Category Archives: Gratitude
Thank FULL!
I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone string words together in a blog worthy manner – so I’ll share a little photo diary of today.
Over the river (literally) and past the sheep, to grandmothers house we went.
We’re here! My moms house. That was a long 20 minute drive 😉
Didn’t expect this … was just going for a shot of her front yard tree. Lovely isn’t it?
Not sure why I’m at the table, the food wasn’t ready. LOL!
NOW it’s ready!
My plate 🙂
My attempt at a ‘serious’ ‘nice’ photo with Nic. *sigh*
We’re just never going to have a serious mother/son photo are we?
Nic can be serious about eating dessert though
And we’ll end with my Dessert. Mince and pumpkin pie! 🙂
Hope everyone had a wonderful day. I am so very thankful for all of my blessings! Thank you for being one of them.
It does snow in Africa
A friend mentioned a song yesterday on her Facebook page. It was Band Aid’s ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’.
Think I’ve mentioned before that I really might need to work on using my edit button. (Says the owner of the ‘Shut-up Buddha’). Here my friend was feeling warm and fuzzy and having memories flooding back and I just had to click on the comment box.
That song is the first of two that drive me bananas! Don’t get me wrong, very catchy tunes – love the artists – this is strictly lyric related.
Let’s take a look at a couple of lines shall we?
“And the Christmas bells that ring there, are the clanging chimes of doom,
well tonight thank God it’s them, instead of you”.
WTH? “Chin up Africa, better you than me eh?”
I don’t think praying and saying ‘thank you’ for your blessings is quite the same as something like, “Dear God, thank you! Thank you for letting the people in Africa die instead of me!” Really?
I know, I KNOW. I get what he’s trying to say there – but was there no time for a rewrite? Couldn’t pass the song over to someone else for a little review? Oh, that’s right, there was a co-writer too! Midge Ure.
‘Thank God is THEM instead of YOU’? *shudder*
Next line: “And there wont be snow in Africa this Christmas time, The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life”.
Um. Would they rather have an ipad in their stocking?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t life the greatest gift?
As for the snow, it is the continent of Africa. I realize water is needed. But probably snow is not expected. Africa is a big place and many countries do get some snow there. Johannesburg in South Africa even had some snow this year! Also, did you know there’s a ski resort in Morocco? I don’t think it has to snow for it to be Christmas Time, and if it does, then Australia is out of luck too. And me, here in the desert.
I’ll leave that one alone for now, Band Aid made a lot of money for a good cause. Thank you Bob ‘the Sir’ Geldof. x
So let’s pick on Lisa Stansfield and ‘All around the world’.
You could get so lost in the chorus you might almost miss the lyric contradictions.
“Been around the world and I, I, I, I can’t find my baby. I don’t know when, I don’t know why, why he’s gone away …”
Aw! What happened Lisa??? She doesn’t know! 😦 And she’s looking for him! She’s looked everywhere!
Oh wait – there’s more to the song.
“We had a quarrel, and I let myself go. I said so many things, things he didn’t know”.
Oh. Hmmm … well, I’m thinking that might have something to do with why he went away, but everyone argues right? If only she knew why he left!!
Wait – there’s more to the song.
“He gave the reason, the reasons he should go”.
*sigh* Well! Mystery solved. Someone might want to tell her those reasons he gave for going … is why her baby went away.
I’d stop looking for him if I were her, I mean, she’s already been all around the world searching. Maybe she could stay a little while in Johannesburg and make a snow angel?
Beautiful lady, beautiful poem
I follow an amazing blog written by a friend I used to go to High School with. You can find it on the right under Blogs I follow – Everyday Asperger’s.
I’m also friends with Sam on Facebook and she had posted a video of her reading a poem today. My favorite part (other than the amazing poem) was at the beginning, she was a little self-conscious on camera and said ‘I hate my mouth’ immediately followed with affirmations to put herself into a positive place, ‘I love my mouth, I love my mouth’.
This lady inspires me. She moves me. She exudes love and light. She is someone I would put on a list of personal heroes should I ever be called to write such a list.
Sam was (and still is) gorgeous, warm, funny, bright, generous and so very sweet. She was the popular girl without the attitude. The cheerleader who really had spirit. (‘She had spirit, how ’bout you?!’ sorry – couldn’t resist LOL!) And man, could she nail her straight arms and lines – I was on the Varsity cheer squad and she was a Song Leader (I believe that’s right? It’s been so long.). Sam was kind to everybody. You could look at her on the outside and never for one second believe that she ever experienced adversity or sorrow, ever struggled nor knew pain. Sam exuded joy.
If we had never reconnected, I would never have had the chance to tell her this. But I am blessed to have had the opportunity.
You know that email that floats around – it’s something along the lines of (and I’m SO paraphrasing here) ‘there’s at least one person that thinks of you that you’ll never know about, one person that loves you, one person … etc.’ I’m so blowing it, but I hope you get the point.
Sam was someone who crossed my mind occasionally, she made that much of an impression on me. And she would never have known that had we not reconnected.
I digress. Without further ado, here’s her poem, re-printed with her permission. This brought tears to my eyes, more so after an especially sweet compliment about my spirit from someone I look up to on my spiritual journey. My friend, Samantha Craft.
“Dear Soul of Mine ~
I love you. I see you. I hear you. I believe you. I believe in your experience and perception. I believe in your efforts and hopes. I know you. And I adore you. There is nothing you can do or say that will change this. I have the potential to love you in all seasons, through storms and through merriment. I will not leave your side, nor your heart. I am you. You are beautiful. And because you are so beautiful, a spring of fresh light and goodness, I shall always love you. There is only pureness in you. I choose this. I choose to see the glorious child you are. I see through that which is not you. I see into your true form, and this makes me weep with joy. How lovely you are, in all your seasons, in all your ways. How perfectly lovely, my adored one.”
©Samantha Craft
6 a.m. with the stars
I just sat outside with my coffee – bundled in my fleece pajamas and looked up, and around. The stars are amazing. My kingdom for a camera that would capture them for you!
A sip of coffee and a silent prayer, “God, speak to me …” A rooster crowed from somewhere down the dirt road and from the corner of my eye, a falling star.
A Leonid? I thought. I heard they were coming.
Back inside and I hear birds. My sons alarm clock is apparently set to the nature sound feature.
Other than that all I hear is my dog sighing and now the tap-tap of the keyboard.
Only I am disturbing the quiet.
I think about the post I wrote yesterday and the line “He never showed up”.
When really, I never showed up.
But I’m here now. And my eyes are open to falling stars, butterflies and bees. My ears are open to roosters and my loved ones.
Good morning friends.
“Morning has broken…” (I didn’t do it!)
I loved that song as a girl.
I’ll pop it in here for you younger readers, because I honestly can’t remember the last time I have heard it in my adulthood without hunting it down.
Eleanor Farjeon (a lovely British writer) wrote the hymn, then Cat Stevens (AKA Yusuf Islami, AKA Steven Demetre Georgiou) introduced a ‘few’ more people to it.
The point of all of this is a counter attack on my initial grumpy mood as my alarm went off at 6:30 am on a Saturday. (5:30 am for you on who actually observed the time change on the West coast).
I WILL be happy. Damn it.
And now I’m singing this song in my head and being very grateful for ‘morning’ which almost got a good kick up the arse instead. That counts double for Butters who sat and stared at me after I hit the alarm ‘off’, insisting that “no, it can’t possibly be Saturday? I heard the alarm, and please get up so that I can take you to the front door and then not really have to go out after all”.
I digress.
Good Morning everyone.
Adding a morning shot of an official ‘Early Bird’
Then my early bird left – I think he was off to grab a cup of coffee. I get you early bird, I get you.
Debauchery Soup 