We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.
~Bertha Calloway,
Founder of the Great Plains Black Museum

photo by www.moonraker.com
A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightning.
—James Dickey
From the length of the bibligraphy of his poetic works, we can surmise that Mr. Dickey was frequently struck by metaphoric lightning.
Mark Twain gives us this advice: “It is best to read the weather forecast before […]

Hostesses and the floral industry have known this for a long time. But the symbolic action of giving and receiving flowers makes people happy. The tangible symbol of being surrounded by flowers, makes people happier.

Now the Home Ecology of Flowers Sudy at Harvard reveals that:
1) Flowers Feed Compassion.
2) Flowers chase away anxieties, worries and […]

Pelicans were part of my lyric life in Northern California as Daniel and I paddled round the small peninsula on Clear Lake in our kayaks and there, they are! A cloud of squawking white swirling and settling on the water.
I see a blur of pelicans this morning, looking over my shoulder, as I drive on […]

I’ve been harvesting my journals this week. One of the fruits of my harvest is this series of Riehlife contemplations which I hope you’ll enjoy and use:
–for cultivating your own contemplations.
–for starting conversations with loved ones and friends.
–for prompting your writing.
What are your foul weather blue sky gifts?
What does your writing/safe haven burrow look like?
What […]

The world offers itself to your imagination.
Offers to you. You offer back. You offer up.
The world opens up to you.
You open in return, to the world.
The world is a gift
if only you are there, present and open,
waiting and willing,
vulnerable and strong
to catch and harvest what is offered.
The lyrical early spring day with rain spits […]

When one wrinkle is made smooth, I notice a bump beyond…in the distance…and want to go there and explore. What could that bump be? A mountain, perhaps? Or, just a molehill?
I see a vast plain, like a tapestry carpet stretching out before me…miles to the mountain.
I will journey over the plains, but need to […]

Beautiful multi-media presentation fully worthy of the topic “The End of Suffering.”
Brooks Cole who hosts the Thich Nhat Hahn Room introduces it in this way:
Very seldom as a media artist do I have the opportunity to be so moved by the material that I am composing with that tears are streaming down my face. […]

Janet with a sampling of Daniel’s Hard-working Roses
You’ll recall I recieved two dozen roses this Valentine’s Day. As it turns out, both bouquets were from one man, my sweetheart of yore, my dear-hearted friend of now, Daniel Holland, of Lake County in Northern California.
As it turns out, Daniel ordered one dozen roses and Fortune […]

The day after Valentine’s Day one bouquet of roses rises tall on my kitchen counter (the long-stems). The shorter-stems reside on a refrigerator shelf, extending their life (shelf life?) and making me glad everytime I open the refrigerator door.