Cheering myself up...

Protest at Seattle...

...makes me proud to be someone who cares enough about the planet to speak up.

After all, it's not like we've got a spare Earth out there somewhere, is it?!

Let's get together to do what we can to save what we can and bring about restoration.

Shawn
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My heart is heavy for Nepal...

photo courtesy of BBC

Personally....

....I am really starting to notice some things that my brain seems to be pushing forward and it's getting my attention.  

You know how it goes in the mind's bottom file cabinet drawer....the one that's not quite full enough to hold the manila file folders of recollection upright in a neat, orderly fashion.  Instead, they sadly droop and contents are lost for years, leaving me to vaguely wonder just what was the occasional stray thought that floated by during the night.  

Well, maybe it's a hormonal thing and I'm only turning into my mother (help us all), or maybe I've just had ENOUGH.  

Since when was it a bad thing to attempt to do something good? Why do supposedly educated people act like they're not?  Is it just fashionable these days to be mean and stupid?  Why must people be scorned when attempting to be correct in what is said or done (so as not to be scorned)?  Is it really a bad thing to be nice, or generous, or hospitable, or informative, or helpful, or creative?  Really?

I don't know what else to do other than to lock that particular file drawer and lose the key, because it seems that I'm pretty sure nobody else thinks about it much, having gone over to the dark side, lol.

I don't know what else to say except "gee whiz."

Gee whiz.

Shawn

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You've probably seen...

...this one, but I saved it just in case.

Obviously, there's not a single word I can add, so let me just suggest we all have what is left of a great week.

Shawn
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Spring...

...has sprung.

There are so many things about which I could blog, but I can't decide where to start.
Meanwhile, enjoy this glimpse of sweetness.

Shawn
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Can you just ....

Artist: Ingrid Tusell Domingo

Come to think of it...

I find it vaguely disturbing that the person(s) most likely to show the least respect for Science and concern for the environment might well be charter member(s) of the Flat Earth Society, yet when seeing a picture of a flower or sunset will enthusiastically go on about God making it.


If I were God, I'd take the time to show 'em how I'd done it and how it all works. I'd have enough respect and think these people were smart enough to learn the facts. I wouldn't treat them like babies needing cute stories and fairy tales.

So there.

Shawn

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A poem by my Man for me....

I've checked...

 ...and not a single thought in my head can be found. Well, that is worth sharing. Not to say there hasn't been plenty to think about these days. After several weeks of being sick, this picture just kinda spoke to me.
Thanks to  Sociedad Argentina de Horticultura on Facebook for posting what can best convey my mood of the moment.

In spite of the fact I've been blasting Led Zeppelin tunes for the last hour ;~)

Cheers!

Shawn
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Official 2015 Jeep Super Bowl Commercial | Beautiful Lands | Jeep Renegade

On the odd chance that anybody wants to know what we think of Sarah Palin...

So...

And so, then I said...

... I'm not so dismal in my outlook. Solar power and wind power with adaptation for improvement. Make it safe. Quit the strip mining and deforestation of the planet. Every school child in America every year needs to plant a tree or contribute to a tree being planted where it's needed on the planet. Everywhere, anywhere. Streams and rivers need to be cleaned up and the oceans need to be rid of the plastics and garbage. Japan needs to do something with the mess it's perpetrating on the oceans and the planet or it's Hiroshima all over again (maybe self induced, if they're not careful). China needs to get with it regarding pollution. Quit burning and bulldozing the rain forests. Stop use of palm oil and the destruction of environment and wildlife. Start saving life and stop killing it off. A garden on empty lots and a front porch on every house-- Americana. Put homeless in vacant homes. Make work-week schedule changes to lessen commute wear and tear on air and infrastructure. Legalize marijuana/stop destruction of illegal growers in our national parks/forests and clean that up. Strengthen our borders for the right reasons and take care of the immigration issues. Get rid of the dead weight and their lobbyists in Congress and start fresh with a no-party system, with everybody voting on issues rather than candidates. Stuff like that needs to happen.

Shawn

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Happy New Year...

...to all who pass by here.

I ran on to this picture and couldn't resist sharing it here, what with the colors and mood evoked by the beautiful bird peacefully contemplating its future and all the possibilities.

Or is it just me?


;~)

Shawn
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borrowed from Evolver Social Movement, Facebook
photo credit:  Imgfave

O Christmas tree...

... O Christmas tree!
How are thy leaves so verdant!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How are thy leaves so verdant!
Not only in the summertime,
But even in winter is thy prime.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How are thy leaves so verdant!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!  

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur
  zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!
Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit
Ein Baum von dir mich hoch erfreut!
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!"

~   Christmas Carol, O Tannenbaum 

Do they know...

it's Christmas?

It's Thanksgiving Eve in America and...

... I was about to post the "May none of your real feelings slip out at Thanksgiving Dinner" meme here, but will save it.  Maybe next year.

Pretty Autumn leaves are quite nice and will do.

Oh, I'm thankful enough for the usual things, like most Americans.  This year, however, my mood is a little less buoyant and I'm not so apt to go on and on about all the good stuff in my life.  I could, but I guess I'm not going to right now.

The good stuff is there, and I'm not complaining.  There's been just enough difficulty and discouragement for a long enough time to wear me down and take the edge off, if you know what I mean.

Sorry.  No Pollyanna today.

Perhaps this should be a "for what am I grateful in spite of all the hellacious stress and bewilderment I've endured, for crying out loud" sort of post.  It's not.

I'm well aware that some people have it really truly bad and don't complain, even in the worst of times and have endured (gods, I hate that word) way more than I have, truth be told.

Far be it from me to point out how crappy some people treat others and the manipulative bullshit some of us endure from time to time.  And it would be totally inappropriate to mention that the comments and criticisms from the bigots and slanderers are becoming less and less welcome in the lives of those who frankly are above all that, tyvm.

Anyway, my mood is mixed and I'm in a sort of "between" place these days.  Not unusual, for the modern Pagan, which I am.  Those between places are exactly where we're meant to be, right over there, between the negative and positive paths that meander off into that vagueness, around the bend.
I'm going to sit right down on this imaginary rock and think about what might come next.  I might just get out my Good Stuff List and read it over.  Maybe I'll even add to it before I tuck it away until next year.

If I don't toss it.

Happy Thanksgiving, America.

Season's Greetings, rest of the world.

Shawn
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PS.  (Dec 4, 2014)  Serves me right for being cranky when I blogged this bit.  We ended up having what I'd call *The Best Thanksgiving Ever* this year.  Cheers!

Season's Greetings....

When I'm queen...

...every community on the planet is going to have shared garden space for exchange of produce, tree-lined streets with flags flying and hemp and cottonwood plantations will be everywhere possible.

Marijuana will be legal, every home will sport a front porch and have a rain barrel if they want it, backyard gardens with lots of flowers for butterflies and bees and yards with balls and dogs and shade trees, vertical gardens, mushroom-growing indoor kits and picnic-friendly parks with band stands and free croquet for all.

It will be lovely.

(repeated from a frivolous Facebook comment)

Shawn
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