L'aura del Campo

Toilet seats are good. Friends and chocolate are too.

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by panthera

L'aura del campo

WINTER: 9 Mulk (15 February) 8º cold, sunny and frosted white.

'é a lua, é a lua, na quintana dos mortos'
♣ Federico García Lorca ♣

Candy Holiday

Today is the day to go find 50% off candy. Especially heart shaped thingys to make up for a lack of Valentines yesterday. Pain needs to be assuaged. Chocolate will do. Orange flavored, cherry flavored, mint, it doesn't really matter! By the time it's 75% off, it can be bought up and hoarded for all those difficult days of April and May.

Yep. Along with November 1st, this is one of those dark bittersweet days, spelled
          C A N D Y
in flashing chocolate and neon.

As I explained to Mavis Moog

Ah ... toilet seats ... can't remember whether my grandparents' 2 seater outhouse had them. Vaguely remember my surprise the first time I sat on a padded one. Now, I like to think of my friends as toilet seats. Yep. You see as long as the seat ... er ... friend ... is in place, I won't fall in. And I have before. Nothing quite like the shock of cold porcelain. Of course, sitting on a friend can have it moments too.

The weather is cold! But it is predicted to make a messy two day transition starting tomorrow. Then 50s! Ah ... the pain of false Spring. The days are getting noticeably longer.

READING

Not much. Did finish "Finding Forrester". Excellent movie. And Robin showed me a class B movie "30 Days". The premise was good, but the acting awful at times and the screen play had weak spots.

Found two great books for those of us who use flowers and floral images: Plant Names Explained and Book of Plants & Symbols by Anne Dumas. Both are extremely useful for images, botanical terms.

Did you know that there is a rhododendren named 'Alfred' and a dahlia 'Peter'? There is a rose cultivar 'Robert Burns', a hosta 'Emily Dickinson' and a narcissus 'Keats'.

Prayer

Lord, thank-you for my friends who choose to love me.
And those who cannot think of an alternative.

~ moi

Me, my friends and my family

In February of 1979, Kevin Wright greeted me at the entrance to Louis Gregory Institute in Hemenway, South Carolina. He found me a place to lay down and asparin for my headache. Later that week, I shared secrets with him that were killing me inside. My whole body was shaking. Somehow he knew what to do. He lay down next to me and held me until I was calm. He was 18, a young man from Peoria, Illinois.

Now, he's an old fart, married to a stunningly beautiful wife, Duperly, with two daughters Tati and Maya. They live in Cupertino, California.

http://web.mac.com/akwright/iWeb/Kevin%27s%20Home/Bahai%20Family%20School.html

Color me happy to get this link a couple days ago. Friends matter. Sometimes, more than they will ever know. At least, Kev knows. Doncha, hermanito?

IMAGES and RAMBLINGS

Bells ringing out 'Over the Rainbow'; snirt snow covered, white and pristine; newspaper blowing in the wind; the fragrance of 'Ceylon' and 'Snow Monkey'; sunshine streaming in the window; soft carpet; smooth harwood floor; the quiet of music in the bookstore.

BLOGVILLE

An edited, rethought version of 'advice' to a blogger:

johnmcc asked whether there is a place for an inspirational blog over at Charley's place, y'know charlesthec. Simple answer: yes.

Can you link the inspiration to a news item? Or a response to issues brought up in other blogs? This will link your entries to what people are going through and thinking about. A mere bible verse and explanation can be done, but it is less suitable to blogging (better for a web site). People tend to be interested in what THEY are interested in, not the blogger (and they tend to read only the last entry).

An explanation. My blog is eclectic and varies from day to day. Sometimes it is mundane, confessional, opinionated, or even focused on writing. One never knows; I rarely do . What is interesting are the comments. I'm weeping ... no response. I've just written the next prize winning poem ... no response. No ... today everyone wants to talk about the weather, the on-line r/r system at WDC, who just went on a trip to Mars. Tomorrow they will ask if I'm okay and put exclamation points on a poem I just hurried up and posted ... ignoring everything else.

A couple days ago, I put in a poem I wrote for Nyia Page, the young girl who froze to death, a couple comments, a link to the news stories. I included a prayer for children. The entire entry and the comments are worth reading. I hit a nerve. But for a while there, I thought no one was going to comment at all. "Footprints in the snow, in memory of Nyia Page" 

I guess what I'm trying to say is: yes. Write an inspirational blog that connects to your audience in some way. There is always a need for inspiration and healing, focusing on virtues like kindness or tolerance or life issues such as birth, death, parenting. Even a preachy blog will gather its own audience (others will avoid it). So don't worry, just do it. Then work hard connecting with folks by reading other blogs and leaving inspirational comments! (and an invite to your blog) As in:

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Bookmakers

'The spine follows the grain'
as oxen fallow the furrows,
as new words plough across each page
bound and trapped on yellow background.

Resumés are cut and trimmed, sealed with maples,
while butterflies peek through fanned folds,
memories pop out in pink
and purple, lines rest inked in gold.

And there lays life, pressed and gathered,
by bookmakers, carefully sewn.

[163.576]

Just written today, so it is far too fresh. It flowed out of a comment made by our bookmaking teacher last night, 'the spine follows the grain'.

Quote

Gays and lesbians have been stereotyped by society. By sharing our experiences – both good and bad, enriching and unhappy – we humanize who we are. The lives and experiences of all of us are different and specific to each individual and by sharing those experiences we cease to be seen as the cartoons that were imposed on us.

~ George Takei, a.k.a. Sulu of Star Trek.

A dear WDC friend ♥Flower♥ and fellow Kansan could use some kindness after being beaten by her daughter. Please go to "Invalid Item"  and read the last two/three entries. She could use some unconditional love right now (not so much advice ... love, LOTS OF LOVE; please, it's more important than leaving a comment here).

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 Kåre Enga
~ until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
And I let the fish go. ~ Elizabeth Bishop, The Fish