"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed, to me;
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
from The New Colossus (1883)
quiz: where is that inscribed?
can you do it without googling?
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Book started - book abandoned
I think I will really like "the Horse Whisperer" By Nicholas Evans.
His writing sounds somewhat like my thinking. His characters have my flaws, his words make my eyes see what I would not otherwise see. I like this. Like everything else this year, it is new to me.
A book I was having some fun ( haha) with was "He's Scared, She's Scared" by Steven Carter and Julia Sokol It examines our need to belong to another and the conflict that presents with our need to be independent. In the self help category it is one of my top ten. I just don't need it as much this week as last. I must say there were plenty of "holy &^%#!" moments when I saw my actions in the column of THINGS NOT TO DO. I am a nut, I know that. I am a lovable nut and a loving person, and for now that will just have to be enough. So I put this book down, but I recommend it highly.
New visitors will want to know this about me:
I now live at my mom's to take better care of her
I consider it a calling from God, and a blessing.
It has changed my life completely.
For many years God has been a big part of my life and my children have embraced Him.
Weakness and confusion are temporary states, not to be lived in, just visited, so I am moving on from the foolishness of the past several years. Part of my recovery is attending Calvary Chapel here in Big Bear Lake. It is a great place to worship. If you have never worshiped on bent knees with hands raised, and tears in your eyes, you have an experience waiting for you.
I love Friday's, even though I do not have weekends off.
His writing sounds somewhat like my thinking. His characters have my flaws, his words make my eyes see what I would not otherwise see. I like this. Like everything else this year, it is new to me.
A book I was having some fun ( haha) with was "He's Scared, She's Scared" by Steven Carter and Julia Sokol It examines our need to belong to another and the conflict that presents with our need to be independent. In the self help category it is one of my top ten. I just don't need it as much this week as last. I must say there were plenty of "holy &^%#!" moments when I saw my actions in the column of THINGS NOT TO DO. I am a nut, I know that. I am a lovable nut and a loving person, and for now that will just have to be enough. So I put this book down, but I recommend it highly.
New visitors will want to know this about me:
I now live at my mom's to take better care of her
I consider it a calling from God, and a blessing.
It has changed my life completely.
For many years God has been a big part of my life and my children have embraced Him.
Weakness and confusion are temporary states, not to be lived in, just visited, so I am moving on from the foolishness of the past several years. Part of my recovery is attending Calvary Chapel here in Big Bear Lake. It is a great place to worship. If you have never worshiped on bent knees with hands raised, and tears in your eyes, you have an experience waiting for you.
I love Friday's, even though I do not have weekends off.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I walked on the shore of a frozen lake
not alone, but isolated
I stared at the ice
felt the harshness of its grip on the lake.
In the depths of a winter night
the chill worked its way into my core
my feet crushed through the crust of snow
leaving prints to show my path
night sky began to clear as clouds gave way to starlight
not alone, but isolated
I stared at the ice
felt the harshness of its grip on the lake.
In the depths of a winter night
the chill worked its way into my core
my feet crushed through the crust of snow
leaving prints to show my path
night sky began to clear as clouds gave way to starlight
Monday, February 23, 2009
crazy day
waking happy
therapy quite useful, but not solving all issues
there seems to be more work to do
( and poems to write)
a cloud hangs over the afternoon
and then like lightening
quick
its over.
Now to wait for the thunder that rolls
down the valley of my soul
therapy quite useful, but not solving all issues
there seems to be more work to do
( and poems to write)
a cloud hangs over the afternoon
and then like lightening
quick
its over.
Now to wait for the thunder that rolls
down the valley of my soul
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Why I will never vacation in Mexico again
I will admit to enjoying Ensenada with my three kids many years ago. it was cheap, and a tiny adventure for us. the drive through Tijauna was EYE poppingly sad.
I went to Rosarito with my girlfriend couple years before that and we had no trouble, ate decent food for the same prices as I would pay here, shopped for trinkets, and listened to the ocean waves from a beachfront room. It was much less expensive ( and much less luxurious) than a beachfront room in San Diego.
Mexico is not our friend, not for a long time. It is not a good neighbor, and I do not mean its people are not good. It is now ruled by a combination of wealthy families and drug cartels, the police and bureaucrats are mostly powerless to stop the decay of this once decent country. Daily it exports its poor and kilo sized packages of death to our interior. No matter how white the beaches or ancient the ruins you would not catch me there. I will not give my tourist dollars to aid such a 'neighbor'. You can do whatever you wish, but you may change your mind after reading this, and then book a flight to Hawaii ( big island) or to the Texas gulf coast.
Keep American travel dollars in America or Canada or fly across 'the pond' and visit where they still have Queens of the crazie and not so crazy kind.
-----------------
more fun: my ducks pic is here
my snow pic and poem is here
I went to Rosarito with my girlfriend couple years before that and we had no trouble, ate decent food for the same prices as I would pay here, shopped for trinkets, and listened to the ocean waves from a beachfront room. It was much less expensive ( and much less luxurious) than a beachfront room in San Diego.
Mexico is not our friend, not for a long time. It is not a good neighbor, and I do not mean its people are not good. It is now ruled by a combination of wealthy families and drug cartels, the police and bureaucrats are mostly powerless to stop the decay of this once decent country. Daily it exports its poor and kilo sized packages of death to our interior. No matter how white the beaches or ancient the ruins you would not catch me there. I will not give my tourist dollars to aid such a 'neighbor'. You can do whatever you wish, but you may change your mind after reading this, and then book a flight to Hawaii ( big island) or to the Texas gulf coast.
Keep American travel dollars in America or Canada or fly across 'the pond' and visit where they still have Queens of the crazie and not so crazy kind.
-----------------
more fun: my ducks pic is here
my snow pic and poem is here
Thursday, February 19, 2009
poems and copyright, at 5 degrees F
Hello dear reader,
In Mexifornia we like to say "mi casa, es su casa"
( my house is your house, until the bank takes it back)
We also like to say, "who let the dogs out?" especially in Sugarloaf
where fences are for jumping over and leashes and collars are for tiny dogs that do not need them. The big brutes run free and make life difficult for granny walking her small companion dogs.
oops - got lost already! Big surprise.
----------------- re-boot ---------------
Mi casa es a place de mucho poemo!
I live here to write poems.
They are my gift to God who created me, and my gift to you
with whom I share the earth and this electronic space.
Please enjoy them - and if you wish you may copy and paste them elsewhere, I do not think they are really MINE. If you were to publish them, then please mention my name and blog address. The light I get, I get from the only inspiration in the universe, God the Creator. The words I have come from a brain that He made and a soul that He saved and redeemed from a really dark, lonely place.
If I could share only one thing with you through Sugarloaf Mountain it would be how precious it is to be held, close and safe, by a loving God, forever, and to have no doubts about my worth to Him.
In Mexifornia we like to say "mi casa, es su casa"
( my house is your house, until the bank takes it back)
We also like to say, "who let the dogs out?" especially in Sugarloaf
where fences are for jumping over and leashes and collars are for tiny dogs that do not need them. The big brutes run free and make life difficult for granny walking her small companion dogs.
oops - got lost already! Big surprise.
----------------- re-boot ---------------
Mi casa es a place de mucho poemo!
I live here to write poems.
They are my gift to God who created me, and my gift to you
with whom I share the earth and this electronic space.
Please enjoy them - and if you wish you may copy and paste them elsewhere, I do not think they are really MINE. If you were to publish them, then please mention my name and blog address. The light I get, I get from the only inspiration in the universe, God the Creator. The words I have come from a brain that He made and a soul that He saved and redeemed from a really dark, lonely place.
If I could share only one thing with you through Sugarloaf Mountain it would be how precious it is to be held, close and safe, by a loving God, forever, and to have no doubts about my worth to Him.
Monday, February 16, 2009
out of the archives
Hope has been with me for a very long time, so I thought I would write her a poem:
Hope woke me up today,
sounding like a flight of geese headed north
the air filled with excitement and unlimited possibility
Hope is the one that never quits,
never tires, always keeps looking ahead for me
When I have no plans, a day with her is enough
Her call is rustling through the barren trees
telling me of warmer days, star filled nights
She is blowing the last of the winter chill away
Hope whispers to me that life is more than my eyes can see
more than what my ears can hear
She lends her strength to my upward climb
Waiting for me at the summit
Hope comforts me with caresses, soft and rhythmic,
like the lapping of gentle waves on the lake shore
Her voice calms my fears with gentle promises:
simplicity, joy and contentment are her sisters
Hope remains when foolish desire has faded
and youthful enthusiasm wanes
Hope is changeless, immovable,
ever renewed, and able to make me smile again
Hope is at every trail's end, a boulder upon which
I must sit and appreciate the view and the effort made to attain it
Hope is my resting point, my place of strength today.
c. 2007 David Schmidt
Hope woke me up today,
sounding like a flight of geese headed north
the air filled with excitement and unlimited possibility
Hope is the one that never quits,
never tires, always keeps looking ahead for me
When I have no plans, a day with her is enough
Her call is rustling through the barren trees
telling me of warmer days, star filled nights
She is blowing the last of the winter chill away
Hope whispers to me that life is more than my eyes can see
more than what my ears can hear
She lends her strength to my upward climb
Waiting for me at the summit
Hope comforts me with caresses, soft and rhythmic,
like the lapping of gentle waves on the lake shore
Her voice calms my fears with gentle promises:
simplicity, joy and contentment are her sisters
Hope remains when foolish desire has faded
and youthful enthusiasm wanes
Hope is changeless, immovable,
ever renewed, and able to make me smile again
Hope is at every trail's end, a boulder upon which
I must sit and appreciate the view and the effort made to attain it
Hope is my resting point, my place of strength today.
c. 2007 David Schmidt
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Family
this much joy is hard to contain
all three of my beautiful kids sharing the table with my terrific mom
each of the recipes I pulled from various sites working so well together.
Being sure I got the right present for the special daughter's 18th birthday.
having them all sit together on the couch learning German from Rosetta Stone.
I think it is mostly playtime, but I do want to learn my mother tongue, sometime.
mom had a wonderful Sunday evening
it is all worth it when I get to see that.
When I am that old (90) I hope to be as alive and sharp.
all three of my beautiful kids sharing the table with my terrific mom
each of the recipes I pulled from various sites working so well together.
Being sure I got the right present for the special daughter's 18th birthday.
having them all sit together on the couch learning German from Rosetta Stone.
I think it is mostly playtime, but I do want to learn my mother tongue, sometime.
mom had a wonderful Sunday evening
it is all worth it when I get to see that.
When I am that old (90) I hope to be as alive and sharp.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
a recycled poem
Liberation
dread gives way to delight
as morning takes away the night
hardness of my heart can’t stand
to gentle caress of loving hand
peace in time of turmoil reigns
the cross, the blood, the crimsom stains
My hand to him I freely raise
all my mouth to shout His praise
when I can no longer sing
a sacrifice of joy i will bring
and dance on legs that withered be
the chains, broken. the captive free
I wrote this three years ago, on a blog I had forgotten was still there,
Wow, it is more true today than ever! Praise God
newer stuff from the new me is below
Friday, February 13, 2009
Pathways to eternity
i used to track visitors here ( years ago)
now I just simply appreciate this place to express myself
to grow and live out loud amongst my blogger friends and family
there are two new blogs coming up, that excites me.
many have gone dormant, and that, while sad, is a part of the cycle of e-life.
It is time consuming to write and read this stuff, but it CAN and DOES change lives, and so I continue, closing in on 1000 posts and four years of blogging!
More importantly, I have learned so much. I have cried with you. I have been caught up in your lives, and prayed for you. I have seen healing, and loss. I have learned more about myself and tried to let my life be open to you ( somewhat) so that you can see my path.
It is not meant to be your path or the only path. It is the way I have gotten here with the grace of God and the love and support of my friends and family. If it is up to me, I will post another thousand, and go many more years. If something changes, I will boil this thing down into my book.
Know this about me now:
I love the life God has given me, and the friends and family I have.
I embrace my past and pull from it the wonderful happy moments and the sad ones, too.
I am committed to giving all I have to the causes of health, wholeness, and integrity.
Walk with me if your path is leading in this direction.
You are welcome to be my traveling companion, on this upward, flower strewn trail!
--------------- speaking of traveling, head on over to CrazieQueen's Blog Party-----
it is the only way you will see me in a virtual tuxedo, all weekend long!
now I just simply appreciate this place to express myself
to grow and live out loud amongst my blogger friends and family
there are two new blogs coming up, that excites me.
many have gone dormant, and that, while sad, is a part of the cycle of e-life.
It is time consuming to write and read this stuff, but it CAN and DOES change lives, and so I continue, closing in on 1000 posts and four years of blogging!
More importantly, I have learned so much. I have cried with you. I have been caught up in your lives, and prayed for you. I have seen healing, and loss. I have learned more about myself and tried to let my life be open to you ( somewhat) so that you can see my path.
It is not meant to be your path or the only path. It is the way I have gotten here with the grace of God and the love and support of my friends and family. If it is up to me, I will post another thousand, and go many more years. If something changes, I will boil this thing down into my book.
Know this about me now:
I love the life God has given me, and the friends and family I have.
I embrace my past and pull from it the wonderful happy moments and the sad ones, too.
I am committed to giving all I have to the causes of health, wholeness, and integrity.
Walk with me if your path is leading in this direction.
You are welcome to be my traveling companion, on this upward, flower strewn trail!
--------------- speaking of traveling, head on over to CrazieQueen's Blog Party-----
it is the only way you will see me in a virtual tuxedo, all weekend long!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Sit, stay!
if God were a dog trainer
and I were a pup
what would He say?
If he could use weather to
reign me in, this weeks message would be
"get into THE BOOK,
start praying
and do not jump about so much!"
it looks like a week of storms with a few breaks for grocery runs
plenty of snow shoveling, little use for the kayak buried in the snow.
I need to hear Him and learn, NOW
pray for me.
------------------------
its all working out just fine
so I am making cookies
with mom.
holy smokes, who said sharing a kitchen would be easy?
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Friday, February 06, 2009
.Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Reflecting the brightness of Inner life.
wow
I feel great
more importantly
I have been behaving well, and that makes life its own reward!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
GOD is great and greatly to be praised.
Don't be left out, discover His greatness for yourself:
Walk outside and look up, the sky talks about His Immensity
Look at your hands, who else could make such tools as these?
ponder how a small poppy seed can turn into a plant and then a flower and then more seeds.
Hold a small furry animal of your choosing to your face or ear, feel the comfort, the gift of uncomplicated love and acceptance. Whisper to the father, " thank you for the gift of Life."
Asians say the darndest things
near the end of a long day of movingBob and I found this bit of
'hyphenated- American" humor
WHO in the world calls their business toilet?
imagine all the funny lines:
Parent: where you going,son?
I am going over to the toylet.
That is where all your money is gone to. haven't I told you that I don't want you hanging around the toylet all day? Its nothing but a bunch of scum in there!
If you go to the toylet again, buster, then don't come home.
Make sure to wash your hands after going to the Toylet.
-------------------------
well we needed a laugh and I needed something to post.
and now you can join in with YOUR Toylet Humor.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Ground Hog Day
Need I say more?
Bill Murray is a genius
Andie McDowell is a sweetie
and this script is terrific
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