to be continued...

my little slice of Heaven

Juno Beach, FL at the old "Turtle Tunnel" walkover 

sunshine work

The best place for me to learn to listen is always the Ocean...

they're back - the leatherbacks!

shadow walk

Is this a photographic example of "juxtaposition" ?!? Perhaps....

I came across this huge piece of driftwood today lying flat on the beach not far from where we saw our upright "Ebenezer" just after New Year's Day (see photo in sidebar of this blog for the story). Of course I had to stop and photograph it. I was struck by the capturing of my own shadow beside it in the sand on my first shot, so I moved my lens a bit to make more room for me and snapped again.

Me. Beside wood. Adrift.

I came to the beach this morning to do some personal shadow work so the synchronicity of this finding was not wasted in the least. When I first arrived, I could not begin to silence the chatter in my busy brain. All kinds of dialogue about all kinds of "stuff". It took quite a while of walking before I finally began to hear the splashing sounds of my feet in the water and the surf as spilled over the shells. The water was making that special wind-chime music that I love. I finally started hearing my feet strike the sand, and then I began focusing on my breathing trying to slow everything down.

I rolled up my wet shorts and tied up my t-shirt to feel the full warmth of the sun's rays against my belly and thighs. I walked side-by-side with sandpipers and rescued a wet-winged bee half buried in the sand with a piece of sea glass that I almost threw back because I didn't think it was quite "done". Thank goodness I kept it as it was just the right size and shape for bee-scooping. At first I thought the bee was missing a wing, but after a while in the dry sun and sand, she began to fly again in short little bursts. Resilient.

I sat on a rock for a while and prayed rambling prayers of hope. I photographed Leatherback sea turtle nests and picked up plastic trash from the wrack line that they might mistake for jellyfish if it washed back into the ocean. A piece of swallowed plastic bag can cause an excruciatingly painful, slow death for a sea turtle. I reflected that it's we careless humans who are the real trash on the beach and then I started getting grumpy and judgmental again, and so I started walking once more.

On the way back, I passed the rainbow colored condos where I know that someday I am destined to live. I have known that since the first day I saw them many years ago. I just haven't decided which color yet I will pick - coral, blue, or green. Life is full of so many choices.

And as always there were my flip flops waiting for me right where I'd left them. I always smile when I see them. There is a beach code of trust here in Florida. Never pick up two flip flops placed together. One flip flop on the beach near the water is likely trash, but two flip flops near the dunes or the walkovers or the sidewalks are off-limits. Some beach comber or surfer or walker has placed them there on purpose, and it is very bad karma to remove them.

When we first moved here, we did not know about this code, and my husband picked up a pair of black sandals lying out by the street late one evening with no cars in sight. They were just his size. We thought it was great luck at the time, but I truly believe now that those flops need to go right back to where we found them. I think we need to include a note tied to them that says "Sorry, beach friend, but we just didn't know the code. We thought these were meant for us, but now we understand we were wrong. Thanks for lending us your shoes for the last seven years. They have carried us a lot of places. Peace for your Path."

Or something like that...

The Use of Juxtapose | eHow.com

I did really like the photo in this article. Wasn't sure of the copyright so thought I'd share the whole article. Kind of helped me a bit....The Use of Juxtapose eHow.com

juxtaposition

This word has fumbled around in my brain for a few years now...

Juxtapose means "To place together; put side by side." But the letters and the sounds of the letters blended into the word feel more like a jumbled mess in my head rather than an orderly, deliberate action. They feel like life can feel to me sometimes when I spend too much time lost in my thoughts and frozen in space and place.

Honestly, I am incredibly glad these forty days of Lent are finally over. Easter morning was more of a relief than a Joy to me this year. I finally managed to put up a couple of decorations late Saturday afternoon and even successfully cooked and tie-dyed six eggs with my son (I started with a dozen - seriously I do not cook). But through the whole weekend, I just felt like I was swimming under water: tear-blurry vision, clogged ears, pruny fingers and hard to take a full breath.

So many incredible things happened this Lent like the matzah bread and our little Seder dinner. Maundy Thursday's labyrinth walk for me was particularly special as I sat under the live oak trees. Earth Day falling on Good Friday was very emotionally significant, too, and I really felt the pain of our struggling planet. I set the intention of not giving up anything this Lent but rather adding a spirit of gratitude and I think I did a fairly good job of that (sort of).

But anyway...

See? This is my trap - looking backwards and trying to understand it all rather than moving forward. Ugh.

Today, I just read the Earth Day 4/22 reading on my Simple Abundance calendar.

"The search for authenticity is like living on a fault line; you never know when the earth is going to move beneath your feet. " - Sarah Ban Breathnach

Reading it now brought me full circle back to "juxtaposition" all over again. Maybe I'll sort this out soon...Let me know if you have any suggestions for me. I am open as can be right now to insight and enlightenment. Thanks.

Easter blessings to all God's creatures

pups

piglets

bunnies

ducklings

Peace for your Easter Path

lovely lilies

He is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

Happy Earth Day 2011

Prayers for our fragile planet from the center of the labyrinth. May all be well.

remembering the one year anniversary of the tragedy in the Gulf

One year ago today, the disaster in the Gulf began. We pause for OceanPrayer today for all the lives lost - past, present and future - because of this terrible tragedy. We pray for Wisdom as we humans work together to learn from our mistakes. May each of us begin to search our hearts for responsible ways to answer God's call and to truly become good stewards of the earth. Amen.

the gift that started it all

Though we may never know who placed this gift on our doorstep, to that individual we say "thank you" for such a blessing....

lessons learned from the simplest source

red wine from the Holy Land

Our treasured friend, Joe, gave us two bottles of this Kosher wine from Israel following his trip there in 2005. We have saved them for a special occasion all these years. Last night seemed the right time to open one of the bottles. Very special...