Dreaming Existence: prompts

Showing posts with label prompts. Show all posts

Sunday, October 2, 2022

My Obsession #Cee’sFunFotoChallenge

Thanks Dan Antion for the kind heads up about Cee’s Fun Foto challenge this week. I just couldn’t pass this one up.

Anyone who really knows me or has followed my blog(s) through the years knows how much I love birds and photography, well all winged things really. You might say it’s an obsession.

So without further ado, here is my submission to the challenge.

The Peacocks of Fountain of Youth Park, St Augustine

Red Shouldered Hawk, Daytona Beach, FL

Soaring, Lincoln, NE

Hummingbirds, Savegre, Costa Rica

Anhinga, Port Orange, FL

Osprey maiden flight, Daytona Beach, FL

Spent a long time sitting with this sweetie

Hummingbird, Boquete, Panama

Osprey, the great fisherman, Port Orange, FL

Osprey, Florida Mangrove

Mockingbird, fighting himself

Vulture cleanup crew, Baton Rouge, LA

Great White Egret, Daytona, FL

White Peacock, St Augustine, FL

Australian Black Swan, Baron Rouge, LA

Egret’s Eye

Hummingbirds, Peace Lodge, Costa Rica

Scarlet Macaws, Jaco, Costa Rica

Little Blue Heron, Port Orange, FL

Fishing Cormorant, Port Orange, FL

Hawk, Alpharetta, GA

Finch, Oviedo, FL

Blue Heron, Port Orange, FL

Anhinga, Port Orange, FL

Great Egret, Port Orange, FL

Toucan, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Great Egret, Baton Rouge, LA

Quetzal, Savegre, Costa Rica

Sandhill Cranes, Lake Mary, FL

Blue Tanager, Red Legged Honeycreeper, Boquete, Panama

These are but a few. I hope you enjoyed them. Yes, I took them all and loved meeting them all. My feathered friends, internationally. Have a great week!

Saturday, August 20, 2022

The Unseen Key #SoCS

Hi guys! I’m sorry I’ve been MIA for a bit. I’m in the final stages of completing my novel, Forever Never/Dawn of the Dream. It’s been a ten year off and on project since I was inspired to write it while living in Florida. Most of it was written in 2012 while we lived in Costa Rica, then was closeted for awhile when we had to move back to the US. I wrote down ideas and completed one version which was critiqued by one publisher as being Tolkien in style but they weren’t certain of the audience draw. So, I have rewritten my fantasy tale from the perspective of the characters and their struggles of learning to live and love within the realm of the illusion we call ‘Life’.

My fervent desire is that if even one person reads my story and its message resonates with them, then all was not in vain. Life is a blank canvas and can be as beautiful or terrible as we create it to be. Learning to accept that there are no outside forces that ruin or make our lives perfect is the first step in accepting the power of free will given to us through creation. Darkness and Light exist within every living thing. One cannot survive without the other. The key then becomes accepting these dual forces and keeping the proper balance within ourselves.

In all of my 63 years on this blue and green spinning sphere of wonder, I have learned that the only thing I have the power to change is myself. But in changing oneself, there can be the most astounding effect, like a raindrop in a pool of water sending lovely ripples reaching to the farthest edges. I don’t believe the force that began this dream is holding its breath until every living thing is in perfect harmony, but rather rejoices with every expression of peace and unconditional love within Existence. When we learn to apply this sense of satisfaction to our own experiences, there is so much contentment waiting for our recognition.

For me it is in watching bees and butterflies pollinate, knowing these small, often unnoticed, creatures hold our very means of sustenance in their busy-ness. Photography affords me a kind of meditation that too many people think must be contrived or scheduled. When I take photos of simple blooms and within their heart see minuscule living beings, my heart slows down and beats with the pulse of Mother Nature.

Who doesn’t love a ladybug? 🙂

This is my meditation…

The sound of a rushing river reminds me how powerful Nature is and how generously she shares her wealth with we, the interlopers.

This tiny pearl was less than 1mm, but already she understands her purpose and works to create something functional and magnificent.

I love, love, love dewdrops.

There are dozens of different ladybugs and beetles here, likely hundreds. Each one that I meet takes a special place in my treasure book of amazing things.

I’d like to share just the Prologue with you here and maybe in the coming weeks I’ll share a bit of the story. For any of you who read my WP blog Dreaming Existence there are portions of the original story there. Thanks and hugs to my good blogging friends who continue to follow me even though I’ve roamed, and for always offering your support. My special thanks to Dan Antion who has been gracious enough to read my chapters and offer his suggestions.

Most of all, love and thanks to my enduring soulmate who, in spite of his own challenges, encourages and lifts me up every moment of every day. He’s saved me from possible nightmares too many times to count.

I’d need a separate post to properly thank those beautiful miracles the powers that be blessed me with. My sons and those they love have been my sustenance since the day they arrived! They are my keys to unconditional love. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Today’s post is part of Linda Hill’s #SoCS blog prompt. You should click the link and visit her blog for more great posts and to meet some talented writers.

This is the prologue as it should appear. You might have to enlarge it to read the image but I will print it below.

Life is

but an illusion,

a construct,

a design-

an infinitely grand and perfectly endless

miraculous, perpetual simulation to reflect

the unconditional Love and collective will of souls

for the First Thought,

its obligation, the perpetuation and continuation

of Creation-

the expression of Its Love.

When I was a child, we sang a hymn that proposed that

‘Death Is Only a Dream’.

Death is naught but a whisper to the soul,

Nudging it to wake from the dream…

the illusion of Life.

Within the realm of eternity, such a mortal life

would be but a blink,

a brief interlude from the All That Is,

when our souls spread their wings and imagination begets

Creation.

With vigor and verve, we vow to sleep,

to live and die, to laugh and weep!

So, willingly, in shrouds of flesh

we pass through the veil with only an imprint of memory-

a clean, bright canvas to splash with color.

We lovingly weave our tapestry of life,

seeking the answers to questions unasked.

Hungry, lonely, lusty, wise,

falling, flying, crawling

Till twilight clouds our eyes.

Then soul’s remembrance, cloaked as Death,

Reclaims the shroud and steals our breath.

Then day is night and night is day

Until our souls should wish to play

again!

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Those Were the Days..#1LinerWed

Why the cliche’ title? Because now I am finally old enough to feel this way. I have always cherished memories, but sweet and bittersweet; but the train has finally pulled into the station marked ‘Memory Lane’ for me. So many places, so many friends, so much sweetness. I don’t think of the sorrows for they obstruct my view of the present. As the train rolls down the tracks, these moments slip past the windows in a blur. I long to revisit them but know memories are sweetest when viewed in the rearview mirror of time. I am thankful I’m a ‘photo hoarder’ as I have been called. And I think a few others are as well. They can curse me when I’m gone.. and weep. 📸🎥📼💻

And as much as my mother and sister didn’t like this song, it is the one playing non stop in my head right now.