solstice 1.0

so it happened - finally! I was able to be with those who are open to acknowledging the natural cycle of our planet's place in the universe and the physical changing of light within our lives.

We created a simple gathering which expressed awe for the impact it has on us as human animals individually and within our cultures... modern and ancient alike - from local wisdom and our childhood memories.

This solstice gathering was about trying to understand the traditions that exist and what place they have in reality... what is real is that it is the shortest day of the year, what is real is that there is less light, what is real is that we live in the Sonoran desert...


to be continued...
new year
burning / releasing something
sage / lavender
dark / light

silence

"Silence isn’t a blank. It’s the pregnant possibility of what is about to be born."


"... Silence is the mystery I deal in. Silence and light. So I had no trouble recognizing the light that Jesus brought with him.

Deepak Chopra 'Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment'

winter holiday celebrations

...for years - maybe 10 or more - I have been trying to design a holiday tradition for myself that reflects my beliefs. I found that this is a bigger effort than I ever expected - revising and / or creating new traditions. I thought I could replace everything that existed overnight - boy, was I wrong... it has taken years of thoughtful contemplation to understand what would satisfy my soul.

For me, the main reason for the celebrations this time of year, is a carry over from the Catholic traditions within which I was raised - our spiritual connection to each other through love, our connection to all the creatures on the earth and awe of the universe. Love and Nature...

Now, since my beliefs have moved from a specific religion to a broader spiritual view, what rituals can I adopt or create that would help me to celebrate the themes of the season?

I found that totally rejecting everything left a huge void that I did not like. I started with the negatives - what bothered me about the season? I guess I started that way because I was so put off by the need to spend without thought and give stuff without need, show up for services without feelings.

Some of the elements that I have discovered are essential to me to complete the season are: spiritual ritual to honor each other and the awe of nature, gatherings with family and friends to renew and find joy with each other, reviewing the past year and acknowledging the blessings, sharing this acknowledgment with friends and family, singing, giving - a way of sharing blessings.


As far as gatherings go, in the past, Paul and I had a tree trimming party to bring people into our home to celebrate. My family went to midnight mass (which turned into just Christmas eve mass - not at midnight) on Christmas eve and then over to my parent's for a gathering and exchange of gifts. Paul and I would take turns spending time with our families - early Christmas eve with his family and then late Christmas eve with mine.

So many things have changed since then. Paul is gone. Only his sister and her family are left and we don't really stay in touch. My family is changing as well.

I am uncomfortable with the focus on gift giving. I don't like the commercial aspect, especially when it creeps more and more into the Fall (I love Thanksgiving Day celebrations and don't like that to be overshadowed) instead of just being a season of giving in the days close to Christmas... and the tradition of Santa Claus? - not compatible with this desert dweller in Arizona. I am delighted that my family finally included me by having a White Elephant gift exchange. This has become a wonderful, fun event that even I, the originator of the theme for our family, did not foresee.

The more I thought about it, even a Christmas tree does not fit into my environment and life style. I love the smell of conifer trees so when we had a tree I made sure we had a live tree and then recycled it through the city. Without a tree and all of the ornaments - what's a person to do? ...now tree trimming does not make sense. Does one try to find a local substitute to a conifer and decorate it?

I have discovered that I very much look forward to receiving "Christmas" letters. People have become so cleaver - photos and the story telling... charming and newsy. I have decided to do that myself soon.

Maya Angelou

oh, to have such a gift - to elegantly express wisdom

have an attitude of gratitude

good done anywhere is good done everywhere.

love and fear don't go together - fear will dominate...

all of this inspiration came from listening to a heartwarming interview with Maya Angelou on the Diane Rehm Show today

take the time to listen - you will be delighted it you do.

hope

hope, indeed

have you recovered from all the excitement of the election?

how do we honor the satisfaction and romance of the moment when history was made and many cried tears of joy?

i would like to honor it by integrating hope, courage and thoughtful speech and action, the qualities of Barak Obama that inspire me, more fully into my life.

i will be looking for a path that will allow me to participate in creating the solutions to our challenges. only time will tell when and where that path will be discovered.

compassion

"sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it"

"Heartfelt understanding of the human condition that encompasses the pain in oneself and others, dissolves judgment, and opens the way for acceptance. Sincere desire to alleviate suffering. " Angel Cards Book Kathy Tyler and Joy Drake

a few months ago my sister mentioned that she would like to bring compassion back into her teaching / classroom / school.

where and when did we loose our compassion? or perhaps we did not loose it but we forgot how to express it when we feel it.

at times, for me, the feelings are so strong and intense it becomes too overwhelming to be able to bring voice to it and express it to those in need. but as I learn to just listen and be there for those in need - not trying to do anything - just listen and talk through the pain, the feelings with them, true intimacy and compassion surface and begin the healing. we are a culture of doing and fixing - perhaps, instead of doing and fixing we can just listen and be with others, in a way that allows them to feel safe, then they can do and fix themselves and ask if and when they need the help.

surely teachers feel compassion for those they teach - for why would they teach? surely friends and family feel compassion for those they love...

yet, I have friends, good friends - I mean really good friends - who push and push and push... this drives me crazy and I no longer want them in my life when times are hard because compassion is what I need and want...

recently I have encountered more compassion from new friends who are younger, some of whom are gay men... many of my long term, female friends are strong women, a few years older than I am - many of them find it difficult to express compassion in a gentle way - has our culture required this of them as they made their way in trying to change the place of women? look at the difference between Hillary and Barack... look at the difference between Barack and Jesse Jackson...

the challenge for me is to find a way to express my compassion and remove my need to fix things... as my compassion is expressed and the conversation begins about the suffering, the pain, the block, the challenge, then I can offer my own experiences, challenges and wisdom to open up understanding and perhaps growth and healing in the other person. love - it is really expressing love, isn't it?... by revealing to others the lessons that helped me grow through my own challenges.


"Live with vision, intention and determination."

adapting, taking just enough, accepting what was given, never pushing too hard

The Hopi have worked their homelands for centuries. To survive meant adapting, taking just enough, accepting what was given, never pushing too hard. They grow beans and corn, mostly, coaxing crops from hostile earth with some of the same ceremonies and planting calendars that have served them for centuries.

...in 1878, John Wesley Powell foresaw the risks of demanding too much of the natural environment. He argued that people should build settlements based on watersheds, managing resources collectively to encourage wise use.

Naturalist Aldo Leopold proposed the idea of “land health” and suggested that if people regarded themselves as a part of the wider natural world, they would understand their true impact on the land.
“We abuse land,” he wrote in 1949, “because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”


http://www.azcentral.com/news/green/articles/2008/06/27/20080627sus-impact0627.html

dirty air = beautiful color?

wow - the 3rd high pollution advisory...

the good news? rumor has it that the dust in the air is what contributes to the color in our sunsets

however - the following report from our government's Air Now web site suggests that part of the ozone pollution is blowing in from California - hmmm
And, who knew that the clean, dream communities in the northeast and east Valley are where the pollution ends up... also, when I watched the May 31st loop graphic map display the path of the ozone pollution, I was stunned to see that the higher concentrations start in the "out of the big bad city and pollution" towns of Cave Creek and Anthem and then move into the Valley... just goes to show us that we are all in this together - California's air pollution is our air pollution and everyone in the Valley is responsible for the quality of our air.

AN OZONE HIGH POLLUTION ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT TODAY JUNE 01 AN OZONE HEALTH WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MONDAY JUNE 02 Much of Arizona -- but especially the Phoenix metro area -- experienced near to or unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone on Saturday; monitors at Casa Grande, Yuma, Tucson, and even Flagstaff also registered high or unhealthy ozone pollution concentrations. The combination of desert heat, sunny skies, relatively light winds, high sun angle, and low-level winds with California ozone/precursor transporting capabilities all appeared to operate in concert to produce the highest and most widespread ozone event of the season so far. Unfortunately, the same synoptic weather pattern is in place today and 9:00 a.m. ozone levels at some sites are already higher than 24 hours ago; thus, the High Pollution Advisory will remain in effect. Much stronger westerly winds are predicted for Monday afternoon, so the far northeast and east Valley should be primarily at risk for unhealthy ozone levels again on Monday; an Ozone Health Watch has been issued for that day. Persons with respiratory problems should avoid outdoor activities during the afternoon and early evening hours. -Reith

sparkling mineral water - why does it feel so good

inquiring minds... I often like to do minor research on health related topics so that I can make conscious decisions about how I care for my body.

One of the doctors who helped me recently suggested that I drink Perrier regularly. I did so for a while when I was seeing that doctor often but then trailed off drinking it until I would encounter a set back in my health, especially when my digestion was off, and, interestingly so, times of extreme stress and fatigue.

The other day I started craving it again. This time I decided to stock up on it (well, to confess, it is on sale too - $1.25 each) so that I could drink it on a daily basis for a while.

Curious as to why I might be craving it I googled the topic "health benefits mineral water Perrier" - Perrier because Dr. Williams said that he had tried many different brands and found that it was the best... after doing some research (that I include below) I have decided that it needs to be an important part of my daily routine - also, I like the idea that it is in a glass bottle instead of a plastic one!

Drink up! Be healthy!


So here is some of the info I found on a blog by Dr John Briffa from London:
"a recent study which suggests that fizzy water may sometimes offer superior health benefits to flat.

The research in question, published in the Journal of Nutrition, was designed to assess the health effects of sparkling and still mineral water in a group of women. The study participants were asked to drink 1 litre of either the sparkling or still each day for two months, followed by two months on the other water. During the study, the study participants underwent a number of tests including blood pressure checks and measurement of a variety of blood components including cholesterol. Compared to the still mineral water, the drinking of sparkling water brought about significant reductions in the level of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (generally regarded as a risk factor for heart disease), as well as a significant increase in levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (generally taken to reduce heart disease risk). These and other biochemical changes induced by drinking sparkling water were estimated to reduce the women’s risk of developing heart disease over the next decade by about a third.

Quite what it is about sparkling water that accounts for its seeming heart healthy properties is not known for sure, though the explanation is unlikely to lie in the bubbles themselves. More likely, the benefits of the water used in the study are related to its high mineral content compared to the still water it was tested against. One mineral that the fizzy stuff was particularly high in was sodium - generally regarded as undesirable food constituent on account of its ability to boost blood pressure. However, studies show that low sodium diets may increase cholesterol levels. This throws up the possibility that the sparkling water’s relatively high sodium content might actually have played some part in its apparent ability to quell levels of unhealthy cholesterol.

Interestingly, the Journal of Nutrition study found that the drinking of the sodium-rich mineral water did not lead to any increase in blood pressure. One reason for this is that sparkling waters tend to be rich in bicarbonate, which is believed to help balance any negative effects sodium may have in the body. Personally, my belief is that individual keen to limit sodium in their diets need concern themselves less about foods and drinks that contain this mineral naturally, than processed foodstuffs that have had it added (often in considerable quantity) by food manufacturers. Sparkling waters rich in sodium may not have the healthiest of reputations, but research has bubbled up which suggests that they may actually offer considerable benefits for the body."

roots

everyday I go outside, wiggle my toes into the dirt and mesquite leaf mulch, let the sun shine on my face and imagine rooting myself there.

First, I envision the roots of a mesquite tree I saw on the side of a wash up near Arcosanti

- I had no idea that mesquites could develop such long, strong, tap roots...

then, I bring up images of saguaro roots that stretch out and around that magnificent plant for great distances in order to soak up every bit of moisture that comes and goes so quickly in the Sonoran desert.

I don't know - but - when I think about saguaros and how tall and balanced they are, I start to stretch out my arms and soak up more sunshine. I always relate to the saguaro more even though I am in awe of the mesquite.

Today, I realized, that although my roots in life are deep in many areas, I am so much more like a saguaro - preferring to spread out and explore many things to add balance to my life.

btw getting out of the house - huge - watching spiny lizzards, chuckwallas and desert birds - delightful.

arizona rainbow hedgehog cactus

early may beauty...

pods... mesquite

may - ironwoods blooming

change

Today, I read an article in the NY Times published on May 4, 2008, called

Unboxed
Can You Become a Creature of New Habits?
By JANET RAE-DUPREE

about change and how it can stimulate one's life / brain. However, those who have studied change and its affect on us have found that it needs to be managed to produce the greatest rewards.

The researchers, Ms. Ryan and Ms. Markova, refer to "three zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress. Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs."

"Getting into the stretch zone is good for you,” Ms. Ryan says in “This Year I Will... .” “It helps keep your brain healthy. It turns out that unless we continue to learn new things, which challenges our brains to create new pathways, they literally begin to atrophy, which may result in dementia, Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases."

"...scientists speculate that getting out of routines makes us more aware in general.”

Ms. Ryan "recommends practicing a Japanese technique called kaizen, which calls for tiny, continuous improvements."

“Whenever we initiate change, even a positive one, we activate fear in our emotional brain,” Ms. Ryan notes in her book. “If the fear is big enough, the fight-or-flight response will go off and we’ll run from what we’re trying to do. The small steps in kaizen don’t set off fight or flight, but rather keep us in the thinking brain, where we have access to our creativity and playfulness.”

I wonder - if we indeed activate fear, are we also activating an adrenalin rush? So, if we are in a constant state of change, is it a constant high? hmmm

Anyway - I could relate to the "running away" part
...sometimes we have no control over the change that comes into our lives, how then do we go about managing our lives after that, to weather big changes? ...fall into old habits to keep life sane until the impact of the change is reduced to a stretch instead of a stress?

just wondering...

glorious - palo verdes!

palo verde blossom festival time!

"We all crave a simple order."

I have the good fortune to be able to listen to audio books on a regular basis and the Phoenix Public Library has an easy system to use to reserve the books as well as a fairly good selection. Although I have found Louise Erdrich's book "The Painted Drum", darker than I prefer, one passage caught my attention for it spoke to my own recent experiences...
to set the scene...
"... soon there were no pauses, no relief. One song now led straight into the next and it was as though they were all caught - drummers, singers, dancers, drum itself - in a dark outpouring of energy."

"All we crave is a simple order. One day and then the next day and the next after that, if we are lucky, to be the same. Grief is chaos. Death or illness throw the world out of whack. The drum's order is the world's order. To proceed with and keep that order is a gesture of desperate hope. Protect us. Save us. Let our minds remain clear of sorrow so that we can praise the world.

When the songs go backward, when they don't stay in place, when the men strike the drum out of time, things should stop. We should ponder the event."
p. 183 pp. 3 - or disk 6

dark
stop
light

Masterpieces Replayed exhibit

To my delight I was able to experience (thanks, Louise) the enlightening presentation of significant pieces of European art in the context of their evolution. The Phoenix Art Museum is hosting an exhibit of pieces by Cezanne, Matisse, and Monet, among other artist, which are presented along side elements that were used in the refinement of the final works of art. Some of these elements are photographs that were taken of the pieces while the work was in progress - amazing to see the artist's mind at work creating their style.

Best of all, I was able to share my joy of this exploration with my mother and my sister who invited me along for the event!

This was a very inspiring exhibition for me in that it revealed how different artists developed ways to enhance the creative process and that great pieces of art did not just happen - they evolved with time, curiosity, experimentation and focus.

"Masterpiece Replayed
through May 4, 2008
This extraordinary exhibition explores how and why 19th century French painters repeated themselves in their paintings - often painting the same scene over and over - for deliberate and defined purposes. In fact, much of the history of European painting is of artists meaningfully repeating themselves, returning to a theme, or even duplicating their own designs.

This exhibition examines - in approximately 60 of the most famous paintings, watercolors, sculptures and etchings by such artists as David, Delacroix, Gérôme, Corot, Millet, Monet, Degas, Cézanne, Matisse and others - how French painters in the 19th and early 20th centuries used repetition and what repetition came to mean for them as individual artists. The 13 case-studies in the exhibition provide an unprecedented opportunity to compare different versions of masterpieces and to instigate a conversation about originality and mastery.

This exhibition will be on view at only two locations in the country, Phoenix Art Museum and Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, which organized the exhibition." http://www.phxart.org/exhibition/exhibitionmasterpiece.aspx

color & texture - discovery, exploration

wildflowers!

winter in arizona - desert at Spur Cross

humans and nature

when did a faction within the human species decide that they were no longer a part of nature? ...that nature was out there and they were separate from it. them against nature. human beings are animals - our consciousness may be different from other animals but we are still animals and we are connected to everything else in nature - not separate from it. how do we take our connection back and embrace it?

an ingenious and fully awakened innocence

To cultivate an ingenious and fully awakened innocence,
you have to
continually shed your temptation to rely on habitual responses,
never ceasing from the effort to greet
every experience with
a beginner's mind.

This playful approach to life goes against the grain of every religious teaching, every political system, and every ideology, which means that only the fiercest individualists with a highly developed sense of self can summon the courage to do it.

http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/aquarius.html

the evening pearch

another view

still life at Orangewood - gifts

old world desert flowers in a new world desert garden

I find it hard to resist adding plants and flowers from the old world deserts of South Africa to my new world, Sonoran desert garden.

They don't require any more water and they add wonderful color to my garden during our winter dormant season.

This delicate little South African iris, Moraea polystachya, is one of my favorites.

It responds to our rains and reseeds itself just enough in the rocky, sandy soil near my home. In other locations, with soils high in organic matter and watered more often, this bulb takes over.

When including a non-native in my gardens and landscape I try to limit their impact on the environment by paying attention to the elements that will keep it in check.

peak clouds

desert mountain winter clouds

How fun to wake up and see the peak being engulfed by a cloud bank. As a desert dweller who has lived through 13+ years of a possible 30 year drought, rain is a glorious event to celebrate!!! I was so delighted with it, knowing that there will be a fine wildflower showing this year because of this rain, I went out and bought myself a pair of hiking boots as a birthday present! woo hoo! I have two months to build up my strength and stamina again. Keep your fingers crossed!

2007 - a year at home

2007 - a year at home... continued

praying monk - on a drive home from arlington

i am grateful that i live in a land of awe-inspiring landscapes and vivid, soul-touching color. people don't often see the softness in the desert, yet, many of us natives, who take the time to look, find, upon occasion, a sky that greets us with the reminder that the desert is a place of healing - from its gentle colors in the morning sunrise and at night. when the colors were a backdrop, creating the silhouette of the praying monk, i could not take my eyes away from the image - a welcome distraction from my grief.

how fortunate that i was traveling with my mother at the time so we could share the moment. having her with me added another dimension to my viewing - bringing up the history of this place in phoenix and memories of traveling down the road with my father as he "took us for a ride" through his favorite landscapes and on the undulating road along the side of this great mountain. we stopped to soak it in and to "smell the roses". simply glorious.

verdin

A beautiful little bird, the Verdin, has delighted me for years as I watch it flit through Palo Verde trees singing and feeding on insects. The other day one flew into a window and was not able to live through the injuries. So sad - my heart hurts when I see creatures suffering. I thought that the red mark on the bird's shoulder was blood from the accident, but I discovered that this is part of the bird's coloration... something I was not able to see from afar.

Verdin Breeding Male: Very small songbird with gray upperparts and pale gray underparts. Face and throat are dull yellow; eye-lines are dark.
Wings are gray with red-brown shoulder patches. Black bill, legs and feet. It builds complex sphere-shaped nests using as many as two thousands small twigs.

After the sweet creature died, I placed it by
the St. Francis statue in my garden
to allow it to become
a part
of the cycle of life, here,
in the desert...
foxes, cats, and coyotes,
all wander through my garden...

it usually only takes a day
for the animal to become food for another animal.

design inspirations - nasturtium seedlings

aren't they cute?


every day
when I go out to my garden

I giggle at these little seedlings.

they turn their leaves toward the heat and the sun...



reminding me
of angels sunning their wings.



they will probably loose this charming feature soon, as they mature, but what a delight now.

Desiging new holiday traditions - think globally, act locally - gotta have fun too!

A few years ago I realized that my winter holiday traditions did not reflect much about my local environment or my values - after all, what was I doing putting up a fresh, high elevation, conifer in my home for the holidays when I have only lived in a desert or coastal chaparral ecosystem? (no pines or firs in either of those)... and then there are all of those songs about snow - snow? not me, not ever... well, maybe a few visits to snow country during my childhood, college and my Ecosa semester in Prescott - but really - not me. So I just stopped doing all of those European traditions - not too radical - huh?

Well, since then, each year, I try to pay attention to the elements of holiday celebrations I enjoy, because, I realized, once everything was gone, I missed the seasonal rituals and having some traditions in place. The first thing that I noticed was that I really liked the gatherings - seeing and spending time with friends and family. That's good stuff - right? Even though I no longer have the tree trimming party, I continue to gather with my family on Christmas Eve and some long time friends on Boxing Day. I would like to design a seasonal gathering that would be a fun and spiritual celebration of the winter solstice - a time when the light returns - and blend some of my family's and the current culture's traditions with a eco-minded twist into that celebration. I don't know - maybe something like a party where we light luminarias around my house, which would reflect my southwestern heritage and also the coming of the light through the solstice.

Considering that the phrase reduce, reuse, recycle is one of my current mantras, I am not so big on buying new things for the sake of just buying something for people during the holidays - however, I do like the idea of giving gifts as a sign of acknowledging loved ones. I have not quite figured this one out yet (sometimes it takes me a while - so if you did not get anything it doesn't mean that I don't care about you - it is just me trying to figure out my next step). Each year as my family gets used to the idea, I enjoy more and more the tradition that I started - to have a white elephant gift exchange with them. By doing this everyone can have fun and not worry about individual gifts.

Giving to charities through gifts dedicated to friends and family is something else that I like doing. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary was the first non-profit that I used in that way. After Hurricane Katrina a friend told me about the good work that they were doing to rescue the abandoned animals (so sad). With a donation to them as a gift to others, a wonderful, colorful, fun magazine full of animal pictures and stories is sent out to the people receiving the gift thus educating people about the need... a nice way to make the donation more personal - I think. This year I received a gift of a donation made to Trees for the Rim project (where 100% of the money goes towards the restoring the landscaping damaged by the Arizona Rodeo-Chediski Fire) in my name - another way to keep it local.