Ghost Cat

Ghost Cat

I was looking out my back door, debating if I wanted to go out. There were lots of things to do at the end of the year, backyard-wise. I could cut back the dead hibiscus stalks. The dried hydrangea flowers rebuked me for not having taken advantage of their beauty when they were full and vibrant and I should pull them off. The withered tomato vines were still in the garden.  Yet, I stood there doing nothing. The day was cold and gloomy. Why bother going out when it was so much better inside?

That’s when I saw it – the ghost cat. I had never seen such a fully white cat before. It was hustling through as if it was on a mission. I opened the door and called out, “Hey, cat!” It looked over at me for a nanosecond before continuing on its way. We grabbed a photo of it just before it disappeared into the neighbor’s yard.

Was it an albino cat or just a white one? I wasn’t close enough to see. An albino lacks pigment so its eyes seem pink, reflecting the blood vessels inside, and its skin is pink, too. Where did this cat come from? I hadn’t seen it before. But it shook off my lethargy and reminded me of the year about to pass.

This time of year brings up the ghosts of thoughts/actions/decisions past. Sometimes they are energizing, sometimes they are tinged with regret. Yet the seasons always shift, the days move on, and we are presented with new options. It is tempting to make resolutions for the coming year, decisions that frequently disappear almost as soon as they are made, that become the ghosts of the future. They are too definitive, I think.

This year I am making inclinations more than resolutions. I am inclined toward sending out more of my writing. I am leaning in the direction of renewing contact with people I like but have let slip away. I am tending toward being gentler in my approach to life, to laugh a lot more. Nothing momentous, just simple possibilities. 

So on the cusp of 2014, I thank the ghost cat for waking me up. And I wish all of you the very best of the New Year.

Folk singer Woody Guthrie made his list of resolutions in 1933, when he was 31. He called them Rulin’s and they were quite practical. Did he follow them? Here they are:

http://www.businessinsider.com/woody-guthries-new-years-resolutions-2013-12

Something about Albino cats:

http://pets.thenest.com/rare-albino-kittens-11242.html

Sunrise Possibilities

Sunrise Possibilities

Early in the morning, before the world is fully awake, dawn washes the sky in soft hues appropriate for sleepy eyes. As we, and the day awaken, the sun rises above the horizon and the colors deepen to paint the day with possibilities.

The quality of a sunrise depends on what happens on the earth. It depends more on the science of light than on esthetics. Minute particles of dust, such tiny things, have an impact on the display. The quality of the air, often not the best for breathing or for the planet, is transformed before our eyes.

But that doesn’t negate the wonder of what we see. Our eyes can take in the ragtag pieces of the ordinary and discern the beauty of the whole. And the sky provides a canvas to blend it all in harmony. Who can be immune to Mother Nature’s palette?

The holidays are over and the New Year, like the sunrise, has lifted above the horizon to offer possibilities for us all. Can we look beyond our differences in culture, in gender, in religious preference, in financial status, and accept everyone as worthy? Is it possible in this year to set aside the dirt and grime and atrocity of war to coat the world in peace? 

Each sunrise is different. Each day is different. And so is each year. We are experiencing the sunrise of 2013.  Let’s see the promise of the new year and rediscover the beauty that lies within peaceful possibilities.

Want to know why the sky changes colors?

http://www.sewanee.edu/chem/Chem&Art/Detail_Pages/ColorProjects_2004/Adams/Adams%20project.htm

Gardens – Our Inner Voices Made Visible

Gardens – Our Inner Voices Made Visible

On this Labor Day weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to feature a neighbor’s garden. It has the usual bushes, specimen trees, a birdbath, and…the Statue of Liberty!  The weeping tree behind the statue almost looks like a background of fireworks. What a wonderful reminder of our roots. 

It makes me aware that gardens are more than plants – they are our inner voices made visible. Some gardens are perfectly groomed, each blade of grass tended, every bush placed in a precise location. Some gardens are specific, favoring a particular style, an English garden perhaps, or a peaceful Zen garden, while others run wild, looking unkempt and troubled. And there are water gardens, vegetable gardens, raised bed gardens, container gardens, roof gardens, and don’t forget about flowers. Wow, what possibilities.

Our garden is somewhat planned but in many respects is free, as we tend to favor a fairly natural setting. We often take our cues from the plants themselves. The privet hedge we planted many years ago does not like the shade that has developed from our now mature trees and has turned woody. We probably will replace it, perhaps with the Rose of Sharon bushes that seem to be establishing themselves near the privets; they don’t seem to mind the shade at all.

And after seeing the statue in our neighbor’s yard, I think I would like to have something in our own that would reflect our personal spirits. Maybe a path of hand-crafted stepping stones meandering down to the back of the garden. Perhaps a trellis created from the tree limbs that have fallen from the maple trees for our veggies next spring. The choices are many, as many as we are in our great country.

Here are some garden ideas to consider:

http://greenwoodproject.com/2011/02/different-types-of-gardens/

Gardens through history and around the world…Incredible!

http://home.comcast.net/~lorraine.sherry/gardens/handouts/Examples.pdf