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Posts tagged ‘Summer’

Aug 21

Ordinary Days Ablaze

“The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.”― Henry David Thoreau

“For this,
let gardens grow, where beelines end,
sighing in roses, saffron blooms, buddleia;
where bees pray on their knees, sing, praise
in pear trees, plum trees; bees
are the batteries of orchards, gardens, guard them.”
― Carol Ann Duffy, The Bees

Savor these last weeks of August.
Summer will spill into September.
Fall harvest soon.
The dance of seasons.
Get out in nature and commune.
Let it feed and fill you up with hope, joy, delight.
Deer, butterflies and bees abound.
Pulling us out of self into the world, expanse and beauty.
It is enough, overflowing, and abundant.
Ordinary days ablaze.
Inviting witnessing and participation.

“…and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”― Vincent Willem van Gogh

Aug 7

August Float

“Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”― Mary Oliver

“August of another summer, and once again
I am drinking the sun
and the lilies again are spread across the water.
I know now what they want is to touch each other.” – Mary Oliver

Drink in these last days of summer.
Soak in the sun.
Build your wonder muscles.
Strengthen your awe senses.
These days are to be held.
And then released.
To open arms for what is next in due time.
Do not bypass these days.
Looking behind or ahead.
Float here.

“But just now it is summer again
and I am watching the lilies bow to each other,
then slide on the wind and the tug of desire,
close, close to one another,
Soon now, I’ll turn and start for home.
And who knows, maybe I’ll be singing.”― Mary Oliver

Jul 17

Timeless As Bird’s Wings

“Timelessness is an art.”― Richie Norton

“Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds’ wings.”― Jelaluddin Rumi , The Essential Rumi

I forgot the charger for my watch this weekend on a mini-escape up north.
My “smart” watch that tracks time, my steps, progress to goal.
Entering timelessness for two days.
No place to be at a certain time.
No tracking of steps or progress.
Suspended and steeped in now-ness.
Lose track of time now and then.
Enter simple moments.
Open to beauty that is all around.
Nothing to track but the present.
Contracting and expanding.
Breathing.

“The timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.”― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

Jul 10

3 Comments

Open Window Day

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.” – Dr. Seuss

“What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?” – E. M. Forster

Open the windows.
Put your head out.
Feel the wind on your face, flowing through your hair.
Seize joy at every turn.
Pursue delight in simple acts.
Breath in the fresh air.
Clear the clutter from your thoughts.
Enjoy this day and all that is offers.
There’s wonder, awe and frolic in reach.
Partake.

“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things… I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.” – Leo Buscaglia

Jul 4

The Experiment Continues

“It was by one Union that we achieved our independence and liberties, and by it alone can they be maintained.” – James Monroe

“The Declaration of Independence was always our vision of who we wanted to be, our ideal of freedom and justice, how we were going to be different, and what the American experiment was going to be about.” – Marian Wright Edelman

Beyond the picnics, a day off and fireworks, may we grasp and appreciate the meaning of this day.
Live it out in thoughts, words and actions.
Of independence, of freedom, of an experiment that continues still.
Diversity of thought, ability to speak up, to be different.
Let freedom ring along side peace.
Let us return again and again to the foundation, threads and colors that bind us together, especially in our differences.
Independence and interdependence for all.
Happy 4th of July.

“Independence Day is not just a date on the calendar; it is a flame that ignites the spirit of every individual, reminding us that freedom is our birthright and courage is our strength. This day reminds us that true independence is not merely the absence of external control, but the resolute presence of self-determination. As we commemorate the valor of our fathers who valiantly fought for our freedom, let us honor their sacrifices by cultivating a society that values diversity, upholds justice, and champions the well-being of all. Our actions today will lay the foundation for a prosperous and harmonious nation.”― Aloo Denish

Jul 2

Dog Days

“Summer has filled her veins with light and her heart is washed with noon.” – C. Day Lewis

“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”― Jack London

Summer.
An invitation daily to delight, play and wonder.
Dive in.
Accept the invitation.
Let these days in.
Live not merely exist.
The proper function of man and dog.
Hear and dance to the song of summer.

“Every day has a story to tell.
Can you hear it?”― Emmanuel Onimisi

“In summer, the song sings itself.” – William Carlos Williams

Jun 22

Summer Fun

“Listen, whatever you see and love-that’s where you are.”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

“The little cares that fretted me,
I lost them yesterday
Among the fields above the sea,
Among the winds at play.”
― Unknown

The gifts of summer.
Long days.
Soft breeze as the sun sets, warmth lingering.
Sun blooming flowers and food.
Farmers markets soon to be brimming with variety, flavor and harvest.
Swimming, fishing, floating.
Slowness and frolic.
Fourth of July.
Long weekends.
Play, relaxation, respite.
Open the gifts of summer each day.
Sacred, holy space of color, calm and ease.

“To the poet, to the philosopher, to the saint, all things are friendly and sacred, all events profitable, all days holy, all men divine.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance and Other Essays

Jun 18

2 Comments

No Leashes Day

“of all the sights I love in this world — and there are plenty — very near the top of the list is this one: dogs without leashes.” – Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

“We meet wonderful people, but lose them
in our busyness.
We’re, as the saying goes, all over the place.
Steadfastness, it seems,
is more about dogs than about us.
One of the reasons we love them so much.”
― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

The simplicity of a dog, or two.
To seize the moment.
Squeezing every drop of delight.
Off leash, free to roam.
Unbound and bounding.
Joy on four legs.
Showing the way.
Leaping, retrieving, delighting.
Steadfast, focused, steeped into the moment completely.
May you go off leash today, each day.
Unbusy, awake and attune.
Finding magic in the ordinary by being fully present.
To a leash-free day!

“Or maybe it’s about the wonderful things that may happen if you break the ropes that are holding you.”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

“But I want to extol not the sweetness nor the placidity of the dog, but the wilderness out of which he cannot step entirely, and from which we benefit. For wilderness is our first home too, and in our wild ride into modernity with all its concerns and problems we need also all the good attachments to that origin that we can keep or restore. Dog is one of the messengers of that rich and still magical first world.”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs

Jun 16

One Grateful Thought

“We are never more than one grateful thought away from peace of heart.”― Brother David Steindl-Rast

“Warm summer sun,
Shine kindly here,
Warm southern wind,
Blow softly here.
Green sod above,
Lie light, lie light.
Good night, dear heart,
Good night, good night.” – Mark Twain

May your burdens be lifted for a bit.
May you walk lightly for a while.
May you feel the sun and summer breeze.
May joy, peace and awe hold you this day.

“The root of joy is gratefulness…It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”― Brother David Steindl-Rast

Jun 14

Dragonfly

“Magic is seeing wonder in nature’s every little thing, seeing how wonderful the fireflies are and how magical are the dragonflies.”― Ama H.Vanniarachchy

“Dragonflies hover on an abundance of air.”― Anthony T. Hincks

Dragonflies dancing.
Pausing to rest.
Summer sun and soft breeze.
A poem.
A song.
A declaration of light.
Abundance singing out loud in summer.
Reflect the light.
Bring the ease of summer wherever you pass through.
The dance of the dragonfly.
Magic and awe.
Good things.

“Dragonflies are reminders that we are light and we can reflect light in powerful ways if we choose to do so.”― Robyn Nola

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