Cathy's Blog!

Posted on June 29, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Bedpans

My friend has now been in the hospital and a skilled nursing facility for almost two weeks. She is still using a poorly designed bedpan. Her spirits are good, and yet, there is this one issue. She’s looked on Amazon for possibilities, but so far, no luck. Is there anyone out there with the creative skills to find a solution to this very important problem?

What I’m seeing in her healing confinement is the reminder that though we might feel we’re not contributing when we’re stuck in one place, we actually are. When I was going through chemo and radiation, a friend pointed out I was a still point for those around me.

I was the eye, the calm, the center of the hurricane that life can sometimes be. My friend in her bed is truly present for her friends, for all those who come around, and as we rummage around in life’s emotion, distraction, and confusion, she offers clarity, humor, and insights.

Thank you Patty.

History gathers together in the stability of Rock

Posted on June 28, 2026 by Cathy Edgett · 2 Comments

Light

Tonight I sat outside with the light of the almost full Strawberry moon. Creatures scurried around in the ivy below the deck.

I thought of the words of Hafiz:

What does light talk about?

I asked a plant that once,

It said, “I am not sure,

but it makes me

Grow”.

That brought me to the words of Annie Dillard in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek:

I cannot cause light; the most I can do is try to put myself in the path of its beam. It is possible, in deep space, to sail on solar wind. Light, be it particle or wave, has force: you rig a giant sail and go. The secret of seeing is to sail on solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff.

And then I came to the words of Nelson Mandela:

It is never my custom to use words lightly. If twenty-seven years in prison have done anything to us, it was to use the silence of solitude to make us understand how precious words are and how real speech is in its impact on the way people live and die.

Posted on June 27, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Nature

The summer issue of Orion magazine is all about whales. Reading about how we were born in the sea, came to land, and then, some chose to return to the sea is thrilling in showing our need for exploration, adaptation, community, and diversity.

Reading the news today, I contrast killing and greed with the Southern Resident orca named Tahlequah. In 2018, she mourned the death of her newborn calf by carrying it on her head and pushing it through the Salish Sea for 17 days. She covered 1,000 miles.

Each day, we’re exposed to a need to grieve. Each day we read of more people hurt by the policies of the Trump administration and other leaders around the world. We share one planet. Can we learn from what surrounds us, our ancestors, our kin, the birds, the sea, the whales?

A Screech Owl comes to live in a friend’s garden, invited by an Owl House.

Posted on June 26, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Thrill of a Flexible Neck

This is a fascinating article on the Beluga whale and its movable neck. You’ll value yours even more after reading this article: https://orionmagazine.org/article/looking-back/

A Great White Egret with its trigger neck!

Posted on June 25, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Community

I was in Redwood City yesterday and spent time in Red Morton Park where my grandson was attending a half-day Circus Camp. I walked around amidst an array of summer camps: soccer, skateboarding, woodworking, baseball. The grounds are beautiful and there’s a new senior center. Rainbow Bridge playground is inspirational for all ages. I even slid down a slide.

Inside a playhouse at Rainbow Bridge Playground

Posted on June 24, 2026June 24, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Touch

Yesterday I visited a friend at a Skilled Nursing facility in San Rafael. Everyone was lovely, and I helped the physical therapist with rehab for my friend which was minimal and painful movement in her condition. The physical therapist emphasized touch, intention, and connection. She said to imagine the bones coming together to heal, to not speak the intention, but to imagine and visualize the movement. The body responds to pictures, images. We visualized water, bones flowing like water. In visualizing, we touch, heal, connect.

I then went to the Las Gallinas sanitation facility where there are reclamation ponds providing nesting areas and homes for birds, and respite for those who walk around the ponds, sit on benches, and photograph the scenery and birds.

Egret rests on a nest on an island in the center of the pond.

Two egrets, one a sentry, and the other in flight.

The north side of Mt. Tam in the background

And as I post, my phone alerts me to an earthquake detected. I’m advised to “Drop, Cover, Hold On, Protect Yourself”. And all seems calm in the moment. I hear my gate rattle but all seems intact. Life. Never dull these days. Invitations to notice and connect with what’s happening abound.

Posted on June 22, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Above the Fog

I love the fog but today, after my dentist’s appointment, I needed summer warmth and smells so I drove to the top of Mt. Tam.

The ocean lies hidden below and beyond the hills

Switchbacks on the path coming up from the south

Looking East, Mt. Diablo rises from the fog

Posted on June 19, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Each Moment

Where I live we often hear sirens heading out highway 1, especially on the weekends. There’s always a feeling of sadness for whoever is affected and what has happened. One never expects it to be someone you know, but this time it was. A good friend fell asleep driving back from Commonweal. Her car went off the side of the embankment on Panoramic highway and her car with her in it fell and turned over for 200 feet. It was quite a rescue effort, involving our local agencies. She’s in the hospital and she’s alive. She will heal.

I sit with it. My father died in an accident. It brings up fragility, something I’ve lived with since I was 19. Like that, a person you love can be gone. Take care – give care to yourself and those you love.

Posted on June 19, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Sausalito

We were married June 19, 1971 so 55 years ago. We celebrated by spending the night in Sausalito where I took a slew of photos, and this morning had great fun interacting with a Great Blue Heron. Being in Sausalito in the mist skews distances, so, at times, I felt as though I could have been here with the Coast Miwok sailing across the bay in a tule boat.

Rainbow splashing down over Angel Island when we returned from dinner last night.

A Great Blue Heron enjoying the mudflats at low tide.

Posted on June 16, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Misted

I walked Tennessee Valley early this morning in an environment wet with mist. I walked with these words from Neil deGrasse Tyson.

We are part of this universe; we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the universe is in us.

Immersed, I was surrounded with birds singing, flying, scurrying, feasting. I noticed the changing smells and the array of greens. I thought of algae changing the color of the reflecting pool in Washington D.C. to green. Plants rule, and yes, “the universe is in us”, and it’s for us to notice and live aware.