This Is The Precious Present

If you feel like you're being watched...

 chances are...

you probably are.

"This is the precious present, regardless of what yesterday
was like, regardless of what tomorrow may bring. When your
inner eyes open, you can find immense beauty hidden within the
inconsequential details of daily life. When your inner ears open,
you can hear the subtle, lovely music of the universe everywhere
you go. When the heart of your heart opens, you can take deep
pleasure in the company of the people around you -- family, friends,
acquaintances, or strangers -- including those whose characters are
less than perfect, just as your character is less than perfect. When you
are open to the beauty, mystery, and grandeur of ordinary existence,
you "get it" that it always has been beautiful, mysterious,
and grand and always will be. This is the precious present."
~Timothy Ray Miller~

For more Sunday Citars, join host Tabitha at Fresh Mommy Blog.

SUNDAY CITAR

It's been a while since I've participated in "Sunday Citar" hosted by Tabitha at Fresh Mommy Blog. Tabitha has just posted a recipe for a dressed up version of Banana Bread I can't wait to try and has also recently posted some pretty amazing wedding photos in celebration of her and her hubby's seventh anniversary. Boy, weddings have really changed since I was married 34 years ago...you don't see crape paper streamers and trays of egg sandwiches any more. Pop over  to get that Banana Bread recipe, and  read some great Sunday quotes.

"How strange that nature does not knock,

and yet does not intrude."

Emily Dickinson

Some signs of spring...

 pussy willows

 

buds bursting forth

the honey bees are back

...and some idiot feels the need to lay a little rubber!

SILENCE

In order to see birds
it is necessary to become part of the silence.

- Robert Lynd

For more Sunday Citars,
join Tabitha at Fresh Mommy.

SUNDAY CITAR

The sound of birds stops the noise in my mind.
- Carly Simon

My initial excitement in discovering a nest of robin eggs tucked among the branches of the honey suckle vine climbing up the side of our back deck soon gave way to worry. Built just four feet off the ground , I knew this nest was easy pickings. When the eggs survived long enough to hatch I had a glimmer of hope...but alas...it was not to be.

These little guys lasted just one week before they became a meal for what I suspect was a raccoon.

But , for every story with a sad ending, there is one with a happy one. Sometimes we have humming birds that fly into our garage through the large door which is open during the day. Once in, they flutter all over the garage trying to get back out, sometimes flying against the windows. They can't seem to navigate their way back out through the large open door way. Luckily, I was able to rescue two in the past couple of weeks.

This little guy got caught between the top and lower window pane but I was able to pick him up and release him outside.

Isn't he/she beautiful?

After a brief rest on my hand he flew off.


For more Sunday Citars, join Tabitha at Fresh Mommy.

MOTHERS

Whether our relationship is strained
or easy, hostile or amiable, we need
our mother if only in memory ...
to conjugate our history, validate our
femaleness and guide our way.

~ Victoria Secunda

This week has been full of thoughts of my mother as am I trying to answer as honestly as possible the many questions posed by my daughter Grace in her attempt to get to know me better. She will be posting them on her blog, Graceful Simplicity on Mother's Day on May 9th.

If you would like to join her, add a link to her post:

"Pulling on the Apron Strings
Interviews with Our Mothers"

We would love to hear your stories about your mothers.

For some more inspiring words, join Tabitha at Fresh Mommy for other Sunday Citars.

DISCOVERY

"The real voyage of discovery

is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
-Marcel Proust

YOU CAN COUNT ON A WOMAN

"If you want to change the world, empower the women. Especially the grandmothers."

"Improve the condition of women, and you achieve real development. Men will squander their money on toys, drink and general peacockery. Women will improve the lives of their families and their communities.
Women will behave like adults."
-Silver Donald Cameron

The above statements were made by one of my favorite columnist Silver Donald Cameron who writes a weekly column for "The Nova Scotian", issued every Sunday as part of The Halifax Herald. He seldom disappoints, and his article entitled "Solar-powered grandmothers" in Sunday's March 21st edition was no exception. In it he writes about the positive effects of providing micro credit to women of poorer nations in order to train them to set up business for themselves that empower them to fight their way out of poverty and provide a better life for their families.

He describes how Muhammad Yunus built the Grameen Bank, in order to provide loans to women. The bank organized women into small borrowing circles, and made the group responsible for the loans of all its members. The loans were small, and the women used them to buy tools they needed, such as sewing machines. The default rate on the loans was practically zero, and the women used the tools to lever themselves and their children bodily out of poverty.

He also writes of of Bunker Roy, operator of the Barefoot College which trains women from villages all over Asia and Africa, and how they successfully trained illiterate grandmothers in India to become solar engineers.

Why grandmothers...?
According to Roy, "Grandmothers are solid, sound, patient, willing to learn slowly, and they are rooted in the village.

And I agree...
it is the mothers and grandmothers of the world who are more self sacrificing. They will be the first to give up their share of food in order that their children do not go hungry, and I am not the only one who shares this view, as illustrated after the tragic earthquake in Haiti. It was shown that the most effective way to get food to the people who needed it most was to distribute it to the women. And if I were in the mood to do a little male bashing I would have to say, it also supports my theory that "men are basically stupid animals" and if you want something done well ladies, you do it yourself...but hey...you didn't hear that from me...



If you would like to read "Solar-powered grandmothers" you can find it here. For more writings by Silver Donald Cameron you can check out his web site.

For more Sunday Citars, join our host Tabitha, at Fresh Mommy.

UNEXPLORED TERRITORY

"Go West, Young Man, Go West"
-was an expression first used by
John Babsone Lane Soule
in the
Terre Haute Express in 1851.

and...

lets not forget that this advice also appeared on
a Tim Horton's "Roll Up The Rim" cup
in the wonderful independent Canadian film
"One Week", staring Joshua Jackson,
directed and written Michael McGowan.

For a good dose of "Canadianism", I recommend you see it.

Being creatures of habit, we seldom venture off the beaten path, choosing instead to stick to the familiar, but this weekend, hubby and I expanded our horizons and took a different direction. In the nineteen years we have lived here cradled between the north and south mountains, we have always headed north/ northeast through the orchards and past a series of irrigation ponds, or south through the woods and across the fields whenever we felt the urge to walk, ski or snowshoe, not once venturing west.

So, we headed west. Not only were we lucky enough to discover a freshly groomed trail, which proves that the early bird really does get the worm, we were undisturbed for well over an hour by any snow mobiles on the trail. It was a blast! I wanted to keep going and going but hubbies reminders that we do have to ski back, convinced me that I was not the Duracell bunny and it would be wise not to over reach my capabilities. We were gone for two and one half enjoyable hours, and yes, I am feeling it today.

For more Sunday Citars, pop over to Fresh Mommy and enjoy!