Can you tell my sister is head over heals in love with her first grandbaby? They were over for a pre-holiday visit so baby Aryeille could meet the California contingent for the first time. They adored her of course, I mean, who could resist those chubby pink cheeks? (It’s okay Bob, she only cried for a minute, we know you didn’t pinch her cheek that hard!).
“Never have children, only grandchildren.”
Gore Vidal
After ten days of the November drearies the sun came out yesterday and the temperature hit sixty! I decided it was a good day to run errands so I spent the afternoon running around gathering the necessities for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, which for us officially starts on Saturday when my sister and her family fly in from California, yay! I grabbed my trusty Canon G9 on my way out the door resolving that one of my errands would be to spend some time driving aimlessly and enjoying the lovely day. The photo below is from Maple Street in my town, I want to live on that street someday and you can see why, it is especially pretty this time of the year. The photo above is from a Japanese Maple in my own backyard. The leaves are slow to fall in Michigan this year, they don’t seem quite ready to give up and face the cold winter months and I am so very grateful for their tenacity!
We sail across dominions barely seen, washed by the swells of time. We plow through fields of magnetism. Past and future come together on thunderheads and our dead hearts live with lightning in the wounds of the Gods.
Menenhetet, in Ancient Evenings (concluding sentence)
Norman Mailer 1923-2007
I gave a dear friend of mine my audio copy of The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle this morning (and I promptly ordered myself another one!). What if someone told you that you are not the voice inside your head? You know, that incessant voice that says you’re not good enough, thin enough, smart enough, rich enough, healthy enough, pretty enough, the voice that tells you that you need to go there, do that, be this….well, you get the picture. What if you could step outside your mind and watch that voice, that manic (exhausting) egoic part of yourself? Observe it as it bounces from one anxiety and fear and problem to another, what would happen? I’ll tell you what will happen, you will take away it’s power and you will come to understand that you don’t need to deal with that lousy past that you are dragging around behind you and you don’t have to anticipate every possible future conversation and scenario that may, or may not occur. Look around you. Can you deal with right now? As you sit there reading this blog, can you handle this moment?
The Power of Now will help you shed that annoying little voice and be fully present in your life. I listen to the book often, it’s a meditation for me, a gift I give myself when that voice takes over and I begin to lose myself in all the noise. I hope my friend finds some peace (and quiet) in Eckhart Tolle‘s wise words.
We are so connected in this modern life of 24 hour cable news programs, cell phones, and the Internet that we can sometimes be overwhelmed by information burnout. And while I think it’s important to be an informed citizen, the negative angle local and national news media outlets serve up just plain gets me down sometimes. I want to know what is happening in the world and in my own community, but I don’t want to just hear what all the screwed up “bad” people are doing. I also (and more so!) want to be inspired and motivated by the goodness in the world, by stories of everyday people who are making the world a better place, not a scarier place. I want balance and apparently I’m not alone in my hunger for positive news. I’ve linked three websites that I sometimes browse that focus on good news stories. Daryn Kagan started her website after working for CNN because she wanted to, Show the World What is Possible! one story at a time. Good News Broadcast has a mission to Find, receive, create and broadcast to the world, life-affirming, thought-provoking, educational news, entertainment and events. On the Good News Network “about us page” they write, Local TV news, especially, has been continually feeding us junk food. We need to be informed by a world view that is not dripping with sensationalism and attuned to the police scanner.
So if the news is getting you down check out those websites, or better yet, go outside for a walk and take a closer look at the world right outside your door. Be grateful for the goodness in your own life, whether it’s a flower still blooming in the chilled November air (like the mum I photographed on my front porch this morning), or simply the fact that you have a safe, warm place to call home.
Whatever we focus on is bound to expand. Where we see the negative, we call forth more negative. And where we see the positive, we call forth more positive. -Marianne Williamson
Found a fun site with tons of animations you can use on your blog or MySpace layouts, it’s at SuperPimper.com. Check it out!
Ever since I’ve gone gluten-free I rarely bake anymore. It just doesn’t seem to be worth the effort, especially since I’m the only one in my family that avoids the sticky little proteins (although there are others who show signs of needing to, but I won’t go there in this post). Anyway, I hosted book club last week and wanted to make something I could actually enjoy along with my friends so I adapted a cheesecake recipe to make it gluten-free. It was soooo good you’d never know the crust was wheat-free and even people who aren’t big cheesecake fans loved it! It’s almost a cross between cheesecake and apple crisp because of the crust and the crumble top so this is the perfect time of year to make it and impress your friends and family. And since this was my first time ever making cheesecake it must be a fail safe recipe! Click on “keep reading” to get the recipe:)
My sister’s family stayed during a voluntary evacuation yesterday. They have three pets and no family in the area, although the family of friends did offer them a place to go. So far the fires are in the distance and they are safe. About half the people in their neighborhood have stayed behind. The local police department is doing a good job of keeping them informed with an automated phone system and they will also drive up and down the streets with bullhorns if they have to evacuate. Their cars are packed and ready to go. Those are my brother in-law’s footprints in the ash on their driveway. Everything is covered with a thick layer of the gray dust. Carrie said it makes her sad to see that blanket of ash, knowing that some of it came from other people’s homes.
bookbabie 