PEACE be with you...

(idea sharers drive off)

Ah...spending a nice Saturday morning relaxing in my sun-filled living room, warm in my robe and pj's, catching up on blogs and looking at photos. It doesn't get much better than this.

I see an SUV pull up my street and park in front of my house. Out climb 4 men and a young boy dressed in suits, ties and wool overcoats...carrying books. Yes, the uninvited idea sharers have arrived. They separate into two groups and fan out across the street. In previous times, I might have bothered to go get dressed quickly so as to be "presentable" when they come to the door. I no longer care about such things. After all, it is my house and my Saturday morning that they are invading at 9:45 a.m.

A very seemingly-nice man rings the door bell and asks me if I am familiar with the Lord's Prayer. Honest answer: yes. Then he proceeds to my dismay to open the bible and start reading it. I stop him and say that I have other things I want to do so I am not interested in having him read the Lord's Prayer to me. He wishes me a nice day as I do to them and off the they go - on to the next door neighbor's house. After they leave, I go and find my PEACE flag and fly it out front to express my wishes for the world. I hope they notice when they come back to their car.

I swear - next time someone comes to the door to share their beliefs with me, I am going to bring out my copy of PRONOIA is the antidote for Paranoia by Rob Brezsny: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings. I am going to start reading a passage of my beliefs to them. It is kind of a crazy book - admittedly not to everyone's liking but I can open it any time and find some little message that brings a smile to my face.

I am more than happy to share my beliefs with you - all you need to do is ask! I promise not to come to your door uninvited!

p.s. I am not trying to discourage this form of expression. After all, I can choose not to answer my door or I can turn them away or I can invite them in - just be prepared to listen to MY viewpoints.

where the wild things are....

Just in case you are wondering...there are no dogs in my backyard unless you referring to the wild members of the Canidae family: foxes and coyotes who seem quite at home in suburbia. When I looked out my window this morning, it made me laugh to wonder about just what went on in my back yard last night!

diversions

Sometimes you find treasure among the trash...

a beautiful bundle of peacock feathers stuck behind an old cabinet in the garage....

as soon as the feathers came out, the camera came out....

Now, how is that de-cluttering going?

mystery and beauty

view from the hot tub on a very cold high-desert evening - seeing mystery and beauty in the night sky

I sigh with relief after the holidays are over. I am not a big fan of Christmas and often feel very out of sync with the massive materialism of this time of year. I have been swamped with new job details and would rather focus on a future of getting organized and enjoying life.

I do like to reflect on the New Year simply as a time of renewal and re-focusing on what is important. It is as good a time as any to get my house in order – figuratively – although getting my house “de-cluttered” is part of my plan.

While it seems like I haven’t been taking many photographs, I have spent countless hours getting my huge inventory organized and processed. It is a huge undertaking. A friend mentioned to me that I need to give myself the time to reflect after such a big project of 365 days of sunrise photography. Among many other things, it did give me a reason to go out and practice my art. I am taking my time pondering what my next big project may be. I think of it like a plant that put massive energy into producing a flower –
now is a time to restore my roots and stems and leaves.

Time to reflect – time to think – these seem to be considered time wasted by some standards of our society. By that measure, I will be wasting a lot of time in the coming year.

What will I be doing in the next year? Among other things and in no particular order:

• Listening to my inner voice and following it to new photographic challenges


• After three years of straying from exercise, finding a new balance between photography and physical activity(new friends at work want to take up snowshoeing and going to the health club across the street from work at lunch time)


• Continue to plug away at organizing my photographs – don’t think of it as a task with a clear ending – but as a continuum that is always evolving and moving forward!


• Further simplify my life and house. I am in the process of clearing out years of clutter that started forming when I moved into this house in 1990. Over the years, I have kept many things related to my children who are now in college. It is time to separate the wheat from the chafe and lighten the load. Or maybe I could think of it as letting more light into my home!


• Willingly allow myself to be drafted into the political process beginning in February. My political friend has put me on notice and I will feel better knowing that I have been part of the decision making process rather than a bystander or “victim”!

Wishing all of you a bright New Year full of change and love and peace.

p.s. as I look out my window at the birds, I am going to add birding to my list of new challenges!