Focus on the Stars

 

Let's talk over a cup of tea. Grab your cup and sit awhile.

Just to let you know, I haven't forgotten you. With moving, then having my computer hacked and scrubbed, I haven't been able to download pictures from my phone. Life has moved along, but I couldn't find my little camera to once again take pictures. Excuses, I know; but I missed you. Today I just wanted to share some thoughts I have had lately as I continue the journey of reading, thinking and living. Yes, I finally found my camera.

 In meditation yesterday morning I read "what brings you joy". I thought of my mother's giggles and laughter. I thought of my sister's pierced lips when something didn't please her. I wondered if she felt joy. In the book by Nigel Slater, A Thousand Feasts, Small moments of joy...a memoir of sorts, he mentioned the joy of dipping a spoon into a jam jar of something yummy and tasting. "Little pots of treasure in which to go digging with your teaspoons." What joy he felt at that small gesture. I thought how my mother's family called her "the stupid one" because she didn't behave the way they wanted her to behave. I thought of the times my mother would giggle and laugh with her close friends and take adventures with them. At time she was torn between the sour notes of her family and her pure joy of the simple things of life.

Do you ever pause to think about what brings you joy. A dear friend often says "notice what you notice" and if you have followed along with me for awhile, I have picked up on that phrase and love, especially when I am here, noticing what I notice. What joy to notice those small things that surround us on any given day, dipping in our spoon and savoring for a few moments.

 

Now all the picture in this post were taken at the Lan Su Chinese Gardens yesterday as I snapped pictures with my little found camera. They are focusing on tea right now and had an exhibit on teaware from around the world. The pieces in this picture are from my collection. What a joy to be asked to share a few things and tell their story. The yellow chinzware was made for Victoria Magazine in the 1990's. They were made in England and represented teaware from England. The cup and saucer is probably from the mid 1800's and was made in France. The unique thing about this cup and saucer is that the saucer doesn't have the indent for the cup. Early in the style of cups and saucers, the saucer was made to sip from and there was no indent. I found this cup and saucer several years ago at a little antique booth at the Chelsea Flower Show in London. I was thrilled to bring home this special souvenir of my travels in England.

 

Of all the plants at the Chinese Gardens, this is my favorite. It is a very unique camellia. I have never seen this variety anywhere else. It is clusters of white single petal flowers blushed with what looks like a touch of the most beautiful color of red lipstick. At least that is what I think it is. My phone said it was a camellia, but I remember in the past reading that it was similar to a tea/camellia plant. It speaks to me of springtime and just brings a smile to my face. Of course, since it is related to the tea plant I would love it.

I have more pictures I snapped yesterday with my little camera, but they will come another time to brighten your day. I hope your day has glimmers of JOY, but above all else I hope you notice those glimmers.

Sending love,

Marilyn
 

Focus on the Stars

 

"The best way to make a difference is to get up and do something. Don't wait for the next election. Go out and make a difference right now. Because through your action, you will fill others with hope. And you might just fill yourself with hope." Barack Obama 

You can switch out the word "election" to what ever is making you wait. Maybe you are waiting for a check to come, a baby to be born, or a break in hard luck to come. There is a time to rest and a time for action. When the time for action comes, move forward with hope and a light in your heart.

I am reminded of the song, Turn, Turn, Turn:

To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn

And a time to every purpose under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under Heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rain, a time of sow
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Peter Seeger

 

 

For me I find that when I pay attention to my time to rest and my time to act there is a lightness in my heart. I would encourage you just to pay attention to those times, embrace them, and send out love to others in small ways.

 

 Sending love,

Marilyn

 

Hope in the Dark Night

 

"Yellow flowers are widely associated with joy, happiness, friendship, and new beginnings." They make me feel happy and give off a positive energy.  Even as a young girl I was drawn to the color of yellow, especially yellow flowers. My birthday flower is the yellow daffodil.

 So with yellow flowers in bloom right now and my word of HOPE, I am becoming more attentive to what is around me. 

This morning in my reading from Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit, I read "To hope is to gamble. It's to bet on the future, on your desires, on the possibility that an open heart and uncertainty is better than gloom and safety. To hope is dangerous, and yet it is the opposite of fear, for to live is to risk."

"Hope just means another world might be possible, not promised, not guaranteed. Hope calls for action; action is impossible without hope."

Thus I take action as often as I can fathom.

 International Women's Day was March 8th and I encouraged myself to step out of my comfort zone and join other women speaking out for sanity in our world. It felt good to see these gentle women speaking for justice and truth in the world. It's important for us to speak up when the opportunity arises. It's important to step out of our comfort zones from time to time. I embrace hope. I embrace uncertainty. And because of that embrace I have HOPE in my heart. 

Hold on to HOPE in the Dark night and Focus on the glimmers of light.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Focus on the Stars

 

 

"However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light."  

Stanley Kubrick 

 

In the late winter and early spring the flowers are my stars. They make me smile and bring hope to my heart. 

Bouquets from the market or a garden touches my soul. I surround myself with the beauty of springtime. I savor it. I hold it in my hands and heart. I search for it.

I smile with each discovery of a flower coming from branches and the ground. It totally delights me.
 

Thus springtime is my time to rejoice and be glad.

What makes your heart happy?

Sending love,

Marilyn

UpDate

 

 

Yes, I am still here.

Life got crazy:

1. attacked by a virus on my computer.

2. the computer visited the computer hospital for 2 weeks.

3. multiple doctor visits for my husband (live in gardener), he is getting better.

4. all the intricacies of selling a house. HOORAY! It's almost done!! It sounds like we got the kind of little family we wanted to buy our house.

See you soon with a proper post.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Focus on the Stars

 

 

Flowers at the market while "out and about".

  Recently I heard of Rebecca Solnit's book, Hope in the Dark – she notes that big disasters are times when people remember their inner strengths and create bonds with others that would seem impossible in "normal" reality.  "People who lose everything often speak of these times as "the most alive, most meaningful moments they've ever known".

"Hope in the Dark was written to counter the despair of radicals at a moment when they were focused on their losses and had turned their back to the victories behind them and the unimaginable changes soon to come. In it, she makes a radical case for hope as a commitment to act in a world whose future remains uncertain and unknowable. Drawing on her decades of activism and a wide reading of environmental, cultural, and political history, Solnit argued that radicals have a long, neglected history of transformative victories, that the positive consequences of our acts are not always immediately seen, directly knowable, or even measurable, and that pessimism and despair rest on an unwarranted confidence about what is going to happen next. Now, with a moving new introduction explaining how the book came about and a new afterword that helps teach us how to hope and act in our unnerving world, she brings a new illumination to the darkness of 2016 in an unforgettable new edition of this classic book."

 I have not read this book yet, but have ordered it because I am focusing this direction in the year of 2025.

Driving along the Willamette River not to far from my new home. Winter still resides there, but I have hope for Springtime to come again and show it's green color on those trees. Each season has it's own color and each season gives us hope that life moves along.
 

It is very much opposites such as fear and hope. I have heard how those that suffer great loss, such as the homes that burned in the recent fires in Los Angeles, still hold on to the glimmers of what they still have in their health and dear ones surrounding them.

 

Actually found in my house garden last week.

Leaving my garden to move into an apartment, how can I still notice the small glimmers of joy and hope by changing the way I think of my adventures each day? I would walk in my garden each morning to post a picture on social media from the garden. I miss that a lot, but now I am noticing what I see when I am "out and about". Still noticing the glimmers of light brings me joy. 

So in our despair and angst, let's continue to focus on the little things that bring us joy, supporting those around us, and looking for ways to make small differences.

Sending love,

Marilyn

A Snowy Day!

 

My view just yesterday across my little patio.

The Snowy Day is a 1962 American children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. It features Peter, an African American boy. It was written to encourage everyone to slow down and notice the small things in life, something I try to do here on this blog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmZCQfeWjeQ&ab_channel=EJKFoundation

As a white man, Esra Jack Keats was one of the first to write a children's book with multi-cultural children. His book has been banned recently because of that. When my children were young, Ezra Jack Keats, was a favorite author of theirs and visited their school on author's day.

 

This morning and last evening, sights of snow from my window. Many have walked their dogs past my window and I love seeing them out enjoying the snowy day.

 

Sending love and warmth on this Valentine's day. Hoping you are warm and cozy, tucked inside on this snowy day. Now I must sip some tea.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Focus on the Stars

 A dear friend shared this prayer with me recently and I thought it would be worth sharing with you. It fits so well with what I try to share each week, to make sure we notice those small things, the everyday things. As I settle into my new home I am once again beginning to notice those little things. I find it is time to pull out the calendar and set dates with friends for a cup of tea or an adventure. It's time to go for walks and "notice what I notice".

I am noticing the small lights and glimmers when out in the evening light. Light is capturing my hearts as I focus on HOPE. But I am also noticing the earth is struggling to come alive once more and sing to our hearts.

 

 Dear God,

All I can think to say this morning, is please guide my attention to that which is worthy of it.

When I am overwhelmed by everything that has to get fixed in this broken down world, show me what is MINE to do then please give me the strength to do it and the humility to rest afterwards.

Open my eyes to behold that which is hopeful and lovely and to know that the terrifying and malicious will always be there and that looking away for a moment is not callus, it’s calculating.

Guide my attention to that which is worthy of it: making art, cooking food, loving people, noticing birds, petting dogs, contacting friends, and doing the work that is mine to do.

And when I am scrolling through meaningless videos, once again wasting more precious moments on this Earth than I realize, snap me out of it, Lord and help me just go for a walk or something.

In your holy name,

Amen.

Nadia Bolz-Weber 

 Sending love and peace in this crazy world,

Marilyn

 

Trees

 

 

 

Yesterday I again walked through the garden at my house. I wanted some pictures of "the tree" in the backyard. The character of this old tree is amazing. In places it looks like it is pregnant. There are holes where critters live or have lived. It has a history of bees, birds, squirrels and raccoons.

Trees – by Joyce Kilmer

written in 1913

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

 

My mother loved poems and this is one I remember her sharing with me. Trees sends a strong message against deforestation. It highlights how trees are important to all living creatures. The poet says that if trees are cut, then there will be no shadow, no forest, and no shelter for the birds and insects. Trees planted throughout a city can lower the temperature by several degrees. Trees intrigue me with their different shapes and character. I love painting them when doing my small watercolors.

 

 

Scrolling through the past few months of pictures on my phone I see plenty of trees. I love noticing trees around me. One thing I enjoy even in my apartment now is looking out and seeing trees. I am a "tree hugger" for sure. Thankfully here in Oregon many others love trees too. Do you have trees surrounding you? Are you a "tree hugger"? I hope so!

 Sending love,

Marilyn

 

Focus on the Stars

 

Elizabeth Bunson is an artist I follow on social media. Recently she had a series called "focus on the glimmers".  That thought has stuck with me as I focus on HOPE this year.

What does it mean to focus on the stars or glimmers of light? The joys and kindness, civility. The glimmers of hope in a dark world whether it is something beautiful or a person's smile. Let's surround ourselves with beauty in this dark world. We are worth savoring a beautiful cup of tea, a sunrise or sunset, a rainbow, a flower at the market or a kind word spoken.

Bright shiny red on my toes makes me smile.

Pretty things at the antique mall. Oh, do you see that light?

 

Silly smiles from my daughter.

Flowers in anyone's garden.

 Let's join hands together each and every day. Focus, focus, focus and see the glimmers of hope, let the light shine.

 

Sending love,

Marilyn

Some Days

 As I sit in reflection over my tea this morning, I am enjoying the little bouquet I picked at my house in the garden just yesterday. I am reminiscing on the day just yesterday. Some days are just like this, but it wasn't just an ordinary day. It was time of goodbyes.

Yesterday I walked through the house that I had lived in for 22 years. Where did all that stuff come from? Wow! There is a lot waiting for buyers tomorrow to carry away little and not so little treasures. I feel like I moved a lot, but yet there is so much left behind.

I was their care taker for awhile. Now someone else can enjoy them.

 

 

I saw a cookbook waiting for someone to buy and realized there was only one recipe in the book I enjoyed; so I photographed it to still have.

Estate sales are fascinating me now. The company actually brought in some more stuff just to make it look full; though most of it was our stuff. The pricing fascinated me and I could tell the person doing the sale knew his stuff. My antiques were priced appropriately.

Can you believe it, but after walking through all the stuff in my house I took myself off to the antique mall. It is my peaceful place. It's not where I necessarily buy, but love taking pictures. And who did I run into, but the guy doing our estate sale. I knew he had several booths there, but didn't expect to see him.

I love the displays of live plants at the mall.

Isn't it beautiful?

Then I came back to the house for another walk in the garden and to pick a small bouquet to enjoy on my tea table this morning.

In the bouquet is a camellia bud and daphne buds, plus a bit of rosemary and tea to sweeten the deal. To me it is a lovely bouquet of remembrance and love for the garden. I will miss the garden more than the house.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Focus on the Stars

 

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”

Victor Hugo, Les Miserables 

About all the energy I have to share at the moment is Monday's post, but hopefully next month I can share more. My "live-in gardener" (now I need a new name for him) and I are still digging out of our house. It was a rough week this past week and still we have more to do. Much to our surprise,while trying to get our son dug out of our basement (still going on) my husband ended up in the hospital for a day and a night with a kidney stone. So a lot of the moving and cleaning went to me. I cleaned up some of the yard and kept my son moving forward, plus some dear, long time friends came one morning and helped move some furniture to our son's apartment. How amazing those little thoughtful gifts of help have been. They are like glimmers of hope. Hope that very soon it will be finished. Friends and our daughter have been our stars.

I took a few walks in the garden and was amazed at what is waking up.

The daffodils are coming up.

 The hellabore are budding and the daphne is beginning to bud.

 

I think what I will miss most are my walks in the garden.

This week the estate sale team will be working in the house and my husband, son, and sometimes me will still be in the basement working too. Then in one week the real estate team takes over. Yes, there is a light, at least a glimmer, at the end of the tunnel.

Are you seeing any glimmers of Hope/light in these dark times? I hope so!

Sending love,

Marilyn

 

Focus on the Stars

 

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

Thich Nhat Hanh 

He says the best things that capture my attention and help me to hold on to that HOPE.

Just a flash back to a Joey picture.
 

When I saw this quote using my word for the year, HOPE, I knew today was the day I needed to share it. HOPE chose me because I just knew it was going to be a "difficult to bear" kind of year and for me I needed to hold on to HOPE. We must all "believe that tomorrow will be better".

Let's dream a little dream of a better day.

A day where the lights shine for each of us, the little glimmers that grow into the sunshine and warmth that holds us in the sparkles of light and flowers and gently rolling seashores. 

What I am watching today, puppies and kittens and a fund raiser for the Humane Society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICFiwn3-SOA&ab_channel=MeidasTouch    

 

I love pink noses on kittens. This is Frankie, my daughter's cat.

And since it is Martin Luther King Junior's birthday today, let's end with a quote by him.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Sending love,

Marilyn