Hello out there dear Blogspot reader.
It has been almost a month since I've posted a blog and I'm considering not posting more. This tablet it not exactly a joy to use for writing and I've still not worked on downloading photos to the tablet in order to post them from here.
For me, the joy is in posting photos first, then comes the sharing of ideas. Mostly typing here is a frustration.
Later, after the desktop is either repaired or replaced, I may pickup blogging again. Thank you for being a reader of A Tree House View.
Margaret
A Tree House View
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Some of the Sights at Tree House
We have fern and fauna and fungi here at Tree House. The big wind and rain storm is over, but for some, not quite yet.
This beautiful evergreen has had too much rain and is leaning. Maintenance has propped it up with boards so it won't take out the fence. (My computer is scrambled and adds ads on various words. If you see them, I am sorry. Computer needs help and will get it as soon as I can.)
When the sun comes out the roses perk up right away and the color is always good to see. There are still buds on the rose bushes.
Mushrooms have pushed through the gravel and old leaves. The oak leaf mold is just what they need to thrive.
And fauna abounds. I have heard and seen coyotes and foxes and during the summer skunks were foraging, at midnight, under this very tree for the bird seed that was dropped on the ground there. And of course birds, Robins, Black Capped Chickadees, Crows, Ravens, Mocking Birds, and various migrating flocks come through on their way to wherever they are going.
There are big differences living here from living alone or in other kinds of apartment buildings. I have 62 neighbors who range from 62 to 100 years of age. Most of these I recognize and we speak almost everyday. Perhaps there are 20 I see several times a week and some of them I have conversations with, go to meetings with, play cards with or have a meal with during the month or every week.
This is the Christmas Party. They hired me to be the caller again this year. We like to eat.
Community Room Christmas Tree
Of those there are a few whom I consider dear friends. Maybe it’s because we've listened to each other's stories and laughed together, we've noted other’s eccentricities and accepted them, that we become more than just neighbors. It may be because we are all older that the understanding, acceptance and patience levels are higher. The downside of living here is that older people become ill or just die more often than those who are younger. This has occurred several times since I’ve lived here, that someone I cared about has died or moved to to a facility with personal care available.
There is something about the light in this picture that I liked.
Why so somber? Perhaps it’s the weather.
With this long stretch of cloudy and wet weather it is good to take advantage of any sunlight that you can. Studies have shown the absence of sunlight creates changes in mood. Just like a sunny day also creates changes in mood. Here is what the latest Smithsonian has to say on recent Sunlight studies Smithsonian article
Wishing my reader, you know who you are, a Merry Christmas. Have a great New Year. Thursday, December 4, 2014
I Am Thankful For You, Dear Reader
I did planed to write a blog about gratitude before Thanksgiving Day, the one day of the year when we are reminded, on a national level, to give thanks for what and who we love. (I am thankful for the the people who love me - my friends and neighbors - in my life)
I am thankful for the beauty of fall outside my door |
Several of my friends are working on gratitude studies and that sounds pretty neat.
I am thankful for the abundance of nature in my life. |
Here is a link to the one Jennifer sent me in an email: http://gogratitude.com/
(I am thankful for my son and his family in my life)
Some time in the early 90s I was listening to tapes by Mary Manin Morrissey. From the internet it looks like she was very popular in the 70s. Here is a sample of what she taught: greatthoughtstreasury.com/author/mary-manin-morrissey
I am thankful for roses. |
So, why is this paragraph different? I don't have a clue. Worked to change it, but no results.
The Swamp is being cleared of some trees. This opens up the view and probably discourages the homeless and others from congregating there. There are times when the litter is pretty bad. I figure I can curse the litter or take pictures of the beauty. There is deep shade in the summer and it is usually very quiet there.
(I am thankful the for this beautiful spot only half a mile from where I live)
(I am thankful the format is only a bit screwed up)
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Local Color and The Great Work
The roses are still blooming
Roses are still blooming here at Tree House |
profusely.
With the cold coming
in and the clouds obscuring the sun no doubt they too will very soon shut down for
the winter.
Matt is almost finished raking the leaves that covered the grass |
One of the perks of living at Tree House is my rent covers all yard maintenance and I don’t have to do a thing.
This is something to be thankful for, but there are times I can only complain about the noise the machines make.
So often it is only the workings of our mind that
separates us from happiness and/or those we love.
In the biblical story about the
Garden of Eden it seems to me eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is a metaphor for our ability to make judgments.
Garden of Eden it seems to me eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is a metaphor for our ability to make judgments.
Perfection of full bloom |
Last Christmas, friend Deneen Peckinpah, gave me a beautiful
calendar with the theme of the writings of Hafiz, a fourteenth century Sufi
poet who became a famous spiritual teacher.
His poems are classics in the
literature of Sufism and mystical verse and were translated by Emerson and read
by Nietzsche and Doyle whose character, Sherlock Holmes, quotes Hafiz.
This morning as I glanced at this calendar I saw this:
“All
I know is love, and I now find my heart infinite and everywhere."
Classical view of a bud near the patio |
Reading this my
heart says,“Yes, I can love and
feel that spaciousness and freedom."
Allowing others to be who they are and welcoming them in my heart.
And yet, my mind seems to be
ever alert to life’s shortcomings
and unfairness.
I believe it is our job to reconcile
our heart and our mind.
What a beauty |
Not by shutting either one of them down, but through integration, allowing them
to merge, to become allies.
Allowing Love and Reason to
become friends.
I don’t
know anyone personally
who has achieved this.
It is no wonder the process of bringing our mind and heart into alignment is called
The Great Work.
Thank you for reading my blog. Feel free to leave a comment.
I love taking pix of these roses. Seems I never really looked at flowers or insects until I began to look at them through the viewfinder on my camera. To be able to capture what I see and share is delightful and fun.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
The Wonder of Fall
Autumn is my favorite season. I love the colors, the cool breezes, the hint of frost,
the incredible blue of the sky. I notice the shadows growing longer and the days a
bit shorter around mid August. Now we are well into November, the harvest is in, Summer activities have faded out. This is the season to assess what we have
harvested this Summer and prepare for Winter.
The roses have all been in a state of stress due to a cut back in the water
used here at Tree House. These last few days of rain have given them new
vigor and they are blooming again.
November has been a great month. Had a good visit with my son, Paul. We
went to the internationally known coffee place, sat outside and had good
conversation. And my grandson, Aaron, came by one afternoon to interview
me for a collage project he is working on. Thoroughly enjoyed visiting with
them both. Pet sitting a couple of days this month. And then there is
Thanksgiving Day when I'll go to the Tree House Pot Luck and visit with my
fellow neighbors and friends.
Thank you for reading thus far and allowing me to share my pictures and ideas with you.
The formatting looks good in draft mode, let's see what the finished product looks like.
the incredible blue of the sky. I notice the shadows growing longer and the days a
bit shorter around mid August. Now we are well into November, the harvest is in, Summer activities have faded out. This is the season to assess what we have
harvested this Summer and prepare for Winter.
The roses have all been in a state of stress due to a cut back in the water
used here at Tree House. These last few days of rain have given them new
vigor and they are blooming again.
Driveway Hybrid Tea Roses |
Another Tea Rose grows near the Tree House patio. The red background, I believe, is a Japanese Maple. |
In Autumn the low, weak Sun casts shadows long and deep |
And all around the tress prepare for Winter's sleep |
Leaves glowing russet, flame and amber whisper their good-byes |
Their Summer secrets they will keep................... until they are scattered in the wind |
Visiting Robins discover the berries are just right |
went to the internationally known coffee place, sat outside and had good
conversation. And my grandson, Aaron, came by one afternoon to interview
me for a collage project he is working on. Thoroughly enjoyed visiting with
them both. Pet sitting a couple of days this month. And then there is
Thanksgiving Day when I'll go to the Tree House Pot Luck and visit with my
fellow neighbors and friends.
Thank you for reading thus far and allowing me to share my pictures and ideas with you.
The formatting looks good in draft mode, let's see what the finished product looks like.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
You Are Free To Make a New Decision
Some trees at the Turtle Bay Arboretum |
I would say you can always make a new decision about you and
your life. The choices, the decisions, you made about yourself and who you are
at the age of 2, 15, 20, 50, 71 or 90 can be remade. You can decide
again and again and again.
Strange flower found at the Turtle Bay Arboretum |
So often we follow the guidelines of our parents or family traditions.
We don’t think of what and who we are or want to be, which may be different.... or
the same.
A personal example: because my mother always ordered cheesecake for
dessert, as a child I thought it was the best and always loved cheese cake. But somewhere
in my 30s I wondered if I really liked this sour, mushy stuff and decided I didn't.
The same flower after being drenched with rain. |
Family traditions may be conservative or liberal, agnostic or
religious. Sometime in our life, if we are to grow, thrive, evolve, we start
thinking for our self and doing and being what is true for us. So I would encourage
all to make new decisions about who they are. We don’t have to be the same all our
lives or make the same decisions all our lives.
The question is, “What if I make a wrong decision?”
In the 70s I read
Jerry Jampolsky’s book "Teach Only Love" in which he says there are only two
emotions, love and fear. Around the same time I read Theo’s book on "Meditation" in which he says we experience only two feelings or vibrations, expansion or contraction.
Tree House driveway rose |
I would answer there are no wrong decisions, but there are
always, always consequences. Consequences are not 100 percent good or bad. They
may be mostly freeing, filling you with joy and love. Or they may be mostly constricting,
filling you with fear and pain. If you’ve made a decision that is freeing, that
enables you to grow and thrive, that fills you with joy, now or in the past,
then it could be called good. If it is constrictive and painful, if you are not
thriving, it could be called bad.
Rose bud also along the Tree House driveway |
Making the same decisions over and over through the days and years of
our life is how we keep our lives the
same. Should our life be constrictive or less than what we need to thrive the
power to change our experience from constricted to expansive is always today.
Going to seed? |
Our local Mt. Shasta. Taken Nov. 1st. |
Choose what nourishes you
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Haiku and Pictures
Around Home I especially like the cool mornings before staff comes on and
the chance to walk around and notice the mountains to the east, Lassen, and
Fall day, blue sky, Sun
casting shadows on the lawn
Life waits winter's sleep
Haiku is a Japanese form of verse containing three lines. The first and last lines are 5 syllables and the middle line is 7. The idea is to juxtaposition two images or ideas. I’m just a beginner and spend most of my thinking energy figuring out the syllables. I like the gentle quality of haiku and the effort of creating an image with so few words. Traditionally haiku is about the seasons. Should you want to know more about Haiku click here.
Another haiku effort
October rose blooms
in the cool shadows of fall
we also bloom here
the chance to walk around and notice the mountains to the east, Lassen, and
Mt. Shasta to the north. Also take a few pix of flowers and the birds.
Note: Discovering the formatting with the pictures on one side or the other does not hold from draft to preview to publishing Blog spots Blogger. So, for now, it's back to this even though I like the other way better.
One Sunny Morning took this picture and wrote a haiku.
Note: Discovering the formatting with the pictures on one side or the other does not hold from draft to preview to publishing Blog spots Blogger. So, for now, it's back to this even though I like the other way better.
Tree House morning and autumn's deep shadows on the lawn |
Fall day, blue sky, Sun
casting shadows on the lawn
Life waits winter's sleep
Haiku is a Japanese form of verse containing three lines. The first and last lines are 5 syllables and the middle line is 7. The idea is to juxtaposition two images or ideas. I’m just a beginner and spend most of my thinking energy figuring out the syllables. I like the gentle quality of haiku and the effort of creating an image with so few words. Traditionally haiku is about the seasons. Should you want to know more about Haiku click here.
October rose with green background |
Another haiku effort
October rose blooms
in the cool shadows of fall
we also bloom here
Another day took camera and went to the river near Sun Dial bridge. The ducks and geese were cooperative and did some great posing for me.
This guy knows who and what he is |
Cutie |
Looks like this duck is resting on the branch, but it is in the water, the branch on the shore. I thought the perspective was interesting. |
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