Walk With Me/#Thursdaydoors

One of the great things about where we are living right now is the ability to walk just about anywhere safely. Many people walk or bike to work downtown, and there are 155 parks in the city! They range from a square of grass with a merry-go-round to multi acre parks with wildlife and education centers. The number of hiking trails is bountiful and all are well kept and used by many. Just walking the neighborhood and surrounding areas gets me a 2-4 mile hike in easily and, well, anyone who knows me understands that I would rather be out of doors any day. 

On these walks I have the opportunity to view and photograph lots of doors and I have! I just have been remiss in putting together posts. We are slowly getting things in order and I am trying to return to those things which I love. For today’s post I just wanted to share my walk with you which leads off with some great doors. On this day there seemed to be a theme in place and I let myself fall into step with it for a glorious walk. 

I love the door decorations. Bees definitely bring the feeling of peace to mind for me.

See what I mean about the ‘theme’? 👍🏻

A bunya friend can always be found darting across a lawn.

The squirrels are so ‘ginger’!

The park nearest to us is about a ten minute walk and has this great waterfall. It’s a peaceful place to sit, cool off and reflect. My grandson loves sitting here too. I picked up a couple of books for him at the little free library and did a preview reading.

I am always amazed that there is never a loss for subject matter in children’s books. 

These little free libraries are all over the city and there are even a couple of small free pantries where donated canned and dry goods can be shared.

I’ve been finding feathers daily which is my chosen spirit sign. I’m accepting them with gratitude. 🙏🏻

And so many different ones too! 

The second wave of beautiful Summer flower catches my eye and I have to stop for photos.

My friend here is finally getting its feathers back. Apparently the business yard where it hangs out was a good setting for a brawl with some dogs. It looked pretty rough for a couple of weeks. 

Tiny yellow blooms look like drops of sunshine on the ground

Most of the sidewalks are shaded so walking is comfortable.

My heart has a special niche for the tiny opportunists. They show their happy faces no matter who is looking.

Hubs and I walked this trail for a bit yesterday. A rare moment of catching me doing what I love most. No, I don’t think I usually stand so awkwardly. 🤭

How about these Blue Spruce trees? So many evergreens here make me want to bust out the decorations and lights and get a little holiday spirit going! 

Yep, another one. This one came from a bluejay to be sure. As if to amplify the differences in perception between the two of us, I was marveling at the feather sticking straight up in the grass beside my car door and he said, “Yeah, right next to a pile of old dog sh&*”. 

I think the message is clear. If you can look beyond the crap, there is always the promise of Spirit rising. 

Let me see if I can find one more door for you, just to keep this ‘legal’ for the Thursday Doors Prompt hosted by our friend Dan. Check out his blog for more great doors and to meet some terrific writers. 

This little bee house was built by the campus AG center for their garden. Just look at all those doors! 👏🏻

They gratefully do their work in the garden too. 

Next time I will share some photos of the garden. It really is a magical place. 

Please let’s work to keep it this way. ❤️🧡💕

Tropical Door 🚪 #Thursdaydoors

 Hi guys, 

As usual I have been in and out (no pun intended) of posting for the Doorscursions hosted by our good friend Dan Antion. Life for me lately has felt somewhat like a revolving door, stuck going round and round. Sometimes it seems like a manic funhouse, never knowing what you might see popping up around the next corner. Funhouses can be anything but fun if you don’t like surprises. Still, there are many placid, peaceful days as things settle into a more regular routine and we accomplish what needs to be done. 

I have some cool doors I photographed on my walks here which I will post eventually; but today I wanted to step back in time for a moment and share a door I may already have written about, although it was so long ago most of you wouldn’t have known me in that ‘life’. One of our tropical Central American lives was in Costa Rica, in 2014. It was a beautiful world and gave us a lifetime of wonderful memories and new friendships. 

There was so much in paradise to keep my mind, my eyes and my camera very busy! I am taking a moment now to share some gratuitous wildlife images with you as we step through that door to the past. 

This is me. With my best buddy snapping our reflection in the front glass door to the casa we lived in during our second trip to Costa Rica. Quepos was good to us! 

I had never seen, nor heard of, a Motmot bird before. We discovered this beauty while taking a random drive through the surrounding jungle

The photo below captures the drama that often shows up randomly when I view the microscopic world of blooms and bugs. It was a bit of bee on bug action!

The next beauty needs no introduction. A Rufus Hummingbird who allowed me to photograph for several long minutes while it feasted on nectar

There were a couple of spots to catch the parrots and parakeets, but I had to be quick! Seeing a flock dart overhead is always a delight. 

And speaking of tropical birds, these might be my all time favorite. From random moments of seeing them alongside the road while stuck behind traffic waiting for a work crew or animals crossing to stopping by the known places where they love to feed, each opportunity made my heart race. The Macaws are familial, playful and brilliant

Twinsies. His on the left, mine on the right. I miss Bavaria Light!

There was a wonderful place to photograph butterflies and bees called Baru Garden, attached to a rustic hotel/cabin venue. I spent hours there capturing the delicate beauty of these magical creatures. There was also a nice long hiking trail which ended up at a beach. 

Same butterfly, topside and underside. The owl butterfly uses its unique marking to ward off predators. 

She may look fearsome, but these banana spiders are Nature’s artists. The variety in Central America are quite large and breathtaking. I watched ‘Charlotte’ weaving her web over several days before she hatched some little ones. The web is also yellow and looks iridescent in the sunlight.

Okay, so if you have never had fresh coconut, well, you have never had good coconut! The water and the flesh of this often misunderstood treat are amazing. And to have a Tico hack one open at the beach and generously offer half of it to you is a true gift. 

We ran across this beautiful driftwood on the beaches of Dominical. But you dare not take any home. Costa Rica is very protective over the natural wood it produces. 

I took these photos in downtown Quepos while waiting for my hubs to conduct business with our landlord shortly after we arrived. These magnificent iguanas are all over Costa Rica. He was more than happy to allow me to get close, more interested in his treat than me. 

Prehistoric looking, yes? 

Well, that is it for now. I have hundreds of photos from our time in paradise. Maybe I can share more with you another day. Everyone have a great holiday weekend and be safe out there! 

Hugs! 

Invisible/Poetry

 

Alone in the darkness of the mind’s chaos-

drifting, sinking, struggling

against the weight of it

I weep, longing for words of comfort,

to share the awful truth

of the horror and pain

No one seeks the details of such a path,

this solitary walk into

the abyss of fear

To be on the other side is enough I am told

Just forget, move on to

the new unknown

I long to speak of it, the monster that hides

inside my soul in wait,

so thirsty, hungry

I think if I call its name, shining light

upon its twisted face

it might be appeased

Fluid, this dark cloak that envelops me,

tempting me to give up,

finding solace below

Yet I keep swimming, gasping for air

when I forget to breathe-

forget myself

Where is that self I knew so well mere

months ago, before 

the world exploded?

People pat, people pray, people say

the magic words to

make it alright

It isn’t alright when my gut is full

of poisonous truth,

buried memories

No skeletons hiding in my closet,

for they lie buried-

ashes to ashes

Why did they all leave so soon, 

without a goodbye,

leaving me to cry

this ocean of emotion and sorrow,

hoping that tomorrow

the forgetting comes.

CKP copyright 2021

Solo

 Hi Everyone,

I hope you have been having good days or better and that the fathers in your life were honored yesterday.  We were fortunate to have most of our family around for the special day and enjoyed them all. My own father passed away late last Summer and it was very sad to think of him not physically being in our lives any longer. He was a very loving, attentive Dad who left us with a lot of fond memories. 

On my walk this morning I found a door! Yes, and it seemed one I could not pass on to share.  At first I thought to keep it until Thursday; but as I continued on my walk, the things I encountered inspired me to share it now.  Like so many inspirations, ideas and thoughts I often ‘save’ for later, it stood a good chance of being filed away and forgotten.  It struck me that the door was there as a message specifically for me and that the message was that it is okay for a moment to just be for me-about me-and not attached to a larger idea or project.  

See?  ‘C’ Me! 😊

Nice place. I could see me with a door like that.

As I walked on I began to notice others making their way alone, quite content as I was to be enjoying a rare cool morning.  The sun was rising into the blue, a gentle breeze touched our faces now and then, and we were alone in this joy-together.  Have you ever known someone who could enjoy being alone while in the company of others?  When you have a friend like this there is pure magic in spending time together.  I briefly knew a friend who would come over and we made tea and read books together.  Not to one another, just reading in the same room.  That was peaceful. 

There were others flying solo today…

Contemplating

Exploring

Reveling

Being singularly magnificent!

and foraging with

no competition.

So many people are unable to fathom not being with a group, whether it is with family, friends, coworkers or even strangers at public venues.  Stimulation is what they crave, and I know a lot of folks who get depressed when being alone.  I understand it philosophically; but for me alone means I only have to be concerned about myself-my own emotions.  There is no worry about what I should say or should have said and whether it is enough, too much, too soft, too harsh, too loud, or not loud enough.  Am I taking up too much of someone’s time or giving them enough of mine?  

I can be alone in a crowded room and that is just fine with me.  It is often difficult enough to see, hear and feel the interactions going on around me that don’t include me,  let alone jumping into a conversation and feeling as though I dove into a black lake without a life vest.  It isn’t that I can’t communicate but more that it is very exhausting in so many situations and has little to do with the familiarity of who I am with.  In fact, I often feel a natural comfort among strangers that I do not with people with whom I am connected.  With most strangers there is no expectation in casual encounters and,  if there is any disconnect, it is left behind when we part.  As a result I find myself being most outgoing when I am shopping, dining out, or on vacation.  

Fear is debilitating in so many ways, even those subconscious fears that have grown up with us.  I think the fear of being misunderstood outweighs my fear of not being heard.  I have to add that being an observer/listener also lends itself to greater skills of observation and objectivity. Sometimes it is purely entertaining.

So, when someone pushes you to be more outgoing, maybe you should just take a breath and say, “I’ll think about that, but for now I am enjoying the journey inward.” And if you are someone who thinks everyone should be chatting it up at social events or meetings, take a moment to observe.  Does the person sitting alone with her drink seem sad?  Is that guy looking around anxiously for someone to notice him?  If not,  perhaps they enjoy their aloneness in that moment.  If you pass near them nod, smile and say hello.  If they are lonely I promise they will be eager to talk.  If they just nod and smile back, keep walking.  For them, the pain may be worse in the connecting than in the being alone.  

As for me, I can get lonely for the true connection that is missing in idle conversation, for when the chatter stop I can hear the voice of Existence echoing through my soul, and there is peace in such silence.  In those breaths I meet myself and we converse.  Maybe some folks are more afraid of that than anything else.  

For my Daddy, somewhere beyond this realm, I want to say, “Thank you for teaching me that being alone is not a bad thing because we are never truly alone.” 

And thanks to my wonderful family I never have to be alone any more than I want to be…

Never alone is the most comforting thought I can have…

Breathe…..

In the Still/#poetry

 

In the still silence

between damp breath and 

the beat of a heavy heart, there is a place

of perfect peace

where the lightness of being

comforts the weary soul and

the heart whispers its fervent prayer

into the void…beyond the place 

where thoughts deceive..

longing to believe the promises.

Vespers for the weary, the dying, 

the waiting. 

Waiting for the sign, the affirmation,

confirmation, supplication of

of the faithful for salvation, redemption,

healing.

Alms for answers, paper for prayers,

pleas flickering in the dim light of 

Piety and Penitence, so bright!

The answers wait in the darkness 

where nothing breathes, nor eats, 

nor sleeps. 

In the infinitesimal space between

eternity and existence, Truth waits

patiently for Wisdom to open

herself to acceptance of the 

Unknown.

Where thought ends, 

and control is abandoned,

where murmurs cease

and plans forgotten,

where trust becomes the

breath, the beat, the reason…

Fear surrenders to Love

as God speaks…

can you not hear It?

Cheryl KP copyright 2021

Mama? #1linerWednesday

 

Excuse me...

Have you seen my mother?

We found this little fellow while on a walk around the neighborhood. The bluejay population is booming here and they are gorgeous. We opted to leave him where he was. Sure hope he fared alright. 

#1linerWednesday