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.
Farming by the BayNear and FarHistory gathers together in the stability of Rock
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.
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.A family of ducks glide by.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.
I’ve written about Forest Bathing before, the benefits of receiving from our plant friends, but yesterday I walked to Tennessee Valley beach with a friend, and another friend spoke of Beach Bathing. What can we learn from the sea, rocks, and sand?
Today I did Hisorty, an app where you can play with and reconnect with the timeline of history. My son thinks it’s too easy, and it can be, but I like seeing how events align.
From Hisorty: Code of Ur-Nammu: In 2050 B.C. the Sumerian king of Ur issued the earliest surviving written law code, predating Hammurabi by three centuries and laying the foundation for legal systems in Mesopotamia.
And here we are now, being re-introduced to how essential it is to follow the laws of ethics and morality.
Approaching the beachLooking northAnd the waves flow in Looking southwest, the tide whirls in An exuberant splash of connection, water and rockThen calm
It’s the end of the school year for children and teachers. Photos this week are of our grandson receiving a Little League trophy, a self-portrait, a painting with the words Love Is Love, and a camping trip with friends from his pre-school. He couldn’t have a broader, more proud smile. I think of our worry for him a few weeks ago, and can’t stop smiling.
It’s been a major step on the journey. What have I learned? Something beautiful carries us through what is tough. I’m filled with memories of all the help I, and we, received. And, I needed to process it, to let the tension go. Animals know this. They run from danger, then, when safe, pause and rest.
This morning I meditated on sadness. At first, it was personal, and then, it expanded out into sadness for the world, and then, just sadness. The fog is in. The redwood tree waves its branches gently, fanning the air I breathe.
Gratitude is a wreath around me, and I’m the eye, an I that is not separate, is one with beauty, balance, and fear, all strengthened as one.
Poppies pop out of rock on the path!BridgeRetreat to Re Treat!
Today I hiked with a friend on Ring Mountain. When I was a nature guide there in the 1980s, I learned about the Tiburon Mariposa Lily that was discovered in 1971. From the photos, you can see its beauty and elusiveness. It grows on serpentine soil that is surrounded by sandstone, so it never spread, and is protected along with other rare plants that grow on Ring Mountain. It blooms late May and early June, and it’s a gift to see it. The land was previously owned by The Nature Conservancy and is now owned by the Marin County Open Space District.
The Coast Miwok lived and thrived here. When I led groups of children who were in 4th, 5th, or 6th grade, we went through a grocery list of how everything we need to survive is here; food from the bay, acorns from oaks, a buckeye tree, quail, soap root for washing, pennyroyal for tea, tule for boats, beauty, and clean air. The Miwok carved petroglyphs on the rocks facing west.
What do you see?Looking south to San FranciscoI see an otter climbing upon a rockLooking northeast toward the Richmond BridgeShelterMariposa means butterfly – do you see it?Another view of what is elusive and exquisite: the Tiburon Mariposa Lily.
The text just came through to “Fab Fam” from my daughter-in-law.
Great news! The MRI came back. The bone is infected, but there is no abscess. We’re going home with several follow ups scheduled for blood draws to track. Yay!
Well, an infected bone may not be the greatest news, but that there is no abscess which would have required minor surgery to drain is super-good news. And he’ll be home, despite his joyful time at the hospital.
I can’t believe the relief. Again, thank you for all the prayers, lit candles, and support.I felt it, and I know he did too. We all did! Support! Connection! Love!Gratitude! Deep thanks in all ways!!
I’ve been posting about my six-year-old grandson and his time in the Stanford Pediatric hospital.
Today, I learned he would have an MRI. I’ve never had one but I’ve heard about the pounding and the claustrophobia. Yikes! Worry set in stronger than before.
So, how did he do? Well, he feels he’s too old for naps so even with all that’s been going on since Friday, he is clear. No naps. I’m too old for naps.
It’s been painful for him to lie down flat, but somehow when he lay down for the MRI, he fell asleep and slept through the whole thing, and there you have it. Once again, an example of how we meet what comes. No one told him it would be scary. He met it fresh, well, actually asleep, but what’s fresher than that. His adventure continues. He’s currently writing and illustrating a “graphic novel”. I’m curious to see the result after all of this.
If I ever have an MRI, I’ll say to myself, “Great, I’m in need of a nap.”
Thank you all for all the prayers, concern, and care coming his and our way. I’m so grateful!! I’m swimming in tears. Monday I read him Alice in Wonderful. I never really related to the book, but now I “get” it. I’m big. I’m small, and I’m swimming in tears. And perhaps, the whole thing is a dream!!
What’s more dreamlike than Rodeo Beach in the fog and mist?
It’s been raining for three days. We lost power yesterday for almost twelve hours but we have a generator for back-up. I was involved in a workshop on Zoom, Mahamudra and the Luminous Mind: The Third Karmapa’s Aspiration Prayer.
Our aspiration, our prayer was for world peace. The focus was on unifying emptiness and luminosity, on cultivating awareness, love and compassion, and wisdom. This is both simple and complex, so I sit here now honoring the simplicity, the gift of it, even as I read the news of Trump. I’m with the challenge of holding it all with compassion and equanimity.
I’m with these words of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, spoken after the end of World War II, during the military tribunal he organized to hold Japanese leaders accountable for their own horrific war crimes, including the sack of Manila in 1945. “The soldier, be he friend or foe, is charged with the protection of the weak and unarmed. It is the very essence and reason for his being.”
Our commander-in-chief is guilty of war crimes. Let’s hold him accountable. We need to heal.
On another note, I highly recommend Lee Klinger Lesser’s book, Return to Our Senses, A Path to Stability in an Unstable World. It’s a font of guidance and wisdom, and personal examples of how to work with what comes.
She quotes astrophysicist Ethan Siegel: “The air we breathe contains one atom from every breath that every human has ever taken. In fact, right now, if you take a deep breath and then exhale, by the time a year goes by, approximately one atom from that breath will wind up in every other person on Earth’s lungs at any moment in time.”
Like the study of Mahamudra this weekend, that’s hard for me to visualize, and I understand it’s about connection. We’re not separate; we are one! Let’s cleanse and purify the air we share with each loving and compassionate thought and breath. We do it for ourselves, all sentient beings, and our beloved planet Earth.
Earth and SkyMay we slide and climb and build and maintain bridges for All!
My good friend Emma sings with the Threshold Singers of the East Bay. They sing to the terminally ill and dying.They also sing for newborns in the NICU. They sing for those crossing thresholds of birth and dying. I recommend the article and listening to the songs. Be soothed in support.
Cathy's Blog! 