DEDICATION: To Carol Eads, who has taught all of us who cared to listen the spirit of survival--of living strong in a harsh improbable environment, and of preserving her traditional culture as a Native Alaskan in modern times.
(from Gloria)
Carol
Consider three valleys, In one valley I'm tending a huge bonfire. In valley number two the people are blocked by a sheer cliff. What they see is light from my bonfire, (this is assuming only I know of fire), Valley #2 views fire as only light. In valley number three their view of the fire is blocked by the cliff of valley #2, so all they know of fire is smoke and at night pink and red shades on the underside of clouds. The facts are: To valley #3 fire is smoke and some flickering shades of pink and red at night. To valley #2 fire is only light, In my valley some wanderers come closer and find that fire is warmth and a source of cooking and pottery making and other valuable uses. Some that venture close find that fire is pain and if approached to closely, death. I know fire as combustion and elemental processes of physics and can relate it to stars and the universe. Now put yourself in any valley and declare what the facts are about fire. Do you see my dilemma?
The facts are that to valley #3 fire is smoke
The facts are that to valley #2 fire is light
The facts are to my valley that I have a difficult time explaining fire to anyone, they only have their facts to work with.
Want to have a wienie roast, any one?
By the way the Dalai Lama "gets" it.
Carol
"Never seek happiness outside yourself
Focus on the positive of life, for what you focus on increases
For Shawna, everything you need to break unhealthy cycles of behavior is within you
never let life's hardships disturb you, no one can avoid problems, not saints or sages
for Zany, a great mentor is one who aims for others abilities to surpass her own
for Sharon, when the student is ready the teacher will appear (thank you)
be more concerned with how you live your life than how long
ignorance breeds fear. fear breeds hate. hate breeds violence. education breeds confidence. confidence breeds hope. hope breeds peace.
nature makes no mistakes "
Weezingreens
Carol has chosen... to spread seeds along the shore in hopes someone will enjoy the blooms. It is not a forum for political or religious argument, but rather, a place of wonder where anyone can touch the hand of someone who is taking the incredible journey we are all going to make at one time or another. (This is me waxing eloquent, not Carol!) Whatever the case, let's enjoy the ride.
Sofer
The only value in poetry (or anything) is to have it flow so it can grow even though, those who choose to abuse lose anyway.
Woofie
(With apologies to Milton):
"They also serve who only stand and appreciate"
Sofer
Ahh the magic of the first snow someone experiences. I still stand out in it when it starts in November at our house. I break into the song "The first snow fall of the winter" and my DW smiles as we celebrate the onset of winter. Children become alive with expectation and activity.
Weezingreens
Saline
Takes me away
To where I've always heard it could be
Just a neti pot to carry me
And my sinus will be free...
Soulja
If they outlaw evolution, only outlaws will evolve.
Carol
"Let's keep on this observation of our planet and how we on Dave's leave a greener imprint on it and spread the word by our actions."
Sofer
So Carol as you lay in the possibilities of fear, loss, and discomfort with the challenge of your health. You earn a still increasing number of "ones" who love you. I see the strength of your outlook of acceptance, as a honor code only given to those of you who have to stay in the foxhole until the bombing stops. I can only hope the sound of the compressions of each explosion fall on deaf ears. The sunrise of the next day will meet you with vivid joy because of the love of those around. Keep being you for us.
PokerJim
Birds and Flowers
Birds and flowers are living things too
they have feelings like me and like you
they fill the land with joy and with love
they get their beauty from the Man up above
We sit and we listen to the birds wondrous song
never, ever does it warble it wrong
and when its time has come to an end
the Man upstairs another will send
The flower will gladly give up its life
to sit in a vase, to remove all of our strife
and when you think its beauty will fade
look to your heart to see what its made
I know of two sisters who will take this to heart
I have entered their life of which I'm a part
so to Carol and Ava these words I do give
you teach us all how much love we can give
Truest
Carol, I am sending you a dream. Lofty clouds bounce me
from one to another, laughing at my clumsiness as they
part here and there to show me glimpses of the powerful
but fragile earth below. As I billow my way through to a
special fluff that is perfect to prop my elbows on, I rest
my chin in my hands with a warm smile and take in the view
below. I can see the greens and browns of the continents,
the blues and whites of the rivers. The deep blue of the
oceans sparkle and laugh like the eyes of a child, the
ribbons of wave crests flap like banners at the state fair.
All the winds of the earth run to and fro, scattering your seeds
of thought to and fro, like a romping good game of Red Rover.
As the leaves of the emerald trees, and the craggy mountain tops
reach up to catch some for themselves, they gently scatter
them here and there in a myriad of carefully crafted garden
spaces carved out of the barren wildernesses and lonely
places. Each one brought up as a cradle out of the darkness
to bless the day with the joy and hope of new beginnings.
My rolling and tumbling clouds buffet me, trading places as
my lofty bed exchanges with heavy clouds waiting to take their turn
to pour out it's tiny prisms of light. The rising caress of a new
day peeks over the gentle rolling of the earth, and warms
my skin where once the breezes brought up tickling goose bumps.
I can hear them singing- the distant melodies of greenlings
creeping through the warm soils, touch my ears with first a
gentle whisper then a loud chorus for all to hear as they
announce themselves from the pews of the earth. Rows and
rows of seedling choirs fill my senses with the most beautiful
waves of aurea that I have no doubt the score was written long
ago in heaven itself. All the colors fill up my eyes and pour
out over the landscape like a maiden's long silk hair as she
charges the plains on her quiksilver stallion. From my eagle's
perch, I can see every bloom in infinate detail, with all the colors
lined out for my eyes to choose from, like the banks of
jars of jelly beans at the druggist's counter. They all have their
distinct flavors, they all delight in thier own special way each
of my millions of senses. Some are sweet, and some bitter,
some heal and some make me laugh with whimsy. They
nourish me and fill my days with purpous and hope. I gather
them to me, I share them, I throw them to the four corners.
They have come to me to enrich my life and to keep me
busy and strong. The greenlings heal me, roust me from
slumber at dawn- beckon me to rise to the new day. They
remind me of the comfort of friendships shared, of the need
for all this to continue, of a desire to live forever that
no life exists without. They compell me to protect and
forge the fires that spark my soul and temper me to become
as hard and determined as the diamonds that lay quiet and
strong beneath the blankets of time. The greenlings are my
companions, my family. They are the strangers you pass on
the street, and shadowy acquaintances that you do not yet know
well. They are harbingers of another spring to come, a gallery
of onlookers, hopeful in their pleading eyes, and knowing in
their hearts that a spring will come again and again. Intense
rays of light pierce my dream thoughts and fall upon a
gathering of souls, too numerous to count their number. Their
shoulders are square and strong, their hands are calloused
and firmly clasp from one to another til they stretch out
beyond the horizon. As the magnitude of their number begins
to unfold before my widened eyes of amazement, they all
begin to shout out together in a thunder as has never been
heard by ears before: "Carol, we are your friends! Carol,
we are your family! Can you hear us, Dear One? We are
here for you together, and we will not leave! Know that we
love you! We will be here when you wake! We are your
strength! We will be right here, in your garden...
PokerJim
A sisters bond it can not be broken
The strength of ten men can not budge it
Wealth will not define it
Fear can not separate it
It's a mystical light that can not be seen
For eons man has tried to examine it
They put it under a microscope
It's there but can not be seen
I know of two such sisters
I feel honored to know them
They are like the sun and the moon
You can not have one without the other
I recall something I wrote as a young man
When love is unconditional mankind will survive
I see the unselfish love these two have for each other
And I know there is hope
Thank you for being who you are
Sofer
Sharran:Sofer
As winter approaches we sit and wait
ever so slowly our compost to make,
We glance into it time after time
the underlayments of soil sublime
But little of change occurs deep within,
we reluctantly retire to wait in the den
As gardens are covered with blankets of white,
We sit in hours and hours of long winter night.
Sharran
There once was a young man named Sofer...
He traveled in places all over...
He crossed all the states..
He broke down the gates...
And was welcomed wherever, was Sofer.
He roamed the great wilds, our Sofer
His trip was not marred by snowfall...
Seaplanes and ferries...
fire light and berries...
He loved it all, did our Sofer.
Till he was back on his way, our Sofer...
In his car, he must need to sleep over..
He can't pass the pass...
He cannot go fast...
Sweet Karen is waiting, dear Sofer
PokerJim
Don't take me now, don't take me now
To much unsaid to much undone
Life crashes before me I cannot leave
I look for the light I need to breathe
Don't take me now, don't take me now
So much beauty for me to see
I need the time so please let me be
Maybe next time with you I will go
Don't take me now, don't take me now
I need to laugh and I need to love
I need to open all the skies up above
So leave me for now and I promise I'll go
Don't take me now, don't take me now
My eyes wont open afraid what i'll see
I hear a voice it's calling to me
My eyes slowly open a light I do see
I see her face in the light so warm
Tender and loving like a wave it does swarm
She holds out her hand for me to take
Come take me now, come take me now
PokerJim
Wildflowers and Moonbeams
are such a lovely sight
and as I walk among them
they make my heart take flight
Wildflowers and Moonbeams
they brighten up my life
they are somethng very special
they take away the strife
and now i've met two sisters
they are wildflowers and moonbeams
they touch our lives in every way
now i know what it all means
Carol...Wildflowers
Ava ...Moonbeams
Carol
Feel good, home in couple of days I'm thinking.
See how long I last on this simmering cauldron of vengeful chips & keys & evil mousepad! Wish Eli was here! I'd be his dictator!!!! Then I'd let you know what I think of this stuff!
Sofer
My poetry may not be prime
But it is surely sublime
For if I take too much word
And bend it into absurd
I will always be percieved
A poet of ryme concieved
Deep in the compost of Yates
True admirers of their art hates.
Sofer
Finding life now is but a moment until we soar
Into the change of our eyes and mind as the perspective
To the heart, as our guide into the future unknown.
This paradine is spectacular as the feelings of our time here
Is washed in the warmth of love's gift, not the minds eye,
Not the ears missed perceptions, and not the face of the adversary.
We continue in this view on how we truely were blessed
With each hope met, all thoughts focused, and our wishes met.
No dispair, failure, weakness, or anger remembered
As we begin the next journey of our hearts recall.
Carol
I have so much in my heart to tell you, thank you, let you all know how I feel you (lurkers, too) I smell smoke, hear chants, Pavarotti, feel the four winds blow, caressing me, from you, candles, love, tears of joy, fear, some just cry... I feel it, won't bother with whether I deserve it or not. I'm just a grateful old Aleut lady that's ben showered with the best the world has to offer. You wish you were me. No one could be richer or happier than I am. I want you to feel as I do. I could give you no greater gift.)
signed, Her Oddness
Carol
I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready! (see SpongeBoB)Carol
It's 33F right now, about midnight. It's blacker than the inside of a moose and we only have one or two feet of snow so far this year.
Carol
My "Goose Whisperer" stage, I found a closed fist at a certain angle gave me dominence over this aggressive gander, 3 bops on top of his bill let him know I won the round and thusly, my fist in this postion demonstrated to him I was the dominent one. It took a while to find the trick, but I wasn't going to be charged by a barnyard animal in my own space! The 3 bops were timed exactly right to work. See what a little experimenting can do? Yuk, yuk, yuk neener, neener, neener.
Carol
I try to landscape with edibles, for people and wildlife, it just seem the best thing to do. And, had you heard of the antics of "Buzzwinkle" the moose, that ate some fermented crabapples in Anchorage and was staggering downtown (He has a very large rack) walking on the sidewalk, his antlers so wide, he brushed the car antennae on one side and store decorations on the other? The media had quite a time with him for a while. One of those harmless, oblivious inebriates.
Carol
This is the country I love, I dream about it, the land of ptarmigan and Caribou and swans and blueberries and cranberries and camping by lakes with grayling and lake trout in them. Our annual hunting trip every September... dwarf birch and willow, tundra and scree, talus slopes and clean air...
Depsi
Steve, some may say "tough job" to you also, sleeping in litehouses, bike riding/kayaking/fishing the world!!! lol...serious note tho: don't envy your job at all...vet, friend, confidant, grief counselor, miracle worker, all-powerful/knowledgeable/wizard that "should" be able to immediately diagnose the problem without any of those "unnecessary" tests (it's just a dog/cat/bird/etc.., for God's sake), keep it under $10 dollars and after you've busted your butt doing the impossible for the "people" they take it home and do things exactly as they have before...It's an animal, they're free eveywhere!!! I do admire what you do more than you can imagine and we consider Vets "Gifts from God"...if you've read "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis you understand how we feel about our "kids"...anyway, don't know where that rant came from...hope it doesn't offend anyone but, hey, they can KMB...oh no, where did that come from????? Deb
Equil
I forgot I've picked up both a dog and a cat from my vet. They contacted me on the cat and asked me to please come in to "look at something" which ended up being a diabetic cat in need of insulin twice a day. The cat was a harlot for affection which is what we like so I did take him home. Added bonus was that "Walter" came with a whole year of free vet services compliments of my vet and life time boarding services so we could still take off on trips knowing he would be getting his insulin. "Walter" was brought to our vets under the guise that his owners wanted his teeth cleaned. They learned all the info for the people was bogus when they tried to contact them when they no-showed to pick up the cat and pay the bill. Real great people, eh? The cat was around 10 years old and had probably been in its home since it was a kitten.
Ever since then, I contact my vets to let them know when we are in the market. You'd be surprised how many irresponsible pigs are out there who abandon animals at a vet's office because they got too big or because a family member allegedly developed allergies. One of our dogs was left because he kept getting loose and getting the neighbor's dog pregnant??? He was neutered and walked on a leash. Solved that problem real quick, gee what a concept.
Starlight
The squirells are busy gathering nuts and burying them in my pots again. All kind of ground and they have to pick my pots. One is digging up some Iris rhizomes and destroying them by only munching one bite out of each of them. Don't mind sharing with the critters , but they need to learn to finish what on their plate before grabbing seconds and thirds.
Sharran
A square blue egg. That's what I need.
Carol
yes, we have had the spruce bark beetle invasion going on for about 20 years. When global warming was first recognised by the Eskimo and Inuit of the far north where a longer warm season allows insects to travel and live through a shorter winter farther and farther north. They've noticed many species of plant life they depend on dying out in some areas. Pretty obscure in the great Global Warming in capital letters nowdays, but the Northern subsistance peoples have known of it for a long time. And the Norfolk Island Pine is not a pine, yes it is related to Monkey puzzle and I think they grow wild in Tasmania. I'll have to look that up.
Equil
What the heck is Tang So Do? Is that sort of like Hi Chi gotcha gotcha goochie?
Carol
Hey Wonder, I thought you got tired from hanging upsidedown and fell to the moon singing Pink Floyd songs all the way. I've been listening to "Great gig in the Sky" and"Spider" by Coldplay. Ava had never" heard Spider" before and I hear her playing it in the background on her 'puter.
Carol
'll give you my list of books I'm currently reading:
Prehistoric Britain From the Air----Janet & Colin Bord
Northern Painting----Charles D Cuttler
Raw Creation, Outsider Art and Beyond-----John Maizels
At Home with Books-----Ellis, Seebohm, Sykes
The Story of Painting-----Sister Wendy Beckett
Alpine Plants of North America-----Graham Nicholls
The Art of America in the Gilded Age-----Shirley Glubok
Survival on Montague Island-----Ralph Soberg (Dad knew the guy)
The Hope Truckline (stories of Alaska)-----Denny D McCart
The Alaska-Yukon Wild Fowers Guide-----from the editors of Alaska Magazine
Native American Crafts & Skills-----David Mongomery
Reflections in a Jaundiced Eye-----Florence King
With Charity Towards None-----Florence King
'Eye Witness Garden Handbooks' Rock Garden Plants
I pick and choose according to my mood at night,
Gloria
Well Im here to testify that a stack of books can come in handy.
In my little family of myself and 2 dogs, one is not quite yet trained to have the run of the house at night. So as a matter of defense, she sleeps in the bathroom.
Sometimes she gets agitated and she wants out, so she whams on the door. Last night she pushed the button on the privacy door knob and locked her self in.
Oh. Dear. I tried a credit card. No deal. There was a window about 6 ft off the floor. I finally got a ladder and was able to climb in the window. But what is going to happen if I try to drop 6 ft onto the tiled floor? I had visions of my final days with cracked hips and broken legs in a waist high cast. So, I finally got my legs inside the window, and there was a stand with a stack of books next to the wall. Is it going to hold me? Will the books just slide off and Ill wind up in the waist cast anyway?
Finally I decided to go for it. Boy, A Martha Stewart Cookbook, Two or three books on trees -- they provided a solid foundation -- and then some Elle Dacors, and House and Gardens. Just the step I needed to land safely on the floor.
Miss Emma Greyhound was so glad to see me. And I was so happy to have landed in one piece!
So you see, there is more than one good reason to have a stack of books in the bathroom.
Carol
Just common sense is so uncommon these days. Miss Emma Grayhound stands as proof of applying straight forward problem solving and common sense. I'm just a blip on the radar of life as a whole, 50 years down the road, though, someone will relate your story of rescue and gain an insight.
Gloria
At some point, women feel the need to learn about their own individuality and to celebrate who they are. They want their clothes to be comfortable and their bodies to be healthy so that at 60 or 70 or 80 they can still climb a mountain or snowshoe over the back 40. And, they become obsessed with learning with what there is to know. Those are the best friends, those who have learned that life is an adventure in self realization - of challenging a small new horizon every day.
Carol
Ok, call shot, bank 8, one bank on the 8, 2 banks on the cue if kicking the 8. Maybe one-handed.