One Busy Bee

I'm liking his polleny bum

and

graceful leg extension

visit: Lisa for other Macro Monday Shots

http://lisaschaos.com/

Red is Best

                                           Red is Best

I am participating in Jenny's:  Alphabe-Thursday's Rainbow Summer- Red Theme

Maybe it's because I read the book

Red is Best

to my little girl

that

she grew up

loving

Red

so when I spotted these Red Rain Boots

@ The Gap

there was no doubt

that for her

it would be love @ first sight

and

first jump

Happy Birthday Christina

A Day of Play - kayaking Banff to Canmore

Banff to Canmore Paddle July/ 2010

 Started @ Bow Falls in Banff, Alberta

Distance of trip:  22 km

There were 6 solo boats and two doubles

This part of the Bow River is class II- some wavey sections

We feel so blessed to have three Rivers to paddle near to us

Bow River, Elbow River & Kananaskis River

Me taking a rest in an Eddy- slow moving water that moves in the opposite

direction that the river is running

I'm paddling an 11' Dagger kayak that

is very comfortable/stable and very durable

The 10 of us take a lunch break

It was a cloudy, threatening to rain kinda day but

not a drop was dropped

and the clouds made it such a perfect temperature

Hubby sitting in Eddy against dunes

Wish I would have got a picture of the hodoos behind him
the hodoos are a sandstone rock formation caused by erosion
that look like sand spires

The cherry on the cake was first the sound of the train's whistle then

the sight of the red engine against the backdrop of the mountains.

It makes for such a nostalgic moment

A penny for your thoughts

In the back of my mind

sits

a well used, long treasured thought

which is:

'You aren't really hearing me.'

yet

when I ask: 'why do I want you to hear me?'

there lies a wanting to be understood

and

when I ask: 'why do I want you to understand me?'

there is a need for acceptance

and

 beneath this need for acceptance?

sits

a yearning for the freedom to stop trying to be enough

and

yet once again as I go deeper

 there is

an innermost desire

 for

Inner Peace.

The thought

'You aren't really hearing me.'

now is really my wake up call

to make a choice

to keep this thought

or

to choose

Inner Peace

the true

asking

This was a hard concept for me to express because it exposes one of the core beliefs that I carry that keeps me stuck as the victim. 

Also there is embarrassment because of all the times I have expressed this thought 'You aren't really hearing me' to the people I hold most dear  in a way that has come out as attack or defense. 

The good news is that this belief  does catch me and takes for for a ride once in awhile but not as often and/or for as long as it used to.  The extra bonus is that when I let go of my neediness to be heard people (mostly my hubby) are more keen to hear me. 

I wonder what thoughts replay themselves in the back of your mind and how you see them. 

What sense is this?

What sense is this

that a simple mask

has the power in an instance

to open a door to safety, freedom and joy,

to soar, wings fully outstretched

heart open

in this moment

no longer a prisoner

to my limited beliefs

of who I am?

(Picture taken by my friend Deb Sudul)

I’d like to pre-warn you that this is me thinking this through on the page so you will have to bare with the confusion as it spills out willy nilly.

It was so striking the immediate feeling of freedom putting  the mask on that I knew it deserved further contemplation.  It was as if my ego judgments of myself and others no longer existed. It made me reflect on my use of the mask and people who use vices such as drink, drugs, overeating to get the mind chatter to stop.

Then I thought of Delyn from http://ahazymoon.blogspot.com/ who in her post today talks about Wabi Sabi which is the Japanese Art of finding the beauty in the ordinary.  (see youtube video below)

With photography, that is if I give myself lots of time, I will slip into a zone that I would describe as Wabi Sabi where there is a definite shift in my awareness.  The reason I bring this up is that when I put the mask on I immediately went to an altered state, I was the beauty.  So, I am figuring this out as these words come. 

How do I have Wabi Sabi for myself without a ‘mask’?  How do I accept the natural cycle of growth and transience within myself.  I wonder if it is even about going after seeing it within myself or is it about seeing it around me and that translates to seeing it within? So now another question arises – if photography sends me to Wabi Sabi then why don’t I do it more?  It is like exercise-it’s uncomfortable to start.

It isn’t clear yet but there are rumblings going on within that I trust will lead to more sense of this.

Happy to hear your reflections.

Macro Monday-The Big H veggin'

                                                     Playing with macro and depth of field.
Visit  http://lisaschaos.com/

The wonder of nature

Instead of complaining

about the mosaic

I've decided to reprint these

4 pictures.

I just can't grasp

how nature does it

It's all a bit much for the intellect

but food for the soul.

More than just a shadow

 

Stopped in my tracks

by

a shadow

dynamic, powerful, strikingly beautiful

then

looking at its maker

a

simple, innocuous, dismissable twig

boring really

it causes dissidence in my brain

and

I am stopped in my tracks

once more

wondering

well

I haven’t figured it our yet

but it has something to do with

dismissing, judging,

missing the whole picture

of you

of me

I just know it was a profound moment of inner reflection to stop and question how I see the world

 

Rick Hansen bungee jumping 'A Gotta See'

I am having a problem getting this youtube going into its own post.  It goes into the middle of my last one for some reason.

A Diet of Romantic Comedies

La mer 3:21 Charles Trenet 100 Classic French Songs Vocal 3/25/2010 9:12 PM

So this is the song sung during the credits of 'French Kiss' with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline--Kevin Kline
is the one singing and he is good.

Went to Value Village (thrift store) a few of weeks ago and picked up all these old romantic comedies that I had somehow missed and my hubby and I have just so enjoyed watching them.   They are all about 15 years old. Ok so there are many with Meg Ryan in them- 4 to be exact.  As long as you don't watch them back to back it is doable.

Here's the list:

  1.  French Kiss - Meg Ryan & Kevin Kline ****
  2.  Kate & Leopold - Meg Ryan & Hugh Jackman *****
  3.  City of Angels- Meg Ryan & Nicoles Cage *****
  4.  While You Were Sleeping- Sandra Bullock & Bill Pullman ****
  5.  Addicted to Love - Meg Ryan & Mathew Broadrick *****
  6.  My Life - Nicole Kidman & Michael Keeton ****
  7.  Sidewalks of New York - too many to mention ****
  8.  The English Patient ******
  9  Hope Floats - Sandra Bullock & Harry Connick Jr ***
10  Cassablanca - yet to watch

Are romantic comedies your thing?  Any to recommend this way?

Do you hear what I hear?

 

             

 Love’s

Ancient melodies

Play at the corners of my mind.

Faintly do I hear them

for

Fear

keeps me

in a padded cell.

I call out

“Love, do not forsake me”

FLABBERGASTED

I see

Love’s orchestra tuning up

all eyes on me

their

Maestro.

This picture was taken at Mesa Verde National Park in SW Colorado inside an adobe which is part of the cliff dwellings. The cliff dwellings were home to the Pueblo people for over 700 years, from AD 600 to AD 1300. This was one of my favorite places on our US tour. I highly recommend a visit here.

Mosaic Monday Not Quite Spring

visit Mary @ www.dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com for more Mosaic Monday Pics                       

 

Spring where are you

I’ve been waiting

patiently

for your return

you always do

I know

it’s just that

I’m really missing

you

After the Bloom has faded

Free picture collage personalized with Smilebox

of TWO minds

TWO minds working here

fight, fight, fight

do this, don't do that

exhausting

purposeless

battle

that wreaks havoc 

with my sanity

There has to be another way

Here

take these minds

show me what is real

I am overcome with gratitude

in the silence

I know

I am not forsaken

Ah yes!

I am

ONE

mind

         Maggie Dumbarton March 2, 2010

Mosaic Monday 1 March 2010

                                        
Splashes of Red to brighten your day
visit  Little Red House for more about Mosaic Monday

It was fun to go to that timeless place with these tulips. What sends you to that timeless place?

wanna play?

You just want to play

to be chased

to catch snowballs

how simple is that

yet

sometimes

it's

just that one more thing

that I should do

and

I

turn

and walk on

and know

you will forgive me

Best CHOCOLATEchipCOOKIES

chocolatechipcookies

with apricots and walnuts

rebar

modernfoodcookbook
used with the permission of wanda urbanowicz author & cook extraordinaire
jars of assorted freshy baked cookies line the front counter at rebar. These

           chewy, moist cookies have been a top-seller for years. Once you start making these,

you'll never buy supermarket again! Once they are fully cooled, store them in

an airtight tin for up to one week (if they last that long!)

                                                                            
                                                                                    yields 28 cookies        

1  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie               1/2  cup (120 mL) unsalted butter,

     sheet with parchment paper and set aside.                        softened

     Cream together the butter and sugar until                      1 1/2 cups (360 mL) brown sugar

     light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time,                        2  eggs

     blending each one in well before adding the                  2  tsp (10 mL) vanilla

     next. Blend in the vanilla and set aside.                         1/4 cup (60 mL) dried apricots

                                                                                       1 1/2 cups (360 mL) unbleached flour

2  Using a food processor, pulse together the                     1 1/2 tsp (7.5 mL) baking powder

     apricots with 1/2 cup (120 mL) flour. Chop                     1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) salt

     them up fine and place them in a large mixing                1 cup (240 mL) roasted & chopped

     bowl.  Mix in the remaining flour, baking                          walnuts

     powder and salt. Add the wet mix and stir                      1 1/2 cups (600 mL) good quality

     in the walnuts and chocolate chips.                                   chocolate chips

3  Drop heaping tablespoonsful of batter on the

     prepared baking sheet, leaving room in                           

     between to allow for spreading during baking.                        helpfulhint
     Bake for 9 minutes, rotaing the tray half way                 If you don't have a food processor,

     through baking. Cool on a wire rack and hide                 mince the apricots with a sharp

     them well!                                                                  knife. Blend with flour and proceed.


These are one of those cookies that has that 'X' factor and everyone I've made these for loves them. Hope you do to. Now have I over sold them????????

Magical Place & Today's Favorite Words

 

This was taken @ Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona

It is totally magical in this Canyon. The canyon composed of Navajo Sandstone was formed by erosion due to flash flooding during monsoon season.

The floor is sand and these deeply carved walls are I am guessing 30 feet high. You get to walk through this slot canyon which again I am guessing 600 feet long.

I highly recommend a trip here.  You have to sign up for a tour but  they are totally geared for photographers.  Google it and maybe get reviews as to who to choose to take a tour with. We just signed up with one in the town of Page.  You will need a tripod for sure.  You will be blown away by the beauty, the energy and the majesty of the place. This picture was taken in November 2009. 

Little Old Me

Little Old Me

Still part of my wardrobe

Little old me

draping

sarcastically

ready to retort

I am neither that little or too old

Little old me

oppressively cloaking

as

insignificant

invisible

powerless

Little old me

gloved in false humility

with hand out

taking in

ego pumping

words of adoration

Little old me

outdated thought

that has to go

Has anyone seen my Red Shoes?

Aging-A time to Reflect

I see your soul

Aging-A time to Reflect

Questioning

Where is my worth?

What is important to me?

Where do I want to put my energy?

What is my greatest desire?

Being real, being just who I am

it is enough
It is all anyone wants of me

Choosing love over fear

With love

Not always knowing how to

but knowing willingness is all that is needed

Sitting in Inner Silence

Knowing we are all connected

In the limitless expansiveness that we are

Come sit with me awhile

Be one

And remember who you really are

Who we really are

And we shall laugh, oh we shall laugh.

Maggie Dumbarton 03:02:2010

GUILT

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing.

My favorite words for today:

boon, moose- (my daughter gave me this one), ilk, wholly

The Vintage Man

The
Difference
Between a good artist
And a great one

Is:

The novice
Will often lay down his tool
Or brush

Then pick up an invisible club
On the mind's table

And helplessly smash the easels and
Jade.

Whereas the vintage man
No longer hurts himself or anyone

And keeps on
Sculpting.

Light.

Hafiz 1320-1389

Beauty everywhere

in the

ordinary

often

taken for granted

footprints

ice on bench

a ball of snow that leaves its mark

as it rolls

and casts its shadow

be aware

beauty everywhere.

MY FAVORITE WORDS FOR TODAY

discontinuous, VIGILANCE, eternally, immutable, bounded

Sometimes I come across a word that makes me pause & repeat its' sound over and over as I savour my time with it. Oh to be tickled so easily, for this I am grateful.

Why is it so hard to say God?

While writing my profile I said that what is most important to me is God. It was not easy to put that out there. Why? Of course it has to do with a fear of being judged and dismissed but what is it about the word God that gets me antsy?
I decided to ask God for the answer.
Question: God why is it that I find it so difficult to declare my devotion to you?
Answer: Maggie, it isn't the fear of being judged and dismissed because you believe in God that causes you to be antsy, it is your fear that 'You', all of 'You' will be found 'wanting' if you put yourself out there. If you take a look at other areas of your life Maggie you will see your fear of taking a stand on almost anything and everything. Maggie, let this blog be a safe haven to express what you like and don't like, to express your dreams and fears, to be wholly honest with yourself. Blessings.

So I guess that is a big step putting it out there that I talk to God and he answers. So be it, I am ready to speak my truth.
What a way to start a new year.
Would love to make some connections with you out there.
Love,
Maggie