Tag Archives: being present

The Peace of Babies All in a Row!

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Some things don’t require a lot of explanation, they just are. They are in fact just perfect.

A limousine stroller full of laughing kiddles and a long rope with slightly larger kiddles hanging on? This falls into the you can’t stand the cute category.

And then they waved and mugged for the camera. man. sweet.

Sometimes Peace is a simple shared moment in time when everything is just beautiful. Babies can give you those moments (especially when they’re someone else’s, riding by and waving!)… Peace, y’all! Let’s celebrate the sweetness… It lubricates the rest of life!

FruitMoonLunacySep1

Friends, Sabbath, Renewal, Peace

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When I thought about this weekend, I thought about my friends who were getting married and the groom’s daughter, my beloved niece.

Somehow, it escaped my imaginings that there would be other friends i knew there. Their family, the circle of friends from California, whom I knew from my years out there. And I hadn’t really factored in the bride’s huge Canadian Clan. Blessing upon Blessing.

So it was lovely and fun and there were lots of people to talk to and laugh with. The room was gorgeous. I enjoyed the ceremony (and you know how judgmental I can be about that!) So many reasons to celebrate!

And it was all so New York, so that was a lovely revisiting as well. And the Moon made herself a beautiful part of the weekend, that full and lovely Lady!

And today, after a visit with my girlie, I’ll come home to my life. This marks the end of a long and lovely summer. Just a few more days to make sense of all the stuff swirling in my head, after this interruption of wild city life!

Today, I’ll be glad to have a relatively slow day of driving and then sitting around staring emptily into space. I’m not used to weekends on the go. But this was a fabulous one!

And at the end… things were changed and different and wonderful. Peace reigns… even the East River, the view out my window, is quiet this morning as I write. I hope you have a wonderful end of summer day!

FruitMoonLunacyAug30

Re-membering Peace

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Life is made up of such layers. So many things in our lives that have made it sweet and all those things evolve… some are still part of our lives, some are lost to us and some are just now entering.

Yesterday was the second anniversary of Deb’s death. It’s almost time for what would have been my niece’s 49th birthday. All the joy of that family is held closely… and yet… and yet… they’re all gone.

Last night was the pre-wedding celebration of my friend’s second marriage. HIs first wife, my dear friend, died eight years ago. To see him last night, so happy, so happy! Again! At last!

The dinner was at a carousel. It was a lovely venue on the edge of the East River in Brooklyn. Full Moon rising over the park as we took the water taxi in… We sat looking back at the NYC skyline on a gorgeous summer evening. Eating grilled cheese sandwiches from a food truck. Oh, I remember New York, I remember. It was once a love of mine.

And there was my friend, swirling around the carousel, his bride going up and down on the horse beside him, intimately talking and laughing, just the two of them on the ride… so fun.

And lots of old friends with lots of catching up to do.

So many memories. So much happiness tempering the loss. A chance to both be present to the moment and to put all the pieces back together to envision a sweet, sweet future.

Remembering Love is an act of defiance, an act of Peace. And I’d love to stay longer, but New York is outside my hotel, demanding I remember… and an old friend is here to walk through it with me. Bye for now!

FruitMoonLunacyAug29

 

Fog Dancers for Peace

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My walking partner and I keep getting stopped on our morning walk by the beauty of the river. This morning we sat and watched the sun come up and spill across the river.

I struggle with the early mornings. But waking up and being present to such beauty is a lovely way to call my day into being. Let’s hear it for wonder.

Yesterday’s fog dancers did not drift across the river this morning, the sun was too bold; they are too shy… But this time of month as the nights are colder than the river, they will be back and back and back. You can count on them.

There’s beauty in every day, every season. We have to keep looking.

Here’s to the Beauty. Here’s to the Fog Dancers. Here’s to Peace.

FruitMoonLunacyAug25

Today and Everyday Peace

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Every day. We have to find the Peace of every day. What is wonderful, beautiful and worth celebrating about today?

And then how do we take that Beauty and use it to give us energy for the road.

It bothers me that we spend such time wishing away the moment. People are complaining about winter when it’s 90 degrees and about as humid as a day could get.

And right now, the food is so good you can barely stand it! We’re so lucky. But food will be good but different as each season changes. There’s always something to rejoice about and without the difference in the seasons, this part wouldn’t be so incredible.

So, here’s to every thing wonderful. yum, yum, yum. And here’s to today. Hope you enjoy it. Hope you make Peace.

FruitMoonLunacyAug20

 

Creek Sitting Peace

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It’s simply amazing. What a silly, wonderful idea.

You pick up your plastic chair and march into the water and plop. There you are.

You and a couple friends. Your friends, their friends, it doesn’t matter. When you’re in the water, it’s magical.

People float by. Hellos are exchanged. Goodwill and enjoyment are acknowledged.

You talk. or you just sit and take it in. Life goes on around the bend but here, there’s nothing but presence.

Beauty before me. Beauty behind me. Beauty around me. Beauty within.

Peace.

FruitMoonLunacyAug18

Chipping Out Hate for Peace

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I know I’ve had these words in my mouth before: institutionalized racism, misogeny, able-bodiedness… i’ve used them all.

But I don’t know that I’ve really looked at how those particular hatreds, or any kind of hatred, became codified and part of the structure.

One of the first things the First Congress took up was who was human and therefore who could vote.

We’ve been fighting against those definitions ever since. They’ve been taken out of law but not out of practice.

Until those of us who have do something to ensure that those who don’t have access nothing will happen.

What is that something? Well, we’re going to have to figure it out. It’s hard work. It will demand unpleasant self-reflections. We must acknowledge that there is abundance and that it must be shared… We must find the balance. We must, we must, we must. yeah i know. You’re not to do that. Nonetheless…

People are depending on us. Peace is depending on us.

FruitMoonLunacyAug17

Memories, Sabbath and Peace

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The mind’s a funny thing. When I put that pillowcase in the yard sale, I was only thinking that it was time to clean things out a bit.

With all the family deaths, there is stuff in my house. I’ve held it close, reluctant to let them go — as if that meant they were here. Bah. Weird human mind.

But when I sorted, I did the “use not use” test and the “love and not love” test, and this was just a spare pillowcase.

It wasn’t until I saw someone hold it up that its significance (in my life) surfaced. I was standing next to my friend and told her, she said, “don’t take it back.” “No,” I said, “the memory is enough for the Peace!”

And it was. sometimes we have to pay attention so we can be present to the moments of Peace. And then sometimes they just sneak up on you. However they come, they’re sweet. Peace of a lovely Sabbath to you. That Thunder Moon seems more a drippy moon right now, doesn’t it?

ThunderMoonLunacyJul5

Making Peace with Your Past

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I was not fond of High School and managed to leave after 11th grade by being an exchange student my senior year. (only course I had to take was English; I was told in Sweden I’d be given an A if I didn’t come to class and taint the proper English being taught!)

I was glad to be done with High School. I was tall, skinny, awkward, and mouthy. (I’m still many of those things! Praise be!) I had no idea who I was or what I wanted to do — besides of course fit in. And in that I was not alone. An entire class of kids, just wanting to fit in. Oh, how fragile we were.

I come from a small town. A lot of people left. A lot of people didn’t. There’s a lot we don’t have in common — including our memories. All that was filtered through our own particular set of demons.

But last night was our (how did this happen?) 45th reunion. There weren’t a lot of us, but there were some. And there was laughter and kindness. Tonight there will be more.

And all those times I felt insecure? These days I pretty much like who I am… and love what I do… and mostly I like the people I went to school with as mixed a bunch as we are. And the guy I might be thought to have the least in common with is someone I went to school with from K-12… and we just flat out like and enjoy one another.

There has to be a way to make growing up easier! Ways to help kids just be present to what is and to be kind to one another starting early. In the meantime, Peace on the high school years. And hurrah for people having lives, and lovingly, laughingly shaking our heads over yesteryear. Peace, now. And thanks for a nice evening.

ThunderMoonLunacyJun27