Roller Coaster Ride

Up and down today ~

pleasure, excitement, moving forward ~

until I hit the wall of ‘time to make a choice’

Acting on the unpopular ~ but necessary ~ choice

Down, down and down and down some more

until behind my eyes there is darkness creeping in ~

Not to worry ~ belief in writing out a worry will get the fix clicked in as soon as keys click, click to craft words on the screen.

‘This too shall pass’ the proverb says.

And so it has and more will be when sleep eases worries away.

“Small change, small wonders ~ these are the 

currency of my endurance and ultimately of my life.”

~ Barbara Kingsolver

Flexibility on a Rainy Afternoon

We had planned to visit the Fifth Annual International Busker’s Festival. We planned a stroll of the Inner Harbour and the Upper Inner Harbour in the sun that we’ve been enjoying the last several weeks. But….it was not to be. 

 

Clouds had drifted in and hovered over us, blessing us with the rain so badly needed.  So…...change of plans ~ go out to lunch first. The Tapa Bar in Trounce Alley welcomed us out of the rain, fed us and we kindly paid our bill. By the time we were done that delicious interlude, clouds had lifted and we took our leave.

The clouds still threatened but not enough to deter us. Onward to our original destination we spent the next two hours trying to peer over heads to see acts we never saw, looking for a program, wiping rain water from the bleachers and watching the amazing strength, talent and flexibility of two different acts:  The Aerial Angels and Lisa Lotte. The Aerial Angels are three young women (the youngest 15 years old) who shimmied high up a silk sheet to spin, bend and twist. Lisa Lotte, a world class hula hooper, can be seen on a TEDx talk on Youtube. She entertained us with positions of flexibility that were astounding, and then with her hula hoops from one to seven! As we sat on the metal bleachers, the clouds began to spit at us, a bit too heavy at one time and we sat anyway laughing, clapping and enjoying the shows.

The performances we had just witnessed had tested our belief in the pull of gravity and the flexibility of the human body. It had turned out to be a fun afternoon and just as we returned home, the rains came down again.

“Be infinitely flexible and constantly amazed.”

~ Jason Kravitz

Step Dancing

Narrowing choices to a point of yes or no
when back chatter of what might please others
keeps feet from moving forward or back.
edging only from side to side
until a choice to step over an edge is inevitable ~
or to step back into an old and dangerous place.
Belief that no harm will come 
could be an act of bravery - 
or just waving a red flag at a charging bull.

“There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, 

or accept the responsiblity for changing them.”

~ Denis Waitley

One Afternoon in Victoria

History is our story but the people that carry out historical events have come from their own cultures, their own families and their own belief systems.

An afternoon at the Royal BC museum for the Gold Rush! El Dorado in BC to learn about that history was fun and fascinating. Before getting into the history of the Gold Rush, including other global gold rushes, we started with the jewelry from history. Part of the history was the from beginnings of recognizing the value of gold, different methods of mining, panning and working with gold.  Any gold rush was violent, rough and daring. Interracial tensions were a great part of the violence. The driving search for gold was for something better, to be someone more, and to struggle against the elements, mountains and streams and win or die.

An interesting development at the Royal BC Museum is the ability of children and adults to touch and handle certain items. Touching and holding a brick of gold, a nugget of gold and feel the weight of gold is almost, if I let my imagination go, almost, like dipping my hand into a treasure chest. But my imagination was kept in check by a gold rush game, similar to Snakes and Ladders, for children I’m sure, but as responsible adults we played the game and approved of it. Then it was on to musical instruments and The Oscar! A Grammy!

We did take a break for lunch in the Food Cart area behind the Museum. An amazing summer day for eating outside - food carts that sold pulled pork, fish tacos, New Orleans Muffuletta, and quesadilla’s satisfied our hunger. Finishing with a careful tour of the gift shops in the Museum, we walked our tired and satisfied selves home.

It was a good day!

Four on a weigh scale is much better than one!

“I believe in the Golden Rule. The Man with the gold…Rules”
~ Mr. T.

Story Afghan Complete

When I saw the yarn in a jumble of brightly coloured skeins, the glitter caught my eye. Tiny, fine silver threads twisted and spun into and with deep blue and turquoise yarn called Aurora Borealis. The other variegated skeins for my magical story afghan had other magical names ~ Meridian, Sky, Provence and Circus Clown. And there was one just plain white skein. No magical name but the soft white took up it’s place in the center of the sky just as the moon does on a star lit night.

The story spun out from there because of my belief in story and in the sky. The moon holds the night time still, until the dawning sun encircles the gently waning night with warmth and growth, giving way to another broader night sky. Always wtih silvery stars nestling in the deep blue. There are many stories, night or morning, shaped by the stars at night, clouds and rainbow in the day.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently 

waiting for our sense to grow sharper.”

~ W.B.Yeats

Yarn spun in Canada, hand dyed on Vancouver Island.

See Joma Yarn on Facebook or at their website below:

http://jomayarn.com

Muscle and Bone

Afraid to run away to…….nothing? No one?
Afraid to go forward…...a world too big and too much
Stuck in-between with no room to move.
Belief in anything squeezed out.
Pushed down and forgotten.
Fear forced into each muscle and bone ~ until…..
a memory of some distant joyous time lights the corners of a tense mouth ~
eyes close and chin lifts with the memory of music and fluid freedom.
Too easily fearful tension can rush back into the twisting comfort of muscle and bone ~
a steady reminder of the memory that brings lightness and smiles

“We fear things in porportion to our ignorance of them.”

~ Christian Nestell Bovee

Roses in the Sun

I could barely believe their riotous charm! 
The softly hued roses on this summer day
clustered together in the sun
gorgeous with peach and yellow tones
stretching to gather late evening rays.

“There was something rather blousy about roses in full bloom, 

something shallow and raucous, like women with untidy hair.”

~ Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca