Tag Archives: love

Light at the End of the Tunnel

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How many of us are moving forward even in this bad news crazed world? How many of us are trying to rectify injustices that keep on happening? How many of us are just about ready to give up? Well, today I’m going to urge you to just keep moving forward, and do the best you can every day that you live. Don’t let your brain rest one bit. If you rest, you die. If a bear or mountain lion is chasing you in the woods (or out in the world such as your back yard – really happened to me), stand up and fight! Stand up and shout them out of your domestic domain! No more zoning out until you die! Blissful moments will come when we finish the fight!

Stand up and make a statement about civility, fairness, equity and inclusion, and loving one another! Stand up for people who just want the same things your family wanted when you came to this country. Fight for them as well as all of the scientific community who are trying to tell you about changes in our environment if we don’t stop those who are destroying it for us. Just keep moving forward no matter what. I know it’s not easy, but if you trust my words and make your own movement count, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We only move toward that end of the tunnel when we die! Even if we just don’t get there when we expect to, we must stop wasting time on silliness and retribution. We must keep striving for an end to the madness so we can go into the next plane of existence in peace.

Find that one beautiful and meaningful thing you can do every day that you live that will make a difference for future generations. It can be as simple as using less plastic, composting, or recycling. (HELLO! Wake up restaurants! Make it happen!) It can be planting a backyard garden or feeding others with the fruits of you labor when you have extras. Or it can be big such as all the protests we’ve seen of late. Anything is better than ignoring those in power who hurt the little guys in the end.

“If you do not have an absolutely clear vision of something, where you can follow the light to the end of the tunnel, then it doesn’t matter whether you’re bold or cowardly, or whether you’re stupid or intelligent. Doesn’t get you anywhere.”—Werner Herzog
“Sometimes that light at the end of the tunnel is a train.”—Charles Barkley (Good ole’Charles….)

So don’t wait for that train to run you over. Keep on living, keep on doing what’s right. Love the one you love, but love everyone and everything else equally. Enough said. I’m going to make more delicious zucchini recipes to be at peace for the evening.
Zucchini Boats!

I love you all tonight and hope for peace in the valley (and the mountains!) for everyone.
Jim Reeves Peace in the Valley

Celebrate and Change with Me!

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Or: Half-Way Mark for 365 Days of Kindness Blogs
Today marks the 182nd post or the half-way mark of my endeavor to enlighten, entertain, and encourage people to keep on living life to the fullest and doing great things. Although there were a few days and weeks where I skipped posting, negating the promise to write every day, I must humbly admit that that was me being me, promising something that is often a huge grand gesture, yet, like life, is hard to deliver. But I am persevering through all the ups and downs of my life with everyone else, and continuing to do my part the best way I know how. So it may take more than a few days after that original 365-day mark (November 2024), but I hope you keep reading and sending out good vibes, love and happiness after my messages come to you unbidden.

Re-reading The Monkey Wrench Gang once again helps me understand how the cyclical thoughts on progress got us where we are today. We want convenience to get to places where we shouldn’t be going. And the big money corporations and their CEOs want to continue to get richer so they pretend that they are doing things for the public (destroying the western lands, like building roads and dams, drilling, mining, fracking, ad nauseum) making life better for us, more convenient for us, all the while hurting the earth and the environment and all of us who live in it. After all, the ads always paint a rosy picture, right? And of course we should believe those, right?

Seldom Seen Smith was right: “The river, the canyon, the desert world was always changing, from moment to moment, from miracle to miracle, within the firm reality of mother earth. River, rock, sun, blood, hunger, wings, joy—this is the real….All the rest is androgynous theosophy. All the rest is transcendental transvestite transactional scientology or whatever the fad of the day, the vogue of the week.” [Abbey, Edward. The Monkey Wrench Gang (p. 61). RosettaBooks. Kindle Edition.]

We all want the adventures from our past but in a more convenient, easier way. After all, we are getting older and can’t do those hikes like we used to. We embrace those conveniences at the detriment of those beautiful areas. But we also deny how much our climate is changing and what havoc is wreaked upon all of us. Perhaps it is just too big a problem not one for immediate resolution and that breaks us. So many of us ignore what is happening, and yet many of us are stepping up to the task. We know we can’t fix everything, but we are trying to do the best we can in our smaller environments. Every day I am thankful for all of my adventures in my younger years and what I saw. But I am also thankful for the new inventions in gear, such as better equipment, less plastic, and better shoes and backpacks for the young ones to take those adventures. We can’t give up on the new inventions, yet we have to come up with solutions to stop destroying the land for profit.

Monkey wrenching in the oldest of ideologies doesn’t work the way we think it should. Perhaps we should think of new ways to change progress, maybe purchasing lands (including the mineral rights, if possible) to protect them from the marauders. Smarter people than me are making this happen in many states. It is my hope that this way of thinking will be the new tool to protect our children and grandchildren in the future.

So my thoughts for today are these: Keep picking up trash and plastics no matter where you are and recycle, reuse, etc. You know the drill. Stop using plastics in your home. Go electric or maybe hybrid in your vehicles (I know I am in a few years!) Eat less beef (I love it and I know we are in beef country, but come on!) And grow some wonderful food items in your gardens to feed your family and others!) Stop listening to advertisements. If we can start these practices, thinking before doing, and making changes in our lives, the movement will grow and change will happen.

Keep writing your congressmen to stop granting rights to those in big oil and gas, big mining, big, well everything. Ask your congressmen to stop taking money from these corporations in order to stay in office. I know that is a hard one and many people don’t think like me, but that’s the only way we are going to stop it. Support those who support us. I know we won’t change everything, and I know we’ve heard it before, but we can keep the conversation going. At least our tiny piece of the world will be cleaner. Thank you for listening and I look forward to better times!

Love to all tonight.

Who Will Be There for You?

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I have been contemplating how I want to be remembered and who I want to have around me, especially when it’s time to dance off this plane of existence. My writing has always been one of a mixture of fact and fiction and my past frequently shows up in the characters I’ve written about. I don’t always reveal my darkest moments, and I am okay with that. I want to be remembered as one who loves life and appreciates others for who they are. I don’t want to dwell on past realities or relationships that brought me down. I want to celebrate the love I have been given over these last 25+ years. I hope that my family feels the same. I constantly search for what Wallace Stegner called a usable past that I can employ in my characters and reveal a little of myself to strangers. There are so many things that I want my family and friends to remember about me that are positive.

I wish that I had been more of a documentarian like Edward Abbey and kept my journals full. I wrote during my travels, but over the last few years, I became more sedentary and didn’t keep up. I began writing sort of a prequel about my beloved Caitlin, which came from notes over the past 50 or more decades. As I go through the notes, there are so many things that I wished I had fleshed out when I was living them. But that is the beauty of storytelling I suppose. Write what you know, and remember, and the story will follow.

I suppose pictures will have to be good enough for my future generations. As they fade, we are endeavoring to digitize those old Polaroids and other camera photos. But one thing I’d like to share with you is to keep a journal on hand at all times. Document your adventures because places you’ve cherished may not be there when your family travels to them.

I loved the fact that Wallace Stegner had a legacy, to-do list on his desk when he died and it was later published. He reminded me that while I am on this earth, there is still so much work to be done. I have completed many to-do lists and put them on my desktop of my computer, both short and long-term projects. I want to begin to add writing lists to this, for people and places I want to research and learn about.

But who will be there for you through your failing brain, through sickness, through general aging? Decide who is most important and ask them to be there as you will be there for them. Even if you don’t leave a large legacy, be there for the ones you care about the most, a family member, a loving spouse, or a best friend. My spouse is my both my spouse and best friend. I hope that he will be there for me as I will be there for him.

Finally, ever think about what you want to put out there at the end of life? As a writer I think it’s important to create your own obituary ahead of time. Find a picture you love, and save it on a thumb drive somewhere. Put it in an envelope and give it to each other. You’ve lived a wonderful life so why not have your family celebrate it the way you want them to?

So after walking around the house for 10 minutes looking for your glasses so you can finish your epic novel, and after finding them on the top of your head, rejoice in the fact that you are still here. Embrace the knowledge that your loved ones still love you, and that your words may not be read by everyone, but that they have been immortalized in print. Know that you have left a tiny footprint on this earth and those that love you will still remember your impact on their lives, whether good or bad, mad, or sad, cursed, or beloved. Hope for happiness during the life you still have and wish for happiness for you loved ones in the future. Acknowledge (and write it down) that special someone to watch over you. Someone to Watch Over Me

Love to all on this dark and stormy night! Keep enjoying the zucchini! Here is a wonderful recipe I just tried! Very delicious! Stanley Tucci’s Zucchini and Potato Muffins

I CAN

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I recently re-visited my son’s elementary “I Can” can and reminisced on how easy it was to remember what his thoughts were about accomplishments he made at that early an age. They seem so tiny compared to today’s standards, and yet they helped him become the person he is today. Back then, he had the world at his fingertips and nothing seemed impossible. I truly believed then he would do amazing things as an adult. Today, he is getting there, fully adulting, and owning his life. I hope all of the children from his classes will achieve greatness as well and strive for a better society.

As the storm rages outside, I have been furiously writing today to get to the end of this trilogy. I wanted to share Caitlin’s musings about life and her can do attitude. Here is an excerpt from Book III of the Caitlin Ferguson mysteries I am currently writing:
“Joseph Campbell spoke of a Heroes Journey in his work, Power of the Myth. His words affected those who were fighting against the government at the time when she [Caitlin] was away. She was glad she missed all that drama. Heroes went on adventures in search of truth, and those that stayed behind understood the costs of leaving. People stayed put because they felt safe. She reflected on how much her family lost because they feared her disappearance and perhaps even her death. But the journey allowed her to relinquish her past version of herself.”

“She spoke out in the past, but now was the time for action. Words cannot solve what is to come. No one was shirking away or hiding from this. She would be there for this future generation even though there would always be events beyond her control. In a way, this finality liberated her. Yes, people have died, but she could help those who lived – create their future. If she lived through this last earthly battle, she could stay here and create a better society for the children.”

“Nope. Her time to die was not now, in this moment. She had to keep her strength for her daughter, granddaughter and grandson, and the rest of the children. Their generation would change the world. If her travels taught her anything, it was all about the sharing of wisdom from the old ones. They taught her patience and consistency. They taught her how to look for patterns from the simplest of actions (e.g., follow the money) to the larger over-arching picture through their stories of what this world, and the people who lived here, would become and how it could be saved.”

Caitlin will go towards the gathering storm and wage the war that needs waging and help her family and friends survive. I continue to strive to become her, working hard to always do the right thing.

Can we say that about ourselves? Can we all have that I can attitude and make the changes in our lives and others to create a better society? Go forward from this day with kind hearts and active minds. Go forward and strive for good things. Be kind to everyone you meet every day. Give your hearts and minds to create a better world.

I truly love you all this stormy night and send out good vibrations and hugs!

Dancing in the Moonlight

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Or: Do You Remember Where You Were in June 1973?
Or: Do You Remember When You Were 18?
Or: Do You Remember When You Believed You Had the World at Your Fingertips?

And here I am, 50+ years later still dancing, but with many harsh realities coming at me every day that I am alive. I just read about this, but it happened a while ago. It is still noteworthy to mention again. A bunch of so-called righteous moms checked out all of a San Diego library’s featured LBGTQ+ books and refused to bring them back unless the library took them off the shelf. Okay, so now I must rant a little. Here is what I am saying to you (I wish it could be directly to your face): First, what gives you the right to censure every other human being that uses that public library? Secondly, why are you soooooooooo ignorant? Thirdly, this worked against you, because when the public heard about your little stunt, they went out and purchased all of those books and gave them to the library, AND raised and donated $15,000.00 for the library. Then…. the City of San Diego matched that donation so now they had $30,000.00 total to buy many more wonderful books! So your little stunt backfired! Also, if I was the librarian, I would have sent you a big whopping bill!

All I’m saying to you people who think you know best for EVERYONE, just let it go. There are many other people in the world who have different opinions and lifestyles from you. You cannot dictate what others think or do. It has never worked in our society. We worked hard to be different and more tolerant of all people. I am still amazed there are so many small-minded people in the world. You should be striving to change every day that you live and let others live their lives. Don’t dictate demands on others who don’t agree with you. Don’t be afraid of DIFFERENT even if it is within your own family. They are still your siblings and children. They love you and you should absolutely and unconditionally love them back. Isn’t that what we fought for? To be a nation different from Europe? Everyone who came here in the past have their own ways of thinking. I don’t agree with all of them, but that doesn’t make me want to censure them. Conversations don’t have to be about your small-minded ways of thinking. Embrace everyone and Lighten Up!

So as we face and accept our aging, we can still believe that we all have the world at our fingertips. We can still believe that we all have choices and accept that we are all wonderful beings and choose love, not hate. And, after we’ve faced the heat of the day, we can just wait a little while for nightfall and thank the universe that we are still alive. We can then go outside and water the tomatoes, say hello to the bugs, the bats eating the bugs, nightfall, and embrace the moon! Do a little dance, make a little love, and get down tonight (KC and the Sunshine Band).

“We like our fun and we never fight
You can’t dance and stay uptight
It’s a supernatural delight
Everybody was dancing in the moonlight….”
Dancing in the Moonlight
King Harvest – Original (Although Toploader does a good job!)

I love you all and wish some of you would just grow up into loving humans!

Rainy Day Reflections

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Or: Slow Down and Smell the Flowers!
Or: Sneezing but Still Smelling the Flowers!
Or: Fixing Sprinkler Breaks but Still Smelling the Flowers!
Or: Picking up Bobcat Poop in the Middle of the Garden, but Still Smelling the Flowers!

So I am officially in my 70’s and am considered an elder in the world where we need names based on age. I feel like I have earned that title, and try to give good advice whether asked or not! However, today I must admit I have slowed down a little bit. My brain works in more mysterious ways. I remember lots of interesting facts and have amazing discussions, but can’t remember an actor’s or a cousin’s name.

I am writing better than I ever have before (Duh…I’ve slowed down so why not!) Physically, body parts ache more, I fall, I get goofy at the end of the day, I sneeze a lot when I’m outside but I’m still kicking it as high as I can.

I don’t like crowds as much, and try to find interesting places to visit to keep stimulating those brainwaves. But, alas, the crowds…. I am trying to let things go a little more, but that’s a tough one. I overthink too many things, and make myself a little fried when I can’t get it right (or the way I want it to be).

So, if I forget something mid-sentence when my blood sugar is low, or the conversation drifts into a place where we didn’t think it was going, bear with me. We will all get to the same place in the end, and hopefully the same conclusion. Be kind to each other and accept that we stop and talk to everyone about anything. Forgive past slights and move on to this next phase in life.

My advice for us elders is to keep on living, keep on loving, and keep on learning something new. Move your body and rest when you need to, even if it is a little more often than ten years ago. And don’t forget to stop and smell the roses (even if you sneeze ten thousand times afterwards). Love to all on this crazy, rainy, hailstorm day!

Birthdays and Worry

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Is it wrong to worry about the future when you are older than most people?
Is it wrong to worry about your child’s future so much that you make yourself sick?
Is it wrong to question why people are the way they are when they support an idiot in office with no regard to their families or other families?
Why are we where we are?
Why are we shooting people who are trying to do the right thing?
Why are people in power afraid to do the right thing?
STAND UP!

Today is my birthday and I am pondering the state of the union and the world as we know it. Each year that I am alive, I have seen the good and the bad of administrations in power and it seems that this one is really bad. I am amazed at the people who are turning out in droves to protest and feel good that there are so many of us who care about what is going on. I am also amazed at those in power who aren’t marching with us, who think that this king is right and just and they refuse to depose him. He should not be the one leading the country. What will it take to bring about change for the better?

Today I am asking everyone that have supported this administration to reflect on who you voted for. I am begging you to ask good questions of your representatives why they are letting all of this nonsense happen. I am asking the red states to turn a little more purple and vote out those who support him. I am asking everyone to be brave and send out love to those who are being oppressed. I am asking everyone to lose their prejudices and accept everyone the way they are. Don’t kick out those in the military who are different than you (you know who I’m talking about). They signed up to do a job to support their country, just like you and your children did when wars were looming (or not). They wanted to do their duty to keep democracy alive. I am begging you to stop ignoring your children if they tell you they are different that what you expect. Have an open and honest conversation with them. Accept them the way they are. Embrace their differences with pride. You raised them to be independent. They may not be the same as you and you need to be okay with that. Love them for who they are.

And finally, don’t be hateful to anyone who doesn’t look like you. They have a right to be on this earth just like you. And many of them were in this country long before your family came here. RISE UP and make a difference before it’s too late. Move beyond your small plane of existence and see the world in a multi-colored perspective. Thank you.
RISE UP

Love vibes to all on this fantastic summer day.

Day to Remember Your Dad

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Or: Gardening, Flight Delays and Treating Dad
So I was in my happy place outside today, finishing up a few things this morning, to keep the plants alive in this summer heat when I remembered I was going to make a breakfast for my hubby. Oh, well, kiddo is coming in—although a delayed flight—and when we pick him up, we’ll take Dad out for a meal.

Since my husband had never been up to Central City we took a drive yesterday the scenic route through Boulder Canyon and then through Nederland where they were protesting – yea! NO KINGS! We waved at all of them and gave them a thumbs up. I loved to see all of the people standing up this weekend against the craziness of you know who and his ilk.

The drive was amazing through HWY 119 even with all of the road work. Drivers were kind and we got there in one piece. We found free parking, then wandered around in the old part of town. We don’t gamble but it was a treat just to see the old mining town was still there, albeit a lot of casinos and people than the last time I went up there (before gambling!).

And the Opera House was closed on the weekend but the flowers were pretty and the weather was nice. The town was setting up for the bed races and Main street had some vendors. I bought a book from one of the locals. I want to give a shout out to Jen, J.R. Black for her book The Watchmen of Dalton Manor. It’s a wonderful story about growing up in an old, haunted house. She is a lovely storyteller and a native of Colorado. I recommend her stories to you to have a fun read. She’s on Amazon, just like me!

Overall, a beautiful weekend occurred in Colorado even though we are getting the heat. So be kind to your spouses and your fathers today. Embrace the celebration. Love to All!

Do We Change for the Better as We Age?

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I’d like to think that for every year we are alive on this planet, we all become the wise person that we have looked up to and attempted to emulate over our elder years. I’d like to think that we all grow and begin to see the world from a better perspective. I’d like to think that we become more of a human being, like the wise grandfather elder spoke about in the old movie, Little Big Man. (A must-see movie! Add it to your bucket list!)

Grandfather, Old Lodge Skins spoke to his son, Jack Crabb—or Little Big Man, about the war with white men. Little Big Man asked if Grandfather—Old Lodge Skins, hated the white man now (after warring with people like General Custer and his army).
“Jack Crabb: Do you hate them? Do you hate the White man now?
Old Lodge Skins: Do you see this fine thing? Do you admire the humanity of it? Because the human beings, my son, they believe everything is alive. Not only man and animals. But also water, earth, stone. And also the things from them… like that hair. The man from whom this hair came, he’s bald on the other side, because I now own his scalp! That is the way things are. But the white man, they believe EVERYTHING is dead. Stone, earth, animals. And people! Even their own people! If things keep trying to live, white man will rub them out. That is the difference.”

After the war scene, Jack spoke with his grandfather once again about death and the fate of Human Beings (what his grandfather called his people):
“Jack Crabb: Grandfather, I am glad to see you.
Old Lodge Skins: Glad to see you too, my son. My heart soars like a hawk. Do you want to eat? I won’t eat with you because I’m gonna’ die soon.
Jack Crabb: Die, grandfather?
Old Lodge Skins: Yes, my son. I want to die in my own land, where Human Beings are buried in the sky.
Jack Crabb: Well, why do you want to die, grandfather?
Old Lodge Skins: Because there is no other way to deal with the White Man, my son. Whatever else you can say about them, it must be admitted: you cannot get rid of them.
Jack Crabb: No, I suppose not, grandfather.
Old Lodge Skins: There is an endless supply of White Man. But there always has been a limited number of Human Beings. We won today… we won’t win tomorrow.”

The message for me was clear: There are so many of us that don’t care about all the little things and the original people on earth that have been here long before we got here. There are many things we need to learn to survive in a world where evil people get the upper hand. And there are many things that are going to die and disappear in our lifetime, no matter what we do, because there are so many people who don’t want to respect the wise elders, or become one and do the right thing. All I am saying tonight to everyone who are still drinking the Kool-Aid:
Just….. Be better!

I send out love and happiness to all those who still care to do the right thing. And for those who don’t, Just Be Better!

Waiting to “Exhail”!

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Most of the weeds are pulled, the bushes are planted, the seeds are emerging from the raised bed soil, and the zucchini and squash are in the ground! I am sending out an enormous THANK YOU across the UNIVERSE to my husband who has helped me through injury and my aging body. I am grateful every day you are alive and well, even though being a cancer survivor is rough on your body. We are both going through a lot of exhaustion and exhaling to master daily chores, especially those that I have tried to keep up with every day. I appreciate you stepping up this summer for all the laborious tasks that I am not able to do right now. We are, after all pretty good together when we decide it’s worth doing and I’m not too bossy (okay, maybe I’m still a little bossy!)

I know non-gardeners think we are nutty people—always wanting to get our hands dirty, moving rocks around, taking away rock fill, putting rock fill back in, constantly weeding, fighting massive thunderstorms, flinching when we get hail as big as golf balls, shooing away literally tame rabbits that are trying to eat everything, and bobcats in the backyard-hopefully eating some of the rabbits! But in reality, we gardeners are generally trying to make a wonderland out of the clay soil and our crazy weather out here.

At the end of summer, and after I put the yard tasks behind me, I am sad that winter is coming. I clean up, put up the tools, and then go inside. I get antsy around April (false spring out here!) and start planting seedlings in the sun room. Unfortunately, the sun room isn’t heated and so I have to use space heaters when it gets down in the 20s and 30s at night. But, voila! Real spring happens, albeit late this year, and I can do it all again. Every year is different and I focus on different areas of the yard. Last year, there was the gazebo build, and this year it has been major cleanups, and planting around the gazebo. Who knows where I will venture next year? I am grateful for my farming father, who taught me a thing or two about the land. I am grateful for my ex-neighbor who was a Master Gardner who moved away 7 years ago to lush North Carolina, but still keeps in touch and talks about what we each have done in our yards. And long story short, I am grateful to be alive, semi-healthy, and loving my wonderful spouse for all of his help.

So whether you are waiting to exhale or waiting for the hail I hope you all live in that moment before any negative disasters that may come your way. Focus on the now and the positive. Love the beautiful green things you have planted and relish the promise of food before fall! Love tonight to all and be at peace with yourself for a little while!