Nature's Finishing Touches & Canada Day

Who needs a lawnmower when you have llamas and alpacas? I saw these compelling newly  sheared creatures from a distance through a farm fence. They barely raised their heads so I couldn't clearly see the luscious lashes that framed their large soulful eyes as they methodically munched on grass freshly washed by the morning's rain. Raised for wool and companionship rather than as livestock to eat, these lovely animals do not elicit the twinges of guilt I typically feel when seeing farm animals. In turn, as vegetarians they do not need to kill other creatures to exist. What could be more perfect in life's scheme and to inspire my poem, especially since llamas were created with unique "finishing touches", this week's prompt from Poets and Storytellers United.

At this writing, these grazers are probably still contentedly, peacefully munching ... 

  

and munching ...

   

and munching ...

   

while Canada Day approaches and I contemplate my parents' harrowing trip by ship.

    

My thoughts are of their sea-tossed journey in the late 30s, leaving loved ones and riches behind to struggle in an unfamiliar land with only a few paintings and personal treasures to remind them of Ukraine, parts of which were under Polish rule at the time and more recently in Russia's brutal sights once again. People come to Canada where its mission is to welcome diversity and although there is room for improvement, it's a vast and spectacular country that importantly is at peace in this snapshot of history.

   

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United, SKYWATCH and Saturday's Critters. 

Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

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.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT

The Wet & Sunny West Coast

The rainfall of the last few days was needed, each drop a soothing balm. Of course, balance is bliss so we want the right amount of wet drops … not too much or too little. Below, the rain rolled down the fairy's hand where a spider had spun its thread.

Rain and the Poets and Storytellers United prompt "write something that includes a complete title of a favorite book" brought to mind With My Umbrella I Can: The Magical Journey of Penelope Puddle. In the story, a little girl's umbrella is a creative prop more than a canopy to ward off the weather. The overall concept was in part inspired by the West Coast that is becoming less wet. Although not embedded with the book's title, the poem below is in the book and alternatively named Rain Call and Come Out And Play.

The weather can be intense so it is nice that umbrellas can be used for rain, sunshine and all that comes in between, especially in the face of dryer, hotter summers.

The photo of me that I've posted before was taken some five years ago. I've changed since then, even though the time that's gone by feels closer to five seconds.

The recent sky over Kwomais Point Park is an infinite playground for clouds and a good place to roam and imagine. Kwomais means "a place of vision". The Semiahmoo Salish tribe, it is said, used the land for spiritual renewal. The area on a bluff also made the perfect lookout spot for approaching enemies and friends. In the early 1900's, a former Methodist minister obtained 136 acres which he divided into lots. A portion, designated as a park, became a summer camp the United Church oversaw until the City of Surrey purchased the land for public use in 2007. It could have been sold to developers.

Instead, the gates came down so everyone could be uplifted by the paths and views.

Sometimes I stop gazing at screens, put away the camera, go outdoors and let nature wash over me ... casting my hopes and stagnant dreams into the freshly showered air.

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United, SKYWATCH and Saturday's Critters. 

Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

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.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT

More Than What Meets The Eye

Have you seen a bird in slow motion? A video HERE exposes how thoughtful the bird having a bath is at every move. To the average human eye, its actions are so swift that nuances are missed. It's as if we live side-by-side but at separate speeds or realms so that parts of the bird's existence are not observable. The Poets and Storytellers United prompt "which city do you dream of" had me thinking of a city that dwells alongside me and maybe you. A bit like the bird's unseen world, it can take any shape and unlike sandcastles, no need for pail or shovel, just a mystical eye and an essence of the soul.

     

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United, SKYWATCH and Saturday's Critters. 

Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle, Musings of A Puddlist In B.C., and enjoy watching the little robin having a bath (below) at ExNews.

Empty Bucket

Long ago and not so far away my husband worked in downtown Vancouver at the structure that looks like a saucer. It's a restaurant now but in those days the building held engineering offices for a company called West Coast Energy. On a recent visit to a medical building, the view of it amid the skyline across False Creek was stunning. I suspect this city is on many "bucket lists", the Poets and Storytellers United prompt for this week. Although I make plans, I've never created a must-do list for a metaphorical bucket, maybe because each goal achieved can seem one step closer to life's final act.

Beneath a smattering of clouds, the Burrard Street Bridge (below) was also visible through the tinted glass. I wrote about the bridge in an earlier post HERE.

At first glance there seems to be one bridge on the horizon but if you look closely there are actually two with the Granville Street Bridge at the forefront.

Since waiting is part of any routine doctor visit, I had a chance to jot down a few verses for the prompt, knowing my outlook on the matter is really rather fluid.

The Vancouver region seemed a much rainier place when I came to B.C. as a child from Quebec. My personal recollection is of a lot more rain and less sun. Indeed, a wet climate is how the Penelope Puddle character and her umbrella developed over time.

These days, however, out of control wildfires in parts of Western Canada have become common in summer months and now Eastern parts of the country are ablaze. Because bucket lists often include travel due to curiosity and a love for the planet and its creatures, learn about the most pressing issue of our time by linking to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United and SKYWATCH. 

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT

Unfinished Business

While waiting in the garden area of a hospital for my husband's minor procedure to be completed, The Poet and Storytellers United prompt "unfinished project" came to mind and the stacks of "great" story ideas I once started also waiting to be finished.

There is so much unfinished business throughout the globe and it isn't just me procrastinating. We know what to do about climate change, hunger and homelessness and violence. We have yet to resolve these life and death issues for immediate gains even when youngsters don't get to finish into adulthood because of our mistakes.

But I wonder, does anything truly finish or do things change form like flowers do?

Of course, we know there's a bigger picture beyond our senses.

So let's agree perhaps on as many chapters as can be until our story says the end.

Explore more at Poets and Storytellers United, SKYWATCH and Saturday's Critters. 

Check out my sites: Postcards from Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C.

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.

HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT

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