A Love Poem...

Its a short post today I'm sorry to say... a visit to the oral surgeon has stopped me from jaw-in too much..

Love you lots,

Neinah

A Homecoming ~

by Wendell Berry

One faith is bondage.  Two

are free.  In the trust

of old love, cultivation shows

a dark and graceful wilderness

at its heart.  Wild

in that wilderness, we roam

the distance of our faith;

safe beyond the bounds

of what we know.  O love,

open.  Show me

my country.  Take me home.

~o~0~o~

A request for loving prayer...

For Roger...

Please join me if you will and send loving prayers

to the husband of my sweet sister.

He has a short time left and 

I pray that he knows a kind of gentleness and

peace, that he truly deserves.

Thank you.

Neinah

A Way To Share The Love...

For me, Valentines is another way to spread the love...

So in the spirit of sharing, I invited a few friends over for tea, chocolate cupcakes (sorry forgot to take photo's) and Valentine making...

I pulled out my considerable stash of craft supplies that I'd accumulated over the past half a dozen years...  Ribbons, glitter, stickers, sequins, buttons, beads, vintage papers, and confetti covered the dining room table, barely giving us room to move...  Oh, but what fun we had...

(Notice the prevalence of RED worn by Les Artists)

So many exquisite Valentines were made by all, so diverse, so creative, so filled with the love of these beautiful women.

Do you have a special way to celebrate Valentines?  

If you make your own Valentine Cards I'd love to see them... If you send me a photo, I'll post it during the next week...

XO Neinah

Love And Kindness...

Hearts for valentines...

The weather has been grey and a tad gloomy, but inside I'm humming and feeling cheery...  It will soon be Valentines day - possibly my most favorite of all holidays, that makes the most sense, and makes my heart sing... How about you? Does Valentines Day make you smile, or sing, or hum?

When I was younger "love" had to look a certain way, but as I get older, I see the value of "Love" in all its guises.

Love is worthy of celebrating,  I will be writing and sharing over the next few days... I hope you'll join me.

Love,

Neinah

KINDNESS

By Naomi Shihab Nye

Before you know what kindness really is

you must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt in a weakened broth.

What you held in your hand,

what you counted and carefully saved,

all this must go so you know

how desolate the landscape can be

between the regions of kindness.

How you ride and ride

thinking the bus will never stop,

the passengers eating maize and chicken

will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,

you must travel where the Indian in the white poncho

lies dead by the side of the road.

You must see how this could be you,

how he too was someone

who journeyed through the night with plans

and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,

you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

You must wake up with sorrow.

You must speak to it till your voice

catches the thread of all sorrows

and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes any sense anymore,

only kindness that ties your shoes

and sends you out into the day to mail letters and

purchase bread,

only kindness that raises its head

from the crowd of the world to say

It is I you have been looking or,

and then goes with you everywhere

like a shadow or a friend.

~o~o~o~

Walking The Beach In The Rain...

Having been camped up the house for a day and a half, we decided a walk on the nearby beach would be good, regardless of the winter rain...

Walking along the beached logs...

some look like giant whale vertebrae.

In a driftwood house...

we found sanctuary from the rain.

I loved these sweet little sea birds, as they joyfully played in the chilly

water.  Swimming and diving like synchronized swimmers with dear little

swim caps on their heads... (any idea's on what they might be?)

Who was watching who..???  I'm not sure, but these NorthWest Crows

have certainly got their act together, feeding on all manner of shellfish, washed-up

half eaten carrion, and of course goodies that unsuspecting picnic-ers who turn there 

back for a second and don't know how wily these corvid characters can be... 

I love going to the beach at any time of year,,, its ever changing, inspiring and beautiful.

Here's a Mary Oliver poem I'd like to share...

Winter

And the waves

gush pearls

from their snowy throats

as they come 

leaping 

over the moss-green,

black-green,

glass-green roughage--

as they crumble

on the incline

scattering

whatever they carry

in their invisible

and motherly

hands:

stones,

seaweed,

mussels,

icy and plump

with waled shells,

waiting

for the gatherers

who come flying

on their long white wings--

who comes walking,

who comes muttering:

thank you,

old dainties,

dark wreckage,

coins of the sea

in my pockets

and plenty for the gulls

and wind still pounding

and the sea still streaming in like a mother wild with gifts--

in this world i am as rich

as I need to be.

Where Do You Go To Find Sanctuary ~ And Yourself?

I won't lie, its been a rough couple of months, which is why there's been an absence of blog entries...

A lot has been going on in our lives which for the most part is just, well... part of living...  Last weekend we moved out of one house and into a new one. (the old house wasn't a good fit for us all, the new one seems to be a much better one,) still... a "move" is a MOVE and I think that for me,  moving is close to the top of my list of most loathed things in the world! (especially if I have to do it three times within a year!)...

But enough of that... I write to tell you that in all the life changing events that have gone on for us or those close to us, I have discovered that during the challenging times I have such a profound need to restore balance inside... a need as important and elemental as food and water.

Do you know the kind of days where you're being counted on by so many people to do so many things, (and try to put a brave face on top of it all,) and your hearing bad news from several quarters and there are teenage children that are needing extra patience (and I never seem to have enough...) and still despite everything, the laundry needs to get done,  the dogs have to be walked and dinner put on the table...?

At the end of day, this is my sanctuary ~ I go here to re-source my body, mind and spirit...

A bath tub full of hot bubbly water, candles, seashells, beach glass and my own company help me to return to balance.  This is MY time to meditate, turn inwards and try to find myself, my relationship to spirit and this world we live in and..., some days it works and some days... 

Do you have a special place, a ritual, where you find sanctuary (sanity.)???

I would love hearing from anyone who wishes to share.

o ~ o ~ o

Today at work I heard about a friend of mine's daughter who has suffered tremendous injuries from a car accident.  She is in ICU fighting for her life.

Please take a moment to say a healing prayer for Karen.

Thank you... 

With love, 

Neinah

Goodbye 2010 ... Welcome 2011 ...

A stunning winter sunrise from the kitchen window.

Happy New Year One and All....

I love New Years Eve..., because I can stand on the cusp of the old year, getting ready to leave it behind and at the same time, I can look out towards a brand new, clean slate,  potential filled, new year ahead...

  

This New Year's I reflected back on the joy that writing this blog has brought me, the people that I have met through it, and the discoveries I've made...  In a way, I've experienced a form of training -  to look for symbols, acts, reflections of love each and every day,  it has been a wonderful practice that I have truly loved to share with family and friends old and new.

Obviously I have struggled to write each and every day, and I have had to come to terms with disappointment (sometimes in myself or sometimes in situations that affect being able to get the blog done.)

But all things considered, I am very grateful for this creative outlet and am already thinking of what I would like to continue to blog about once the Year Of Finding Love is complete...  

I am very thankful to everyone who has passed through or has stuck around to hear my regular musings, and very much appreciate your comments and words of encouragement... and hope to hear from you in this new year.

As I let go of all that the old year was, I embrace the new year ahead and plant a seed, a wish, a hope, a dream... for all...

For a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful, and more LOVE filled New Year...

Love,

Neinah

  

A New Poet...

A Christmas package arrived in the mail yesterday... from my friend Gioia... Which is ALWAYS a thrill, because she KNOWS what I love...

A new book of poetry

The Voluptuary is a collection of exquisite poems by Oregon's Poet Laureate Paulann Petersen.

She writes of abundance and bees, stars and poppies, the moon and birdsong so many subjects that speak to my soul... (AND did you notice the gorgeous cover of the book... and oil painting of pomegranates by artist  Miri Lavee... its oooh so luscious!!!)  

Such richness I feel right now...

Here is one of my new favorite poems ~ enjoy.

WHAT'S LEFT FROM THAT FIRST GODDESS

Bits of her, finer than pollen,

still eddy the world with their dust.

Each speck of her makes

a seed for one of us.

Whole, where she lived in the sky,

her body contained all people, impatient,

straining toward birth.

She knew her huge self --

bone, brain, toenail and hair--

needed to crumble.

We are her, disassembled,

then grown into many.

We're the ones come from this First One

entirely broken apart, taken down

except for her mismatched eyes.

The right is a yellow

too bright to behold.  The left,

a cool silver smudged

by cataracts of gray.

Our sun, our moon--

these, she saved.