque"

Brilliant as always....

Mosque-Erade

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Olbermann at his Best

(Please scroll down for the Daily Reminder.)

I think this is one of Olbermann's best... right on target

Here's an excellent article on the same subject. This center is a Mosque the way the YWCA is a church or the YHA a synagog. It's not. Nor is it at Ground Zero. It's 2 blocks blocks away - which in NYC is world' away.

Daily Reminder # 79

I watched an superb horrible movie tonight - The Hurt Locker. Not for the squeamish or faint of heart, but the violence - which is awful - is not gratuitous. It is a grinding, devastating 2 hour glimpse of what those who fight in our current wars live with on a daily and hourly basis. I have long worried that none will escape PTSD. I worry even more now. I was troubled by our unjustified attacks on Iraq, not thrilled when we invaded Afghanistan. Having invaded, I don't know what I think our responsibility is. I wish we weren't there, but I don't know if we should just leave. I hate that so many people - ours and theirs - are dying in absurd numbers because of the insanity of a small collection of lunatic and the power lust of another set. I pray for peace and a world where people want to nurture each other instead of kill and control each other. Because I believe that what we give energy to, we also give power to, I try to be pro Peace rather than Anti war. Guess that's what I have to say for now.

I have a war poem of my own that I wrote a couple of years ago that I wasn't going to share (it's not very good), but I guess I'll post it.... It kind of dated and it isn't very good, especially compared to the second poem - one of my favorite ever poems: Wilfred Owens' Dulce & Decorum. Owens died young in World War I, when this poem was written. The last line of Owens' poem translates to "It is sweet and good to die for one's country."

There Will Be No Flowering of This Youth (April, 2008)

They come home in body bags or flag-draped coffins

Barely acknowledged except as numbers

There will be no flowering of this youth

Or the countless collateral dead

They will not hold smiling babies in their arms

Kiss their wives, husbands, lovers

There will be no flowering of this youth

And other burnt-out damaged lives

Will wither on the vine

Of our indifference and inaction

As madmen hold sway

Spending lives with reckless abandon

To purchase power or oil

Or "victory" - whatever that is - at any price

There will be no flowering of this youth

I was told once "You become the thing you hate"

Never has it seemed more true

Than when the acceptability of torture

Can even be discussed

And young men die abroad

While their country is destroyed from within

There will be no flowering of this youth

Meanwhile, as bodies pile up and families grieve

The rest of us do nothing

We barely feel the pain unless the dead belong to us

And the coffins continue coming home

Along with the wounded and spirit-damaged

Here and everywhere

While the world's heart is breaking

There will be no flowering of this youth

- Katherine E. Rabenau

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

- Wilfred Owen

Some things I'm grateful for today:

• the nice blue jay who posed for me this afternoon
• poetry
• movies - even good horrible ones
• The Daily Show
• my camera
• the possibility for Peace

PEACE BE WITH US ALL!

Daily Reminder # 78

I'm going to save the piece I was working on last night for the time being because I have to have a political rant. I've tried to resist, but it's eating at me. I was going to post this separately but think I'll just make it into part of the daily reminder even if it's not very nice.

Those of you who aren't American and/or aren't news junkies have probably not heard that the awful pseudo therapist "Dr. Laura" has made big news by using the word "nigger" (aka the "n-word") some 14 times in her response to a caller. The woman who called was a black woman married to a white man. She was troubled because of the attitude of some of his friends towards her and her husband's lack of concern. In the course of not asking what exactly troubled her about their questions/comments, Dr. Laura determined that the woman was over sensitive and somehow got on a roll saying "nigger" over and over. This was (in my opinion) the least racist thing she did, but it's what the news was full of, the shiny distraction from the heart of the deeper, subtler (but blatant) racism, which included the assertion that black people voted for the president because he was black and "don't NAACP me." I hadn't even heard the part of the conversation that Keith Olberman (bless him) share's below when he declares her the Worst Person in the World (a regular segment on his show).

Anyway I find it troubling how easy it is for the media to wave a shiny object (the word nigger) in front of us and get all hyperventilated about it, while totally ignoring the actual meat of a story. It's no wonder we make no progress dealing with racism, hunger, health care.....

Anyway, I'm cranky. Not the best way to approach a daily reminder, but it's what I've got to offer today. Apologies for my grinchyness.

Some things I'm grateful for today:

long nap

lemonade

colors

laughter

the internet

President Obama

the wonderful variety of races and cultures

life

blog visitors and their good wishes

Thanks to everyone for your good wishes and concern. I'm feeling considerably better, but not quite good. A little tired, but ok on the whole. I think I'm in one of my periodic hypochondriac phases where my legs feel wobblier and my anxiety about survival goes through the roof. I get this way on and off and then I keep on living.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Daily Reminder # 77

I had a post started for tonight, but I'm not feeling well, so I think for the moment I'll just post my gratitude list and go to bed early. If it feels right, I'll add my essay in the morning. If not, well, we can make the reminder the idea that flexibility is a virtue.... something like that...

Speaking of flexible.... decided to leave what I started for tomorrow or another day and instead will just post two short (sort of sad) poems for tonight.

LAMENT

Oh the solitude I seek

And have

And do not want

And can't escape

And cannot find.

- Katherine E. Rabenau

Seeker after blind dreams

And happy unrealities

Dreamer of dark scenes

In love with the shadows

My mind casts against reality

I cling for a few desperate moments

To you.

- Katherine E. Rabenau

Some things I'm grateful for today...

• bed...
• water
• watermelon
• being able to turn fans off
• my washing machine
• acai berry juice
• cheese
• bunnies
• wordzzles contributors
• Angel hugs
• Tara head butts

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

Daily Reminder # 76

(Please scroll down for the Weekly Wordzzle.)

I don't have any new photos and I thought I'm tired from doing wordzzles (which came hard today for some reason), so I thought I'd find some inspiring music for today's reminder. Music to me is inspiration, joy, love, one of life's miracles. I'm grateful for it even when I get unruly songs stuck in my head. So here's some joy for you.

I was thrilled to find this first video on you tube. It's my wonderful, kind and gifted friend Ellie Sarty singing one of her own wonderful songs.

And then there's Sweet Honey in the Rock, a group Ellie introduced me to. One of my best ever birthday memories is when I was living in Callicoon and Ellie was my upstairs neighbor. She came down and made me a wonderful vegetarian breakfast and we sang along to a Sweet Honey CD and laughed. I love singing but I don't do it much any more.

These last three are Israel (IZ) Kamikawewo'ole, the late Hawaiian singer. There's something so beautiful about his Spirit that radiates out in these songs. He died tragically young.

Some things I'm grateful for today:

• my friend Ellie
• Sweet Honey in the Rock
• IZ
• a voice to sing
• democracy & freedom of speech
• the hope of peace
• the animals of this world
• life
• beauty
• breath
• the love of a good kitty
• joy

May Your Day - and Your Life -

Be Full of Music and Song

Weekly Wordzzle Challenge Week 122

It's week 122 of the Weekly (formerly known as "Saturday") Wordzzle Challenge. Special thanks to Please Don't Feed the Pixies for supplying me with words for next week's challenge. Much appreciated. I'm running late and hungry kitties are staring at me with longing in their eyes, so I'll post the mini and 10-word and post so anyone who wants to can add his/her name to Mr. Linky. Ok... so I got side-tracked and it has been hours since I posted Mr. Linky... and I'm only just now finishing the mega. Apologies also for misspelling pugilist... (I've corrected it now. I'm an awful speller by nature.)

Words for this week's 10-word challenge were:

summer time blues, glasses, google, pregnant pause, integrated, suit and tie, parallel parking, shimmering, post card, slam dunk and for the mini: gradual, eagle's nest, martyrdom, pizza, pugilist

My 10-word:

Martin Muzzlewit gazed longingly at the postcard lying next to his computer. To say he had the summer time blues was a major understatement. He didn't much like wearing a suit and tie in winter, but in shimmering heat of summer it was even worse. Integrated Management Systems was not a company that cared whether it's employees were happy. No casual Friday's here even in 110 degree heat. He hated the place. He hated driving here, hated going through the curse of parallel parking every day because the good spaces were reserved for the elite. He hated what the company did. He wanted to work someplace like Google, where they liked each other and cared about the world and didn't have to dress up - or that's what he had read, anyway. "Muzzlewit," a voice behind him growled, "stop daydreaming and get back to work." He didn't know why, but for some reasons, those words were the final straw. After a brief, pregnant pause, he put on his glasses, turned to the source of those words, and replied. "Screw You! I quit, you miserable slave driver." It might turn out to be the stupidest thing he had ever done, but right now, in this glorious moment, it felt like a slam dunk. He was free!

My mini:

In the town of Eagle's Nest Alaska, aging pugilist Mike - the Fist- Mulligan - gradually succumbed to the vicissitudes of age and obscurity. Retirement had felt like some kind of tragic martyrdom at first, but now, sitting across the table sharing pizza with his wife and children, it didn't seem half bad.

And the mega:

Pugilist Pete Google eyes (because he wore glasses) Pomroy considered wearing a suit and tie to be a form of martyrdom akin to being skinned alive or shot with a thousand arrows and had done it only three times in his entire life. A black man who had grown up in the deep South before it was integrated, he had - after making it big in the fight game - moved to the far northwest where he lived in relative obscurity in a picture post card setting that took his breath away each morning when he stepped outside. Nature's daily slam dunk, he called it. He didn't miss civilization one bit. No more crowded city streets, no parallel parking, no noisy neighbors (except the loons), no dance halls or restaurants... Just beauty and the soothing sounds of nature. Not quiet, maybe, but the kind of noise that sang to his heart. There were no summer time blues for him, though he did have to admit that he missed pizza sometimes... and Chinese Food. But on the whole, he loved everything about his wilderness home, from the sunlight shimmering on the lake, to the magnificent birds flying to and from the eagle's nest at the far side of his property, to the gradual fading of the light on a summer's evening and that short pregnant pause before the sun lifted itself off the horizon on a winter's morning. It was a good life for anyone, but for a boy who had started life in a shack and seen his uncle and his cousin lynched, who had literally fought his way out of poverty, it was a daily miracle and he never stopped being grateful for it.

***********

Please Don't Fed the Pixies brings us next week's words, sourcing Jagger/Richards. "I'm going to send The Rolling Stones to your aid here - as I have a copy of "Exile On Main Street" in front of me and will pick song titles and words from the cover (something you can try if you get stuck again - though obviously from a different source) for a future challenge: "

Words for next week's 10-word challenge are: rocks, rip this joint, casino, tumbling dice, frayed, angel, cup, on the run, ventilator, face

And for the mini: wine, plundered, signifying, river, survivor

Thank you for playing! Newcomers can check here for some guidelines (and they are only guidelines, not rules) to make the process more fun.

Enjoy! See you next week!

Don't forget to add

your name to Mr. Linky!