Writer's Block: No Foolin'

looking into the mirror @ 5 AM.  no spring chicken here, i should have ended up in the stewpot quite awhile ago.! however, i wear my tough-old-bird persona with pride....
the age in your eyes cannot over-ride the joy and wisdom in your heart.

abandoning stewardship of our waters

WE are our own predators.... far from the "stewardship" we were given in "the Garden", we wear the
'greedy hat ' all over the planet! its not enough to blame GMO's or fertilizer/chemical-companies, coal-fired electric plants and rising
carbon emissions from too many millions of cars and trucks.
we need to take a good long look in the mirror.. it is our own overpopulation, as well as
our rampant and astounding consumption
of the resources in our world.

one of the biggest issues for our future on this earth is the "ownership"of water.
out West, every drop of the colorado river already belongs to some entity, plus most every city
down the line to LA. it is true of many big rivers and reservoirs in the dry western states.
as frequent drought has moved east, and closer to my world, there is the big
atlanta/ alabama/ florida battle over allocation of the water in chattahoochee-eufala-apalachicola river system. this has been a very long-time controversy, ongoing since i heard about it from the local folks'
accounts of changes in the Bay and their fears about it, back in'98...10 years ago, now.

one of the most productive estuaries in the one of the last of the living 'big bays' is in
trouble...mostly from insufficient fresh water: the effects of longterm severe
drought in the South, as well as receiving the concentrated yuppie urine etc etc. from upstream.
the apalachicola bay ecosystem is slowly suffering; once so bounteous, and full of life... the fish,
the birds, and the shrimp, crab and oysters are now slowly trying to readjust to the increasingly saline waters, as well as to man's increasing presence and pollution
of the surrounding environment.
unfortunately, abundant bay life stems from the proper ecological balance of
fresh and ocean waters...
which is fluctuating and diminishing more and more every season.
when you read the apalachicola (end-of-the-line) side of things in the florida news-
papers there is much more clear reporting of the issue....rather than our current
governer's ignorant and uncaring remarks about "them 'lil' ole mussels are just gonna have to
crawl a little farther to get to the water". up in lake lanier country, they choose their huge boats
over the health of the river's path elsewhere. their belief seems to be simply use and abuse,
forgetting the connection to all the waters of this living earth.

this whole story brings me such grief, if only for the memory of how incredibly beautiful the
florida 'panhandle' area was when i was first there(1978) the closest i will ever get to paradise. totally wild and undeveloped, full of migrating birds, butterflies and huge dragonflies.
no people, a wilderness upriver like a tarzan movie, with big palms, cypress and big alligators.
the bay waters were fertile and clean in eco-balance with the salty sea.
oysters galore, gathered and eaten right out of the bay, with no fear of the many
parasites/bacterial infection/algae blooms(red tides) present in the overworked waters of today.
long gorgeous bare white beaches beside the placid gulf waters..
did i mention no people?

the "people-in-charge", the fatcats and suits, should remember that our greatest resource is water. that its loss means death for us all, just like the air we breathe. these precious resources should be free, our rights to them paramount.
definitely forever OUTSIDE of ever-present monetary considerations.

i picture a world where those in big business have to wear red ' greedy hats '....
they are shaped like catholic bishops mitres, only not so big or nice.
i want to know who they are, and who to watch out for.....
it would be nice to see all those wall st. capitalists and brokers and CEO's
and bankers involved required to wear this proof of identity while they desperately
scramble to pick our pockets like india's beggar-children

a haiku for today:

Capitalism , Communism..... we all do wear the ' greedy hat '

form or function?

i have been continuing to twitter haiku every morning, some are in classic 5-7-5 syllable form,
but in twitter you cannot  really tell.... there is no ordering of words, other than a  straight line of byts. 
when i realized this, i  began
writing more for the words themselves, than the word-form of 3 lines. 
often i found myself using the  'fusion'  form of haiku
just the17 syllables that relate a clear  'real'  moment or a tiny revelation of grace.
even in my brief communications with "friends", i write in 17 syllables, always.  
so far, it has been an excellent morning "brain gym",   as stimulating as the coffee.....

i've played around with haiku for a very long time, exchanging  them with various friends and fellow
writers over the years. nothing tops a good game of haiku;   the "conversation" becomes brief
and beautiful, right-to-the-point... often, over time, even addictive.
although twitter is a medium for fast connections and links, and comments on what the world is doing at
any given moment....each morning, my "what are you doing" is writing haiku. it's a nice combination of
form and function; i often ponder which is which as i count syllables on my fingers. what am i doing right now?
i am temporally writing haiku, in e-world......... as spiritually as i can.

i wish now that i had kept track of every one, on postcards and old papers , scribbled on the back of an envelope
while driving......endless exchanges of beautifully precise poems.  i have held onto many, and once more, as i re-read them,
i see how the process functions to reduce the babble and tranquilize the monkey mind.
writing haiku allows a practice of poetic consideration to both focus and relax your mind.
these deliberately concise images convey the beauty of all life in just a few words.  
this form of poetry, gives the both the writer and the reader the experience of  a tiny  'Aha!' moment.
its brevity and its beauty are understandable, and quickly realized. 
i believe haiku teaches each of us to reduce the external noise, and fully apprehend the beauty
of the present moment....between  form and  function, it makes no difference in this very
small bit of the dreaming-world.

-vernal-

i hear the voices,
the sandhill cranes returning
from southern winters.

vty,  J-lea

seeds and metaphor

sunday seed sermon posted by johanna_lea @http:// ilonagarden.blogspot.com/

spring song in darkness

here in the south, it is the time when spring peepers sing the hallelujah chorus in every ditch, pond and puddle. their voices
swell,  ebb and flow beginning @ around dark-thirty.  later,if you happen outside in the cool night air, they're still partying out there...
as in every living being's life cycles, this is their window of opportunity..... "hallelujah! hallelujah!" ....an orgy in each puddle.
on some nights the warming air keeps them at it at such frantic levels, it actually gets louder, fuller. a great wild party full of pheromones, and lovesongs , wild dancing.... been there, done that . and a very
good time was had by all.   'nuff said...

i have written my twitter haiku about this very subject . latest  this AM: 

flies, women and song...
these tiny  little peeper guys
have  got it made.

i find a sort of perverse pleasure in hanging this daily haiku practice on the newest, shortest and most superficial, self-important, e-quiktrick medium yet..... we think and communicate in shorter and shorter byts. 
the concise haiku form fits quite well.  they're 'Hi-brow tweets' (is that an oxymoron?)  
what has become of us, who still actually write stuff in notebooks!
twitter is fluff, it is simply "much ado about nothing"---but if i can write for a year, i might have a book deal outta it... hah!
an entire year of daily "what am i doing right now "  .....which is haiku. 
enjoy the spring singing.    right at this very minute, the hallelujah chorus is being sung on NPR!!    

vty, J_lea

p/s  if you haiku, too.  my twitter name is  'ndawnis'    an ojibwe word for daughter. come out and play.

Tossed Salad Society

it appears that my recent "salad days" post has inspired my gardening friend and e-mentor,
(and this old friend) to conceptualize.... re: a new society of fresh green creative thinkers. 
although we are most definitely TOSSED, and are pulled in so many different directions in our daily lives,
our renewed friendship, and common interests seem to be spawning many new plans and concepts.
"what if" and "transforming into" becomes" when and where, and how?"

i have already created a collage for a logo, or even a tshirt.....we sit in a big bowl of good fresh salad stuff, 
elegantly sipping champagne  ( perrier?)  this new 'birth' has no set goal but to unite fresh green 'tossed' people....
find eachother, and create dialog and conversation about our many new ideas. we will certainly enjoy the
project together, whichever path it may take will be interesting.

i'm certain this rush of inspiration and enthusiasm comes with the return of spring. as the air becomes
soft and warm and breezy, we naturally come out of hibernation( "where is the nearest  honeybee tree?")
and begin another yearly cycle.
i am definitely a winter low-light , low-moodish being, but i'll now come to the sunlight, looking
for new ways to grow and change.... as long as these waves of inspiration last,  i'll surf 'em.
fellow tossed salads, unite!

vty J_lea

salad sermon

 i wrote here of reconnecting with a dear friend from my long ago "salad"days---i suppose that can
be read as "fresh, young and green"---- but as we catch up, i am noticing that "salad days" have
very little connection to youth; we discuss them freely like the mature hens that we are.  it is more
the freshness or newness of a project, a garden plan, or a new direction followed....or a new
decision made-for-sure!  we all have many small changes that we make daily, without attention
to what the results may be. living thoughtlessly is its own punishment.

if we can just retain that freshness of mind, and that creative spark that keeps us charged with energy,
then our life's path--long and winding and full of ruts--stays lively and full of hope and wonder
at the unique beauty of it all.. we wake up  eager to see what's up ahead  around the bend,
rather than cringing fearfully at what each next day might bring. no one can "tell" this truth to
others; we are often just drawn to contented souls, and witness the joy within them;  in observing
their way to happiness,  they show us hints of the good-lived life by their example.....
even those elderly garden ladies, in their gloves and straw hats  busy at planting the new
entrance to the senior center, are living with joy and creating a flowerbed that none may even
live to see develop into its full beauty. it is a good feeling to live full of hope.
living in present time allows you full rich enjoyment of every small moment in each day, each season
or even each passing year. what is past is alive only in memory. 
and by our own hand, we write each new chapter.... by the many "fresh, green" thoughts
that come to us, and that we proceed to bring to fruition in our lives.

for those that are bored, or living dull repetitive lives, or perhaps deep in a rut with no way out,
the ability to climb out, or break through is within all of  us.   it is how we direct our attention, with love
and gratitude to be alive that bring us into alignment with the the possibilities of living out our
"salad days", sometimes every day.   no matter what our life brings, the positive possibilities of tomorrow
can still take root in our busy minds. leave the low expectations alone, 'cause that's all you will get.

much love and many thanks to my friend and sister,  who has inspired me out of my winter shell
into such springish anticipations.  i think fate has brought us back to each-other to be mutual catalysts.
for the gift of these "salad days", i am both grateful  to you and honored by your enthusiasm.