May 19, 2006

Where to now???


This girl is five-years old. A National Geographic photographer took this of her while she was watching for rainbows. She stayed on the roof of that car for a half hour, just watching, patient in the knowledge that if she just waited long enough, she WOULD see a rainbow. She saw three.

Several years ago, my attitude about what lay down the road was one of being apprehensive, not so much one of excitement. I was especially nervous if I saw a storm in the near future. This little girl is watching a storm, perhaps getting closer and closer, and yet, her first thoughts about it are to watch for a rainbow that WILL appear.

I want to look for the rainbows in life's storms. I want to be like a racehorse at the starting gate about the future. God has amazing things planned for me, not only in the future, but in the present!

Life is an incredible journey. If you keep looking at the adventures you had in the past and longing for them, you will miss the incredible adventures happening RIGHT NOW!!

Whenever it seems like there is a storm in your life, remember that the sun is always shining behind a cloud, and always, always look for the rainbow...

May 18, 2006

"To My Core"

Something about the zig-zagging course
Of a bolt of electrifying light
In the expanse of the night
Astounds my soul.

Something about the reverberating clap
Of ominous, Zeus-like hands,
Thundering anger in response,
Roots me in rapt wonder
To the mere inches of ground
My humble feet claim.

Something about the proud
Roar of a conquering lion
Drives such a feeling of insignificance
Into my heart
That I feel ashamed to watch
His proud prowl
Across the sandy, rolling grass of the dark continent.

Something about the heart-wrenching wails
Of the great blue fishes,
Buried in the watery expanse,
Crying for another
To soften its solitary existence,
Makes me listen as I have never listened before.

Something about the way
You speak to me
As you try to
Share your deep, inexpressible love
Shakes me to my core.

May 15, 2006

Just a Tad Toasty.....

We broke a 36-year old record today, up here in Oregon (the land of "eternal rain," (voice dripping with sarcasm.)) We got to the high of 95 degrees, I believe, which is, perhaps, not all that warm for you out-of-staters, like Californians or Australians, but it is HOT for us. It is now 5:15 and still paralyzingly warm. I made the foolish attempt of going horseback riding during my noon lunch break from work, and after two minutes in the sun, forsook the idea in order to quick finish my work and go home (with a stop for ice cream on the way home, of course.)
Now I get to go play volleyball in a hot gym for three hours. Oh, goody!! No, really, I love volleyball. But who I really feel for is my little brother who gets to play a baseball game.
However, in the face of adversity, the very stoutest in us is brought forth to show the world the warriors and the wimps. In the face of a sun that causes even the coldest ice cream cone to drip from its lofty heights to my lap in seconds, I will stand fast.
(I suppose this isn't a high quality post, is it? I wrote an essay on embryonic stem cell research a couple weeks ago and perhaps I should post that. Ohhhh, the discussions that would arise!!)
Toodles, pip-pip and all the British stuff!

May 09, 2006

No words...

I apologize for my "long" breaks in between posts. I am more and more of the mindset that I should post when I have something valuable to say. And I don't.

ALTHOUGH, it is worth noting I am doing FANTASTIC (that is due to God's grace in my life because there are quite a few factors that could make my life quite miserable and fortunately, aren't.)

That is all.

May 06, 2006

Quote of the Month

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

-Marianne Williamson

I also like the quote that says, "No man made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." However, I am not quite sure who said that, any help?

Tips for a Visit to Southern Cali



This picture was taken right after I finished surfing on a 9'8" longboard, last summer in California, on La Joya Beach. I loved surfing so much. I wish I could do it more often.

Some interesting things to note for y'all who haven't surfed and/or haven't been to South Cali:

  1. DON'T mess with a surfing guy's territory. I have surfed three times. The first time, I was about 13-14, and I saw an awesome wave coming in off on the right. I called out "coming in on the right!" to tell all the guys about that wave. Little did I know that when you get to a wave first (which I had) you have dibs on it. Other surfers can ride it, but NOT if you call out the direction you are going to ride a wave. I, unfortunately, rode the wave straight down. It was one of the best waves to come in that day and they were all TICKED. Talk about not letting something drop! They were still all mad and yelling at me when I left.
  2. Appearance is everything to the richies. I even saw a PIZZA DELIVERY guy driving a brand-new Audi. Makes me wonder why he has the delivery job if he can afford an Audi...oh wait, it's cause he CAN'T afford the Audi! He needs the job to make payments. This is so over-the-top, it is sickeningly wrong. There are millions of people starving in this world, yet in the world of Southern California, spend if you've got it, borrow if you don't, and there is no limit to how in debt you should get in order to fit in.
  3. Expect to cause an accident on the freeway if you wave, smile, or make any attempt at friendliness. I'm serious. 75% of Southern Californians are mean, snobby people. (At least, in the rich parts of it. I'm talking Orange County, etc.) You would think that when they all have cosmetic surgery, they get the doctor to take out their basic decency too. My dad rented a convertible while we down there and my little brother and I made a game to see how many people we could get to smile and wave at us. During our entire week down there, we got a grand, smashing total of 10 waves back.
  4. Do not, I repeat, do NOT make eye contact with the Hispanic men. I have NOTHING against them (except when they are illegal immigrants.) But they have a completely different culture and if you look their way, they think you are "in love" with them. Hahaha! I am not kidding. It is actually sort of scary...
  5. The Buffalo Exchange is a worse rip-off there than in Portland. For y'all who don't know what a Buffalo Exchange is, it is like a high-end thrift store. It is bad enough in Portland, but in Pacific Beach/San Diego, everything costs about $10-15 more than it is worth. I AM SERIOUS. Don't even waste your time. Besides, all the clothes, for the girls at least, are a size 0, thanks to Hollywood's powerful influence, "the skinnier the better."

May 05, 2006

"Rising At Dawn"

(This is the sequel to "Sad Fairy." PLEASE notice that this is a poem with a happy ending. The fairy is sort of like a phoenix rising from the ashes.)

----------------------------------------------------------

Night descends softly
Like a dark blanket
Dotted with flecks of snow.
Standing in the gathering dew,
The fairy waits.

Somewhere the sun is shining
Just not in this slice of earth.
The land of the fairy is dark
Like the garb of coffin-bearers
And the tear-stained black lace
On a widow's face.

Standing in the gathering dew,
The fairy waits.
Sleep does not steal
The thoughts from her head
And the visions from her blue eyes.

Sinking gently to the wet earth,
The fairy tires of her endless guard
Over the past,
Over what is no more,
Over what has been given up
To gain what cannot be lost.

Glancing down to the shadow-clad ground,
The fairy spies the cloud of a dandelion
Spreading its seeds.
Remembering the lore of the wish-granting power
Of this thing of ethereal beauty,
She plucks it gently
And brings her lips close
As if to plant a salty kiss on this once-sunny flower,
But instead, she blows upon it,
Scattering its offspring to the four corners of the earth,
Each parachuting seed bearing a fairy's wish for sunshine
And a gentle place for happiness to grow.

The night is drawing to an end,
The fairy gazes up and
The last star she can find
Is the most northern in the sky.
Wish upon the star she does
And then bows her head,
Says a prayer
For the one that she lost.

But the sun is shining through the dark,
Warming the fairy's face,
Melting the cold that had frozen
Her heart,
Helping it feel love again.

The fairy still walks alone
Under the pink causeway
Of the merciful dawn sky,
But she mourns no more
For what was given up
To gain what cannot be lost.

The fairy rises from her bed of tears
To face the rising of the dawn....

May 04, 2006

Quotes I Love

"Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow."
-Aesop

"Love flies, runs, and rejoices; it is free and nothing can hold it back. "
-Thomas a Kempis

"Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself. "
-Thomas a Kempis

"Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be."
-Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ

"We are not doubting that God will do best for us, we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."
-C.S. Lewis

"The time is now, the place is here. Stay in the present. You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you plan or hope for."
-Dan Millman

"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."
-1 Corinthians 10: 12

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear."
-1 John 4:18

"In critical moments even the very powerful have need of the weakest."
-Aesop

"Sad Fairy"

Bright pink flowers carpet
The golden trees.
Two stems plucked from their
High havens,
Adorn the head of a sad fairy.

Two stems dropped
To the ground.
One on the dark causeway under the trees
One placed in a gutter,
To make an ugly thing beautiful.

Days slip by on tender tiptoes,
Alone, the sad fairy walked the route
Of lakeside splendor,
Stopping to gather
Two dead pink stems into her ashen hands,
Placed carefully between two snowy pages,
To keep the past touchable
Forever.

Dead pink flowers carpet
Brown trees,
Dead pink flowers fall
To this earth's floor,
Reminders of the sad fairy walking
Alone....

May 02, 2006

Today is a Passionate Day.

Some days, I am like a zombie. I walk around, sort of spaced out. Some days, I am at extremes. I feel everything very keenly and if I am sad, I am really sad. If I am happy, I am really happy. And so on and so forth.

Today, I feel strongly about the cruelty of so many women today. (I have been thinking alot about abortion.) How can women be so cruel as to kill their unborn children? To take away their only chance to be able to feel the hot sun on their faces, to hear a nightingale sing, or watch a monarch butterfly flit across their path, to feel the spray of a magnificent waterfall as it cascades over the treacherous rocks? How can women explain away killing someone, so they can be comfortable? It doesn't make sense. Today, I mourn the loss of a third of my generation....