WHEN I GOT TO THE LAKE

My "friends" ran up to us  (we ..the woman who reads to them - the man who feeds them - the two of them who show up in a jeep)... and they see us and run to greet us.

They had agreed earlier - that they wanted me to resume my job of reading to them.  I had to agree to NOT talk about geese.  I did.  I chose instead, a book that I knew they would like - The Duck Who Laid the Golden Egg)...I'm sneaky that way....

So we met at our spot near the ball park under the tree.  They were a little rowdy at first but settled down nicely.

Mostly they enjoyed it and then we gave them their treats.  A few of them were obnoxious - always wanting more, more more, more food, more stories. 

When they had a full tummy and a book read to them, they quickly lost interest in us and went along doing whatever ducks do - sometimes even trying to pick up girls.

 
After all - soon it will be mating season and they are already finding their mates. 

Lance has definitely found the woman of his dreams.

And it won't be long i will get to see their babies

Parrish Light

Kirtana has sung with Eckhart Tolle (there is a video of her singing at a talk given by Tolle in Vancouver, and when I came across this particular video I found I really enjoyed the visuals and her singing. It's about 5 minutes so probably no one will have the time to watch it but it is really nice especially if you have headphones on. This song, these words captures the feeling one has when out in nature and having a "moment" of unity.

If you've ever looked at Maxfield Parrish' art - you know why she was inspired to write it - what he does with "light" is so beautiful.

LYRICS

I watch the orange light
wash the meadows and the trees
I feel my heart ignite,
so I get on my knees
to hear the cricket song,
to feel the earth
and know that I belong
in this Maxfield Parrish light,
destined to perish with the night

And I am in this painting,
a liquid brushstroke through the sky
Yet I am witnessing
my form take birth and die
I change the landscape
and the landscape changes me
Somehow I'm a part
of the Artist and the art
of all I see

One light, hiding yet abiding
from dawn, through night, to dawn
One life, dividing and uniting
I go on and on...

Bathed by this peaceful light
I feel my sense of Self expand
I lose the need for flight
like a sparrow in God's hand
I lose the question
and I become the why and how
in the evanescent,
ever-present here and now

I watch the orange light
wash the meadow and the trees
I feel my heart ignite,
so I get on my knee

I POSTED THIS ELSEWHERE

But it's so beautiful I want it here on this blog.

THIS HAPPENED BACK IN 2012

But even today it's exciting to watch.  Thanks Sharon for emailing me this.

IF YOU PACK UP YOUR HOUSE TO MOVE

Getting rid of "stuff" is good and boy, did I get rid of stuff when we sold and moved from our big house.  I sent so much away to thrift stores, gave away stuff on FreeCycle - never tried to sell any of it - just wanted to live lighter and freer.  I haven't regretted it too much but once in awhile I can't figure out why I would have tossed something in the trash or gave it away.

For instance I had wind chimes - several on a wood holder 3 foot long tubes that would play a deep ringing chime - ..I loved to listen to them in the wind and they were expensive.  They're gone now and I can't find them.  I guess I sent them away.

I had two of these bird cages.  I use to place them around the yard and then wait and one day I actually caught this bird inside it.  And it appeared he had taken it over and wasn't really feeling it...when it came to company.

I wish I still had them.  But I trashed them - it was just more stuff I didn't want to move. 

If you are planning on moving it is great to down size and get rid of stuff, but take a deep breath and give yourself a moment to know absolutely you're ready to let it go.  There's just a few things I wish I had done that with and one of them is a really nice high  patio table with four tall chairs - i simply gave away to my son's room mate at the time.  I would love to have that now.

And then again - the next time I move - I'll probably get rid of more stuff that is just taking up space.   I've posted these before on my nature blog but I resized them and worked to make them look brighter than they were.  I had saved them off in a real small format and they were dark. 

 the first pic is a random bird and i don't know if he went inside the cage or not because i don't have pics of it and don't remember.

LEAVING THE COWS AND ON TO THE BIRDS

A handful of recent bird photos I've taken lately.  With the weather warming up it's been nice to get out and do what i love doing best - walking and stalking (birds)...

There is a lot of "liquid gold" at the lake lately - love the sunlight on the water.

And speaking of Gold - the photo at the bottom is one I took several years ago while walking in a neighborhood near downtown Covina.  I remember exactly the day when walking by I spotted the gold carpet of leaves.  I actually felt a shift in my energy when seeing it.  I was elevated just a little bit in mood and consciousness.  I must revisit this area again in the spring.

I wouldn't say I live in the past but I do enjoy revisting old photos because it's a reminder to go somewhere again and see what new marvelous scenes open up.  I was raised from age 10 to 20 in Covina and the downtown area was always fun to go back and visit.  I've even taken a granddaughter with me one day when we walked through my neighbhorhood.  I had her little bike with me in the trunk and let her ride around the neighborhood and now that reminds me to go revisit those photos soon. 

Sometimes I wait for the seagulls to line up - I got a photo last year of them lining up as if waiting to take off.   This one isn't quite the same but a similar look.

THE REST OF THE COW PHOTOS

SEVERAL OTHER REASONS WHY I LIKE THE CENTRAL COAST (CALIFORNIA) SO MUCH

I'm sure I posted these years ago after I took them on a visit.  But I love these photos so much I wanted them back up.  Luckily I had posted these so I had them saved because the photos of this trip plus several months of photos I took when we lived with my grandkids for a year around 2011 were lost when my computer had a major virus and we had to blow the whole thing out and start over.  I lost all my photos.

I'm thrilled to still have these because since then, we have driven to this area before while up at the coast and the cows haven't been in this area when we drive by.  Somewhere I read or heard that the central coast has the happiest cows alive.  I believe it.

I'll split the posting of these cow photos into two posts - besides these i have about five or six more.  I think this is in Arroyo Grande - if not my sister would know.

Each one would make a beautiful painting.

I was so excited when I saw this scenery and these cows I must have been bouncing all over the place taking these pics.

 Soon, soon - I want to go back.

THE DUCKS OF LAKE GREGORY AND THEIR "BOOK OF THE WEEK" CLUB

It was a beautiful day at the lake yesterday.  The sun was out - the temperature was warm and all the ducks and coots were in the mood for a story.

As their guest reader, once a week I would choose a book to read to them, after which, they would get their treats.

As soon as they saw me arriving with book in hand, they quickly assembled in a group anxious to hear this week's story.

 I sat down on a tree stump and began to read a passage out of "The Five Geese That Took Over Lake Gregory".  

They did not like my selection for their Book of the Week club and voted me out as guest reader. 

I'VE BEEN EDITING PICTURES FROM SEPTEMBER AND LIKED THIS ONE

I took it over at the lake, one of many poses of this blue heron.

SO CREATIVE

Love this commercial.

ONE MIGHT WONDER

.....Just how many seagull photos does one need to take.  My answer would be ....as many photos as there are seagulls.  So I'm not even close to taking enough seagull photos.

These were seagulls on Pismo Beach.  I have promised myself to get all my vacation photos up or at least most of the ones that make me feel like I could get in the car tomorrow and head back up.  I can smell the ocean air and feel the breeze as I type.

Wow this guy was checking her out. 

 He looked so tiny there in this blue and gold scene. 

But there were people behind him who didn't even see him or acknowledge how cute he is - but I did.

I heard him say "Namaste".  I really did.

And to him I said back - the spirit in me bows to the spirit in you - ....God, spirit, life, universe, love, peace, what have you....

All that Is - is quite beautiful.

A GUY IN FRANCE LIVES IN AN APARTMENT ABOVE WHERE THE PEACE MARCH WAS GOING ON

He started playing John Lennon's Imagine - this is what happened.

DIDN'T THINK I COULD SALVAGE THIS

I have so many photos from our visit to the coast in November and this one in particular I knew if i could get it to look okay i would like to post it.  The sun was in my eyes, the pelican was in front of the sun and it was pretty much impossible to get any detail to show up on his feathers as the bird itself photographed really dark and the light behind was glaring.  Off and on I would take it into photoshop and try again and again to make it look okay.  Finally I hit a few buttons (couldn't tell you really what I did) and got it to this point.

I like what I ended up with - at least with what I started out with and now I can actually see it.   I might keep at it and see where i can take it from here.

and a beautiful sunset on the beach in Pismo.

RANDOM PHOTOS TAKEN SINCE JAN 1 2015

The first week after Christmas was too cold to walk so we took out in the jeep to get some snow photos.  A lot of areas were already melting because they had direct sun.  At our house the snow stays a little longer because we are on the shady part of the mountain this time of year.

Here are a few I took while driving through Blue Jay, the next town over from us. 

 This photo with the blue car in front - i love this property but can never get a good photo as we are on the one highway through Blue Jay where there is normally cars behind us and we are going at about 45 miles an hour.  The photos usually turn out blurry.  This was the best I could get that day.  I would definitely live in that house.