No Rubber Duckies Here!

Hi Friends,

This has been a rough week for me with a close family member in the hospital, thankfully non-Covid related.  I know that this life is a long and often arduous one and wish so many others would realize the same thing.  Social Media, parties, big events like weddings and graduations are a small drop in the bucket of what makes up a good life.  Staying healthy, connected and supportive to promote healthy relationships in whatever way possible to me is the key to staying sane in the midst of chaos. Consider the fact that within the span of my adult lifetime there were no cell phones, no video chats and no ability to communicate via email.  THINK OF THAT.  I am only 61.  Too many people, both young and old enough to know better, are so busy bemoaning the supposed ‘losses’ they are suffering due to the global pandemic that they are not counting the blessings that were not even possibilities less than 50 years ago.  We are a spoiled nation, a spoiled society and a spoiled human race.  

I know I normally speak of the most positive things that I can find within existence,  but the burden of being wise, mature and empathic in the face of true collective madness has taken the ease of such an outlook away from me this past week. I hope all of you out there are being wise, safe, level-headed and conscientious about your actions for without such things I have no real hope for the move towards healing and any sense of normalcy.  In other words if you are spending most of your time with online media, refusing to follow the simplest safety measures which ensure everyone’s safety and think that anything you don’t want to deal with is a ‘hoax’, or waiting until disaster strikes you or your loved ones directly to take anything seriously, I have two words for you.  SHUT UP.  Stop whining, start counting your own blessings and use the brain you were given for something valuable.  Lift others up rather than tearing them down over sex. race, religion, beliefs, wealth and ownership.  There is nothing in this collective illusion that can be truly owned but our own actions, our own thoughts and our own breath.  That’s it.  Anything else is fragile and trivial.  

Money is a tool for controlling everything.  There was a time when people lived in cooperation with one another, tribes moved across the landscape with the changing seasons and food sources.  They didn’t give a fig about entertainment because sheer survival consumed their days and entertainment was simple games and watching children play.  This was less than 300 years ago.  Think about that for a minute.  No, America hasn’t had an immigration problem for thousands of years as some idiots in power have suggested, the words carelessly slipping through lips that only know lies-and not even intelligent, well-planned lies.  If this were true then the very founding of this country as is written in our history books was the ‘biggliest’ immigration problem of all, the very Mother of Immigration problems.  At what point did our ancestors decide that they had a right to come here, rape the land and murder the vast majority of its indigenous tribes but they were so special that everyone else had to obey the new rules set up by men in power?  The very idea of possession and suppression is what drives conflict, wars and murder. It was the very reason they left their own countries to forge a new life on a strange continent. 

Forget about ‘making America great again’.  How about making life realistic again, learning a new and improved value system based on the rights of all human beings and not the rights of those who wield the most power which equates to the most money?  What we have right now is a very frightening free-for-all with no real plan for improving or sustaining life on this magnificent blue and green globe that we are fortunate enough to live upon.  So, here I am once more, turning to observe a moment of simple life unfolding as Nature continues its purpose.  The natural world is consistent, unfailing and tenacious.  It is beautiful.  

We watched our “Gertie” from the moment she and Daffy the King of the Lake began this journey of life’s cycle to the moment her eggs hatched this past week.  It was a glorious moment in an otherwise bleak time for me.  Always Nature gives me hope, joy and the will to go on.  Here are some of the photos I got.  The new ducklings had their maiden voyage on the little lake yesterday and are off and running in their own race to survive with Mother keeping a close eye out for hawks, big turtles and other predators that exist as part of the chain of existence.  As I see it, at this point, we humans are the weakest link in that chain.  I hope that changes before the dream collapses in on itself.  Stay safe my friends. 

Daddy Daffy

Mama counting eggs last week. There were 16!

When I checked on the nest Thursday, she stepped off so I could get some nice photos.  

Various stages of hatching were occuring

So brand new the eyes were not ready

Siblings 

I’ll keep watch over you li’l Sis...

“I did well, didn’t I?”

Yes you did, dear Gertie, yes you did......

I will take advantage of submitting this post to the #SoCS prompt always so kindly provided by Linda Hill. Read more of her work and meet fellow bloggers at Linda Hill SoCS

I miss watching Sesame Street with my little ones..

Stay safe. Love and Light everyone.  Be kind to everyone you meet for each of us has our own challenges.   A smile, kind word or gift goes a long way.  

Rhyme and Reason

As is most often the case, the inspiration for today’s post came from a song. I listen to my collection of (thousands) of ‘favorites’ on my old, old iPhone which is basically functioning as an iPod-you remember those, right?-that I listen to while driving.  I don’t need Sirius or XM radio.  There is no waiting or skipping through unwanted tunes until something wonderful plays.  The hardest part is not saying to myself. “Oh yeah, this is my favorite song!” every time a new one begins. So, here it is.  It brings back so many wonderful memories of high school, times with my two best friends and our hopes for creating a better world. We were so idealistic and the thoughts and music of John Denver encouraged that in a beautiful way.  We had many musical ‘heroes’ and he was one of them.  We even did a pictorial slide show essay using one of his songs for our English Humanities class in 11th grade.  I miss him....

Singer, poet, naturalist, husband, father, son of Life....

For you speak to me of sadness and the coming of the Winter

Fear that is within you now that seems to never end

And the dreams that have escaped you and the hope that you’ve forgotten

You tell me that you need me now and want to be my friend

And you wonder where we’re going,

Where’s the Rhyme and where’s the reason..

And it’s you cannot accept that it is here we must begin

To seek the wisdom of the children

And the gentle way of flowers in the wind..

For the children and the flowers are my sisters and my brothers

Their laughter and their loveliness could clear a cloudy day

Like the music of the mountains and the colors of the rainbow

They’re a promise of the future 

And a blessing for today....

So, as Crosby, Stills, and Nash advised..

Teach your children well...

And the song that I am singing 

Is a prayer to non believers

Come and stand beside us

We can find a better way....

Today’s post brought to you by Linda Hill’s SoCS prompt and it was song. The prompt says to look at the first picture nearest you should be the basis for your post. My children and grandchildren surround me in i ages.  I think I have it covered.   Happy Free 48 everyone!

Broken Butterflies

Broken Butterflies

Every now and then I am inspired to share this song, written and sung by a talented lady from my home state. I have loved the melody, slow and melancholic, the words that wind and twist in ways only the individual listening can comprehend for themselves. It is a work of art and has meant something just a little bit different to me at various times in my life’s unfolding. 

I was sifting through my endless photos this evening, determined to finally put together that pictorial book of poems that has been infecting my brain for some years now, encouraged by the kind words of my friends and followers. I filed through images of thoughtful monkeys, bright and brilliant birds, as well as so many bees, dipping their faces into stores of golden pollen. Then came the butterflies. As I chose a few treasured images, I came across this one in a series I took while at a lovely garden in Roswell, Georgia. I know a lot of people who would have just passed this one by, deleted the images, or cast it aside as defective. I am not one of those people. I often photograph the worn down, the damaged and dying within Nature’s fine tapestry of living things. I see the beauty in every stage of existence, so when I saw this image it struck me as poignantly appropriate for me-for so many-at this time. 

I have felt pretty broken lately, the weight of the unknown pulling me to the ground when I long to soar with the freedom of the familiar taking me to the heights of joy. It has been heartbreaking to see the fabric of our lives slowly coming unraveled in spite of our best efforts to hold it together. It’s not about resistance to change. It’s not about adaptability or rigidity. It’s about feeling helpless in spite of putting forth my bravest face, rallying myself to count my blessings, focus on the positive and not get caught up in fear. 

The simple truth is that we are faced with the total unknown at this most profound moment in modern history and the way our society is handling this challenge is the most troubling thing for me. So much anger, impatience, intolerance, insensitivity, arrogance, greed and denial has taken its toll on those who are seeking a positive solution, taking comfort in what can still be counted on. For me, that is Nature. This is a most most frightening world where now, more than ever, people are afraid of other people. We don’t know who may be carrying a virus, who may hate us, or who is as fearful as we might be ourselves. If we are being responsible, we wear our masks in public or work places, but that leaves us almost faceless to others, unable to show expression and share smiles. The worst part for me is not being able to just give or receive a hug. I’m a hugger and value human touch. I can’t travel to other states to visit my family and old friends, fearing exposure due to those people who refuse to even try being safe. 

I feel broken, often frozen emotionally by the need to not cry anymore, to not be ashamed of how my country is presenting itself to the rest of the world, and by the need to just breathe. Then I go outside, thankful that at least for now Nature is not the enemy. The air is no more toxic than usual, the water is no more contaminated, the animals are thriving and the sky hasn’t fallen. Like my tiny friend above, I feel the need for sweet rest on a soft blanket of love, waiting for healing. 

More than anything else, the song speaks to the way we communicate, the words that spill from our mouths, often in careless ways, whether intentional or not. It speaks of the lies that break our spirits, our hearts and our faith in a better world. 

In conclusion, I say we toss our fears into the bottomless pit of misery and stand together, heart to heart, as we help one another to heal. Our light must shine on even through the darkest of days. Our wings may be broken, but together we can reach the heights and color the skies with hope. The old tapestry may be unraveling but lets create a new work of art as we pick up the frayed ends and begin again...finally united

This post brought to you by .Linda Hill’s SoCS prompt Do visit her blog to read more great posts and meet some amazing writers.