My favourite mornings...

Some of my most favourite mornings are those when I wake up with a poem in my mind. Sometimes I think the ideas themselves wake me up. There is no choice but to get out of bed and put pen to paper. Secreted away in each room of my house are blank index cards and pencils so I can capture the words, ideas, and thoughts before they evaporate. I have tried remembering them, the exact turn of phrase that seems so perfect, but sometimes once they are gone, they are gone forever.

Often I place these cards, with their snippets of verse or rhyme, into the book I am currently reading, with the thought that the words will eventually be transformed into the poem they were meant for. But sometimes, with life being as busy as it is, I forget them there and they remain hidden, frozen in place. The words and ideas, not fully fleshed out or finished, remain suspended in time. And then one day, I open the book again and find them there, waiting for me.

This is what happened to me on this winter morning. I picked up a book I had been reading quite some time ago and found within its pages some of my index cards with the earliest beginnings of a children’s poem. The words came rushing back to me and have reignited my desire to write this poem, to give it life and being. So, today I shall spend some time constructing the poem from these ‘word bones’, bringing to life the story and the rhyme. It should be challenging and fun! Perhaps some day I will post the poem here, to share it with you.

What is your heart's desire?

Lately I have been thinking of my list of things I would like to learn, try or experience someday. The more I think about it the longer the list grows. There is so much in life I want to try and to experience. Sometimes it seems like one lifetime is not enough!

My list includes such things as learning to cook. To be able to make a perfect angel food cake, a pan of delicious cinnamon rolls, a loaf of whole wheat bread or a tangy chicken korma with jasmine rice would be a nice accomplishment. Then there is the whole world of herbs… to learn how to cook with them would be grand. Imagine a tart lemonade with a hint of lavender, or tea biscuits with bits of rosemary and chives hidden inside. So far I have already learned to make very yummy soups and some nice meals in the slow cooker, but it is time to expand my horizons.

Gardening is another thing on my list. To grow an herb garden, all one needs is some soil and lots of sunshine. Herbs like it dry and sunny, so they are pretty easy to grow. I would have a medicinal garden, a kitchen garden, and a scented garden filled with lavender, rosemary, and chives. Have you ever smelled scented geraniums (although not herbs, they come to mind)? There are all kinds, but I love the rose-scented ones the best.

Spinning is something else I must try. I have a drop spindle and can make a single ply yarn. It is like a true ‘homespun’ yarn- thick and thin, showing my ‘newness’ to the skill. Someday I will knit something with this yarn. But what I really want to learn is how to spin with a spinning wheel. In fact, I have decided that the coming year is the one in which I shall learn to do this. To transform a pile of fluffy roving into yarn that can be used to knit up a shawl or sweater would be amazing. Spinning is a bit like a moving meditation (as is knitting). There is a rhythm to it; it brings me a sense of calm and solitude.

Another thing I want to learn is how to read the night sky. And to be able read it in each season as the zodiac makes it’s way around our beautiful planet. I want to recognize at least 10 constellations and understand the phases of Venus. I want to see Jupiter and the Galilean moons (Io, Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa) and the rings of Saturn. My telescope is still new to me and I must learn to use it better so I can study more closely the surface of the moon. I want to learn about the different seas there and recognize some of the geography without my moon map.

I wish there was a place for grown-ups, sort of like a summer camp, where we could go for a week and take classes on arts, crafts, dance, or cooking, or whatever strikes our fancy. There could also be time for stories told around the bon fire, music to sing to, and friendships to be developed. Methinks a world where grown-ups could learn in an open, welcoming environment would be a very civilized world. It would let us explore interests that have perhaps become dormant through the hustle and bustle of every day life. We encourage our children to explore what interests them, but somehow we have forgotten to nurture this in ourselves.

What would be on your list of things to try, learn, or experience? Be brave and make a list. Do so without censure. Be bold and daring. And then choose one thing and go for it!

Cloud Appreciation Society...

Every once in awhile, there come along something that just brings on a smile. The Cloud Appreciation Society is one such thing. This site is filled with all things wonderful related to clouds. I recommend you visit and consider becoming a member…

Manifesto of the Cloud Appreciation Society

WE BELIEVE that clouds are unjustly maligned
and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them.

We think that they are Nature’s poetry,
and the most egalitarian of her displays, since
everyone can have a fantastic view of them.

We pledge to fight ‘blue-sky thinking’ wherever we find it.
Life would be dull if we had to look up at
cloudless monotony day after day.

We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the
atmosphere’s moods, and can be read like those of
a person’s countenance.

Clouds are so commonplace that their beauty is often overlooked.
They are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul.
Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save
on psychoanalysis bills.

And so we say to all who’ll listen:
Look up, marvel at the ephemeral beauty, and live life with your head in the clouds!
________________________________________
“I love the clouds… the clouds that pass…
up there… up there… the wonderful clouds!”
[The Stranger, Charles Baudelaire]

To see this site for yourself, here is the link…

http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

Photo: Mount Rainier, Washington US, Ryan Verwest

The Emerald Tablet...

While the rest of the world went about their usual Sunday doings, I had the pleasure of participating in a little discussion on a ‘spiritual alchemy’ board that I am a member of. Here is a excerpt from this afternoon's discussion…


Topic: Sir Isaac Newton’ Translation of “The Emerald Tablet” (or Secret of Hermes- Hermes Trismegistus).

OM: 'It is true without lying, certain and most true. That which is Below is like that which is Above and that which is Above is like that which is Below to do the miracles of the Only Thing. And as all things have been and arose from One by the mediation of One, so all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation. The Sun is its father; the Moon its mother; the Wind hath carried it in its belly; the Earth is its nurse. The father of all perfection in the whole world is here. Its force or power is entire if it be converted into Earth. Separate the Earth from the Fire, the subtle from the gross, sweetly with great industry. It ascends from the Earth to the Heavens and again it descends to the Earth and receives the force of things superior and inferior. By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world and thereby all obscurity shall fly from you. Its force is above all force, for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing. So was the world created. From this are and do come admirable adaptations, whereof the process is here in this. Hence am I called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world. That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended.'

NL: Thank you, dear Pelican :)

DR: Thank you, OM, for this wonderful translation. Can you tell me, is there more? It is beautiful.

OM: No, this was all, DR! Such a complex man and still considered one of the greatest contributors to science even side by side with giants like Einstein. Surely a neglected feature of his genius is his writings on biblical hermenuetics, although obviously his theory of heliocentrism was the dawning of a 'new', critical age and the emergence from old atrophied ideologies...

DR: Methinks Newton was able to "stand on the shoulders of giants" such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler, all who came before him and gave their own contributions to science. But all were men of God... They never denied the miracles of nature and gave a nod to the divine order of things.

There was a similar 'revolution' of sorts with Einstein and his contemporaries as they probed the smallest inklings of the universe, quantum theory. They looked inward while Newton, et al, looked outward. Indeed, "As above, so below"...Thank you, dear OM.


There are many such conversations in this wonderful forum. There are only a small number of people who participate, but each offers something that begs one to stop and spend time in deep thought and contemplation. It helps me stretch my thinking and has introduced me to many new ideas, concepts, and thinkers. I am grateful for the creator of this forum and for those who participate. It is a wonderful way to spend some free time on a Sunday afternoon, while curled up in front of the fireplace and watching the snow fall.

Blessings, my friends.