Poor Neglected Little Blog, Poor Neglected Followers

Just a few things to share.

A fierce conflict
is continually staged
beside the sea.
A damp and noisy game,
greater than the prize.
It is for small fish,
for the most part,
that the players come.

Certain things
preclude other things
in the arranging
of a life. Regret
is madness.

I see now.
No, more than that.
Self-condemned,
he would never
find the magic.
Entrapped, beauty
is betrayed. Yet
the sweetness
remains.

Male, Female,
amorous intrigue
complicated by
the life it sustains.

Once I felt a whole life
pass in front of me
on the horizon.
Big ships work
to maintain contact,
while little tugs work
to maintain contact,
each alone.

Here the small
is delicate.
Lift it up
and the
inevitable
begins.

I could have stayed,
I might have stayed,
but I identified the end.
I always did understand
a bell was ringing,
a band was playing,
slowly drifting,
loitering under
the gold and scarlet
of a new day,
with a heart full of
the thrill of ideas.

 

 

 Here's what I'm thinking. No matter what we do, no matter where we go, no matter what happens, there will always be beauty for open eyes to behold. Let's all keep our eyes open. And our hopes high.

This is my photography, my art and my writing. Please do not copy without permission.

It's very simple, really

Let's open up our hearts

And let in all the love and light

For that's when Christmas starts

Gather round your family

Your neighbors, foes and friends

Don't leave out a single soul

For that's when Christmas ends.

How ever you celebrate this amazing time of year

please accept all of my best wishes

to you and yours.

new post

Dia de los Muertos

Moving to California nearly 30 years ago has brought many interesting things into my life and the celebration of the Day of the Dead with it's altars, sugar skulls and marigolds has been one of the most striking. This takes the All Saints Day and All Souls Day of my Catholic upbringing to new heights and somehow seems to resonate with me.

Here's what I'm thinking. I miss my Dad and am grateful for all of the jokes and family stories he shared. For his concern if he even thought I was having a bad time. For the most important lesson I've probably ever learned; to know it's never too late to own your past behavior. And I am grateful that when he got older, he started calling me "honey".

What is as soothing as the crashing sea?

As much as I cherish the wild beauty of Trail's End, I do love to be near the ocean. I'm not so much an "in"or "on" the ocean girl as I love being "next to" the ocean. You know, a shore bird.

Here's a little peak at the two days we just spent in Laguna Beach. Our room hung out over the sand and the waves crashed and pounded the rocks right under us. Magic...

Looking toward Main Beach, Laguna

 May I see a million sunsets and always be stunned.

Just after dawn. 

Nobody up yet!

The Pacific Edge Hotel is all about The Endless Summer, Cowabunga!


I'm thinking that it is only my arrogance that leads me to believe that I can ever know where I am going. It seems that the paths have chosen me and I think that, regardless of my current plotting, it's happening again.

Ride 'em cowboy!

I have mixed feelings about rodeos. Of course there is a sports medicine trailer right outside the ring and the announcer assures us that the animals are safe, all precautions are taken and there are vets on hand in case of a mishap. But it is hard to watch a cute little calf chased down, roped and tied. I always feel better when they cut them free and the little cuties saunter out of the ring with their heads held high. Seems like it's always a win for them. The bull and bronc riding seems a little more fair. The animals are clearly the winners in many instances and it's the cowboys in these events who seem a bit worse for wear. The barrel racing is exciting and the horses look like they are having the time of their lives, the trick riders are a beautiful marriage of horse and rider and the pageantry, the clowns and the verbal acuity of the announcers are most entertaining. Rodeos seem at least a little more animal friendly than a circus and are way less disturbing than the bull fight I saw years ago in Cancun. Now that I think about it, I think I like them better than a zoo. At least the horses, bulls and even the little calves have an opportunity to get one over on the humans.

Having said that, watching a rodeo is also like a living scrapbook to me. It seems that at least some of these guys are actually working cowboys doing what cowboys have done for ages. I am a bit of a sucker for tradition.

                                                             They have matching faces! 

                                              This looks like a Norman Rockwell to me.

I am surprised I got these, the best of the 100 or so I took. Rodeo's move fast and my shutter doesn't!At any rate, some of you will hate these photos and some of you will love them. I'm going to be plumbing the depths of my soul for awhile yet to decide how I really feel about these spectacles. But I did have a lot of fun. That may have had something to do with the fact that I was with the husband and our granddaughter! The granddaughter used my camera for a bit and got some good shots herself.  The next two are hers.

 I never get tired of taking photos of our beautiful hills and mountains. After 28 years of living here, seeing these everyday, I am still in awe. This rodeo was also a reminder to me that Trails End Ranch is right here in the midst of what was once real cowboy country.

 

It is very late, I should be long asleep. Hopefully I am now tired enough to some shut eye, as the cowboys might say. Here's what I'm thinking; that I'm going to try to cultivate a constant state of wonder, never being too sure about what's right and what's wrong, but keeping my eyes and my heart open while life sorts itself out.