An Award not one but three -- from a fellow blogger

A nice surprise today --- a gift from fellow blogger jingle who so graciously made my day with not one but three awards.  To see who else received rewards from our fellow muse please visit jingles blog site and spend some time  reading some really good poetry.


The Most Flexible In Style Poet Award

The Noblest Poet Award

The Most Self-Motivated Poet Award

Navigating the River of Soul and Friendship

My Anam Cara -- My Soul Friend

My teacher, my mentor, my soul…
The doors you open my soul friend
My Anam Cara,  I can not close

The hidden secret comes to expression  

the face in the mirror of the mind
Somehow in the dark with only the faintest edge 

 Image from the Canadian touring company The Phantom of the Opera

Of light illuminating my face
Landing in harrowed space around me held

Hovering in some strange abyss
I do not like the way it makes me feel
The image in the mirror
The haunted misery
My breathing strangling tightness in my chest
Loosed in this image in the mirror
A dizzying rush swirling feeling in my stomach
Standing in the center of it all
Struggling with a relentless urge
To relieve a vague but unbearable  

Sense of incompleteness to fill a void

Within me that demands fullness –

The urge becomes compelling
Feeling of incompleteness is relieved 

 google image

And the dark void filled at least in the moment

A lone woman asks to be let in
Her ugliness attributes to her arresting dramatic entrance
When all the quests are seated -  sit and feast on your life
She rebuffs a challenge in her 

Surreal hideousness apparent meaningless of her existence

In the silence the profundity of stillness
Standing at the edge of a greater presence 

Who invites us toward new heights of passion and creativity
Whilst Adam and Eve caress each other

As Satan looks on and caresses his snake watching –
Waiting to snare your soul

Standing at the threshold held by my own self imposed exile
While my soul has spun a cocoon and has completely died to this world-
Festooned with quilt, fear, loneliness and despair,
My senses are a temenos that separates me
From the fire of passion
from the kiss and 
breathe of the divine 

That alone can remove the dust 
from the mirror of my heart

So once again–I can sit and dine at the table of the divine.
My fragile transient existence living on borrowed time
You find me my Anam Cara my Dear One,

We were brought together through divine providence
You peel my image from the mirror – 
glimpse the beautified reflection 

As each muscle and sinew give way
Through deep truth and trust
The taut hold lets loose on the thin reality of life –

 Image from the Canadian touring company The Phantom of the Opera

Then in a twinkling of an eye a thousand sheets of glass
Cascading, splitting and shattering down
Mixing our life blood pooling at our feet –
That once shielded my eyes from the beauty that hides inside,

My Anam Cara – two friends, two bodies, one soul
An awaking  between us –

google image

Of the eternal nature of the mysterious
Illuminating the one soul divine.

Fin

 Anam Cara - A Celtic term meaning "friend of my soul" not to be confused with "soul mate" modern meaning "ideal or one and only person" in someone's life. There is a beautiful book titled Anam Cara by John O'Donohue in his book he explains that Anam Cara refers to the Celtic spiritual belief of souls connecting and bonding. In Celtic Spiritual tradition, it is believed then when you connect with another person and become completely open and trusting with that individual, your two souls begin to flow together. Should such a deep bond be formed, it is said you have found your Anam Cara or soul friend.

 The Anam Cara is a person to whom you can reveal the hidden intimacies of your life. This friendship is an act of recognition. When you have an anam cara, your friendship cut across all convention and category. You are joined in an ancient and eternal way with the friend of your soul. Central here is the recognition and awakening of the ancient belong-ing between two friends. Since the human heart is never completely born, love is the continuous birth of creativity within and between us.

 The Anam Cara experience opens a friendship that is not wounded or limited by separation or distance. Such friendship can remain alive even when the friends live far away from each other. Because they have broken through the barriers of persona and egoism to the soul level, the unity of their souls is not easily severed. When the soul is awakened, physical space is transfigured. Even across the distance two friends can stay attuned to each other and continue to sense the flow of each other's lives. With your anam cara you awaken the eternal. In this soul-space there is no distance.  (Extract from Anam Cara ISBN 978-1-848-27048-0 John o'Donohue)

Dancing out the Empty Ocean

A Lotus blooms
While dancing out the ocean   

Souls set free

A Lotus Blooms

While dancing out the ocean

 Souls set free

 Fin

photos by author of this blog and the last photo by willow

Visit Magpie Tales to read what wonderful Tales other writers and poets have spun using this last photo prompt. http://magpietales.blogspot.com

Rendevous with Alpacas - a delightful gift of nature.

Traveling along the Mt. Hood National Scenic Highway 26–Oregon -- where once volcanoes spewed and mammoth floods scoured deep gorges.---where exquisite geologic wonders, waterfalls, temperate rain forests and wild rivers flow free a wonderful place to be---We were headed to the Alpaca showing in Redmond Oregon- where these beautiful Alpacas were brought for miles around to win ribbons - -- and to show off their beautiful fiber.

 Faith, Hope and Charity collectively known as the  Three Sisters (near the city of Bend, Oregon) — South Sister is the highest and youngest, with a well defined crater. Middle Sister is more pyramidal and eroded. North Sister is the oldest and has a crumbling rock pinnacle. Photo below from Mt. Bachelor Village, in southwest Bend is not far from the three Sisters mountains and Broken Top mountain.

I have become totally mesmerized by the Alpacas.  From start to finish they have beauty, charm, grace and investment potential both as an animal and as a by-product--fiber.   The pleasure of owning the beautiful and gentle alpaca is a reward in itself. The prospect of enjoying shared family activities with this very huggable animal while reaping the financial rewards of owning and breeding alpacas increases the pleasure many times over.

The highly prized fleece of the alpaca has inspired many to start in-home "cottage industries" which involve shearing the alpacas and spinning the fiber of their own animals into yarn that can be made into high quality apparel while others market the fiber through the support of organized fiber co-ops.

 An ideal Alpaca's look begins with the head, a dense top knot, and well-covered cheeks converging with the wool cap to form a close V at the eyes, which are brown. The ears are shaped like an arrowhead and erect. The muzzle is soft and wedge shaped. The jaw should fit together correctly, with the lower incisors meeting the upper dental pad.

Julie Skinner part owner of Snowmass Alpacas  is an expert on Alpacas --she is giving a talk on the care and raising of Alpacas.  Snowmass Alpacas is located on a beautiful 700-acre ranch in Sandpoint, in the northern Panhandle of Idaho, with a 1000 alpacas, and is home to the Skinner family - Julie, Don and their four young children. They have been in the business for over 30 years.

There was a fashion show and auction - this is Sandra Rumney from Sleeping Giant Alpacas located in Montana.  Sleeping Giant Alpacas is owned and operated by Jeff Rumney and Sandra Rumney.

After all the awards and ribbons were given out  - there was a delightful and delicious meal - I took the before picture - forgot to take a picture of us all eating..... but you get the idea.

  

 

 

l'alpaga indique qu'au revoir pour les amis maintenant chers de blog revenez encore bientôt 

 

Fin

Be sure to visit other Outdoor Wednesday participants 

via A Southern Daydreamer! 

The Willow Story

And so the souls of 

Hong Shee and Chang
came together
in breathless anticipation 
and under the incandescent moon
escape by boat

The darkened clouds roll in heavily and 

The angry sea comes roaring down

Waves rush in and wash over them 

Spinning, churning, and tossing the tiny boat 

As the star –crossed lovers drown in the stormy sea

Bodies bound tightly together 
Tangled by those ghost fish nets 

While floating in flotsam in the calm blue sea

Their souls now transformed into immortal doves

To live together - forever free.

 

Blue Willow Image by Willow

Visit Magpie Tales to read what wonderful Tales other writers and poets have spun using this photo prompt. http://magpietales.blogspot.com

Crazy Busy

Crazy-busy is a term coined by psychiatrist Edward M. Hallowell to describe the stressed state many people experience due to our modern age of information overload, high tech communication, and busy schedules. Currently I am in Grad school and I was experiencing information overload, my mind could not cram one more piece of information into it. 

This is a time when I need to turn my attention to the most inward aspects of my life and refresh, recharge and rejuvenate.

I know of no better way to recharge then align myself 

with mother nature and

to the majestic natural beauty of this area in which I live.

Mt Hood @ Lewis and Clark campus

From some deep place within me I experienced --

One perfect moment of rose-colored lavender joy. .

 And  took time to appreciate . . . .one simple delight, ... one droplet of moisture, .. that  held the light
still sparkle; ....  one small creature with wings most divine ...

I must admit a propensity to worship in the natural world, 

It is alive with pure energy with the power to recharge the body, mind, and spirit. 

Silver Creek South Falls-standing under the falls

 Just when I think my days are predictable - something extraordinary happens - 

I stand in awe of the water colored sky.  

Too many people miss the opportunity of standing under the rainbow because they were expecting gold.

Today I listened and I heard the sound of one small flower,  opening up and beginning its life. 

A Moment In Time

"I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, A tiny silver of one hour.

I dripped it carelessly, Ah! I didn't know, I held opportunity. " 

~Hazel Lee~

Fin

It’s time for “Outdoor Wednesday”. Learn more about “Outdoor Wednesday” HERE

A Voice From the Sea!

A Great grand son
of Captain Ahab am I,
searching the watery sea.
Why hide yourself from me? 

With the sun sparkling on the waves,
the only sound I hear,
are my shipping oars against the water. 

Waiting for old Moby’s off-spring
to resurface and to breathe.
As I sail a little closer
There is no mistaking –
the largest I ever seen.

He opens one eye
as I am about to spear him
and tosses me in the sea.

Visit Magpie Tales to read what wonderful Tales other writers and poets have spun using this photo prompt. http://magpietales.blogspot.com

For those who are mothers and for those who are not

The beautiful pain of birth

Gave way to a delicate gift
Fragile as a flower
Tiny hands and toes,
Capturing my heart
Tender touches
Loving kisses
Building the bond between us
I have my gift...of motherhood
 

It is with open arms I welcome you!  

Happy Mother's Day!
Fin

The Garden Gate

 It is easy to say you want to trust someone, however it is not an easy thing to do. I believe we all feel unsure when faced with the unknowns. That terrible uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach, called fear.

However, each step we take is toward the unknown. I can only make the best choice in the moment with what I know to be true in my heart at the time. I am continually doing that cosmic dance with the unknowns , the should haves, what ifs.  Like a game of chess - two players on the board of the game of life - you move this way, I move that way, you advance, I retreat.

I envy those who can plan their lives in daily planner organizers. They always know where they are going to be next week at 2:00pm, or next month or even next year.  Some folks I know have their days mapped out in retirement, where they will live, travel to, how they will spend their leisure days, reading,  what movies they will watch.  I can only seem to manage to live one day at a time.

I made a choice in this moment to relax into the rhythm of life and choose to trust the Creator of this divine Universe that I will be taken care of, loved, feel safe, open to compassion toward other living sentient beings.

I struggle to understand the meaning of my small but not insignificant life, examining the tiniest detail; I  look to the secrets of nature through her plants, her animals, the wind , the rain, the sunshine that blesses us all.

Like a pile of newly hatched baby chicks huddling together against the cold, each interconnected, depending on each other for support, warmth, warning of danger -- that is the course of human connectedness, taking each others hand to care for, love, nurture support, trust each other.

That gentle dance we perform, holding the door open so we can come together in harmony and allow the miracles of our daily lives unfold like the rhythmic waves of the ocean meeting the shore.

 Life is filled with choices! Today, I will walk to the edge of the borders of my mind and learn to trust the gift  of the moment -- the gift from the Divine!

Fin

It’s time for “Outdoor Wednesday”. Learn more about “Outdoor Wednesday” HERE