Category Archives: humanity

Where the Grass is Greener

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It rains a lot where I live. And the landscapes are very green here. At times I get a bit gloomy about so much rain, but I always appreciate the lush greenery.

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For me, green is the color of optimism.

I also appreciate “green” environmentalism and sustainability efforts. While I don’t go around hugging trees (well, sometimes I do, but only ones that I know really well), the fact that there are people committed to helping nature survive our negative impacts makes me feel optimistic about the future of this planet. And that same responsible and farsighted commitment makes me optimistic about the nature of humankind.

I try to steer away from politically controversial topics on this blog, but nature isn’t a political entity. It has no hidden agenda. Nature does not discriminate against anyone or anything on any basis whatsoever.

Nature holds no ill will, covets nothing and demands nothing. Yet it gives us life. We owe nature some serious respect, and the most conscientious, careful and caring guardianship we can give.

Each spring when I see new growth on the trees around me, I feel renewed hope. For me, green is the color of optimism.

Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Optimistic

Weighty Lessons

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hist4

Sometimes
history can weigh us down.
Remorse, regret, convenient revisions…
and at times
rage and resentment
over transgressions against
our ancestors.

 

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Sometimes
history can lift us up.
Inspire, validate, educate…
and at times
impress upon us
the value in celebrating and learning
from our past.

 

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Dates, names, places, events…
all factual information.
Yet history will always be
defined
by the lens through which
each one of us
perceives.

 

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These photos were taken at the Garden of Surging Waves, a city park in Astoria, Oregon, which was built to honor and celebrate the Chinese heritage of that area. The Story Screen in these photos is an iron structure that includes the entry gate, and these large panels that tell about the hardships, struggles and contributions of some of the Chinese immigrants in Astoria as well as their descendants who remained in the area and who continue to be vital components in the fabric of the community.

 

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Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge:  Weight(less)

New Lang Syne

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Wow! 2016 is here already!

I suppose I made some resolutions for last year, but having forgotten what they were, I can neither celebrate my successes nor berate my shortcomings. And I’m content with that.

I think contentment was pretty much my theme for last year, and in that regard 2015 was quite fulfilling.

 

contentment

Cute canine couched on a crimson coverlet contentedly contemplating current conditions.

For 2016, I am foregoing the whole New Year’s resolution exercise, and in its place I’m using an idea that I picked up on The Tao of Dana blog. I’m going to consciously choose a new overlying theme for the coming year. That way it doesn’t become something to flog myself over for not completing. It’s just a gentle nudge in the direction I want to travel.

So what should my 2016 theme be? I’ll ponder that question in the next few days. And I’ll write it down and post it somewhere so I won’t forget.

But for now, I’m content to just let the new year unfold as it will.

Wishing you the best for 2016!

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Oops! The Case of the Runaway Hole in the Wall

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So there I was, sitting in my living room staring once again at that little bulging hole in the wall underneath the window. It was about the size of a thumbnail, with a couple of cracks running about three inches out from it.
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Its location under the window made me concerned that the window might be leaking water and causing the damage. But aside from my water concerns, that little hole just irritated the heck out of me every time I looked at it.

For some reason this year I got it into my head that I was going to be some kind of do-it-yourself super warrior. So even though I’d never done any type of wall repair before, I set out to fix that annoying anomaly.

First I took my handy dandy utility knife (I absolutely LOVE my utility knife; it’s just so… utile), and cut out some of the wall sheetrock to see what I was dealing with.
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Then I accidentally cut into a prior mesh patch (oops!) and ended up removing it. So I had a bigger hole to fix.
hole3

This was more than I had bargained for. I paused to consider my options. While pausing, I made a temporary patch using a pizza box and duct tape (I absolutely LOVE duct tape. It’s just so… ducky).
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At least I didn’t have to look at that little hole in the wall anymore.

As the saying goes, “In for a penny, in for a pound.” I forged ahead, replacing the pizza box with sheetrock, and taping and mudding and sanding the new repair. The offending little hole spot now looked like this:
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A little texture spray and new paint, and the wall under the window looks as good as new, except for the missing baseboard that I tore off. But that’s a totally different do-it-myself super warrior story.
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Daily Post weekly photo challenge:  Oops!

Four Diagonals & Two Thankfuls

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This week Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge focuses on diagonal lines, with extra credit for a couple of photos illustrating things for which we are thankful.

Here are my diagonals:
First up, these clever weeds who had the wherewithal to grow in rows.

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A tree splintered in a windstorm.

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These branches reaching toward one another remind me of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” frescoe. They also remind me of the rose hip jelly my granny used to make.

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A caterpillar makes his escape across a railroad tie.

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And my two “thankfuls:”

I am thankful that nature hasn’t given up on us. And thankful that there are numerous people and organizations working to preserve nature and repair the damage we’ve done to this planet.

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I am thankful that humanity hasn’t given up on itself, and that there are multitudes of kind, caring people despite what we might see to the contrary in our newsfeeds.

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Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge: Week #8 Diagonal Lines

Life Squared: The Instagram Junk Drawer

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insta picI try to not get sucked into social media: Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Flickr… whatever else is out there with cute misspelled names. I have a love/hate/hate/hate relationship with Facebook, and I probably definitely give it much more space in my life than it deserves.

And Instagram? At first I couldn’t see any point in taking photos with a cell phone, formatting them into tiny little squares and then posting them to… exactly where was it they were posted to???

When I finally got a cell phone that had capabilities beyond conveying conversations,  however, I simply couldn’t resist the urge to document all the minutiae of my daily life. And of course once one goes to all that bother of snapping a photo, they need to share it with someone, right? Enter, Instagram.

I see it as my photo “junk drawer.” Junk drawers don’t really contain junk. They hold any number of useful things that just don’t have a designated spot to hang out. Sometimes I take photos that I simply find amusing or pretty or whatever, but don’t really want to share on Facebook for the whole world to see.

Today I thought I’d pull out a few items from my Instagram junk drawer to share with you, but don’t show them to the whole rest of the world like Facebook does, okay? Promise?

Instagrams seem to fall into certain categories. We have…

the oddities:

insta gate

A gate held shut by chains and a padlock, but there’s no fence. Anyone see a security risk here?

insta glove

A glove balloon in the shrubbery outside a hospital. Bored interns?

the beautiful:

insta flowers

Summer flowers, autumn leaves, winter snow, spring flower and leaf buds and melting snow…

insta sunrise

The obligatory sunrise/sunset taken through power lines.

silly captions:

insta seagull

“I think I’m lost. Has anyone seen the ocean? Big… blue… wavy…”

insta pun

Rare sighting today: the yellow-bellied sap maker.

pets: (silly captions optional)

insta leaves

I wanted to continue our walk today, but Chules just wanted to leaf.

adventures:

insta wrench

When you forget where you packed your utensils, you have to get creative.

and of course, Selfies!!!!

insta selfie

Taking selfies isn’t as easy as it looks, kitty.

Now I’ve shown you mine… What’s in your junk drawer?