.....lot's of dates in my head

I love deadlines...
I love the whooshing sound they make as they rush by....
unknown

II was talking with an artist friend who is busier than I am...I asked her if she ever felt overwhelmed and scattered as she works at her job as an artist... She told me she used to feel that way often, but she has learned to concentrates on one thing at a time. I tried it and of course it works.
It settles me down and focuses me on the job at hand...eases anxiety.

Another affirmation for staying in the moment.

.....crime scene

This is Augustus, 'Gus' for short..Gus is a lovable whirlwind of curiosity and trouble..He used to be a well mannered city dog...now he is an out of control country dog.

...and Shyla....

Shyla is sweet and loving unless you try to take something from her OR you make the mistake of picking her up...It's not that she minds being picked up...it's when you try to put her down that things turn ugly...she turns into a buzz saw with teeth...

Gus and Shyla are two of my granddogs...I took care of them this past weekend while Daughter #2 went to San Francisco to play....she owes me!!

Maia wanted a close-up too...

...every once in awhile Shyla attacks Gus...I think it's play, but I'm not sure....

I keep her on a leash because she won't go where I want her to and I can't pick her up to take her where I want her to go because then I can't put her down.....I'm scared of her. Gus has to wear a leash because he won't come when called. They are both very, very fast...and always plotting a get-away.

Because I wanted these two two wear themselves out I decided to walk them down to the pond...my beloved Grandson, his dog Buddy, the Bear and Maia came along.

We had a nice long walk, rather uneventful.

When we got home I went straight into the house and into the kitchen to start dinner and what I saw there made my brain glitch....

I saw what could only be blood, blood on the broom closet door...blood on the floor, blood on the bar, blood high up on the walls and blood on the cupboards, blood everywhere....


In what could only have been a seconds many possibilities and a zillion movie crime scenes went through my head.


I took a quick inventory of what animals were with us on the walk, who stayed behind, if I'd left a door open, was the blood that of man or beast and where was the body?....into this horror comes Maia, my Beloved Great Dane and she is covered in blood...
on her back, dripping off her ankles, it was pooling on the floor....
she was the wounded animal....!!!!


I was a little freaked out, there was blood all over her and I couldn't get her settled down to see what had happened. I must have left the door open, she must have come in the house before me, she is hurt! And losing blood....

I patted her down as best I could looking for the injuries and from the looks of things there had to be more then one...the more attention she got the happier she became, it was hard to get her to settle down for a proper inspection...she didn't seem to hurt anywhere I touched.....
in fact she was playful and she was happy.....
the happier she got the more blood I had on me and on the walls,
And I still was not comprehending when Beloved Grandson points out her tail...yep..lot's of blood coming from that moving tail and more with every wag.... more each time she whacked it against me, the table, the bar, etc.

Maia is alright....


It was only her tail and we had to get some of that powder to clot the holes because she is a happy dog constantly wagging her tail and every time she wags it it seems to hit against something and open up again. We don't know what happened to her.....we think she was shot because the wound goes all the way through on the tip of her tail and the holes mirror each other....yes, people do a lot of shooting around here...I'd like to think it was an accident, certainly not intentional.

I was exhausted after cleaning up and from the total emotional stress of all the thoughts that went through my head when I first walked into my kitchen. I'm still finding spots of blood I've missed but thankfully it wasn't as bad as it first appeared.....as is the way with so many things in life.


And that was my weekend memorable moment...

......a little journey with me

I took a little walk with my camera today....
This guardian angel overlooks my labyrinth.
She was here when I bought the property some 30 years ago....
oh my...
such a long time together.

Looking toward the heaven's, thankful for the rain that turned her world so very green.

The much maligned Dandelion....I don't know why?

It's a sunny little flower
...makes good medicine and good wine.

When I carry in my mind and heart things that are causing me anxiety (a realKiller), or I have a question or a prayer...I often write it down and take it to my labyrinth where I will walk with intent and then burn the bit of paper and drop it in this vessel...letting go. (or making a strong effort to let go)...sometimes more is required. l0l
Letting go...
it could be a very long post just about that and how we do it?

Starlight, star bright .....

This is CC...she chose to be my cat...she always walks with me...
and quite often expects to be carried.

Watching the sun rise....

In honor of Grandmother Oak

Young actor portraying Abbie Hoffman...
.a real blast from the past...
here he's speaking about the infamous Democratic Chicago convention in 1968....
I watched the insanity from Houston, Texas where I worked for Operation Breadbasket registering voters.
I thought my the world was coming to an end.
...it was a further loss of innocence.

I went to a peace rally on Sunday.
It was organized by The Fresno Center for Nonviolence....I went with Daughter#2 and our friend Brian...I felt a heavy moment of sadness when we walked in the door...
we are still at war the 21st century....
I went to hear Kathy Kelly, the 3 time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and author of Other Lands Have Dreams, speak.
She has dedicated her life to working for peace.....

Kathy stands witness.
She was in Iraq during Shock and Awe, and in the Gaza during the 22-day Operation Cast Lead. She stands up for her beliefs and has gone to prison because she does...at some point during the speech my daughter turned to me and said...
'mom, I'd be so proud of you if you did a year in federal prison for peace"...lol..
I think she sets the bar a little high!!...

After Kathy got of stage I was able to chat with her a bit...
she has a lot of stories, a lot of things to share.
I found that she has real hope for change...
She thinks people are starting to wake up to the fact that war takes it's toll on all our dreams....
I wonder.

"This is the way of peace: overcome evil with good, and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love."
Peace Pilgrim


I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

....spirits meet via One World One Heart

Look at lovely Lacy, she is a spirited little sprite, and a bit of a flirt...she arrived here from Denise @ Dlynne Artdolls. I was a lucky winner during the One World One Heart event! Little Lacy made friends right away with Miko and they have spent long hours sharing stories of other times and space.

....Small Wonders

Art Hop for the Small Wonders show at Timberline Gallery in Oakhurst is this Saturday. We really do have over 100 pieces of art, 10 inches and under, for $100 and under...lot's of art way under $100, from some very cool artists...Kathleen Maddox, Anita Stoll, Carolyn Hartling, Valerie Runningwolf, David Caris, jacqueline Kurt (you have to see her music boxes), and me, to mention a few...this is a great time to buy for gifts, or to add to or start a collection...So stop by and check out the gallery.

I'll be there from 1pm til 4pm and would love to see you...hug, hug

.....weekend wondering

Where do lost socks go? I have lived in this house soooo long, 1000's of lost socks...they should have a room of their own by now!!

....in my email

It's funny how things work....the research for the post I did yesterday left me jangled, sad, and worried about woman's place in the world...I was going to let go of the story for a bit...but as things often happen...the syncronicity of things...I found this was in my email this morning. It's a simple click to maybe, just maybe, make a difference. Click here to sign the petition...here
hug, hug

...women

Crone, by Ellen Carnese

Isn’t this a beautiful face…? I love it. She talks to me and tells me woman stories. I love women. I happen to think we are amazing. I celebrate women in my art.......and I need to blog about this...

There is femicide taking place in the Congo.


I listen to Free Speech Radio. One of the programs I listen to is Living Room, a daily program about politics, society and culture. Eve Ensler, advocate to stop violence against women and the author of the Vagina Monologues, was a guest last week. She is touring, talking about her new monologue about teenage girls called, I Am An Emotional Creature... and about what is happening to women and girls in the Congo.



I've known about this horrific story for too long. I don't want to know about it....but I listened... you can too)......and I was brought to my knees. She has been there, talked to the victims, it is hard to listen...if you do I believe it's just a few minutes into the broadcast.



There is a war taking place over minerals and the mass rape of women and girls is now a common tactic of war....There is a new word in our vocabulary...'reraped'...these children and women are not just raped, but mass raped, tortured, their insides destroyed. There are over 1000 rapes reported each month...and many, many more that aren't reported....500 thousand or more rapes in an area only twice the size of New York state since the beginning of this war.




We know that women and children, the collateral damage in war torn countries suffer tremendous hardships and crimes against humanity....but by all accounts the Democratic Republic of the Congo is hell.


I know a lot of people don't want to get involved in other countries stuff, their politics...but this isn't about politic. This is about human rights and Unspeakable things are happening there...maybe that is why there is no world outcry...no coverage....no outrage...we don't want to speak of it, it's overwhelming.. Or is it that the world just doesn't care?
Is this racism, colonialism?
What is going on?


So I come to you dear readers...not to bum you out, but in the hopes that you will listen, watch, and read information about the Democratic Republic of Congo...our sisters around the world and our daughters here, need us to speak out...I believe we must bear witness...we must speak....what we allow to happen to one of us, can happen to any one of us. We know what happens when something becomes commonplace, the norm...we know it spreads...the world becomes immune, desensitized..are we already there?. And in our countries, where violence against women and children hasn't gone away, we can't afford not to speak out.



World Leaders and Our President, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, must take action...this femicide is spreading to other countries and will continue to spread if he does not make this an issue. Senator Clinton visited not too long ago and said changes are on the way. Many promises have been made, and much money spent......but the unspeakable goes on.


We can make a difference, we can help.

hug, hug