November in Los Osos

Musicians Magical Rhythm
Soul Deep Movement

~Unmatched occurrences such as this
are the kind that make whimsical life choices
worth stepping away from routine
and remaining open to unpredictability~

The Scent of Ceanothus and Miraculously Woven Homestead~

This morning I had some enlightening revelations within my soul spirit being
that made me feel more a integral part of humanity~

We are all called to contribute who we are to life, in it's essence, in our current place in time and space, to the greatest and grandest ability we have within ourselves, no matter how that expression comes across.
We are called to become the fullness of ourselves.
Some are chosen to lead, some are designed to design & create, some are gifted to teach, some are drawn to experience, some are driven to explore & capture the extremes, some are directed to heal others, some are led to heal themselves...
We all have our unique mark on the planet in physical presence, in action, thought and/or perception....
How can we possibly find one purpose that encompasses us all?
I had an understanding of one who would do anything necessary to pull themselves aside in order to preserve who they are and what they have to contribute.
I'm grateful for this new expanse of understanding~

CAPTURING nature MYSTIQUE & conveying GRATITUDE

Giving thanks for this day

yet completely incapable to put into words

the magnitude of mystical and familial beauty
that enfolded me in every aspect of experience
gratitude and awe are attemptedly expressed

how is it possible to capture such essence light and life~
i'm only a clunker of a photo nerd
and yet here is the most magnificent photo i've ever taken to date
profound gratitude for technology

Above and beyond all this fascination, this was the day that my daughter was scheduled to work. She works at a gourmet restaurant in Morro Bay and got to work all day creating thanksgiving feasting desserts for a myriad of customers. My son and I love to hike, and as she most certainly does not, he & I went on an explore this day rather than do it tomorrow when she was off all day. We went on our hike before we went home, cleaned up, and went to eat at the restaurant in her delightful company.

Logan and I have been to this spot before two or three years ago.
That day he declared that his heart desire to return as the spot was magic to his spirit.
I love that this young man embrace beauty and nature, an experience that we share and can enjoy together for a lifetime. Nothing overly educational or technical, I know some plants, (such as the gooseberry above), trees and birds, but it is the being out there and being enfolded on all sides by the expanse of natural beauty that bonds our hearts...

I didn't tell him exactly where we were going, but...

... he found it.

I called this place Heaven because it is perfect.

He could sense the memory of it as he was drawn forth to our destination. It is where you come upon this saddleback rise between two low ridges.
From there you can see as far as the eye can see on both sides.

~The Southwest view~

The Sentinel Tree
...and again, the communion within his soul spot
on a tiny dot
of this majestic planet

The oak stands to umbrella the soft breeze that meanders its way up the face of the incline, warmed by its journey across the bestowing chaparral.
The scent is sweet with blossoms as it brushes your face with delicious soil earth soul love.

It is the fragility and impermanence of these moments that break my heart.

Hence the immense gratitude for the personal intention to go, to be, to see to not miss the chance to create these momentous memories.

This is what life calls to me...

Then I remember that I'm onto the next adventure, to eat gourmet Turkey with both of my babies who have passed me up in stature, and often in wisdom...

Apparently I'm in trouble for this shot~ And annoyance is revealed in this one~

While we eat there I always ask Mackinzie if she has any funny stories for me from the kitchen. Soon we are wrapped in rib crunching laughter at the great personality antics of the chef. She absolutely loves her job, her boss and her potential for promotion and expansion into the world of gourmet architecture.

In all of this, I'm so touched that these beautiful and wonderful human being who were put on this planet under my guidance are still grateful for my participation in their lives....

life is precarious~

how is it we find our spirits challenged every where we turn?
tonight i wonder how to be the all knowing wise mother of my teen age son
earlier i was enraptured in the merciless damp chill of the winds off spooner's cove
before even that i was soul illuminated with the revelation that life doesn't really mean anything
it is all about experiencing the present moment
that is what makes life exist, our participation in the interaction of all those random cells
brought together in perfect formulation
in time and space that collided with my own...
that is all
there is no explanation
there is no purpose
no absolute knowing, knowledge or possible perception within our minds
to ultimately conceive of the full and profound meaning of life~
we are only human

rhythm alive ~ beating bloodflow *~soulshine ~*

~ZONGO ALLSTARS~

Steel Drum, Bongos (also Alto Sax), Standard Drums, Lead Vocalist, (also Sax, Flute & Rhythm) behind him Electric Bass, Trumpet, then in back, Electric Guitar

~Zongo Spirit Love~

little boy about 5 yrs old

blue knit hat
onto the dance floor
sister pauses

sunshine colored coat
joins him

then Mom

black sweater & denim blue
trumpet's children

and his wife

see clearly
this is family

then we

all

Celebrate

this is kindness
music

play

Celebrating Life

alive together

Heart in Stone is what I titled this photo...

it is actually an imprint left on concrete

similar to the imprint that was left upon my heart recently

it is not so whimsical that this is the heart of being that i find myself considering today

however, i will consider instead this:
overt gratitude for the wisdom "don't take anything personally"
remembering that we all have our heaviness and broken roads that we have traveled
we cannot help but bring it with us everywhere we go
and so, i have intended to not allow it power over me
to allow it to weigh me down, to stop me from loving or to turn my heart to stone~
that is my privilege in embracing certain gems of wisdom that i practice
because they give me strength through the vulnerable passages of life~
they create in me courage, compassion and willingness to face life
square on, even when, well, especially when, i'm powerless over what goes on around me.
it is one learning adventure built, one precept upon another, in my woven world of me becoming

i see that there were feelings of accusation perceived

but it was only inner hatred being self received....

my heart breaks for you my love~

debilitated inspiration

overwhelmed
simply
today
life
fleeting days

composition
fragile fragmented imagery
time
this
lucid life
'stuff'
framing explorations

every instance
seeing, feeling, infusing
inspiration, gratitude, awe...


fresh
Mackinzie
on the bay







unprecedented
rowing
Logan

crossing glassy waves
scenery unmatched
captain princess softly commanding~

cruising town
abandoned skeleton
past lives
old friends
again remembered
reflecting together
reawakening sisterhood

designing nourishment
feasting together
work

car spilling full
boys
me
meandering roadway
montana de oro
waves
embrace the bracing cold
foam force
wildness
water aliveness

yesterday
toting mama
elderly-ness
dancing regardless
compassion
Hal, Marcy, Sam
home
hearth
heart

life unraveling
slowing
pausing
weighty
unrelentingly changing

itsy bitsy pieces of pictures
momentous memories
me
in her image
reflected...

gift of practicality
visions of frailty
time passing
rocks eroding
sand

home bound after hiking bog thistle trail alive and energized
cool storm breeze blazing through my car

connectedness

seems eons ago we girls discussed the bonding elements of relation
ship, it only having been just this morning~
while in reflection, i see that for she and i it's considerably different things.
however, i only know what's dynamic for me, now that i'm participating in it~

as i disclosed with this Soul Sister the experiences i'm immersed in, it was enlightening to me to hear myself speak of my own familiarity within the deep part of my soul which had long lay dormant.

somewhat the nature of a sleeping beauty reawakening, a becoming restored within the exuberance of creativity...

unbeknownst to me that much of the animation slumbering inside was to be brought forth in photo journalism and composition documentation, a compilation of episodes, this walk-about, this excursion of quandary i identify with as being alive.

there is no way to know what awaits, no linear forward view of time and space, yet here and now the promise and capacity to create the sublime i long to reflect upon which is epoch. innumerably enjoyed, first through presence, then in imagery.

such as; stretching in the morning sun, in the yard under the trees, finding the forest wren and exchanging greetings, waiting, looking forward to the next encounter in mystique and love, always love and tenderness drawing forth from me the core of my spirit unto quixotic fulfillment, awe, in absolute reality.
love draws itself into my personal realm...

as in sharing the poetic tendencies in expressed approach, the melting trudge through life's past disappointments, the comedy afforded, philosophies explored, political views endorsed, religious disenchantment abandoned, hearts entwined and coming undone, all that life has exhibited in each of our separate lives until this point in time of reuniting them~

to find such commonality and cohesion, balance, response, respect, deep love and comfort leaves me feeling not so entitled, but mystically favored.

and with that, possessing the skill to capture, enfold and imprison this bliss not only by way of recurring memories created, but also in the midst of present encounter, secures for me an unimaginable future of solidarity and companionship unmatched by any other exchange previously known in the space and time known to me as my vital essence.

boundless gratitude~

rainbow saffron

as i googled Eucalyptus for the proper spelling, i found this magical aura of soil transformation into bark of astronomical porportions

streamwater bliss illumination flightstream

~see this magical place of life and light
wonder awe and soul depth water spring~

eucalyptus nest

specklings
earthbound canopy
calcium cocoons

pigment, shade
Synonyms:	blush, cast, chroma, chromaticity, chromatism, chromism, colorant, coloration, coloring, complexion, dye, glow, hue, intensity, iridescence, luminosity, paint, pigmentation, polychromasia, saturation, stain, tinct, tincture, tinge, tint, undertone, value, wash

waters of the quarry road~

i was imagining my death tonight, by attack of a mountain lion. i prefer to walk at sundown or before sunrise. i'm not far enough away from civilization. but i go out, here and there, not too far away, in the dark. i'm more at home in the wild dark than on the road home. when i walk i breathe and see and feel life. i'm not confined in a metal machine as it rattles me up the incline home. in the wild is where i come alive, this is where i remember who i am and why i'm here. i can't do that at work, and only partially at home, because i'm too disconnected from my core to remember. when i'm working i'm grateful, and i do my best. however, it is not life for me, that's when i'm a "human doing". i spoke of this expression with michael the other day, that we become humans doing, we get caught up in the activities and forget that we are designed to be human beings. we hustle about taking care of life, and we become fully fragmented from the essence of our complete and magnificent being.

this is where i begin again, to feel and know my soul, my body, i reconnect. i consciously decide not to resent the life that's been civilized around me, but to remember to go and be, to see and breathe, to feel the air, inhale the sky, consume the water, the colors reflected, the starlight, the planet greetings, the cloudwhisps of fog floating in the darkness across the waters to shore, to honor the rock king to where i've hiked before, to imprint in my mind the faint view i have of the dim lit clouds kissing the breasts of the sisters... feeling my energy increase, my breath deep, smelling the sage and the soil, mist and ocean current, life and air and planet dust. it all becomes a part of me, as it is, as i remember where i came from.