Lost Time/#Thursdaydoors

 

Hello friends and our dedicated host Dan Antion of No Facilities ! I have been in and out of the blogosphere lately due to personal matters but I have, indeed, been taking photos. It is like breathing for me, my attempt to preserve special moments, beautiful life and keep memories alive. So, today I will present a series of doors, door-ish entryways and perhaps the gratuitous wild or beautiful thing, just to give you a smile. Most of these doors have been ‘collected’ since we arrived in Lincoln, either on excursions or long contemplative walks. I hope you enjoy them. Please visit Dan’s blog at the above link to see more great doors, meet some awesome fellow bloggers and join the doorscursion fun! 

This is the Nebraska state capitol building. It is playfully (sarcastically) known around here as ‘The penis of the plains’, and, obviously, the phrase needs no explanation. It is visible from everywhere in and around the city. But the inside....oh my. Marble, motifs, stained glass, sculpture, architecture and the spirit of those who settled the plains is unabashedly present. 

The domed ceilings are lined with mosaics that depict images of the settlers and indigenous peoples of the area

This is perhaps my favorite long hallway, and it stretches as far in the other direction. It feels very ‘studious’. The windows look down on the courtyard gardens below and the walls are lined with bronze busts of the influential political figures and tribal chiefs that shaped the growth of Nebraska. 

This is the view from one of several balcony areas throughout the Capitol. Exploring is easy and informative, but for me it is about the history and art. See all those doors?😉

Two of my favorite people admiring the doors of these antique phone booths.

The courtyard

One of our favorite ‘little libraries’ with it’s little door to treasures.

Not sure what the party was for but they did the ‘possum freeze’ until I walked past. Friends of yours, Dan? 😉

A momentous message, although the sun was behind a few clouds. Oh, yes, there are doors on all those houses! 

HeeeeeHaaaaawww...🤭 Where’s the door to the barn? 

That door gave me some space and time to actually work on my book! 

This really cool door was one of two in the building although I’m not sure where they lead. Ande?

Hey, don’t bug me! Doors ahead...

I saw this sign after I got turned around on a hike and was a bit lost, but eventually I was headed in the right direction. 

I loved the presentation on this house with the angel wings in the window

This door entryway looks so welcoming!

The magical door to ‘side, side’, his favorite place.

I suppose it was the only thing anyone was willing to donate?🤦‍♀️🥴 That was back in my day and it was a dud car even new.  

This is the world’s largest time capsule, or so they claim. Due to be opened back up in 2025. Gentleman, start your engine! 😂😂

Now that’s a big covered wagon. With a door. Uh huh...

Now, I knew about Roomba. But lawn mowing Roomba? Whaaaa....? Yep, garage doors in that lucky household. Double! 

The entrance past the bridge to one of the many trails in and around the city. I hiked six miles that day! 

I just love this yellow door because...yellow! 

The door to adventure and the first day of preschool. ❤️❤️

I can’t be certain but this ravine turned into a dwelling on a bridge that I’m fairly certain has a door! 

Well, that’s it for now friends. Not sure when I will have time to post another round. I will be reposting a short story I wrote a few years back and I hope you have a moment to take look and give me some input. Meanwhile, I wish all of you the very best of Thursdays and every days. 

And, remember, don’t let the idiots get you down. 🤗💕

Cheryl

Infinitesimally Minuscule

 

Can you see me there...

Do you dare to even glance?

I am the sunrise that says, 

“We are still here.”

I am that which crawls upon the ground.

Do you think about treading upon my back? 

And that which takes wing,

fading into the sky

Can you feel its flutter as it passes by? 

Must there always be a show

before you know 

we are here? 

We are but an infinitesimal pulse within the heartbeat of Existence.

Minuscule..

If the Universe should tread upon your back,

would you not feel the pain?

Nature mourns her losses

and quietly rejoices in her accomplishments

while humankind never has enough, 

never does enough,

never is enough

to be content.

I am the busy bee that works to live

Often hanging on to my sanity by a thread while the world around me is hurtling towards destruction.

She watches it all silently, faithfully turning on her light at day’s end. 

Do we appreciate the constant reliability of all that

contributes to the whole,

that creates the pulse,

the heartbeat

of life? 

I am brilliant, but you must take the time to glimpse

the magnificence that is here and gone in the blink of Eternity’s eye. 

We are eternal, not immortal. 

Infinity has no timepiece,

knows nothing of beginning or end

and stops for no man’s desperate cry for salvation

from what he has wrought upon himself.

Do you know your place on the wheel,

can you sing with the spheres,

drift on the wind

and be at peace with

being 

infinitesimally minuscule? 

Cheryl Pennington

Copyright words and images

2020

(The year that should never have been)

So Are We all

When I was in elementary-or grade-school, depending on what region of the country you grew up in, we had regular weekly visits by the music teacher. These were the golden days of my school years, those days when we got a reprieve from the brain strain of Mathematics and Science. The reading was always dandy with me. History is fun, but the memorization of dates and locales detracted from the joy of the events for me.And I don’t have enough space or time to express my joy over art sessions.

Back to music...we were taught some amazing folk ballads and they really made an impression on my young child/old soul’s heart. The song I am highlighting here is one of those special ballads, a piece of personal expression almost too melancholy for the frivolous and too prophetic for the old and weary.  For me, it speaks of every person’s journey in this Illusion we call life.

For the detail oriented among you (Dan 😉) I am including a bit of history from Wikipedia. Then there is the ballad, calling to my soul now more than ever. Hearing it in the movie Lost Child on Amazon Prime struck a chord inside me and I have been singing it over and over.  I’m sharing its message with you here.. Open the door to your soul and have a listen.

From Wikipedia:

The Wayfaring Stranger" (also known as "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" or "I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger"), Roud 3339, is a well-known American folk and gospel song likely originating in the early 19th century^[1] about a plaintive soul on the journey through life. As with most folk songs, many variations of the lyrics exist.

It has been speculated that "Wayfaring Stranger" may have been derived from "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow," a folk song from the Scottish Borders.^[2] However, the fact that the two songs differ entirely in subject matter calls the theory into doubt.

According to the book, The Makers of the Sacred Harp, by David Warren Steel and Richard H. Hulan, the lyrics were published in 1858 in Bever's Christian Songster. This may have been the first time the song appeared in print, in English. Steel and Hulan suggest the song was derived from an 1816 German-language hymn, "Ich bin ein Gast auf Erden" by Isaac Niswander.^[3]

During and for several years after the American Civil War, the lyrics were known as the Libby Prison Hymn. This was because the words had been inscribed by a dying Union soldier incarcerated in Libby Prison, a notorious Confederate prison in Richmond, Virginia. It had been believed that the dying soldier had authored the song to comfort a disabled soldier, but since it had been published several years before the Civil War had started (and before Libby Prison existed), this was not the case.^{[citation needed]}

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.^[4]

Abandoned

Displaced,

dropped from space

into this human race,

leaving no trace,

my true identity
erased.

.

Alone

I roam

the minutes 

of the long days

spinning into months

that turn to years.

With tears I mark

the passing.

Glimpses,

like shadows

viewed in the periphery

of my clouded vision,

too full of chaos

and sound

around 

me

I need to hear

your voice, Mother,

to feel your love, Father

the kinship of a brother

that I never really knew

beyond our childish

games-our names

scratched on

the sidewalk.

Come back!

What I lack

is kindred spirit,

the connection,

resurrection

of the flame to

ease the shame

of forgetting

and regretting 

the fall.

It was but for such an  error

that I walk through life in terror,

neither knowing friend or foe

and no matter where I go, it follows.

fear always an unwilling guest

serving pain in spite of all my best

efforts to deflect,

reject

the lie.

Have

I

been

abandoned

in this 

world

of angry

souls?

Will you ever come to take me back

into that bosom of pure energy

where love is all that exists?

Home.

CKP words and images 2020

She Is Still Here

Mother Earth..

I think the saddest part of this pandemic moment in our history is that it is all consuming, then add to it the fact that we are now being ‘ruled’ by a leadership which does not lead at all but is rather dragging those of us who still have morals and a conscience to slaughter on a hook, and things look grim. The ones who have decided to drink the kool aid are marching to Frankenstein’s castle with torches held high, ready for destroying the terrifying enemy, whatever the ruthless leader decides that is.

But today was set aside as a special day, to celebrate Mother Earth and bring awareness to conserving her beauty, resources and gifts. I saw nothing of this celebration in the news. It was only on social media by the same people who are fighting the insidious movement to disband all measures which have been put into place to try and preserve the very creation which sustains our lives here. Do these greedy men think their money is going to save them or are they so fearful of the truth that they can’t imagine the dire consequences of what will happen to the human race if we don’t effect a change now.

I cannot fathom a world without these things....

My grandson was born on Earth Day. Today he celebrated another year of life on this planet. He is proud to be an ‘Earth Child’, and even at his young age understands about preservation and sustaining life. I got to share a few minutes by video with him. They were due to come visit us next month but it can’t happen now due to the virus. But we are happy for technology at this time. We cannot allow ourselves to be so focused on the issue of this challenging virus that we ignore the methodical dismantling of all the measures that have been put into place in recent years to ensure our children and their children have a world to grow old with. 

Can you look at this face and say, “I don’t care what you might need as long as I get to keep my money safely in my own bank account until I die.” ? 

Happy Birthday Earth Child. Never give up working towards what is best for the good of everyone. 

I have mindful, intelligent children and grandchildren who deserve the best this life has to offer. Seeing the wonder on a child’s face is the most magical moment I can imagine. 

We had a Space X launch today. My birthday boy actually got to see it by video in one of those serendipitous moments I love...

Mother Earth is still here and she will remain. It is we who tread with dishonor upon her face that are in danger of extinction.