Legend and Mystery Awaits

The Sleeping Giant of Thunder Bay....shh, don't wake the giant.....

              First I blamed the weather, never the workplace right?  Then I read a quote by Dylan Thomas (who knew he was this deep)  "Somebody's boring me; I think it's me."

                           Ah yes, "Boredom slays more of existence than war." - Norman Mailer
             ...and funny thing boredom still arrives in the middle of your hectic life....really it does.  Boredom for me is not the lack of doing things....it's when my brain, heart and soul become needy.........

From the cliffs at Squaw Bay, the Giant appears, most distinctly....waiting-pleasing- from the city of Thunder Bay on the Park.

        The back of this post card reads, Ontario, Canada  Legend and mystery surround this phenomenon of nature.  Because the secret of the great Silver Mine was revealed to White Man, Nanna Bijou, Spirit of the Deep Sea Water, was turned to stone during a storm that forever submerged the once richest silver mine known.  A lost legend leaves us to wonder about the identity of the Indian Princess waiting for the Great Spirit to awaken.

    I believe my parents took me here as a child, sadly they are both gone and I can't ask them.  But I remember most of my childhood life always thinking, and waiting and yes perhaps hoping that the Great Spirit would ride in one day on his stunning white horse.....really.

This link explains more about this mysterious giant still waiting  for you...

http://www.visitthunderbay.com/sleeping_giant/index.htm

   It's certainly a view you must see for yourself, across the panoramic Sibley Peninsula a formation of mesas and sills that juts on the lake Superior (Wisconsin has these too) and forms a body of water that is Thunder Bay.

               So while I marvel at this most interesting of places to journey to......all boredom flies out the window....... all one must do is.....

Pack your things and bring a friend, four legged or not....just do it!

Spring Here Pleeeeeeeease!

     Certainly if everyone reading this post would select or take a recent SPRING TIME photo and post it on their own blog.....just possibly we may force spring into action!  Nobody denies that April showers will bring May flowers......except maybe this year!  Not only is winter still lingering on in my world..... they mentioned

 S N o W again for our forecast!  Grrrrrrr!

These aren't my best wake up spring photos but for a short lunch hour at home.....they'll do....

BUT I KNOW YOU CAN DO BETTER!  LET'S GET SPRING IN THE AIR!

I wish this photo was taken recently.........grey and brownish around the edges, but nevertheless growth is moving in!

Today I know that I cannot control the ocean tides.  I can only go with the flow....When I struggle and try to organize the Atlantic to my specifications, I sink.  If I flail and thrash and growl and grumble, I go under.  But if I let go and float, I am borne aloft. -- Marie Stilkind

On my way back to work, I'll look around for some signs of spring here...but I can't promise anything.....about the only real signs here...is less snow around....for now!

and one last springy photo for today...

and then this one

Thoughts Askew -- Who Knew


When things aren't as they appear.....
The longer we live the more we come to understand things aren't always as they seem. ....and worse, no matter how much you do your share of the work load.....often those around you won't follow the outlined fashion carved out for us so accurately and uniformly, .......then things begin to fall apart......

My first reaction from a slightly small perspective and not ever seeing ships sailing through my city


Oh my...this appears to be ......... "Are we under attack?" (per first photo below)

Ah...."Instinct is the nose of the mind." - Madame De Girardin

Aha....just a group of tourists....


and this is simply .......



where trusting my instinct to absorb the larger picture is so important

"Nothing reaches the intellect before making its appearance in the senses,-" Latin Proverb



tour along dear friend....and know that whether it be March Madness or not, when you live in America and vacation in England ...many things can be named accordingly to their liking.......not yours.....

like when I hear the name gherkin...the first thing on my mind is not


This lovely sculpture called The London Gherkin Building....Oh no, I'm thinking green and tart and oh so yummy...... is eating a gherkin pickle any time of the day!

London Gherkin Building

Untie Your Ribbon

Fuchsia is a genus flowering plant, exotic, drooping stems and stunning hanging bell flowers....
Who says you can't grow flowers in the middle of March in Minnesota?  Come see for yourself....bounty from my kitchen shelf.... such a lovely exotic flower bearing life's most precious gift just for me....
welcome new day.......

note: flower pots designed by (2 sets) of adorable little hands just for me......!

Six Word Saturday -- 6WS -- 12 March

...and it's time again for Six Word Saturday................... if you have six words you just need to release just go here
http://www.showmyface.com/2011/03/six-word-saturday_12.html

Knowing how to arrange my life!

          In the aftermath of mother nature's recent attack it amazes me to see the amounts of courage coming from the darkest corners of life.....people marching to the beat of their own drums, and human spirit alive is humbling.....

Boredom: The Desire for Desires - Leo Tolstoy

All will be well ..... so begin doing things...... now.

Camping trip at Singing Hills, where "Stone Soup" (from last year's buried rocks) and a recipe for cake were made right here on the old fire!

"Faith is the force of life." - Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy's quote about boredom reflects his everyday sensible approach and hard-hitting views on life with his no frills thinking. Like, "If you want to be happy, be." He does have a point doesn't he?

The other day (during story time) I reached for a book called "The Three Questions" based on a story by Leo Tolstoy.

I deliberately bought this copy written and illustrated by Jon J. Muth since his dynamic style was so delightful for children of all ages.

You may already know this famous story about "The Three Questions" and I'm not referring to some great success story about how to become rich and ignore the most important people in your life. It's also told in a story by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Master besides Leo Tolstoy's story written in 1903.

For those unfamiliar these are the Three Questions.
1. When is the best time to do things?
2. Who is the most important one?
3. What is the right thing to do?

Of course this story brought another important time from my life.  Has this ever happened to you? History or rather our memories often trickle in. Life is about learning things and permitting necessary ingredients to complete our experience.

My memory involved an inspiring Girl Scout Weekend Blast where all the girls were sitting around a campfire listening to a motivational speaker who asked them, "Who is the most important one/person in your life?" Almost instantly they shouted, "My mother, God, Jesus, my dad," and on and on they offered answers.
But nobody gave her the answer she wanted. The correct answer (she was looking for) was "Me!" The speaker pointed out (much like oxygen masks dropping on an airplane) quickly, "You are!
If you don't take care of you first, then you won't be there for anyone else."

Hmm .....yep, just like taking oxygen.

In the end there is one engaging thought ... which this story told by numerous authors offers for all mankind.

       Often when we are faced with the obvious nature of things, we instinctively know what must be done. Muth’s book involves a boy who takes over the tiresome digging for his friend, an old turtle and whilst doing so fate steps in. Again effortlessly now the boy cares for an injured panda and afterwards saves the life of the panda's child. These stories embrace one important time which is now; the present time you are living and to do good for the one standing next to you.

            Live as though the moment you are in may be your last, and you will have lived this moment well.

Reflections with Jabberwocky

An afternoon of reflections, (by sight or thought) will lead to a case of Jabberwocky.   Surprisingly it arrives by way of a poem of  nonsense verse, by Lewis Carroll. 

"Who in the world am I?  Ah, that's the great puzzle!"

and then he quoted, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there!"

"Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!"

If you ever have the chance/desire/craving to read something filled with whimsy and nonsense, pick up Lewis Carroll's book, Jabberwocky.  The illustrations are by Stephane Jorisch (his vision brings the poem into an entirely new light) like many of his other creatively enriching works of art.  The verses of this poem like, "All mimsy were the borogoves," or "Long time the manxome foe he sought"....are springy like a rainy day in March, with a touch of Potter chasing Alice through a shaded (but reflective) looking glass.  Sometimes you just need a bit of magical gibberish in your day!

All quotes by Lewis Carroll.

Thematic Photographic # 135 - Letters -- Blue Glue

So many letters calling and only a couple more days left to do it.  So if you want to play along go here
http://writteninc.blogspot.com/2011/02/thematic-photographic-135-letters.html

This post is not to be confused with "bum glue" as Australian novelist Bryce Courtenay coined as meaning "Sit on your butt and create," and I won't mention the urban dictionary definition ever!  But, if it weren't for letters tossed expressively into words......you'd miss their necessity and importance of being a main ingredient within our complex lives..... don't forget to read the signs...... along your way.

Life's ring.......It's there for your taking

What is this thing named, "Blue Glue?" Blue being my favorite color, and that of the sky and water, and relates to the beloved "blues music"  and of course "blues clues"... and ranks above most other colors and we all understand how glue sticks!

Words make us ponder, laugh, recall memories, contemplate, understand, cry, angry, investigate, somber, scared, reach out, careful..... it's endless what words can do to us....we can only hope they never stop.

From within the magic seen inside "The Field Museum, Chicago"......Words, symbols...are forever the glue that ensures communication....without them we'd be lost.......and forced to scratch our way through the walls of life ......

Lock your heart around anything that makes you sing, and dance....and live......

Stop where you are right now. Look around at the letters put into words that are warning you, calling out, tempting, directing, announcing if not for them would one know which way to journey?

If you haven't heard the music in your heart.....try some good old fashion blues.......are you dancing yet?

In keeping with tradition, the House of Blues Chicago displays the "Crazy Quilt" and keeps a metal box of mud from the Delta Mississippi underneath its stage.


Often times we find ourselves searching for the words to lead us....

Words are the fabric, the blue glue (if I may coin a phrase) within our daily lives, sticking, forming shape....so hooray for those words that keep us clothed or driving the right way...or who knows what may happen!

My Fantasy Makes Me Feel

Yes I wrote this poem and not recently but I found it again in a picture book I made for my mother.  It's part of what we (get to hold and treasure) after our loved ones have passed on.....and I thought of regifting them (in our family) but decided against it.   Every book I made for her had a reason....and when I go through them.....again, even now....it all comes dancing back to me...... ;)

My mother and I roamed all the cozy corners of Stillwater, with my children along usually, and Lady even made a few trips with us...after all what are quaint towns known for ...but to enjoy!

MY FANTASY MAKES ME FEEL . . . . .
Mesmerized by a magical force,
I yearn for an uncommon lust.
My fantasy is frivoulous by nature.
Don't you have them too?
My nerves get all shaky like pudding and
I'm trapped by ridiculous laughter and meaningful giggles.
Everyday I am!
Avenues of passion upon my feet.
I share a rapturous zeal.
Yesterday's woes are forgotten.
I'm mindful of the brief exchange.
Aware of waking into reality and life...all fresh once more
By keeping secret thoughts in my private attic,
I can escape to my basement of fears.   Sometimes, for no reason at all,less often now with my fantasy ever blooming it makes me laugh......Every time I think of it.
Don't most of yours?
Fantasies are rascals at our fingertips......everlasting and powerful.

What If

What if.....


You would never see the faces of your loved ones again? ....... Take time to say, I love you....... and hug them like you'll never let go!

Don't ask why love refreshes life... just be thankful it does!

If you feel that wild and angry creature lurking within the inner walls of your soul...just know there's always somebody who has it worse than you.
"D a r n  it  anyway!"

Oh, by the way......value all the days on the calendar.......! 

Sometimes you need to wear a little cake!



Don't forget to dress up once in awhile!

If you catch the wrong train...enjoy the journey....maybe you need a detour!

We don't stop playing because we grow old--We grow old when we stop playing!



"This is our cry, this is our prayer, to build peace in the world."

Say a little prayer tonight for someone who might need it more than you think...... good - night and happy dreams!