Things change

Since I'm not making any pottery.
Since I'm concerned about catching Covid-19 (which would probably kill me).

I'm changing my approach here.

So come over and see my comments and photos on my other blog "When I Was 69." Please.

One of my fav restaurants these days

 I was the only person picking up an order which I'd phoned in...at 11:30 am.

 I couldn't decide which shot was more interesting...the empty dining room with cook staff having a break with who? or my waiter who wore a mask under his nose, just covering his mouth. Glad I had mine on properly at least.

 One of the beautiful decorations in the restaurant.

And the beauty of spring by Flat Creek. The restaurant, Ole's Guacamoles, has tables and chairs set up on its patio for outdoor dining usually.

 There's a motel on the other side of the creek, and I've never known anyone to stay there, but it looks nice.

Did I mention there are little treasures all around the restaurant?

Today's quote:

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.

VICTOR BORGE

Flame Azaeas and a different Iris

 I hope I haven't posted these photos before. It's getting hard to keep track, especially since I'm not going around taking photos much any more.

Today's quote:

The teenage years are often like spring, where rainbows follow on the heels of rainstorms.
Madisyn Taylor

More blooms in the 'hood

 I always think I wouldn't bother planting white azaleas, when there are some more vibrant colors available!

 The pink dogwood continues to bloom.

 My kitchen window is over on the left, but with the counter and stove right inside it, I can't even see the pink dogwood tree.

And right by my porch is this severely trimmed azalea, which is finally coming back.

Today's quote:

When the Beloved wants to take you Home,
extend your hand to His welcoming
even though your body may be trembling
and your mind may want to flee;
even though those around you grieve,
and you yourself have mourned, even before they,
the changing form of your body.
Tears are not the final truth
though they will come and go
like stars that need a dark sky to be seen.
Death is not a failure of a mind
that is not strong enough,
or positive enough, or pure enough.
Those who hold such views are simply
masking fear with ideas of being in control.
We are being lived...
...anguish, fear or deepest grief
cannot alter Who you really are.
The beautiful Spirit that extended ItSelf
in space and time, and called ItSelf by your name,
is simply ready to return, unencumbered by a body,
to Its vast and spacious Unborn Self,
that kisses you at birth,
and holds your hand in death,
and never for a moment
forgets you are ItSelf.

The mind imagines you are leaving,
but where could you truly go?
You are Life ItSelf...
Unceasingly flowing,
moment to moment unfolding Yourself.

A body is born; a body dies; but you do not.
Deep within your heart, you know this Truth.
Rest there.  Rest in the knowing that
opens your heart to all that IS,
that loves ItSelf in all that comes,
and returns to ItSelf in all that goes.

Dorothy Hunt
Buddhist Teacher

The walkway and Iris

Yes, there is Barb's apartment along this view!

Today's Quote:

He was surprised

to see the gray clouds,

for the sunrise was clear

with blue sky, and he

assumed, as he always had,

that the sky moved

as the sun moved, east

to west, yet here the clouds

came, traveling west to

east, and he thought of

the trajectory he imagined

his life took, of birth

to death, infancy to old age,

and he wondered if he

had missed something,

if the winds moved

differently than he supposed,

if death also traveled

toward life, if there were

more currents than he

could imagine; and if

imagining itself, setting

a distinct course, one he

planned in advance, kept

him from seeing, if he

were at this moment

actually growing younger,

at the same time he grew

older; if he was in fact

moving in ways he could

barely sense, into another

life, into other worlds.

Richard Wehrman

From: Being Here

original title: Traveling

The greening of the mountains 2020

Happy Earth Day!

 Those green topped trees hide the place where the Swannanoa River runs...behind these buildings.

Intersection of N. Blue Ridge Rd. and Hwy. 70...where it becomes S. Blue Ridge Rd on the other side of the tracks.

You can still see the tops of the mountains, as my neighbors trees start to block their own green growth.

 The mountain behind these buildings is the same one I've been looking at from my living room. Mon. April 20 afternoon I took a short drive.

Yes, there are some green trees along the slopes (same mountain except for the one to the left.) I'm at Ingles parking lot, our local grocery store taking the photo through the windshield. I just went through a drive through and got some French Fries. I dumped everything into my own dishes and then washed my hands well. Just had the urge to go for some junk food.

Today's Quote:

Do you see how an act is not, as young men think, like a rock that one picks up and throws, and it hits or misses, and that's the end of it. When that rock is lifted, the earth is lighter; the hand that bears it heavier. When it is thrown, the circuits of the stars respond, and where it strikes or falls, the universe is changed. On every act the balance of the whole depends. The winds and seas, the powers of water and earth and light, all that these do, and all that the beasts and green things do, is well done, and rightly done. All these act within the Equilibrium. From the hurricane and the great whale's sounding to the fall of a dry leaf and the gnat's flight, all they do is done within the balance of the whole.

But we, insofar as we have power over the world and over one another, we must learn to do what the leaf and the whale and the wind do of their own nature. We must learn to keep the balance. Having intelligence, we must not act in ignorance. Having choice, we must not act without responsibility.

Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore

Bird loving

This wren is frequently seen visiting my balcony, and seems interested in the Spirit House. Last Sunday I was putting up the Hummingbird Feeder. That's when there were 2 wrens trying to get me away. I put the Sprit House/wren nest back, but I got lots of chattering from them until I closed the door again. I hope they will continue their nest, and the hummingbirds can come too!

One of the couple didn't like the bird house (its new name) up on the railing, as he chittered away at me.
I was standing inside the storm door, taking this through 2 panes of glass.

 I got the hummingbird feeder hung...maybe a bit too low. I'll wait a day or so to see if anyone finds it there.

 Both the wrens were very upset with me. The bigger one (on right) was singing away, while the smaller one just chittered at me.

The larger bird even got up on the hangar to tell me his opinion of this new decoration on their balcony. I left the door open and heard they had returned later on, and even saw one flying into their bird house. Sigh, that' a relief!

Monday afternoon I saw papa wren bring a bug to mom, and here he was sitting wondering if I was about to come out and bother them. They have made the nest underneath some moss and leaves, so I can't even see her sitting on it...nor will I be able to see the eggs when they hatch.  Drat.

Honestly I don't know if they are wrens or not. If you do, please comment below!

Today's quote:

Longing is the core of mystery.
Longing itself is the cure...

Rumi

Covid-19 news

April 6 CBS news.

This is just a taste of what the country has been dealing with. The leadership of the governors of most states (not every!) has been exemplary...and the president has been the fool who thinks he's a dictator and can do whatever he wants. But he's wily, so whenever he goes off on a tangential issue, I am aware that there's probably something being hidden in plain sight. I beg of all of my readers that you vote him out of office in November. By then he may have strangled the system so much in his quest for power, that it's difficult to have a fair election. I hope I'm wrong about that.

There's the news on Mon, April 13, 2020. Just one week after that last count!

"N.C. Department of Health and Human Services has tested 63,388 residents and confirmed 4,816 cases and 86 deaths." Mountain Express, April 14, 2020

I've started taking photos of the numbers. As Buncombe County, where I live, had only 38 cases, and 3 deaths so far, I'm glad so many people are staying away from each other to "Flatten The Curve." UPDATE: April 19, now 47 cases in Buncombe County.

What the number means is that more people are being Tested and have a positive result. There are many people who are sick who may have been tested but not received the results yet. And many people who haven't even been tested at all.

The number I listen for most nights is how many have recovered from Covid-19. These people will be the key to treatment going forward, the successful living people who weathered the storm.

And the later updates:

Wed. April 15 CBS national and local ABC news

 Local ABC news

CBS National News

 That's Dr. Fauci, and two million case worldwide. CBS news.

632,800 in the US, with 27,800 who have died.  These people all left loved ones to grieve for them, after not being able to say goodbye because of the quarantine.

 Friday, April 17, 2020 - Local ABC news, Henderson County (just south of us) has many more cases, perhaps because of a Veterans home there. Buncombe is up to 47 cases.

 The debate over letting people mingle together has begun with many just plain doing it in demonstrations without masks, and often with Trump 2020 signs.

Several governors have now opened the restrictions, including some beaches in Florida.  People want to go back to work, which is understandable. I haven't even gone to get groceries myself for 2 weeks. I'm at high risk because of my age and lung diseases. I would prefer to live a few more years than go be with friends. I'm so very grateful to the ones who are helping me stay at home.

Quote for today:

Some of our deepest wounds,
Are judgments, self-inflicted,
Endless paper cuts upon our spirit,
Made by an inherently imperfect 'self',
Despising its imperfection.

When in fact, the green-stemmed fruit,
The infant petals in a sheltering bud,
Are as they should be, in their time,
On schedule to arrive, in their time,
In this Dream of passing seasons.

For here, in The Garden of Time,
What is not yet, becomes what is,
And what is, becomes what was,
And our manifest Being, ever ripening,
Is not yet, now, as it will be, then.

On this Path of Love and Surrender,
Tend gently the seedling of the Heart,
Doing the needful, as you are able,
But then Surrender, giving yourself over,
Sweet unripened...

To The Beloved Gardner.

Chuck Surface
In The Garden of The Beloved Facebook

A gift of angels

 I have enjoyed the thoughtful inspiration of other's Angel Cards, but never thought I would purchase them.  Then they were a gift from my friend Linda last week! How sweet!

 My first two cards that made me think of how things have changed with the Shelter in Place days now.

Every day now I pull another card, and think of how that might be an influence on my attitude today.  It's fun, and I am stopping for a moment and thinking of something else besides the news, my own health, and my infrequent contact with other people these days.

Today's Quote:

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver

Just a salad, and a long quote, and Yo Yo Ma

A friend purchased all the ingredients for me last week. This was a delicious supper the other night. Fresh veggies are such a treat!

Quote for today:

What is the point of arguing with life as it is?

The ego replies, "Yeah, but if I stop resisting the way things are,
change will never happen, things will stay the same, 

or get worse..."

You see, the ego does not  understand the ancient mysteries of
change and healing. It truly believes - in relationships, in career,
in life decisions, in global matters - that peace can only come
through war, that real change can only happen through hating
where we are and desperately wanting to be somewhere else.

Here is the paradox of change.  When we tire of the internal
violence, when we are no longer at war with the way things are,
when we no longer argue with the present scene in the movie
of our lives, we come to rest.  And then, from a place of rest,
new vistas open up, hitherto unexplored possibilities reveal
themselves.  New connections are made, new solutions emerge.
From a place of equanimity and acceptance, things that
seemed certain are now not so certain, blocks are no longer
blocks, old futures begin to collapse and new futures become
possible.  Energies that seemed intolerable a moment ago are
now allowed in, allowed to move, to express and release their
creativity and healing power.  Because our eyes are open, new
details are apparent in the present scene, details that we had
become blind to, in our rush to "a better future."

From a place of peace, we can more easily take the next step.
And sometimes the ne​x​t step means taking no step at all,
but falling deeply in love with where we are.  This is NOT

the same as giving up.  This is not passivity or toleration of the
'negative.'  This is not the same as abandoning all hope of a
better future.  There is no abandonment here.  This is not
stagnation.  This is not weakness.  This is true courage.  The
willingness to slow down, be present, drink in all the richness -
the joy and the sorrow, the doubt and the creativity - of the
present scene.

The movie has not been written yet; it writes itself as we go
along.  And in resisting the present scene, you are actually
resisting the entire movie.  Resistance can only breed
resistance.

Sometimes the point of arguing with life, is to get you to
a point where you are tired of arguing with life.  And then
you sink deeply into the present moment, resting in its
embrace, trusting the way of things, accepting your own
imperfections.  And then everything seems possible, and
everything feels alive as you feel alive, and fearless, and
real change can come.

Perhaps slowly, perhaps in a great tidal wave.  But you no
longer push for it.  You are letting it happen. You are
aligned at last, no longer part of the problem, but already
an expression of the solution.

Sometimes you need to stop trying to change the moment,
for the moment to change...  all by itself.

Everything you think is wrong with you, is actually right.
Spiritual enlightenment is already here, shining through
the simplicity of this moment, exactly as it is.

The divine perfection you've been seeking is actually contained
in the midst of your tender vulnerability and imperfections.
There is precious alchemical medicine hidden inside your pain,
and your deepest longings, aches, doubts, grief and heartache
are portals to joy and healing.

Jeff Foster,

 reposted from another blogger

And a bit of music...Yo Yo Ma in concert.

Porch gardening

 The rosemary needs a new space to live in. I need to make some new flower pots too! But since the pottery studio is closed, no more creating a pot when I need it. I may (gasp) have to purchase some.

I love my purple shamrock, oxalis. Both these plants have returned indoors as of the recent frost warning.

Quote for today:

As far as I know, 

there is no proof whatever 

of the existence of an 

objective reality apart 

from our senses, 

and I do not see why 

we should accept the 

outside world as such 

solely by virtue 

of our senses.


—M. C. Escher

Comment by me - This man made circular realistic art, and apparently he thought that way as well!