The Places We Go

"Baby. You’re going to find yourself in dark places. You decide if that dark place is a burial or a planting." - Dorothy Mae Adams-Streeter, mother of Mayor Eric Adams

Moms sometimes do know what to say, as appears to be the case for the New York City Mayor who quoted his mother's advice in youth that he took to heart. There are times when our very existence seems to hang in the balance like the stones on a log.

Penelope found balancing an umbrella at the tip of her toes is bliss. Literally and figuratively, balance is what helps keep the universe, and all of us in it, afloat.

Someone or perhaps many people put a lot of effort into stabilizing these stones.

The burrowed knot in the beach log looked like a bird's nest and the stones like eggs.

I guessed the pet on the road got a lot of love from his owners and was not as sad as he looked. I fell for his sagging solemn charms and took many pictures.  

The dog watched me carefully ... completely unconcerned but perhaps a bit curious. 
  

I left him on the path and passed a cozy home tucked into a wooded area.  

If I were a child thinking the world was safe and friendly, I might run up the stairs, knock on the door and say, "Please let me in! I want to peek inside. Can we visit? And is this a magical place where trees secretly talk to one another?" (see answer below)

 

Turns out trees do speak a secret language. Learn what they say in the video below.

Explore more at SKYWATCH FRIDAY and see Saturday's Critters.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C. to view more West Coast scenes.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

The Devil I Know

Pieces of passersby conversations are like puffs of cloud in midair I can snatch. Global woes are interspersed with happier talk where life is pleasant, for the most part, with the coming of spring. Dog walkers stroll the seaside while they can. No pets will be allowed on Crescent Beach Park pathways from May 15 to September 15. 

Local wildlife such as this ruler of the skies (above) are welcome year round.  

Flowers are blooming. All seems right with the world when reliable perennials return.

Rain washed daffodils are cloaked in a buttery bright glow.

The statue I walk by regularly on my way to the beach is a handsome devil and completely harmless, unlike the real-life version currently doing tremendous harm to Ukraine and causing troubling ripple effects throughout much of our world.  

There is no escaping Ukraine in the news but I did hear a brief item about the climate in eastern Antarctica which experienced weather 50 to 90 degrees above normal. This mammoth rise in temperate apparently shocked even the scientists. 

Closer to home, I am hoping that the record breaking hot summer in British Columbia last year does not repeat itself. More information about the heat dome effect is HERE. 

Although it can seem like early days, the predicted hotter future is well underway.   

Explore more at SKYWATCH FRIDAY and see Saturday's Critters.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C. to view more West Coast scenes.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

The Big & Little About Happiness

What is happiness? The poster made me think it's about perspective. If you or your home are not being literally attacked as is happening now in Ukraine, then a Happiness Toolkit might do the trick for whatever ails you. Big and little problems exist side-by-side and I can only guess what's in the kit. When life has no peace in it, happiness could mean having survived to see clearer skies. In times of calm and sometimes even trouble, happiness can be as simple as a puppy's cuddle. Sometimes it's about figuring out what you can and cannot control. Oprah Winfrey said it well: Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure. 

Explore more at SKYWATCH FRIDAY and see Saturday's Critters.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C. to view more West Coast scenes.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

Squirrelly Thoughts & Lucid Moments

The world seems in danger and my thoughts jump about as erratically as that little squirrel scampering from branch to branch. One cannot exist without glimmers of hope so I look for beauty to clear my head. Sometimes it's under my feet and other times it's high up in the clouds. When I was a child I would lie on the grass, gaze at the sky and float on puffs of white wondering where they would take me. I never imagined the troubles we'd find ourselves in, the environment and old grievances surfacing as new wars. Squirrels gnaw on fences; humans have a knack for knocking them down. 

Explore more at SKYWATCH FRIDAY and see Saturday's Critters.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C. to view more West Coast scenes.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

Below, President Zelensky stays positive because he, in particular, can't give up hope.

 

Russia Invades Ukraine

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. - Albert Einstein

How can we not acknowledge the madness of Russia invading Ukraine. While wary leaders walk a tightrope and try not to miscalculate, we see great suffering, destruction, fear and bravery. People are trapped, thousands flee with their life possessions in a single suitcase. This is yet another shameful period in human history. Mass murder is brazenly happening in front of the eyes of the world. Despite the odds and tremendous challenges, President Volodymyr Zelensky has faith in his country's cause and is convinced the Ukrainian people will overcome.

Looking In Mirrors & Spying Through Keyholes

Do you ever look in a mirror and wonder if you or anything at all is as you envision it? 

In my curly hair days it was mostly about the veneer and angst about what I wished I could see since there was a lot wrong it seemed with me.

Smokescreens permeate the human condition. This murky charade of visual effects blurs a truer understanding of the cosmic glue underpinning our existence beyond the senses.

Science tries to explain it; poetry seeks to penetrate it. 

With that in mind and for a possible new creative project, I wrote Unbreakable Flow. 

Tucked in the glittery dark, amid the realities we perceive and our fantasies, an invincible power persists. The binding ingredient energizing everything is not only in mirrors or discoveries through the eye of a camera. We can spy on this unifying factor through windows, keyholes in doors as well as in ourselves ... occasionally unlocking calm even when adrift in chaos and storms. Although we will go our separate ways with the dust and stars, come sit with me and unravel its mysteries in a peaceful moment of reflection .......

 

Explore more at SKYWATCH & Poets and Storytellers United.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C. to view more West Coast scenes.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.