My Favorite Tree

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself."

~William Blake

This is my favorite tree. I love coming by and looking in it's... eye? Yeah, I know, it's not really an eye, but somehow imagining it to be a tree, with one wise eye, makes me feel better about things. Oh my goodness, the conversations that lovely Liquid Amber tree and I have had! We have discussed the beauty of autumn, the folly of war. We have discussed my crazy sentimentality, and how much we miss certain people. We talk about weather and big life changing decisions. We have enjoyed many lunches together, and the occasional smoothie break. Put it all together and it just life. The tree's and mine. And it goes on for both of us, through the chill and the heat, and the seasons, but autumn is our favorite. We agree that everything seems more reasonable in the autumn.

My Favorite Tree In Autumn

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

World Events...

 

 "Even a blind squirrel will finds an acorn sometimes."

~Proverb

This post doesn't feature a new photo, or a photo from the archives that hasn't been previously posted, but that's okay I think. I love this photo, and the memory of haven taken it. Alan and I were on vacation, on the 17 Mile drive in Monterey, and this little guy had just been attacked by a rather large, mean, seagull! Fortunately, Alan jumped to the rescue, yelled and waved his arm at the mean bird and chased off, probably saving this little guys life! The poor squirrel was so frightened that he just stood in place, on that rock, as his whole body shook from fear. It broke my heart. But he finally calmed down, and went about his business... he was fine... I never forgot him!

And now a little wisdom from Mark Twain

"Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. Indeed, my experiments have proven to me that he is the Unreasoning Animal... In truth, man is incurably foolish. Simple things which other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning. Among my experiments was this. In an hour I taught a cat and a dog to be friends. I put them in a cage. In another hour I taught them to be friends with a rabbit. In the course of two days I was able to add a fox, goose, a squirrel and some doves. Finally a monkey. They lived together in peace; even affectionately.

Next, in another cage I confined an Irish Catholic from Tipperary, and as soon as he seemed tame I added a Scotch Presbyterian from Aberdeen. Next a Turk from Constantinople; a Greek Christian from Crete; an Armenian; a Methodist from the wilds of Arkansas; a Buddhist from China; a Brahman from Benares. Finally, a Salvation Army Colonel from Wrapping. Then I stayed away for two while days. When I came back to note results, the cage of Higher Animals was all right, but in the other there was but a chaos of gory odds and ends of turbans and fezzes and plaids and bones and flesh... not a specimen left alive. These Reasoning Animals had disagreed on a theological detail and carried the matter to a Higher Court."

~Mark Twain

 Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings

Mood: Okay/Happy/Good... I'm Good!

~Me :)

The Paradoxical Commandments

A Blue Day
Marin County, Ca
2006

"Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears."

~John Lennon

This is not the post I planned for today, I had some archived photos that I took in Santa Cruz, in August of 2005. They are photos I am proud of, and they always make me smile. The lighting was just right. The colors were amazing, and I had just spent an amazing time on the beach, enjoying a Micky Dolenz concert. But on the way to preparing for that memory post, I came across some words of wisdom that rang so true, and lifted my spirits so much, I decided to share.
 

The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today, will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

People really need help buy may attack you if you do help them.
Help them anyway.

Give the world the best you have an you'll get kicked in the teeth,
Give the world the best you have anyway.

~Kent M. Keith, The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership In The Student Council

Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

52 Already?

Happy Owls
Flowerland
Albany, California
June 25th, 2014

"With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come."

~William Shakespeare

Me at 50.

It's that time again... June 29th... my birthday! Personally, I like birthdays, a lot, but it sure is strange how fast my life seems to have gone since turning 21! It is really just a blink, but when I look back over the years, I was a pretty lucky person in that blink, because I know I was loved! Alan, I love you back! And my online friends, and IN REAL LIFE friends, I love all of you as well! So it's all good! And one really great thing about being this age, I finally feel smart, and perhaps even a little wise about a few things! I wouldn't change my age for anything!

So, what does someone who is happy, and content with her life want for her birthday? Well, see, it's the little things that can make me the happiest! About a week ago, or so, one of my favorite Twitter peeps, Paul Myers (@pulmyears) posted a great photo (pretty much exactly like the one above) to his Instagram account of a set of colorful owl candles he spotted at a nursery called Flowerland. 

He filled me in on the location of the nursery, and last week I decided to pay it a little visit. Low and behold, there were the adorable candles! I decided to purchase the green one. It's got a nice autumn vibe to it, and I thought it would look really nice with my other candles on my desk. And it does. And it makes me smile. It reminds me that I am a bit older, but a bit wiser too. I am so glad he posted that photo, because if he hadn't, I would have missed out on the little green owl, and that wouldn't have been good because it was the perfect something to give myself for making it to 52!

:) 

I just hope I didn't throw off the owl's Feng shui too much!

Hello *52*... good to meet ya! :)

Mood: Happy

~Me :)