It grew!

See that lighthouse? That one right there?

Yep, that's the one! The Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. It has grown 100 feet since I last climbed it 8 months ago. Either that, or I'm out of shape, and that can't be it. ;-)

Fortunately there wre not too many people climbing up or down while I was climbing. As you can see below, the stairs are pretty much built for one-way traffic only.

I've written about this lighthouse before, so rather than get into all of that again, I'll just share some pics from around the grounds that day. Enjoy!

In memoriam of a son lost at sea.

A theatre in the woods.

September

Reminiscing about a cat I once had called September. She was a playful kitten and a very moody adult cat. Never could figure out why her personality changed like that. Here are a few pics from her kittenhood.



Cute pics

Just sharing a couple of cute pics I came across last week...

(Okay, it's a slow news day, but still, they're cute...really!

Can you stand it?

Stress

This lovely bird was part of a wildlife educational event I attended a couple of years ago. A parrot rescue group brought some of the birds that had been surrendered to them because the owners could no longer care for them for whatever reason to help educate the public on their care.

Birds are extremely sensitive to their environments, and some will pull their own feathers out as a coping mechanism if something is wrong in their environment. In this fella's case, I believe he came from a broken home where there was a lot of arguing and it stressed him out very badly and he pulled out his feathers. The parrot rescue folks said he was much better than when he was first surrendered to them. When I saw him, he was hard at work trying to open a walnut.



Birthday Cakes

Just sharing some birthday cake... ;-)

Enjoy!





For a New Beginning

The poetry fest continues! This is a poem by another of my favorite poets, John O'Donohue. Enjoy!

For a New Beginning

by John O’Donohue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the gray promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

From the book, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

The Journey

Next up, a fabulous poem by Mary Oliver about finding yourself, your own voice, your own song, in spite of all of the well-meaning advice from those around you, who might wish to keep you small "for your own good" and for their comfort, (even if they don't even realize it.) It's a journey you choose to embark upon because you simply have to. Because you'll never know who you really are and what you can do until you make this journey.

The Journey

by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.

But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.