Weekly Photo Challenge … Free Spirit
This week I would have liked to used an image from here in Spain. It is a very spiritual location and I was bound to find a free spirit. However instead I saw this image taken by a friend on Facebook and have borrowed it.
We all have a free spirit; it is our true nature. Sadly; due to worldly disillusion it becomes hidden. Our free spirit struggles to get noticed while we in our ignorance, attachment and anger remain stunted and ‘un-free’
My friend is walking along the cliffs of Dover I believe, near where he lives. His partner took this picture a rare moment of freedom away from worldly disillusion.
Thank you my friends for your pictures
share also these other free spirits at Gay Pride Brighton
Last week I learned that … Time cannot be wasted.
Everyday I rise at 5am. While the rest of the family sleeps I ‘do’ what needs to be done. Not household chores but things that fulfil or empty my mind. This could mean any number of tasks: meditation, yoga, gym or writing my blog. They must be tangible and finite, for example 30 minutes of yoga, 30 minutes of meditation or at the gym or 400 words of meaningful words and a suitable; anything else would be a waste of time!
Or is it?
Some mornings as the family raise their weary heads they ask ‘Good morning Mum?’ in a tone that begs an answer.
They are noticeably pleased if I say ‘Yes ‘
Because a negative response will be followed by a tirade; ‘No I have wasted hours going round in circles; getting nowhere on the internet!’
But what I really mean is;’ I have been looking for a new dress and found one, found a friend or two on Twitter, perfected a few Haiku, learned a new trick on Dropbox, you name it!
The joys are endless, such a glorious waste of time. So I am going to wipe the word from my vocabulary.
Time is cannot be wasted if you are watchful; seeing, really observing all that you have gained from moments, minutes or hours of doing as you please.
Silent Sunday …
Today is Sunday and almost silent; even the crickets have not yet begun their hymn to the sun. A distant dog grumbles; but even he cannot bear to break the silence and stops mid-sentence. Tiny birds twitter aimlessly in the tired old olive tree. As the feral cat sleeping nearby under a nearby unturned wheel-barrow; she has no desire to glance let alone give chase for her breakfast yet.
The students are enjoying a lie-in after weekend celebrations.
However it will not be long before the day is jerked to life from its gentle stupor by the sounds that will no longer be distinguishable just the symphony of life.
However there is one sound that will remain unique and will out -rock any symphonic masterpiece; it will come today as it always does … with the goats wearing bells foraging in the dry undergrowth hoping to find some tender green shoots that have grown after the morning dew.
The sound like silence is wonderful … listen … if only you could.
These photos are overexposed, the sun was very bright and 40 degrees … no work of art but say what I want it to say
This is a Silent Sunday post inspired by Mocha Beanie Mummy. Check out the rest of the entries using tag #silentsunday on twitter.
Saturday Centus …
The angry farmer had noticed that his chicken coop had been looted. The eggs laid cold in the roost and his prize hen was gone. He ran to the edge of the field loading his gun as he went. To escape; the fox fled quickly, clutching a fresh hen still writhing in his determined jaw. He ran straight across the fields;turned brown during the recent drought; his handsome tawny coat blended kindly. To where his growing and starving family eagerly waited. Meanwhile the lazy dog whose task it was to watch the tiny precious brood ; rolled over in the dust; yawned and went back to sleep. To dream of the juicy bone that his master going to fetch for him. Only to be disappointed.
As I am on holiday in southern Spain I have left behind my brain. However top of the class for resourcefulness; I remember the typing exercise we did many years ago ‘the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog’.
Bottom of the class for cheating . Will do better next time!
Saturday´s supplication … May I be thankful!
‘Nothing is permanent. You don’t want to possess anything that is dear to you because you might lose it’ Yoko Ono (1933-)
Coming to Karma Guen is always a challenge. Of course, it is my holiday and my hosts are very welcoming and kind. However, this is a Buddhist retreat and the home of wrathful, benevolent and kind gods. After a few days when I have lulled myself into a false sense of security; the holiday mood and warm hospitality often does this to me. So the gods disguise themselves and play tricks in order to get my attention.
Throughout the year I have gone about my duty; earning the money and time to spend as I can choose for my annual holidays. Along with all the other joys of life that I have become attached to and take for granted.
I have forgotten to offer at least a cursory thank you to life; who has treated me so well. Yet when the slightest assault happens I am eager to blame and disregard.
So here I am, more vulnerable than ever; but clutching my chest not wanting to share; let alone giveaway to those less fortunate than myself.
Yesterday, a friend strolling along the water’s edge; arranged his expensive sunglasses to protect his eyes against the sun. When a mysterious gust of wind knocked him and his shades into the the sea. Pulling is beloved specs. away across the foam.
He had a choice to accept the fact that the glasses had gone; with bitterness and grief. Or offer the glasses to the sea as a gift; to sacrifice his good fortune to the gods. To be thankful for his brief but pleasant good fortune for his holiday and the spectacles and their kind protection.
However as he contemplated his misfortune; his glasses rolled in on the tide and unhurt by the previous turbulence.
My friend didn’t say which route he had taken; but took the episode as a reminder that life´s pleasures or displeasures are not for us to keep. Even displeasure may be considered a test or an opportunity to learn or gain credit. Life is a gift.
May I not treat my fortune and misfortune as a right or a punishment, but a gift to be traditionally repaid with honour and respect to the gods; playful or otherwise!
Friday´s library snapshot …
A bit of a change this week or two; as my location and role has changed. Although this is my annual leave; my day in a very pleasant climate and surroundings is much the same. The books and their subject matter are quite different and do not fit into the Dewey Decimal System. Nonetheless it is exacting and very enjoyable.
My day starts around 9 o’clock; I hear the students meditating. I feel a little guilty as I should join in this calling of Wisdom Buddha. I live in a little community of men; I politely wait for them to use the communal bathroom; this lying in means I have to relinquish this joy of medition.
So I begin by cataloging; there is a considerable backlog; as I have taken leave of some responsibility while enjoying a family Christmas at home, followed by a trip to Brazil.
The books are about Buddhism and as diverse as books about Mathematics. For some unknown reason they are mostly in German and more than a little testing.
So this morning I decide to have a little diversion; a little way along the track I noticed some prickly pears begging to be photographed so I popped out for a while… the result will be posted later. I returned refreshed and ready to continue classifying the books that seemed a little more interesting, until lunchtime. Later after siesta some more peaceful spine labelling and shelving …
Tea in the library not a healthy combination but what else can a girl do?
Alphabe Thursday … O is for Olives, trees and oil
The Buddhist retreat where I am staying is situated in the Axarquia region; well known for its mild sub-tropical microclimate. On the hills around are large mango and avocado plantations. Dotted about are small olive groves. The olives are harvested by the community; a substantial amount of olives and oil is produced to provide a little extra income.
Wednesday’s Wise Woman … Lota de Macedo Soares
While I was in Rio de Janeiro we visited the Carmen Miranda Museum which is a curious concrete bunker-like building in the corner south corner of Flamengo Park. The park is known to Cariocas (residents of Rio de Janeiro) as O Aterro the ‘landfill.’
The park was the brainchild and obsession of the city architect Carlota (Lota) de Macedo Soares, former student of Candido Portinari. (1903-1962) She was also the girlfriend of Elizabeth Bishop the American poet.
When Brasilia became the capital of Brazil and the government moved to palatial modern premises design by Oscar Niemeyer; the city of Rio was displeased with its loss of status. By way of a consolation prize it was elevated to statehood and became the state of Guanabara.(1960-1974)
Lacerda became the first governor of the state.
At a party in his home in Flamengo to which Elizabeth and Lota were invited Lacerda asked Lota to be part of his government. She was reluctant at first because she was not a university graduate; rather a self-taught architect. He was not worried by her lack of academic acumen.
‘Tell me what you want.’ he said.
Lota pointed to the pile of rubble in front of the governor’s apartment.
It was a landfill site of Gloria.
‘Give me this aterro.(landfill) I will make it into a central park.’
On January 20th,1961, Lota was appointed to advise the State, the Parks Department … the Superintendency of Urbanisation and Sanitation (Sursan) and to study the urbanisation of the surfaces arising from the Aterro of Flamengo.
However this position was not without a lot a diplomatic ‘string pulling’ on Lacerda’s part. Although Lota was sufficiently rich to offer her services for free; Sursan were not happy that a role in the government had been ‘found for a friend’
Lota also contracted various friends; distinguished architects and landscape designers to help with the project. After a month in February 1961, Lota wrote to the governor saying ‘The area has been rescued from the sea in Flamengo, with the rocks and earth from the Santo Antonia Hill. The result is a two large areas that can not only be a useful public space; but a place of great beauty.
The area now requires thoughtful conservation so that its privileged landscape and sea breeze is appreciated. Rather than a corridor for automobiles; a huge wooded area will become a landmark of the city as famous as the Sugar Loaf and the sidewalks of Copacabana.’
Rare and commonplace flowers : the story of Elizabeth Bishop and Lota de Macedo Soares
100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups – Week #56
Prompt … being clear is essential to …
My mirror being clear is essential to my welfare and of others. Any speck can have any degree of effect. Every morning; I take a cursory glance to check all is in place and in order. Adjusting as required. As the day progresses so the ´Helen´ takes shape and guise. The ugly crone, grumbling at the weather and the state of affairs. Who can she blame? The dissatisfied gym girl pulling her body this way and that; yearning for a leaner, light demise.
Had she spent a moment more clearing those cobwebs she would have seen the perfect girl before she was tainted with life.
Weekly Photo Challenge … Urbanisation
Part of the weekly photo challenge for me is spontaneity; the picture and the theme are one and of the moment.
I am here in southern Spain far removed from urbanisation; the roads are unmetalled and in poor repair. However; this little community far beyond the Costa del Sol is having to move with the times if only to supply power to communicate!
Later I found this ‘bottle-brush’ plant growing beside a concrete duct; trying hard to thwart the ubanisation or at least soften the blow for all its usefulness it can be a little harsh !!
Coat Hanger Doll's House 