"It is better to travel well than to arrive." Buddha

~Journey Home~ 

The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long.

I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet.

It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself, and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune.

The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.

My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said 'Here art thou!'

The question and the cry `Oh, where?' melt into tears of a thousand streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance 'I am!'

Rabindranath Tagore

Shawn
****
photo courtesy of:  Bellevue Arts Museum  Ron Ho jewelry exhibit:  Gum San Journey, 1996  Silver, copper, gold, antique porcelain and leather.  Photo: Rod Slemmons  http://www.bellevuearts.org/exhibitions/past/ron_ho.htm 

Obviously, this is why they call it Facebook....

Here's baby bear Hope as of today, up close and personal.  She's obviously thriving, being a 5-month-old cub, but she's all on her own.  She's still getting supplemental feeding opportunities a couple of times a day, so that's good.  I just couldn't resist borrowing this picture from Lily the Black Bear page on Facebook...

OTOH....

I really think we should have taken better care of the planet.  We should have worked harder to make this a safer place for the woodland and coastal creatures to dwell.  It's become pretty clear that by allowing the environment to be destroyed, it's not only the animals, birds, or creatures of the sea who suffer, but humans, too.  And those humans whose quality of life is diminished, if not destroyed, are the innocents.  (But try and tell that to the suits at BP Oil...)

I'm almost positive somebody, somewhere has warned us about that before, though.  Too many of us were heedless and thought in terms of "gee whiz, it'll never happen in my lifetime..."  How could we miss the fact that when we poke holes in the Earth Mother that chances are, we're going to get more than we bargained for...and there's hell to pay. 

Shawn
****


photos courtesy of:  Lily the Black Bear page on Facebook, dogonenews.com Chronicle/Frederic Larson

This kiss.....

It was the end of WWII, and Edith Shain, a probably pretty nurse, got herself thoroughly kissed on August 14, 1945.  New York City was celebrating with a "Victory Over Japanese Day" parade.  Not surprisingly, this particular sailor got carried away by it all (or Edith nearly did, LOL). 

I love to look at black and white pictures, and can't recall how many times I've seen this one over the years. I do remember wondering who the people were, what was happening, what were they thinking?  Did these people even know each other or was it a surprise? 

Definitely remarkable, this picture epitomizes the feelings of America at the end of a long, terrible war.  It's come to represent better than almost any other photo ever "an epic moment in American history, one that inspired patriotism, unity, joy and a spontaneous national pride in victoriously ending the war,"   Shain's son Michael Shain said.

Sadly, she passed away on Sunday in Los Angeles.  

It must have been quite something to be Edith Shain, pretty nurse. 

I have to wonder what she must have been thinking before, during, and after *this kiss* .....

Shawn
****
Photographer: Alfred Eisenstaedt

Source: wikipedia.org, worldsfamousphotos.com
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english2010/

A most blessed and happy Litha....

It's a beautiful day to celebrate summer's birth, the longest day of the year, (and not just because that's what my grandmother said, my father having been born on June 21st many years ago, lol).

A lover of trees, I am so pleased to discover and share with you here "Summer Solstice," which exquisitely depicts the Tree of Life by the artist Cinzia Bacilieri.  I find it beautifully symbolic of the eternal cycle of the seasons. 

photo borrowed from:  www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/content/

Shawn
****

Hope....

Okay, I admit it. I've been dying to share this picture of Baby Bear Hope from a week ago.  How cute is this!!  It could be that she's teething...  She's becoming more independent, foraging for wild food, only stopping by the feeding station if/when she takes a notion, lol. :+) 

I don't have a particular topic this evening.  Just stopping by on a warm Saturday night here in Texas....

...to say that we ~Hope~ you and yours have an absolutely splendid week!

Shawn
****

photo courtesy of Lily the Bear on Facebook

Whatever you'd like, Honey.....

Well, shoot.
I had good intentions.....when I got up from my desk, and thought I was headed into the kitchen to take steaks out to thaw.   What I did was a few dishes, then I opened the blinds because it was all rather dim.  I played with the puppies, taught Seamus the word "bone" (well, I've started to, anyway), and wiped down the counter and put a couple of things away, shut the puppy gate and came back into the office.  SGTex looks up and says, "Hey, are you hungry?"  I'm like, "Oh darn, I meant to take steaks out to thaw....."  So now he's in the kitchen getting some late lunch together, and he's taking something out of the freezer for a late supper.  He's offered a couple of suggestions, and I'm pretty much agreeable with whatever it is, lol.  I'd better be...Just call me Ditwad.  (Is that a bad word??) 

So, what's for dinner?  We're having some "Yes, we'll have whatever you'd like, Honey......"

Well, I don't mind telling you, he's  a great, creative chef.  There have been the most amazing cookies and breads baked in our cute little kitchen, some of which are his own, personal, off-the-cuff, on-the-spot recipe.  Our midnight popcorn picnics are most always enhanced by delicious nuts that he's spiced and sweetened.   And don't get me started on the mixed drinks he's concocted.  WoW. 

The man works magic in the kitchen, etc..... So come to think of it, just call me Lucky. 

Shawn
****
photo courtesy of:  I forget.  But BTW, feel free to go to the sidebar and find the widget where you can translate this into any language you choose.  Have yourself a ball...LOL!!

A windy wedding....

Disclaimer:  Okay, so it's a windy day and I'm pretty much in wedding mode for the next few months.  There's a good chance my blogging might kinda roll in that direction.  Consider yourselves warned.... ;+)

Isn't this a great picture?!  I would have loved to have been there.  Hey, I would have loved to have been the photographer that day. 

I'll admit it.  Wedding planning can get pretty interesting.  Basically what's on my mind these days is the guest list.  We don't have an A list and a B list, per se.  What we do have is the means to accommodate a certain number of our Near & Dear ones, and we hope those who will be joining us on our wedding day will be glad to be there.  I picked up a great tidbit on a chat board one time, and it was this:  Limit your guest list to those people who you feel sure will wake up on the morning of your wedding and say, "Yay!! It's Shawn & SGTex's Big Day, and I can't wait to get there!!"  Anyone who doesn't fit that picture might rather stay home...Hmmm.
At the time I read that, I basically thought that I'd better be the one-- no wait, *we'd* better be the ones waking up with that attitude, heheh!!  IOW, we sincerely hope that those we're inviting will be glad to take part in the celebration.....

And there will be cake.

Shawn ;+)
****

photo courtesy of:  Foosies, http://4.bp.blogspot.com/

Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ....

Cleopatra....

is someone I've always greatly admired. 

I won't lay out her entire biography here, but do want to mention that she was part of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, ruling with her father and then her brothers, whom she married. 

She was the lover of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian (Augustus).  Remember Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton?
After Caesar's assassination she aligned herself against his brother with Mark Antony, who was the legal heir to Caesar's throne.  She also became his lover and mother to his three children.  Both she and Mark Antony committed suicide...Tradition tells us that she did herself in by way of an asp bite.  O.M.G(ess), in this case. 

According to Wikipedia, "Her patron goddess was Isis, and thus, during her reign, it was believed that she was the re-incarnation and embodiment of the goddess of wisdom."  She is reputed to have been brilliant, intelligent, beautiful, a force with which to be reckoned, and I just really admire the heckoutta that.

Brains and beauty--now there's a much-desired combination.  Oh, and let's not forget to add "a sense of humor" to her list of highly female attributes.  The story goes that she had a surprise meeting with Julius Caesar.  A beautiful rug was delivered to him, and when it was unrolled, there she was...   Can you imagine?!  Obviously, he must have been very pleased to make her acquaintance~ the embodiment of the Goddess Isis....

Shawn
****
photo courtesy of: http://2.bp.blogspot.com

My mosaic mood montage....

Flower petals.  We've got a million of 'em.... Ever since the first bouquet of long-stemmed red roses SGTex sent me in WA, I've been drying and saving flower petals.  First of all, because I just couldn't part with them, and second of all, because we'd be using them to scatter at our wedding...At the time it all started, I had no idea how perfectly they'd suit our purpose.  The little downtown park is all brick, and there will be a petal path from the street to the wall-of-water fountain...Well, over the last 5 years you can imagine how many petals have been gathered and stored away for safekeeping.  Lots and lots. 

And that is how I came to find this beautiful mosaic picture, all about flower petals :+). 

So many thoughts are swirling around in my head lately.  There's been a lot going on right here at home, more than enough to keep my mind well occupied, IYKWIM.  SGTex has been given more responsibility and a new position at work- and yes, he's doing a fandangtastic job, thankyou very much!  I'm very proud of him.  He's an achiever and has heaps of ability, which he puts to great use. 

It's also gardening time out back, and he's in charge of that, too.  We've had some of our first harvest already- green tomatoes fried SGTex style, and a delicious zucchini, the texture of which was amazing, melt in your mouth.  On the other hand, my most anticipated blooms never had a chance.  Evidently nasturtiums are on the salad menu of the neighborhood squirrels....I couldn't believe my eyes the other day when I started down the front steps-- it looked like someone had taken scissors and given all the plants a bad haircut!!  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  I've been really wanting nasturtiums to grow here.  Maybe next season...

Beyond what's right here close to home, there's the oil spill.  Like many of you, we've been watching late night CNN and are feeling more and more frustrated and disgusted with BP oil and all who are mixed up in this big mess.  The harm done is hard to imagine.  I don't know how those people sleep at night, really.  It's not their loved ones who died, it's not their wildlife, their wetlands or coastline that is affected.  Yet.  Utterly shameful.

And now I've gotten myself all involved with Lily & Hope, the black bears in Minnesota (see posts below).  As of tonight, Baby Hope is still lost and alone in the woods, but was spotted a couple of times over the past days.  Food has been left out for her in what should be familiar places, so perhaps she will be able to take nourishment.  We'll learn more about her misadventure tomorrow.  I've been heartbroken just thinking about her being out on her own in the woods, such a tiny bear girl.  She needs to be caught and carried off to her mother once again.  Many tears have been shed, and many prayers have been said over that situation here in America and elsewhere. 

Our wedding plans continue to take shape, and I'm grateful for that.  It will be a busy summer with lots to do before our big day in the Celtic New Year.

All in all, it's been a good June so far for us here in our home.  I hope it's been that way for you, too.

Shawn
****
photo courtesy of:  http://rlv.zcache.com/purple_blue_iris_flower_petals_mosaic_montage_poster