The Power Of A Single Sentence

All That Is/ Spirit/ God, is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in your favor.

Quote For The Day

"Selfish, adj. Devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others."
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), [The Devil's Dictionary, 1906]

Quote For The Day

"The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time."
Abraham Lincoln

Quote For The Day

“There is no disguise that can for long conceal love where it exists or simulate it where it does not.”

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Day In Haiku

Waves of heat beat down

Making everyone crazy

By dizzy degrees

Quote For The Day

“The fence of wisdom is silence.”

Rabbi Aqiba ben Joseph

Quote For The Day

“Don’t be yourself. Be someone a little nicer. “

Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author (1913-1983)

Ode To A/C

by Florence Ondré


On breath of heat from throated sun
Wilting like wildflowers coming undone
I take to the coolness of human made things
Like iced air from machines puffing up my wings
With sweet respite from seasonal mariahs
Pavement a baking with nature's fires
Drink in through pores smoothing the skin
Feeling the softness of my soul within
Sinking into comfort; a raw relief
From second to second restores belief
Feeling pleasure over pains
Enjoying both natural and invented gains
Creativity born from mind and need
Is a helpful and beautiful thing indeed.
So, hail to inventors of all kinds
Who flow energy to fruition from their minds.
I think of you all in gratitude
As the air of conditioning smooths my mood.

Day In Haiku

Thought it was Friday

Morning brought Thursday again

Where has my mind gone?

Quote For The Day

“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.”

Madeleine L’Engle, writer (1918-)

The Gratitude Pool

It's great to be alive and, though on some days I don't feel so, there is some small nugget which catches my soul's eye and calls, "Take me to your heart, I'll fit."

Day In Haiku

Summer sun and winds

Flowers blooming prettily

Ah, so nice. Achoo!

SHHHHHH, You Know Who Is Here

by Florence Ondré


In the early morn, UPS trucks were scudding up and down streets like Dumbledore's Army, leaving hefty square packages with 'the beloved name' on them inside screen doors, in apartment post boxes, on porches and house steps.
The lucky had been to midnight parties, celebrating the moment each tome could be purchased...12:01 AM; one minute after midnight.
Children of all ages, right up to excited adults, wore their cloaks, sorting hats, Mrs McGonagle feathers and Mad Eye Moody eye patches.
The silence of the night extended to bright, blue-sky day and still not a peep. Children of Saturday riotously going about their business of play seemed missing from the scene.
Everywhere was quiet. Not a human voice was heard in the entire neighborhood.
All was a hush over the land.
The books had been delivered.
And all that could be heard, was the sound of...reading.

Quote For The Day

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly."
Siddartha Guatama Buddha

Quote For The Day

“It might be a good idea if the various countries of the world would occasionally swap history books, just to see what other people are doing
with the same set of facts.”

Bill Vaughan, journalist (1915-1977)

Day In Haiku

Birdsong in sunshine

Leaves stir; winddancing; calling

Open all windows!

Quote For The Day

"Reasonable people will understand."
Owen Lager, composer and musical director

Quote For The Day

“An open mind is a prerequisite to an open heart.”

Robert M. Sapolsky, neuroscientist and author

Quote For The Day

"Shift Happens."
Florence Ondré

The Gratitude Pool

Who would have thought a full night’s sleep would rate so high on the Richter scale of things most cherished?

Not getting up once to have to pee or rub analgesics on or take a pain pill; wow!

Feeling comfortable in any sleep position without body parts grouching or complaining or keeping zzz’s away until you black out from sheer fatigue: double wow!

Talk about your natural highs; without cliff hanging in any way whatsoever!

And this comes my way after a day of intense spine and neck pain to the point of nausea, after a morning acupuncture session, afternoon grocery shopping and forgetting to eat all day.

I am the most surprised woman on the planet and happily so.

I thank the Angels, Master Healers of the Universe, ancestors and loved ones crossed over and God for any and all help in giving me this most luxurious gift…a full night’s restfull-and I do mean full-sleep.

How sweet it is to stretch in the morning with ease; to feel the softness of sheets and the comfort of bed and pillow; to love my body’s elasticity.

What awe to find that the clock announces 9:30AM instead of 3, 4, 5 and 6AM after gettinginto bed at midnight.

I am so thankful that shift happens!

Day In Haiku

Grr, whirr, buzz, clank, bam!
What summer sounds awaken me?
Mow, blow and go show.

Quote For The Day

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him (*or her) up on the phone whenever you felt like it."

J.D. Salinger

*gender update

The Gratitude Pool

I’m grateful today for the tiniest bit of ease.

A breath of cool air in the middle of a non breathable, hot day; the moistness of water as it slakes the dryness of one’s throat; the softness of cotton on the skin; a bit of food to delight the tongue and stem the stomach’s rumblings; the ability to move one’s limbs; a smile; a kind word; rest in safe harbor at the end of the day…all are precious moments of noticing good, like patches of Silver Swords on the slopes of a volcano.

There is enough pain, frustration, disappointment and discomfort pounding down around us in the workplace, home responsibilities, interactions and expectations to cause a giant “Arrgghh!” to rise Heavenward.

They don’t call it the daily grind for nothin’.

Quote For The Day

"For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work."
Doug Larson,Olympic Gold Medalist (1902-1981)

Quote For The Day

"How can they say my life is not a success? Have I not for more than sixty years got enough to eat and escaped being eaten?"
Logan Pearsall Smith, essayist (1865-1946)

Day In Haiku

Sunshine and sea song
Visit on the Breeze Express
Springtime nears Summer

Quote For The Day

"I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything."
Steven Wright, comedian

The Gratitude Pool

More than time to dip the toe in the pool of gratitude.

I’m so grateful to write online again after 4 months of not being physically able. I’m grateful for rest and replenishment and grateful to have become more acutely aware of the need for balance in the expenditure of that precious commodity-my energy.

I’m grateful for oxygen getting to my brain and brightening my senses and for every physical ability this amazing thing called a body can do—especially healing itself…if only I give it the honor of resting time in which to complete its resetting and restructuring in ways better than I can imagine.

I’m grateful to know also that, no matter what anyone else thinks, I am just perfect wherever I am in the process of healing. There is no “too slow” or “too fast.” There is only perfection in each moment and the less I struggle against what is, the better I go…(or not).

In Light and Love,

Florence

Quote For The Day

"You can't be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet."
Hal Borland, journalist (1900-1978),

Quote For The Day

“I am now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town.
A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself.”

Emily Bronte

**make that “sensible person, please.” Florence Ondré

Day In Haiku

Up at crack of noon
Day has become my nightime
Catch me on flipside

Quote For The Day

“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.”

Yasutani Roshi, Zen master (1885-1973)

Quote For The Day

“The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you except yourself.”
Rita Mae Brown, writer

Quote For The Day

"The older I grow, the more I listen to people who don't talk much."
Germain G. Glien

4 Months In Haiku

Where did the time go?
Dropped in tracks on road to Hell
No intentions paved.

WTF Next?

by Florence Ondré

First it was Pluto not being a planet any more and now it’s screwing with time.

Are these the latest stupid human tricks or can we not find something larger to do with our shpielkes?

Can’t that overactive energy be channeled into something more beneficial like creating a better education system which truly motivates organic skills and talents beyond rote and is available for all children in this country?

Can man be still for one moment and appreciate what is without having to jiggle their legs up and down like a plugged in electrical dandling machine going no where fast?

We've all seen people sitting down; one leg still moving up and down like a racing engine idling in neutral. Why not go further with that available energy? Better than windmills, what about recycling the idea of people standing at their desks on treadmills? Why hasn't our government or think tanks thought about hooking them up to power generators? That alone could have corporations making their own power and helping us out with our energy crunches. Of course there'd have to be a little something-something extra in the paycheck or as corporations often do in lieu, a new title might have to be bestowed. Now, that is green usage of alternative energy sources.
But then there would be the tangles of how to market, outsource, monitor and manage the whole ferschlugginer thing. After all waste is a terrible thing to mind.

Is it just me or could our energy and time be put to better use?

Wouldn’t you rather see a cure for cancer, AIDS or a multitude of other diseases which have had people waiting years and lifetimes for a glimpse of help from science and scientists?

Bending time to suit a few humans; downgrading age old planets, yeah, that’s where I want my tax dollars to go for research and lawmaking. Yup. That’s where I want my representatives in government to focus.

Forget trivial things like top quality healthcare, and housing for everyone. Let’s get Congress to declare more paid holidays so we can enjoy that extra daylight they’ve just rearranged for us. War? Well, hey, there’s more daylight to see your enemy in. Oil gouging? Wait a sec. There’ll be less energy usage because you won’t have to put the lights on in your house as much, even though the same amount of SUV’s and trucks will be guzzling gas, lining pockets of oil robber barons and fuming up the atmosphere. Safety on those highways and byways? Material for plugging up the potholes in our roads? Sorry. No new research or materials there. We’re busy with the business of tinkering with time.

Don’t get me wrong. I can certainly smile at humans shifting the light to give everyone more of that commodity. Who of us couldn’t use more light in our lives? I can hear Angels laughing as we “lighten up.”

I do have concerns though.

Halloween is gonna be all messed up. There won’t be enough dark for the trick or treaters now that Congress has put this massive effort and funding into moving minutes around like tiles on a game board. You know how woosie it is to dress up like a vampire with the sun still shining.

I’d just like to see all that energy, science and funding go toward creating peace on this planet one day soon…that is IF Earth still is a planet.

You never do know…..tick tick tick.

Quote For The Day

“History is a vast early warning system.”

Norman Cousins, editor and author (1915-1990)

Day In Haiku

Let us cross over

‘Attraversiamo’ gifts

Visits to learning



*Thanks http://whitishrabbit.wordpress.com for the gift of insight into that Italian expression which opens windows and doors, leaving the opportunity for new gifts to be shared as we all “cross over” and visit each other’s blogs.

"Out On A Limb"

by Florence Ondré

Awakening to another day of wild winds, bitter cold and sunshine instead of snow, this March day also brings me sweet chirping in the symphony of branches dancing on my window screens.

Mother Birdsong amps up notch to octave notch, letting the world know that someone has interrupted her lullaby for her little ones. “Tweety tweet tweet,” warble back the Greek chorus of feathered cherubs, as they practice for their own symphonies to come. Rehearsal is necessary for all life’s performances.

I lay in my warm bed, covers keeping me toasty warm as I stretch and lean to peek at the show outside my shade, finding nothing unusual or interesting in the high branches of a yet-to-bud cherry blossom tree but a dark nest looking object which turns out to be, upon closer inspection, a deep, navy blue ball which has lodged in the outstretched limbs between my neighbor’s house and mine. A weird gift from the next door daily children’s chorus of laughter and shreiks; game playing and ball tossing; “Chatter, chatter, chatter.”

Kids- whether in trees, bushes or on the ground; feathered, furred or skinned are practicing something or other that will stand them in good stead as they grow.

I’m just up here on the second floor noticing…and smiling.

Quote For The Day

“There is no passion to be found in playing small - In settling for a life that is less than what you are capable of living.”
Nelson Mandela

Quote For The Day

"Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination."
Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher (1889-1951)

The Gratitude Pool

Oh Spring breezes with out sneezes

Tulips growing

Colors showing

Sunshine glowing

On every living thing

Walking or on wing

Life is on the thrive

It’s good to be alive!

C-C-C Coping

by Florence Ondré

Since I've fractured my foot and had to stay off it totally for over 2 weeks now and am looking at more like 4 weeks of being third base, I've been put to the test of humility. Humble pie has raged with pride and being in the position of having to ask for help with every little thing has been alternately hard as sharp nails and soft as loving touch.
There is no other way to say it than sandpapering the soul is most of the middle ground of this accident added to my spine disability.
Raised on a steady diet of you-can-do-it-for-yourself and if-you-don't-do-for- yourself-no-one-else-will is still cemented in me like bedrock resisting the chisel.
As much as I know that in my disability, I am someone else's turn to grow in giving and my own opportunity to balance my energy of giving with receiving, I still chafe against not being able and feel like a burden.
When I need something and have to call for help, hearing a groan, moan or umph of air expelled confirms my worst suspicions that no matter how loved I am, I am a pain in someone's ass.
And the tenor of energy paving each tending to my task is as important as words which say, "I'm here for you. What do you need? How would you like that?" or "You're asking too much. You have to have it done your way. Why didn't you ask for that when I was in here the first time."
To me, anything smacking of those last three is the SST straight to hurt and anger.
Getting my needs met with a snarl or a diatribe of discussion of an array of choices of how else the need can be met other than what I asked for, just adds insult to injury.
All that goes through my brain is, "What? Am I speaking a foreign language here? I don't remember outsourcing to get a glass of water and an Advil!"
Today, I took yesterday's quote by Christopher Morley, “Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water,” and I cried- several times- because it is hard and it hurts to be disabled and lack of compassion in communication adds to that hurt.
I get it that everyone's needs will sometimes overlap and that sucks for the handicapped person in the can't-do situation.
That pushes me past hurt to say, "Screw it!" and try to do the very things that will injure me more...like hobbling in pain and winding up smacking my fractured foot on whatever piece of furniture snags me instead of asking for assistance.
Just for today, or I should say moments in this day, a song from a broadway show entitled "It sucks to be me!" is rambling around my brain.
Will I get past this?
Yes.
And I'll still communicate forthrightly as plainly and straightforwardly as I can. No. I'm not shutting up or shutting down or making myself smaller in any way-even though I feel shrunken into myself often in this process of healing and hampering.
I'll regain my sense of humor and positive attitude - after the pain of the project of showering like a flamingo on one foot; trying to be a magician getting the soles clean and cared for like an inflight contortionist.
But first, I'm gonna let the water out of the heavy clouds in my heart and cry.

Quote For The Day

“Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water.”

Christopher Morley, writer (1890-1957)

Quote For The Day

“Sometimes doing nothing is doing everything.”
Kate Belle, writer, philosopher and teacher of joy.

Day In Haiku

Firs dance in the wind
Like ballerinas gone wild
Effervescently

Quote For The Day

"A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease."
John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914)

The Price Of Winter Fun

by Florence Ondré

Extra pain meds per day for those aches which tell you some precipitation is coming- and soon: Pennies

Fines for those overdue library books that couldn't be returned because of the latest snowstorm which took a surprising new approach from the forecaster's prediction: Nickels

Gas use incurred for forgetting half of what was on shopping list and having to go back out in sleet- one more time: Dimes

Parking in the city- if you can find an available one without mountains of black snow in it: Quarters

Running out of toilet tissue- in the middle of a blizzard: A few dollars ---for paper and gas.

Extra food bought and wasted because the weatherperson said there was a blizzard coming and only rain showed up: $20 to $30 plus

Toilet repair needed because the innards kept secretly pumping water into the tank nonstop for months: $300

Sewer bill for the unnoticed extra water flow: $100 -per month

Leaking roof over one room of house: $980

Repair two months after for same leaking roof in the middle of a Nor'easter, plus windows and storm door damages: Thousands

Going outside barefoot in subzero temps, tripping and fracturing one's own foot - on top of years of medical bills for spinal injury and still going strong: Hundreds of thousands

A mountain of Arrgghh! to go with: Pricless!

Day In Haiku

Housebound and ice held
Winter's embraceable grip
Pins my self to peace

Quote For The Day

“To find a person who will love you for no reason, and to shower that person with reasons, that is the ultimate happiness.”

Robert Brault, software developer, writer (1938- )

The Gratitude Pool: Taking The Plunge or Getting Submerged?

by Florence Ondré

The challenge to find a grain of gratitude in the middle of your own personal besetting of travails is daunting and yet doable.

Sitting down to write at least one thing I can find in which to be grateful is a snap on the good days and at times when I take a rare glimpse at the nightly newscast. It’s no biggy to feel grateful for the roof over your head and heat in your home while you see so many without one or the other in the middle of subzero temps and blizzards.

Sure, in the face of cataclysms which dwarf your own ills, it’s a hell of a lot easier to get perspective and toss in the towel of temptation to dismiss your own troubles as smaller or no thing to whine about. “Look, at least I have a walker or crutches,” you can say when you see thousands of people dying in a stadium in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina wiped out the very ground of earth, family and way of life. That’s a first level of gratitude expressed from the “Thank God I at least have___!” form of appreciation of what you do have no matter what your daily struggle may be. That’s getting down to the nitty gritty on the fast train.

What I find as laudable and life sustaining is finding gratitude in myself that, though as tiny as an irritating grain of sand in my shoe, may grow into a pebble or a boulder of being grateful for that which stops me in my tracks, makes me reach down to acknowledge the irritant, get grateful that I can actually feel it and be open to what comes next in the Universe’s lesson of awakening awareness in me in that moment.

As I notice that the sand is rolling around under my foot in my shoe, I can be thankful that I have a foot, a shoe, feeling in my extremities, ability to stop, to choose to empty my shoe, drop off the sand in its next area of residence, look and really see what is around me where I’m stopping. Then get grateful for my abilities in what ever state they are, be glad for eyesight (maybe there are beautiful flowers in a nearby garden or strip of concrete or a car coming at breakneck speed to run a light which might have knocked me out of my Earthsuit), sense of smell (perhaps a wind off the ocean brings a clean aroma of nature to brighten my intake of oxygen or a hint of gas that might be leaking invisibly under the street that needs someone to report it for repair). Experiences which if not for the grain of sand in my shoe and my stopping might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Sometimes, gratitude shows up like today. I’m hurting in more places than I can remember hurting at one time and I’m about to throw a shoe at God, Angels, Universe, whoever’s out there or up there. I’m tired of finding the good in a boatload of crap and wondering what the Hell I could have done to deserve one more freeking health challenge; one more ounce of unleavened ache.

Yeah, I know that is not the question. But today I don’t much give a shit. It’s freezing outside. The heating bill will be astronomical. After 8 years of disability from a spinal injury, leaving me challenged to stand, walk or sit-especially on my left side -with no let up of pain in sight and no help from the medical field; a weird undiagnosed, unsolved mystery glue contamination on every inch of my body, house and grounds for the last 8 months; a spiky pain which appeared in the middle of one night weeks ago in my left toe, which feels like a sliver of glass is in there but has no outward, discernible cause and a now a fractured right foot, I mostly am embarrassed to even tell anyone there’s another catastrophe. I’m left thinking why bother anymore. Who the heck will want to hear another sob story? Who will believe this woman who touts gratitude as a benefit which greases the wheels of life making things easier, better, more positive, is anything but a sham, a bs er, a great big advertisement for anything else but gratitude?

Then, after a good cry or yell, I look outside my window to the backyard where the neighborhood cats are ice-skating and the squirrels are running across the utility wires with big snow balls in their mouths to try to tuck them into their nests in the trees. It's comical. I can’t help but laugh and be grateful I hobbled on my walker, snap crackling and popping from the bubble wrap taped on each hand-hold to try to ease my hands (one of which was fractured years ago and now aches from the daily pressure put on it by having to use crutches or a walker to get around the house). I notice how the dog whips his head up from his bed at the sound of the barrage of tiny explosions of air as the chambers of bubbles burst under my hands. I’ve become my own noisemaker in the party of life.

How could I not notice and laugh at myself, as well as the critters outside? We’re all just doing our best to get through the day, tending to basics. Somehow a bit of humor creeps in to bring a bit of happy to my misery.

And somehow, I feel grateful that I can lighten up. I can have gratitude and griping. The gratitude seems to soften my edges like the laughter lifts my spirit and the cumulative boulders I shoulder become bearable.

Do I want more or wish for things to be different? Yes. When pain is high and I’m caught in a body that finds another way not to work, yes I do with a vengeance of the fibers of my being reaching past shredded limits which scream, “Now! I want my miracle now! Heal me now!” I shriek inside with all manner of negotiating, bargaining about how I’ll do so much good if only I can have back my body that works.

On those days, after embracing my feelings, all of them; messy and unmanageable, I turn my mind to find what I have to be grateful for and treasures emerge around me in lessons of patience with myself, which radiate out as patience with others; a pleasure in accepting the goodness in me which also ripples out; enjoyment of what I can accomplish. Seeing the places where I cannot do for myself becomes dignity for someone else getting to feel good about helping me.

My physical disabilities have brought me the opportunity to meet and interact with angels in the helping professions of western and complementary health care, who stretched their own limits to partner with me in care that was best for me as an individual-not the usual rote. Were it not for my need, I’d never have had the occasion to meet these wonderful caring souls who enriched my path thus far.

Though I want to be healed and healthy again, I’m grateful for those who came into my life in compassion and kindness; who shared their own expertise and skills to enrich my life. They have nourished my being so I can do the same.

They got real with me and acknowledged that what I go through each day is hard and they don't think I’m Typhoid Mary or a magnet for all that is crummy in life. These wonders offset the people who meet my next calamity or loss of physical ability with, “What did you do now?” or “How could you be so dumb as to…?” or the hand wringers who moan and groan, “Oh, no not again…”

Just for today, I choose to be thankful that I’m not hand wringing even though I feel overwhelmed.

Just for today I will not overtax my immune system or energy field with what ifs, if onlys, and whys? My choice is to look at those cats and squirrels and the sun glinting off the ice field covering our neighborhood, to laugh at my own noisemaking and have a party on my couch with a good movie to watch; an interesting book to read; a stack of crackers with cheese and something cool or warm to drink, my meds if I need them, a good partner who loves me and helps me so much, the energy of unconditional love from the dog who plasters himself right up against the legs of my walker to be close to me; quiet and safety in my home; indoor plumbing; a bed and comfy covers for sleeping; electricity; heat and a bouquet of tulips opening slowly in the vase in my window from my honey; calls, e-mails or check-ins from friends who haven’t gotten tired of the same ol same ol and a mind that can still find the pony in a room full of horse pocky.

Meet you at the table on the other side where we can all look back and share our experiences of the many things we enjoyed and learned while here in Schoolroom Earth.

I’m thinking we’re in the advanced class!

A Valentine Vision

A Valentine Vision
February 14th, 2007

Happy Valentines Day!

Today, I was stuck indoors with a fractured foot, feeling like love was the last thing on my list. A 40 to 50 mile an hour winds off the ocean Nor’easter has covered our world with ice; transformed pavement into skating avenues and frozen every outside form into fantastical sculptures. Looking out my windows, there was startling beauty and life unexpected popping into vision, which I realized was meant to share. Here is what I saw…

Close your eyes and picture this Valentine Vision Gift for you:

Ice encrusted branches of crystal limbs of hedges with red berries…each one a Ruby in a Diamond ice ball; all gracefully dancing in the wind, and, in the solid ice branches of the leafless Maple tree, one bright red Cardinal alights to sing a snowy song of Valentine hello to remind you that you are loved.

Many Blessings in Light and Love,

Florence Ondré

Quote For The Day

"It is better to have loafed and lost than never to have loafed at all."
James Thurber, writer and cartoonist (1894-1961)

Life Backwards

This just sent to me by my sister-in-law, Marilyn. Don’t know the author but whoever you are, thanks for the laugh. It’s winter doldrum time and I needed that. Thought I’d put it out here for anyone else who might need a chuckle for the day.

In Light & Love, Florence

*************

Sitting here retired, I finally observed what life is:

I want to live my next life backwards.

You start out dead… and get that out of the way.
Then you wake up in an old age home feeling better every day.
Then you get kicked out… for being too healthy.
Enjoy your retirement … and collect your pension.
Then when you start work…, you get a gold watch on your first day, or in my case a check.
You work 40 years… until you’re too young to work.
You get ready for High School…. drink alcohol, party, and you’re
generally promiscuous.
Then you go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, and you
have no responsibilities.
Then you become a baby, and then…
You spend your last 9 months floating peacefully in luxury, in
spa-like conditions - central heating, room service on tap, and then…
You finish off as an orgasm.
I rest my case.

Rose Petals and Rust

by Florence Ondré

In reading over Esther Warner Dendel’s words, “It takes a certain maturity of mind to accept that nature works as steadily in rust as in rose petals,” it occurs to me that while my mind, which is hooked up to that portion of my training as a human being in this lifetime that tells me that I must be doing something every minute of the day, has a tug of war with the muscles of my body which are saying, “Stay still. Be quiet. Do no thing.”

When things are not seeming to go fast enough for my satisfaction, these are wonderful words which remind me that nature/spirit has a plan and ways of bringing everything to a divine order and fruition. Everything really is in its own right place and right time.

It really is a maturity stage to arrive at and linger upon; loving as much the rust forming and the rose petals unfolding.

It is in the eye of the beholder and the mind of maturation where the loveliness of both can say, “Ahhhhhhh!”

As I sit back and take a breather, I find that I don’t mind this process at all.

Quote For The Day

"It takes a certain maturity of mind to accept that nature works as steadily in rust as in rose petals."
Esther Warner Dendel, writer and artist(1910-2002)

Quote For The Day

“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.”
Albert Einstein

Veddy Interesting...

This just sent to me by a friend:

“This year, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union address occur on the same day. And as it has been pointed out, “It is an ironic juxtaposition of events: One involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, while the other involves a groundhog.”

Thanks go to the author and apologies to the little grounder.

Quote For The Day

“Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.”

Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher (1788-1860)

What's Left Is Right

by Florence Ondré


When the moment presents an opportunity to speak from your heart and say things that may be difficult, therein lies the release from words and feelings crowding; confusing and chaotic; crying for space to fly from you to unburden you.

This moment of hardness of the golden opportunity softens with your first uttering of your truth into the silver lining of challenging experiences.

As you set free from the cage of your being that which is aching and weighing, your spirit lightens and, no matter the outcome or response from others against your truth, no thing diminishes your act of courage; your standing in your own light.

The treasure which can then shine brightly is a fullness of you in cessation of shadow.

You speak directly from your heart in balance with your head and gut... and what is left is right.

Quote For The Day

"We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves."
Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983)

Quote For The Day

"To freely bloom - that is my definition of success."
Gerry Spence, lawyer (1929- )

Quote For The Day

“Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.”

James Russell Lowell, poet, editor, and diplomat (1819-1891)

Hot Water Reactions

This was sent to me by a friend. Thought I'd share.


A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil.

In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she said, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.
She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, Mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting in the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?


Heere are some good questions to contemplate:

Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?


Thank you to this unknown author for the story and the questions.

Quote For The Day

"We are healed of a suffering only by expressing it to the full."
Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922)

“I know why humans don’t eat their young.
They’re not very tasty.”

Florence Ondré- poet, singer-songwriter, comedian, writer, philosopher

The Gratitude Pool

by Florence Ondré


I'm grateful for good friends who can really hear me. I cherish those who can simply say, "Tell me your pain; your struggle. I will hear you with my heart and not judge you or fix you."

I'm blessed with friends who I do not always agree with nor them me and yet they come when I am in need like lemmings who cannot keep themselves from the cry of crashing.

It is like their heart ears are so attuned to my energy that when there is a breach therein, they feel it in its voids or reverberations in the Universe. Their divine sensitivity allows them to sense ripples disturbing my usual positive demeanor and outlook. They hear my heart clenching or closing in on wounds to my spirit and nature and they heed the call; each in their own blessing way.

Perhaps a call or side conversation when we are alone to check in with me and not let me get away without a reality check and a bit of the balm of unconditional love.

They drop their other plans and meet me at restaurants, parks or grottos to be there for me; to listen, to hear and to hold me gently in light.

They check in to see if I'm viewing myself as a victim and remind me with their light of love that I am capable, worthy of good treatment in the world and able to leap tall shadows in as many bounds as is right for me.

They say to their mates, "I know we had plans, dear, but my friend needs me right now. I want to be there for her," in much the same way I say it when it's their turns to need soul food nourishment. The mates don't mind. They have honor for friends who are there in the crunches. By extension, those others become part of a healing team whether they know it or not. They too are part of a circle of unconditional love and healing... a soothing to my soul.

In this circle, we know we each can stand on our own two feet and figure things out for ourselves. We acknowledge and applaud that dignity. We know that no one can walk our paths for us or change our feelings and we also know that we make rough roads a bit smoother to travel by the extending our hands of help in the simple, profound gift of hearing.

I love these sensitives and am blessed to call them friend.

Quote For The Day

"It takes two to speak the truth: one to speak, and another to hear."
Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

Daring? Do!

by Florence Ondré

When Thomas Paine said, "He who dares not offend cannot be honest," you could be shot for opening your mouth and laying your truth on the line.

Today, you can just be shot down by people who either don't get what you're saying or can't hear and go selectively deaf when you describe your experience.

Different still gets a whack on the head and sometimes by your nearest and dearest.

In world war II, (Notice I do not capitalize the w's in the words world and war. I know it was a huge planetary event and I choose not to give murder/war of any kind the dignity of capitalization...call it my little quirky act of peace.) individual voice was squelched to almost annihilation. Millions of people; living, breathing stories on two feet, were snuffed out to sate the rapacity of those who would not hear or abide near anyone who smacked of what is still called the spice of life.

It wasn't enough that an entire country and then world followed madmen bent on power and control into participation, via action or inaction, and descent into a hell which is again happening today in the Middle East and on the continent of Africa.
Slaying for having the guts to say and be who you are is still most shamefully in style.

Even in our own good old U S of A, with all the strides we've made in human rights, there is a backward movement afoot to strip citizens of their civil liberties and carom us rearward in time to McCarthism and color barrier days; when speaking your mind, writing or making films about your experiences or feelings and being who you were was judged and categorized in narrow confines.

Today, we're perilously close to a shhh-don't-talk-don't-tell resurgence being urged and sometimes forced on us as a populace by a Christian right wing, my-way-or-the-highway mentality of those in places of power which has no room for differences.

When you can't stand quietly on the side of the highway with a picket sign whose words question our president without being manhandled off anywhere but where that supposed leader might see you or to the clink; when you get carted off to parts unknown for indefinite periods of time without benefit of trial before judge and jury for having swarthy skin or a last name that sounds Eastern, it is time to gather up your ravelled hem of courage and speak out; to say out loud, "The emperor has no clothes on."

It is in these moments where the opportunity for individual stories come together to write the chapters in the book of growth and honor.

This is where listening with compassion turns the key in locks marked 'closed minds' on doors marked 'consciousness and opportunity for peaceful coexistance and Highest Good for all.'

Whether you get cut dead, literally or figuratively, for sharing any part of your story the world library of experience is diminished.

It seems to me that we are a bunch of deaf people on this planet. Desensitized by our own inability to listen, we go off in our cement boots, stuck behind our own plastered on masks, down roads rutted with our every day familiar traipsings.

Do we think we're safer for not allowing ourselves to peek out from behind our heavily constructed barriers against anything new or unfamiliar? Do we think those who are huddled there with us, hunkering down in the haven of common repetition will never turn on us?

Well, I'm here to tell you they can and do. The minute you tell an at odds part of your story, thinking you are with friends who understand and accept you; even those close compatriots in commonality may whiplash you with astonishing, eye-blink judgement and shunning.

Someone I have called friend for years recently went beyond shock when I shared the history of a personal event I'd had where I had to speak up for one person and take an action to stop abusive behavior of another.

My friend who is, shall we say conservative -sometimes to the point of uncomfortability for me- took umbrage against my sharing and could only see me as an agressor against the very perpetrators I was describing. When I asked why he was so upset with my chronicle, he replied, "It's a matter of perspective."

Perspective? What perspective? I had just described in detail my real live experience, not a hunch I had or a perception.

I held back my immediate gut reaction of a knee jerk, "What the Hell are you smoking that you didn't hear what I just told you?" and morphed into basically feeling like I was being judged as one who was making up a fable drawn from imagination instead of sharing a difficult, first person occurance which actually happened to me; which became the flashpoint of my evolution from shy, non-speaking mouse to full height of unafraid, honest verbalizer lioness.

Watching the dropped jaw and pinched, angry face turning away in disgust; spurning me, like I'd just committed some heinous crime right there and then with the opening of my mouth, sent a cold knife through my heart.

There was no expression of compassion for me or the situation I had experienced nor for the child I'd saved. No, "Oh, I'm so sorry you had that experience." No support for the bravery it took for me to stand up to lies, injustice and tyranny was forthcoming. The shock of what felt like betrayal of our friendship in the lack of listening and really hearing was like an ice berg rising from the gaping, dark North Sea now flooding between us.

My not fitting in with this person's ideas of right and wrong trumped heart in this house of cards tumbling down around us. I was looked at like a pariah because what I shared triggered cracks in this one's fear walls.

I got lumped into some pot of awful people who he disapproved of and those in this world who should keep their mouths shut.

It was clear, by his refusal to even look me in the face, that I was now someone who should be walled off in some ghetto of get-in-line-you-big-mouthed-yenta. You don't act or look like I think you should so I'm lumping you in with those others I don't like. Get behind shut-up and never open your mouth again until you can act and speak like the rest of us good behavors.

I was told that I did an awful thing and was contemptible for crowing about it and that was insufferable.

I found myself so incensed that I bit my tongue in self control, nearly gagging on the ideal of giving this other person the same right of free expression as I deserved; then tripped over it, justifying a thousand times over why I did or said what I'd done; hoping some understanding and a light of compassion might just break through so he'd remember who I was; who I'd been for years...truth teller, generous spirit, open hearted, fair minded...friend.

That light did not dawn. Entrenchment, close mindedness, fear and anger solidified and sadly, I accepted that friendship wasn't docked at our table. That ship had sailed.

I took home my hurt and ire at the injustice dealt me by one I'd called friend and while in the shower an hour later, I realized that when our other dinner companion had shared a particularly nasty experience being the victim of the same kind of crime I stood up against, he got a near tears response of sympathy from the very friend who now looked at me like a leper.

It's hard to imagine how one's hair can go on fire while under pouring water but I'm here to tell you it happens.

As remembrance of that small piece of the evening's words hit me, I thought Roman candles were shooting out of my head. I felt so angry that WTF fireworks flew out of the roots of each hair folicle on my cranium.

God! I hate when that happens! Bushwacked. Sideswiped. Run over. Responses delayed. What good are my pithy comebacks if they are all in retrospect?
What good indeed...when the receiver doesn't want to hear.

I accepted today's reality in that this is not someone who really wants to hear me and so closeness is not possible. I will allow and bless the space between us.
That leaves room for possible growth for both of us as individuals.

I will continue to be and share who I am, where I've been, what I experience and I will continue to disturb dark waters and 'dare to offend.'

I encourage you to dare in your own way.

You might as well pull up your Thomas Paine grit, be honest and let your narratives fly out into the world. Scatter those around you with the brilliance of shining your light into cobwebbed corners. Air those ghost stories so that they can touch other courageous souls such as yourself. Don't wait until you're gone and your ancestors have to dig up clues as to who you were, what you believed, said and did. Hesitate not to heave your heart out in the expressing.

You have plenty of time to try on the cloaks of circumspect and courage and make your own choices which honor the heights of honesty and depth of daring.

It's your life and you don't have to tippy toe around your words; hemming and hawing for political correctness or remain caught in fear based conformity. Go on, get messy with feelings and be willing to speak with passion imbued in the paragraphs of you.

Others may identify with the feelings and still have their own uniqueness in their narratives. No one has to agree with you or have your exact encounters, nor do they have the right to judge you, put you down or harm you with words or deeds against you because you speak up.

Your life is a series of the acccounts of your experiences. Tell your stories.
The library of life has shelves waiting for the books of you.

Quote For The Day

"He who dares not offend cannot be honest."

Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (1737-1809)

Day In Haiku: I'm Wondering

Soft rain is falling
But what I really miss is
Winter wonderland

Quote For The Day

"Without books the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are the engines of change, windows on the world, "Lighthouses" as the poet said "erected in the sea of time." They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind, Books are humanity in print."
Arthur Schopenhauer , philosopher (1788-1860)*

“Sliding Home...Woo Hoo! What a Ride!...”

By Florence Ondré


A friend sent this to me for New Year's:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the
intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well
preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways,
chocolate in one hand, champagne in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming
"WOO HOO what a ride!"

Upon reading this, I felt joyful. The smile spread across my face like a flash flood of happy.

"Yeah! That's it!" I thought, "Let me slide into home plate out of breath from exhileration."

I wanted to immediately share these words with all my friends; make it a New Year's Day first e-mail.

I got the gist of the little piece; felt the uplifting spirit of jumping into life with arms outstretched; the joi de vivre of way-to-go woo hoo!

Then I thought of my own philosophy and state of health of myself and others, which has been fragile and consuming of care.

Several of our nearest and dearest have endured numerous, serious health challenges. My love and I don't drink alcohol. He keeps chocolate to a minimum because it plays not so funny games with his heartrate and, since experiencing a couple of accidents, both of us have had to focus on tending the earthsuit repair and maintenance far more than we'd like, with actual journeying out into the world being curtailed.

'Hmmm. Wait a min,' I thought. 'I don't want to advocate throwing self care all to hell. I can hear all my vegetarian, sober, wholistic health buddies round the planet who do amazing work in body, mine and spirit, bristle and yet I get the gist of the little piece totally in the energy field without leaving the chair in front of my computer.

This paragraph isn't saying: 'Chuck it all and get drunk and clog your arteries with the cacao sugar and fat.' That line is a metaphor for dare to risk enjoying life while you're here on Earth!

Don't fret about every line on your face and be totally consumed with what you look like. (The word 'totally'being the look-at-me word here. Please do drag a comb through your hair occasionally and take a bath or shower...I insist.)

I don't care much anymore if you color co-ordinate or have make-up on and hair styles have gotten really fantastik in the creativity department. So what the heck do I know looks any better than the purple, green and screaming yellow, foot high spikes coming up out of your head like plastered points. I admire the free spiritedness. I find the free-to-be-ness fabulously enjoyable.

I'm simply saying, maybe it's time to give the nip and tuck docs and your already beautiful Earthsuit a rest so you can have more time to enjoy life while you're here.

Get dirty on the trails of Mother Nature. Allow the wind to wreak whatever havoc it can with your tresses. Leave off worries about your eyeliner running while you poke your head into the wildness of a waterfall's mist and roar. Let your self go all to your old standards wrack and ruin by not holding back laughter and smiles which might keep your face from looking continuously 20.

I'm not knocking science which can greatly benefit those who need. I'm basically saying most of us look OK and asking, tic-tic-tic folks, how do you really want to spend those fleeting minutes on this fabulous planet?

You probably don't need another 'make-over. This is coming from a former skinny model who wouldn’t leave the house if a hair was out of place and is now pleasantly plump and happily hairspray free. So, you can take that to the bank. We all look pretty good; hype and commercialism to the contrary.

I remember one time when I was recovering from a fractured sternum which was so painful that I couldn't wear a bra. A city chic girlfriend of mine, whom I hadn't seen in a while, came to spend the day with me at my beach side home and upon seeing me in my comfy oversized sweats remarked, "That's not a good look for you, dear."

Another standout teaching moment in this category was when I was able to get together with friends after a long and arduous recovery from debilitating spine injury and one just couldn't keep from sharing her thoughts upon seeing me at long last, "You need a haircut. You look like Hell."

I felt the initial shock, sadness and sting of those comments and wondered, 'Why aren't they just happy I'm alive and able to show up? Why can't they simply be glad for my company?'

And then my spirit kicked back with the humor of how funny it was that, in the face of near death and never seeing me walk in a room again, these two pals, who do care about me, were only worrying about what I looked like when I finally got there!

Actually the first friend announced to me that her intention in this life was to do anything it took to walk through those pearly gates looking good! Like there might be assigned sections in Heaven labeled “Beautiful People; svelte and unlined” and “The Rest Of You;” with the choicest celestial perks going only to those who didn’t get their Birthday suit smudged, stretched out or wrinkled.

Reading that little piece my friend sent me to start off the new year, gave me pause for thought and question. What would be in my hands as I slid home?

With my love of good food, fun and exploring the world in all it's dimensions, I'm thinking I'll have both lovely chocolate in one hand and the non alcohol, fruity bubblys I enjoy and crystal clear, ice cold water from the headwaters of mountain streams in the other; with the fragrance of world class Thai, French and Italian food clinging to me; my clothes dabbed with drippings from my friend, Owen’s mom’s incredible herb roast chicken and fried fruited kugle; my buddy, Kathy’s, ballabusta Beouf Bourgignon and my chum, Charlie’s cherished chicken soup and stuffed Turk’s Turban... and pockets overflowing with photos of all the friends and family fun, great meals shared...and with smiles and songs filling my heart!

What a fat album that will be in the Akashik Records!

Of course I'll have had to fight through my own little fences of what is socially acceptable, wanting to fit in and being responsible, to get to the tasting of ripe fruit I thought beyond my reach. I'd have had to give up caring more about how I look like than what I feel.

Focus and perception.

And thankfully there are no rules or regulations. My journey is mine as yours is yours.

I've come to a place where I'm more interested in...did you show up; did you laugh; did you discover something new that made you wonder, sigh or giggle; did you notice something you'd never seen, heard or felt before; did you taste something new and relish what you liked; did you open your heart to give or receive; did you make mistakes, learn from them and discover comedy in your process; did you find peace, did you love and allow yourself to be loved; did you experience joy?

I want to know this about myself and I want to know this about you, my fellow traveler.

How do you want to arrive at the end of your Earth journey this time?

I’m waiting to hear your Woo Hoo!