Poems, Prayers and New Years

As 2020 draws to it’s close and the new year beckons, I pause for reflection. It’s been a year of changes, oh so many changes. Pain, frustration, fear and general ickyness abounded. But like each of her sisters before her, 2020 has also been filled with joy and promise. I’ve had better years, but I’ve also had worse and the older I grow, the more I realize that every year, every day, has it’s share of Sacred, ordinary moments. I look forward to 2021, to finding the magic in the mundane, the beauty in the chaos, the mystical in the everyday. Farewell 2020, thank you for the blessings. Welcome 2021, thank you for the unknown gifts that are waiting to be discovered. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

“I’ve been lately thinking about my life’s time
All the things I’ve done, how it’s been
And I can’t help believing in my own mind
I know I’m gonna hate to see it end

I’ve seen a lot of sunshine, slept out in the rain
Spent a night or two all on my own
I’ve known my lady’s pleasures, had myself some friends
And spent a night or two in my own home

I have to say it now, it’s been a good life, all in all
It’s really fine to have a chance to hang around
And lie there by the fire and watch the evening tire
While all my friends and my old lady sit and pass the pipe around

Talk of poems and prayers and promises and things that we believe in
How sweet it is to love someone, how right it is to care
How long it’s been since yesterday and what about tomorrow?
What about our dreams and all the memories we share?

The days they pass so quickly now, nights are seldom long
Time around me whispers when it’s cold
The changes somehow frighten me, still I have to smile
It turns me on to think of growing old

For though my life’s been good to me there’s still so much to do
So many things my mind’s never known
I’d like to raise a family, I’d like to sail away
And dance across the mountains on the moon

I have to say it now, it’s been a good life, all in all
It’s really fine to have the chance to hang around
And lie there by the fire and watch the evening tire
While all my friends and my old lady, sit and watch the sun go down

Talk of poems and prayers and promises and things that we believe in
How sweet it is to love someone, how right it is to care
How long it’s been since yesterday and what about tomorrow?
What about our dreams and all the memories we share?”
~John Denver

~ all lyrics are the product of my memory. Any discrepancies or divergences from actual fact should not be viewed as errors but as all natural variations proving that I did, in fact, live through the 60’s~

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

 

2020 picoftheweek # 12 — Details

For Maria Antonia’s 2020picoftheweek challenge # 12 — my prompt for this week — details

and for Kammie’s Oddball Photo Challenge

about the photo: Love locks on the railing along Wellington, NZ waterfront footbridge over Frank Kitts Lagoon.

Love Locks

Love is not found in grand passion
nor in the splendid hues of sunrise
Love lives in the little things
the twinkle in the eye
at a well time joke
the brush of your body against mine
love doesn’t lie in the words we say
but in those tiny details
of life we live day after day

What Is Life — George Harrison

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

A to Z Challenge, What Day Is It Anyway? Coping with Covid day 13

My contributions for the A to Z Challenge – Anti-Social and What Day Is It Anyway– Coping with Covid – day 13

“I am not anti-social, I’m anti-idiot” ~ Sherlock Holmes

In a sudden irrational act of antimicrobial, antihistimine inspired social distancing, I caught myself waving to one of my soon to be co-workers from my window this morning. He didn’t wave back, then I remembered, I have tinted windows, you know those shiny mirror things that block the view so I can see out but no one can see in. Drat! That’s what you get from inhaling too much sanitizer! Wonder if that could be considered huffing?

We ventured out into the wilds of semi-suburban Rapid City to our local Health Food Coop today. It wasn’t half bad. Special “immune compromised” hours and a very small store with fairly high prices led to an almost serene atmosphere. No toilet paper, no wipes, no rolled oats, but filled most of the rest of my list. Got in, got out, got home, just in time for a Spring Squall complete with snow. Ahhhh Black Hills in the Spring.  How y’all holding up?

Til next time ~ Keep your head down and your pantry full ~JP

From a Distance — Bette Midler

Picoftheweek – 2020 # 11 – Transportation

For Maria Antonia’s 2020picoftheweek challenge — my prompt for this week — Transportation

“The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car,
why not do it with some style!”
~Emmett Brown – Back to the Future

Little Deuce Coupe — The Beach Boys

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

Monday Window – Fear

About the photo: Fear Factory year round haunted house in Queenstown, NZ. Revived from an old haunted hotel, you can read more about it here.

For Ludwig’s Monday Window challenge

Afraid

Ran out of toilet paper
afraid I won’t find more
running out of vegetables
afraid of grocery stores
out of social contact
afraid of being bored
found last hand sanitizer
at least that’s one I scored

My Corona — Chris Mann

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

What Day is it Anyway? – Coping with Covid day 2 – SoCS – Welcome

Linking to Linda G Hill’s “What Day is it Anyway?” and SoCS

Linda says: ”Because if you’re like me and stuck at home already, or if you’re going to be like me soon, the days of the week are going to be hell to keep track of. We have a wonderful community here on WordPress, and I’m sure many people are feeling nervous and/or isolated. I want to make sure every one of us has somewhere to congregate and someone to talk to.

Our Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt is “welcome.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Lilacs ready to burst forth in a glorious welcome of Spring

Kind of a mish/mash up for me today

Coping with COVID-19 — day 2 — March 21, 2020

It’s a beautiful day here in the Black Hills. Sunshine, blue skies, mild temps. It’s a welcome relief from the snow, freezing temps, and winds earlier this week. We have a large lovely, lightly populated area perfect for walking with minimal human interaction. We’ve been out for one walk already and plan to do one or two more. We’re both recovering from a mild virus and we’re still a little weak. It’s nothing more than sniffles, itchy eyes and a mild cough but right now a cough is about as welcome as a fox in the hen house.

If I’m honest about it, I’m kind of relieved to be home for a couple of weeks. I’m a Highly Sensitive Person and an introvert. Too much “peopling” can leave me exhausted under the best of circumstances and these, my friends are NOT the best of circumstances. Angry, frightened aura’s abound.

There has also not been much of an opportunity to celebrate the Equinox or Ostara which I always enjoy. I like to welcome Spring with a cleansed home and some special spring treats. This afternoon will be spent in an outdoor meditation, a “whole house blessing” (a fancy schmancy way of saying Spring Cleaning), and perhaps some nice vegetable soup.

Look to the Rainbow — from Finian’s Rainbow

Til next time ~Happy Spring ~Stay Safe ~JPP

One Liner Wednesday – Small things/great things

From Linda’s one liner wednesday “All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one in which they were small.” ― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
“The first half of this quote is becoming all too obvious in the world we live in. But the second half remains a challenge. Think about it. What small things in your life do you now have time to make great?”

Funny you should ask Linda, at my age time is a constant companion. No matter what I have to do, or how much leisure I have, there’s never, ever enough time. So, every day I try to do small things with great love. Perhaps that’s the real lesson to be learned from the current crisis (no I’m not naming it, could be like Betelguese 😉 tomorrow is never promised, don’t wait.

“Saruman believes that it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I have found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
~ Galdalf the Grey

I hope you dance ~ Lee Ann Womack

Til next time – practice random acts of kindness and senseless beauty ~JPP

Something to pass the time while in isolation – a Judy D-B challenge

3.15.2020 Sunrise

So Judy D-B started this from a text she got and it seems like a great idea so since we’re in “self semi-quarantine” here thought we’d take a bash. What the heck is “self semi-quarantine? Superhubs and I are both in very high risk groups so we’re staying home or at least away from public places as much as possible. We use drive thru’s, grocery curbside pick-up, on-line ordering … yadayadaya. So what’s happening in my world? Our instructions are to: share the very last photos on our SD cards or iPhones

3.16.2020 – a bunny finding a patch of new Spring grass

What we’re listening to:

You’re Sixteen — Ringo Starr

What we’re watching (later):

Once Upon a Time Season 5

So what’s going on in your world?

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

Crimson’s Creative Challenge -What lies beneath

For Crimson’s Creative Challenge # 70. I found this so sad and neglected, until I saw the light …

What Lies Beneath

Beneath the promises so broken,
the platitudes and lies unspoken
tear at the once caring heart
love was lost right from the start
rough and broken stone and brick
bleeding wounds that stay soul-sick

But somewhere deep down below
there lies an ancient light and glow
that tiny incandescent spark,
warms the soul and mends the heart
in the darkest corner of winter chill
love’s light shines all the brighter still

Winter Light — Linda Ronstadt (from the movie Secret Garden)

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

2020 picoftheweek #9 – Rustic

For Maria Antonia’s #picoftheweek 2020, a look at rustic longing

About the photos: snapped at the “Open-Air Museum of Old Japanese Farmhouses” in Toyonaka, Japan (near Osaka). The museum is a wonderful collection of historic rural houses from different eras offering a glimpse into 18th century rural Japanese life.

My eyes settled on the old house
with it’s battered roof,
thatch thinned to the bone
and a longing came upon me
as I sat upon the aging stoop
my wild heart ached for home

Grandma’s Feather Bed — John Denver

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP