Tool of My Dad's Trade

Door Art?

Upon returning to her apartment and finding her door locked, my mom decided to just leave her "laundry" on the doorknob. I'm sure it provided some "conversation" material at Camp Forum!!!

Note To Self!

Daikon radish isn't good airplane food as it smells like dirty socks and makes seat mates wonder who keeps farting?!!!

Moving Into Spring

Trippy Art

... made with fingers only!

http://www.thisismarvelous.com/i/79-Fingerings-by-Judith-Braun-Remarkable-Drawings-Created-With-Nothing-But-Fingers-Dipped-in-Charcoal

She's Back!

Late this morning I was just finishing a project on the deck when I looked up and saw you know who about 10 ft away! Once she saw her deck had been hijacked she turned and walked away glancing back once as she went. About an hour later I looked out at the deck, noticed a dark shape and movement.

Sure enough, fox was back and assuming her napping position which is where she is right this very minute. Seems like she feels a certain degree of safety to be sleeping out in the open in the middle of the day. 

My human neighbor and I wondered if she might be pregnant...

Geez, if there end up being fox kits tumbling around here I'll never leave!

Once Upon A Fox

Yesterday I made myself almost late to an event because as I was getting ready to leave I noticed our fox neighbor napping on our deck! I had to just watch her for awhile...as she got up, scratched a few fleas then repositioned herself more comfortably against a wooden chair. As much as I was looking forward to and was excited about the event I was going to, I could just have happily stayed home with the fox.

This afternoon as I was returning home I got a phone call from my land mate telling me that the fox (presumably the same one?) was napping on a chaise lounge on the deck. Sure enough, there she was sawin' logs while laying on a blanket my neighbor had put on the lounger for herself earlier in the day!

She must have napped for a good 3 hours. As it was getting almost dark I sat outside "with" her. Finally, she got up, stretched and then I lost sight of her. I just rested my head on my knees with my eyes closed and listened. Not very long later I felt an energetic shift and when I lifted my head she was about 10 ft away drinking some water. Then she sauntered down the path and headed out the driveway. A couple minutes later I heard her bark...maybe she was looking for her family, maybe for dinner, maybe announcing the end of the day. In any case, I sure look forward to the possibility of seeing her again tomorrow.

Heart Accident!

This was the shape left after I spooned some rice out of the pan.

Thoreau On "Work"

"For many years I was self-appointed inspector of snow-storms and rain-storms, and did my duty faithfully."

An Interesting Book

Maybe some of you have already heard and/or read about Daniel Suelo?
I am reading a book written about him called; The Man Who Quit Money
It offers stimulating food for thought. At a minimum he pushes us to consider life WAAAAAY outside the box. He might even be revered in a different culture.

Check out how he speaks of his vocation:
"I'm employed by the universe. Since everywhere I go is the universe, I am always secure. Life has flourished for billions of years like this. I never knew such security before I gave up money. Wealth is what we are dependent on for security. My wealth never leaves me. Do you think Bill Gates is more secure than I?"

Elvis

A very dear senior fellah seemingly content to take it slower these days, Elvis transforms into a "race around like a maniac" puppy when given a tennis ball!

Smelly Good

A friend gave me a big ol bag of raw wool. I transferred it into burlap bags that had been used to store coffee beans.

So now my car smells like coffee beans and lanolin. Aromatherapy on wheels!

Under Consideration

One of the gifts of living in a "first/developed" world is that we often get to have lots of choices about things. One of those is our health. When confronted with an "illness" some of us get to think about what methods of healing we might employ and not just rely on western medicine as the one and only means of addressing health concerns. (that is IF we have the money to pursue "alternatives," of course.) Nevertheless, there is a "cultural norm" if you will that is deeply embedded in western medicine and also in some complimentary modalities as well. Often, something is made an enemy...cancer cells, bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc. And more often than not the treatment is to destroy the enemy. While I'm not suggesting that is wrong, I get really curious about other ways these matters could be approached. So, with that wondering in mind I got out a box of some of my essences to review how they work. I'm sharing them below. The word bacterial can be swapped out and replaced with viral or fungal. See what happens for you when you read these.
 
B-1: Restore the body's environment to balance when its imbalance is creating a corresponding bacterial imbalance. They also restore the body's environment to balance once a corresponding bacterial imbalance is present and impacting the body.

B-2: Restore a state of appropriate balance within the living bacterial organisms so that they may once again relate to and interact with their larger host organism (body) in an appropriately balanced and environmentally sound manner.

Foxy!

My friend and neighbor just down the road sent me these photos of some other neighbors!

Robbed

After finding two pieces of jewelry she was ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN had been stolen, my mom had to call both the police and her insurance company to let them know.

When I spoke with her today I genuinely asked her what she wanted me to do the next time she calls to tell me that she's temporarily lost something but believes it has been stolen. She replied: "just laugh!!!"

Vicious Rumor!

A collective sigh of relief was heard when it became known that Ellen and Portia were purchasing
a $40 million dollar home together...instead of the news that they were breaking up.
Phew.

The Very Cute Tick Barer!

       

              Meet Huckleberry!

Hermie

A lifetime ago when I was working with an environmental education program, we used to sing a rowdy song around the campfire at night devoted to the banana slug. We even had a banana slug club where kids could become a member if they kissed one (yup, true story!) All that time I had an appreciation for them but never really LoVED them. But within the last few months something shifted and I feel a genuine tenderness and affection towards them. I was noticing their absence in the drought and wondered often about their well being. We had  heavy rains over the weekend and I immediately noticed the slugs pop back into view. I wasn't sure where they'd gone during the dry spell but was really happy and relieved to see their little green bodies again. Then today I'd gone inside a building whose doors had been open a couple hours and noticed a slug all shortened into itself on the floor. I immediately and carefully picked it up and set it outside in a more suitable area. At first, I thought it had already perished but I decided to wait awhile and see if it moved. Finally, I saw one antennae and then the other very slowly start to extend out and my heart was so happy. I watched for another minute or so just because its sweetness captured my attention and then finally walked away sincerely grateful to have crossed its path.

Old Fashioned Activity!

With such heavy storms this weekend I wasn't able to get a signal for either my cell phone or hot spot very much so...

I read an entire book from start to finish!

Rainy Day Activity!

Almost Invisible!

This photo cracks me up. Simon, whose tail you see sticking out, and I were visiting our neighbors the other day.

Simon had been chased one too many times by the Swami so he decided to quietly slink behind the curtains to hide himself and thus be out of harms way...only he didn't realize his tail was still visible!!! I got to watch the whole thing happen and it was so darn funny. As luck would have it, the Swami didn't find Simon in his top secret location!!! 

Both Ends of the Continuim

When my almost 9 month old swami friend was falling asleep as he drained his bottle I thought what a natural experience that was...and then had the thought that perhaps if all of us had more warm bottles AND naps, there might be a little less tension in the world!

Not Guilty?

"Well your Honor, I had been peacefully napping when all of a sudden I heard a loud racket coming from the other room. I immediately ran in to see what had happened and that's when I saw...well, I saw my brother, Chico, standing over the lifeless, torn apart body of...of....of...

(Dixie whimpers and puts her paw over her eyes as if trying not to see)

Curious George. I was too late, George was already gone. So, I gathered up all his white, fluffy parts and put them mostly back in the right place. Then I sent Chico outside and stood guard over George until our people came home. Yea, that's what happened."

Ponderation...

" THE BEGINNING IS NEAR " and the unknown is more vivid than ever! " 

 Yrron

S L O W!!!

I was chatting with a dear old friend tonight and somehow we hit the topic of being a slow person...swapping stories of our experience as a slow mover in an increasingly fast paced world. We both were saying it was so great to know someone else that experienced the world very similarly. She was telling me that one of her favorite critters as a kid was a snail!!!
She was also sharing that when people tell her to hurry up, which they have done her entire life, she actually has to go slower. She said: "If I go any faster than my top speed, I wobble...literally!!!"
I fell out on that one. She is my number one candidate for being a board member of The Slower Life Movement, for sure...and will be receiving a Slower Life Movement t-shirt with "Born Slow" on the back!

This is my friend, Juno, all wrapped up snugly after a walk in the rain. She's a sweet potato pie!

It's Good To Get Perspective!

In my first conversation this morning with a friend she was talking about the possibility that planet Earth is simply a compost pile for some other planet!!! That just got me so tickled. Easy enough for me to imagine that...and I also really appreciate how it engages my mind to think much, much bigger and not be so Earthcentric.

A Reminder From a Thought-full Friend

>And what did you do on earth?< I descended daily into the hush – if only for a moment, but sometimes for blessed hours at a time. I followed the shimmering threads which lured me into the night, full of wonder at all that was unfolding. I opened myself wide to gratitude, to the delight that there was anything at all, much less pink-petaled peonies and generous handfuls of red berries, the incredible sweetness of things, or the way dawn and dusk could reveal my own new thresholds, how a walk by the sea can change everything, and that I could be so well loved, and love in return, that I could dance on earth’s forest floor and say “yes” to life from the belly of sorrow. >And what was the best of it?< I was saved by beauty again and again, the golden glimmer of sunlight across wet pavement revealing a luminous world, and the stone ruins of churches and monasteries, with their arches of ancient longing holding ten thousand prayers, ten thousand paths to hope. >And what would you have changed?< Only perhaps to have worried less about what might come, which never did in exactly the way I imagined. And to spend less time in front of screens, offering more of myself to the elements of wind and rain and mud, to roll with playful abandon in the wet grass, the way dogs do. >And what will you do now?< I will reach across the veil and whisper the word “remember” to anyone who will listen.

"Remember" by Christine Valters Paintner

Feral-ish!

This handsome fellow lives outside in downtown Occidental, CA. amongst a colony of his peers. Much to their credit they have convinced of covey of human admirer's to feed them daily and look after their general well being. One of the retail store owners near the colony puts out food for his neighbors but he says there are only a few brave enough to come up on his porch and eat. This tuxedo guy is one. He will even let the human pick him up on occasion and brush him. Mostly though, it seems 

Tux prefers that other humans ogle over his handsomeness from a distance!!! 

Bed Head!!!

I went to bed last night with my hair wet, worked on it all night long and this is the result!!! There's a lot of action goin' on up there...surprised I could sleep at all!