Monday, December 30, 2024

Honey - A Gift - A Tradition

We went on a drive today. Something we haven't really done in years. We stopped first at the Honey Farm. Their Sage Honey is so good and the 'working bee hive' was fun to see again.

This is the old 2005 photo of the "La Conchita Quilt", as it is known around here. The colors of the rainy sky have faded a lot over the past 20 years. But, I also don't think this was ever a true representation of the blue color.

And, yes...it has been 20 years since that awful day, when so many lost their lives and the others had their lives changed forever.

I've written about it so many times here, so feel free to put La Conchita into the search bar to see more. There are other old pics of this quilt in that search.

Every time I write about it, I discover something new. Today it was this BOOK.

The Pacific ocean shimmers at 65 MPH, the coast near La Conchita

XL VENTURA SWELL | C-Street Ventura, CA | A Surf Film 12.22.24

LINK 3:38 minutes

Now, here we are coming up on January 10, 2025 - the 20 year Anniversary and I've done something I've thought of doing for years. I took this quilt and donated it to the community which inspired it.

For years I considered ways...who...how...and finally landed on a plan. After watching many, many videos, I decided that if I got the quilt to the unofficial mayor of La Conchita, he would know what to do. He did. There is a local community organization there and he said he would get it to them.

Anyway, I asked neighbors walking their dogs which house was his and they kindly pointed me in the right direction. I knocked on the door, confirmed that it was he I was seeking and let him know I had a gift for the community. I asked him if he would accept it. He answered quickly that he would love to. I got it out of the car and brought it to his front door.

There we stood talking, me a total stranger and him a man in his 70's who lived through the disaster. He seemed very touched that I would bring this to them and said more than once that it was beautiful (cloth or action? - Both?). I shared a bit about the representational figures. We both winced and sighed at the mention of Jimmie Wallet. I shared the reason of the naming of the quilt on the tag and offered him the card I'd written to the community.

I can't describe the joy I felt in finally taking this action after so many years of planning to do so. I feel like the quilt is where it belongs. I had a 20 year turn and it was time to pass it on.

La Conchita Bells Toll 01.10.2015@1:20pm

LINK 1:40 minutes

From flames to leaves...More hearts

The next stop was our Emma Wood. We couldn't remember the last time we were there, so many life things have been in the way. It was cool and very foggy. We were surprised at how the coast had changed. There was more driftwood than I've ever seen in one place! The recent huge waves have done their work! The trail along the bluff was gone and that whole area was filled with rocks. He scrambled over part of that trail, I did not.

It was literally completely covered in driftwood! So solid, it was pretty easy to walk on!

The inland trail (VS the bluff trail, now gone) heading North. Gulls flew in.

We came upon a fire pit and rustic seating area and took a moment to rest, chat and watch the sea.

I collected a few pieces for Power Sticks and who knows what else and then we made our way over the railroad tracks and back to the car.

Looking South - Looking North

One quilt block rock, one stick, one rock and one bridge...

The colors in this piece are quite amazing. The drive through Heritage Valley brought back so many memories of my long commuting days. I love that area through wide open space, earth filled with orchards and fields of food growing...'fruit' stands sprinkled along the way, hawks & cops hiding, but seen. I thanked (aloud) the farm workers out there in the fields. Closer to home, contrails again cross the sky. You knew there'd be a bright blue sky, right?!

What or where makes your heart sing?

May you get out once and a while

May you wrap yourself in things and places you adore

May you do this with your beloveds

#goodenough

Saturday, December 28, 2024

Lights of All Kinds

Off I went to the bridge...

There was a family at the bridge, taking a Family Photo. A large family: grandparents, parents 3 teenaged grandchildren...then the rest of the family arrived: more parents, more grandchildren (younger, maybe 4 & 6 years old). All of them in black and deep wine, hair and makeup done. Chattering, smiling...talking to the photographer.

It was such a delightful thing to see.

There were so many out on a Saturday afternoon, including many bike riders. After hearing a strange sound over the river...a noise louder that the singing toads...I notice a drone flying around. I never did see the operators, but that thing seemed to have the same plans as I did. Mmm...

Later, closer to home, there was a beautiful sundog. It was long enough to read as part of a rainbow. My photos don't do it justice.

*NOTE: All of the strange floating things on the photos are the result of an old camera lens.

I played around with the first sun pic when I uploaded it into my computer. Isn't that fun? A big fiery sun!

At day's end, after lighting the menorah, I thought a photo would be nice. I took one with the flash and not liking it much, I took another without the flash.

When I took the second pic, I tried to hold my hand very still (impossible to do)...and look what I got...now, this is a message of Love if ever I saw one! Isn't that grand?!

How do you see an average day? Is it really average?

May you seek the light

May you bathe in the light

May you be the light to yourself and others

#goodenough

Breathe

This evening past the moment of sky-blue-pink...into the deep dark of the later hours...cloth and thread under the touch of my moving fingers...poke, pull, pat...the words rise from faint lettering and become braille for meditation.

The needle slides quickly, easily through the home-dyed cloth, a tiny tug and the threads join it...each stitch is welcomed and held in the pucker of the joining together, the collaboration between needle, thread, cloth and my hands.

Well-worn, familiar words come to life...there is no rush, there is only stitch and time, texture and breath...

An email from a dear friend held the gem below, held just what I needed to hear. May I suggest you grab some cloth or fiber or a small totem...grab some tea or coffee and settle in to read and be moved.

She wrote: I read this on Facebook and thought it was beautiful:

"Something extraordinary happened at LAX today. (Writing this on the plane.) I was at the gate, waiting to get on my plane to Portland. Flights to two different cities were boarding on either side of the Portland flight. A toddler who looked to be 18 or so months old was having a total meltdown, running between the seats, kicking and screaming, then lying on the ground, refusing to board the plane (which was not going to Portland). His young mom, who was clearly pregnant and traveling alone with her son, became completely overwhelmed. She couldn't pick him up because he was so upset. He kept running away from her, then lying down on the ground, kicking and screaming again. The mother finally sat down on the floor and put her head in her hands, with her kid next to her still having a meltdown, and started crying. Then, this gorgeous thing (I'm crying just writing this) ... The women in the terminal -- there must have been six or seven of us -- not women who knew each other, approached and surrounded her and the little boy. We knelt down and formed a circle around them. I sang 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' to the little boy. One woman had an orange that she peeled, one woman had a little toy in her bag that she let the toddler play with, another woman gave the mom a bottle of water. Someone else helped the mom get the kid's sippy cup out of her bag and give it to him. It was so gorgeous. There was no discussion and no one knew anyone else, but we were able to calm them both down, and she got her child on the plane. Only women approached. After they went through the door, we all went back to our separate seats and didn't talk about it. We were strangers, gathering to solve something. It occurred to me that a circle of women, with a mission, can save the world. I will never forget that moment." Author - Beth Bornstein Dunnington

Here is the author's LINK

What transports you?

May you dash outside when the sky calls to you

May you lose yourself in the sensory moment

May you whisper stories of your own

#goodenough

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Peace in the Season

Open your eyes to the beauty around you, open your mind to the wonders of life, open your heart to those who love you, and always be true to yourself. ~Maya Angelou

Namo’valokiteshvaraya Chant - High Quality

LINK 22:04 minutes

From the description box, follow the link above or open the video on youtube to read more:

The monastics chant the phrase “Namo’valokiteshvara.” This is a chant to invoke the name of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, Avalokiteshvara. A “bodhisattva” is a great being who has developed human qualities to a very high degree. We each have a bodhisattva of compassion within us, and this chant is an opportunity to get in touch with that seed of compassion in our hearts, to invite it to manifest right in the very moment of chanting. In memory of our beloved teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh we are releasing our best recording of the Namo’valokiteshvaraya chant of compassion, which was recorded in the Still Water Meditation Hall, Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, France, in autumn 2020.