Small Delights | Kleine Freuden

“Accustom yourself every morning to look for a moment at the sky and suddenly you will be aware of the air around you, the scent of morning freshness that is bestowed on you between sleep and labor.

You will find every day that the gable of every house has its own particular look, its own special lighting.

Pay it some heed…you will have for the rest of the day a remnant of satisfaction and a touch of coexistence with nature.

Gradually and without effort the eye trains itself to transmit many small delights.” –Hermann Hesse

The 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the German author Hermann Hesse.
Photos by Enchanted Seashells

Poetic Truth : Pity The Nation

We are living in sad and scary times. Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote the poem “Pity the Nation” in 2007, drawing inspiration from Khalil Gibran’s original work of the same title, published in 1933. Their words are a reminder about the cycles of history.  

We’ve been warned.

PITY THE NATION

Pity the nation whose people are sheep
   And whose shepherds mislead them
 Pity the nation whose leaders are liars
            Whose sages are silenced
  And whose bigots haunt the airwaves
 Pity the nation that raises not its voice
          Except to praise conquerers
       And acclaim the bully as hero
          And aims to rule the world
              By force and by torture
          Pity the nation that knows
        No other language but its own
      And no other culture but its own
 Pity the nation whose breath is money
 And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed
      Pity the nation oh pity the people
        who allow their rights to erode
   and their freedoms to be washed away
               My country, tears of thee
                   Sweet land of liberty!
 Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 2007

                         

PITY THE NATION
By Khalil Gibran, 1933

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.

Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dream, yet submits in its awakening.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpetings, and farewells him with hootings, only to welcome another with trumpetings again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.

Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.

Backyard Birding

It’s been raining but I was able to snap a few pictures between storms.

In one day, Casa de Enchanted Seashells was visited by a bevy of gorgeous birds.

I don’t think I’ve seen these guys before, but I’m so happy they stopped by! They look like an Eastern Bluebird, but that’s not likely here in SoCal. I’m pretty sure they’re not a Scrub-Jay because they’re too small. Whoever you are, welcome! The rain droplets on the mulberry’s bare branches look super cool.

A bunch of yellow finches love to eat the sumac seeds.

I didn’t post the video, but this guy was calling out to his mate, and he’s VERY loud!

Metta Mantra: Loving Kindness

At this point in time with what’s going on here in the United States (not so united right now), I think we need to collectively try this as a meditation mantra.

I think it’s significant that there’s a full Blood Worm Moon during a total lunar eclipse on Friday. Hopefully, the power of these planetary energies will ignite transformation and remove the toxicity that’s permeated our country.

Again, as above, so below.

May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature.
May all beings be free.

Art curated from Pinterest. Credit to artist.

I See You

I had another lucid dream about my kitty, Bandit. She was seated on the sofa, paws tucked up under her body, and she was simply looking at me.

When she was alive, she would often stare at me, right through to my bones, with such intense love in her eyes that I’d have to stop whatever I was doing and bask in the feeling of being so very loved. SIGH. I surely do miss that girl.

And, there
In the mists of my memory
I see you.
And, there
In the mists of my memory
You shall always be.

A little poem written by Athey Thompson

True Love

It’s time for the return of the mallards, a sweet reminder that spring is nearly here. These guys stayed close to me, finding things to eat while I snapped a few photos.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

Duck sightings are good luck!

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

The duck symbolizes clarity, family, love, vigilance, intuition, nurturing, protection, feelings, self-expression, balance, adaptation, grace, and strength.

Spiritually, ducks are revered for their symbolism of balance, unity, and wholeness.

To see two ducks indicates inner reflection, balance, and unity, acknowledging efforts to integrate inner and outer realities, reassuring movement towards wholeness.

The encounter encourages emotional intelligence, making holistic decisions that align with values and intuition, and trusting inner wisdom to navigate life’s challenges.

Two ducks symbolize spiritual growth and evolution, pursuing a higher perspective, and accessing cosmic insight, revealing the intricate web of connections.

Ducks, especially in pairs, are often seen as a sign of good fortune and positive events on the horizon. 

That all sounds good to me:)

Slava Ukraine! #SupportUkraine

Everyone I know is deeply ashamed of this country and very sorry because however it occurred, the orange POS and his puppet master Muckrat are in charge of destroying democracy and our relationships with our allies.

I learned that my greatgrandmother emigrated to the United States though Ellis Island from Kviv, Ukraine, so I feel like Ukranians are my people, too.

Did you see this horribly hostile attack of President Zelenskyy by the sofa-lover Vance, the orange POS, and Hegseth, (who’s supposed to be the Secretary of Defense but I don’t acknowledge him, either)?

It’s absolutely abhorrent! We support Ukraine 1000%

VANCE: Have you said thank you once?
ZELENSKYY: You think if you speak very loudly—
TRUMP: He’s not speaking loudly. You’ve done a lot of talking. You’re not winning this. ZELENSKYY: Mr. Trump, you are increasing the volume of your voice, but not the logic of your argument. Ukraine is still standing. We are still fighting.
HEGSETH: Look, we have to be realistic. America can’t fund this war forever.
ZELENSKYY: Realistic? Like when your Defense Secretary Hasgeth refusing to even say Russia invaded Ukraine? You couldn’t admit the truth, and now you want to lecture me on reality? HEGSETH: This is about diplomacy. We need a negotiated settlement.
ZELENSKYY: Diplomacy? Putin broke every ceasefire, every treaty, every promise. What kind of deal do you think he wants? One where Ukraine still exists?
TRUMP: You don’t have the leverage. You don’t have the cards.
ZELENSKYY: Because you keep taking them away—blocking aid, repeating Putin’s lies, pretending this war is already lost. VANCE: You should be grateful. The U.S. has given you a lot. ZELENSKYY: Grateful? My people are dying while you sit here demanding I smile and shake hands with my enemy? Gratitude will come when Russia is defeated.
HEGSETH: But Ukraine needs to be realistic. There are limits to what America can provide. ZELENSKYY: And are there limits to what Russia can take? Or do you just let them redraw borders by force?
TRUMP: It’s going to be very hard to do business like this, Volodymyr.
ZELENSKYY: Ukraine is not a business deal. We do not trade away our sovereignty. We fight for it. VANCE: But for how long? What’s the endgame?
ZELENSKYY: For us, there is no exit. We win, or we cease to exist. The only question is whether America stands with us.

Amoral Architects of Destruction

That orange POS and his puppet master, Muckrat, are doing their level best to destroy America.

Not only have they fired thousands of government employees, in 2020 his administration delisted the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Some Federal protections for gray wolves were restored across much of the United States a couple years later, but a new threat to decimate the entire wolf population is real.

Regarding the environment and according to Defenders of Wildlife, President Biden took sweeping, historic action to permanently protect more than 625 million acres of United States ocean waters — and the wildlife living there — from the threat of offshore drilling.

Now the target of a Trump administration executive order to reverse course, coastal protections will be fought out in the courts, Congress and through engagement with the American public. At stake are protections for the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean in Alaska. Wildlife is caught in the balance.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation would require all Americans to prove their citizenship status by presenting documentation—in person—when registering to vote or updating their voter registration information. Specifically, the legislation would require the vast majority of Americans to rely on a passport or birth certificate to prove their citizenship. While this may sound easy for many Americans, the reality is that more than 140 million American citizens do not possess a passport and as many as 69 million women who have taken their spouse’s name do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name.

Because documentation would need to be presented in person, the legislation would, in practice, prevent Americans from being able to register to vote by mail; end voter registration drives nationwide; and eliminate online voter registration overnight—a service 42 states rely on. Americans would need to appear in person, with original documentation, to even simply update their voter registration information for a change of address or change in party affiliation. These impacts alone would set voter registration sophistication and technology back by decades and would be unworkable for millions of Americans, including more than 60 million people who live in rural areas.

Additionally, driver’s licenses—including REAL IDs—as well military or tribal IDs would not be sufficient forms of documentation to prove citizenship under the legislation.

In short, the SAVE Act is disastrous legislation. The flawed leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives has declared that passing the legislation is one of their top priorities for the 119th Congress.

These are the actions of the amoral architects of destruction. The people who have now seized power are determined to throw the United States into mayhem.

Are you scared yet?

P.S. By the way, it will always be the Gulf of Mexico and Mt. Denali. We all know that those stupid decisions were just smokescreens for the real damage to our constitution, right?

Reach For The Light

When things are as bad as they appear to be here in the US, and with growing anxiety every day, sometimes all we can do is breathe and reach for the light wherever we can.

Light is the thing we seek
Within the darkest of day,
let it show us the way.


Little words by Athey Thompson
“Reaching for that Star” by Florian Ceglarek

Bad Times in the United States

It’s becoming more and more difficult to ignore that absolute shitshow that’s going on in this country since that orange POS and his puppet master muskrat defrauded the election in November.

And yes, I truly believe that his “winning” was not the will of the people; with muskrat’s help and maybe aided by a foreign government, there is a growing fear that the vote was tampered with.

I can’t imagine what the rest of the world thinks about us. The deteriorating relationships with our friends in Canada and Mexico is hard to believe, but it’s all real.

We are living a worst case scenario.

While all this is going on, yesterday my local congressman posted smiling pics of himself in my city having a cup of coffee at a local place like democracy isn’t burning to the ground. Talk about not reading the room! You should have seen all the comments telling him to get back to DC and DO SOMETHING to stop this madness.

As much as I try to stay away from watching the news and becoming overwhelmed with dread, THIS can’t be ignored, no matter how hard I try:

From the BBC (as I no longer trust most US based news sources):

The Trump administration has given Elon Musk’s deputies access to the federal payments system that controls the flow of trillions of dollars in government funds every year, US media report.

[From Enchanted Seashells: To clarify, this includes Social Security payments, social security numbers, and banking information for those who get direct deposit.]

Reports suggest members of Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) – which is not a government department, but a team within the administration – have been granted access to sensitive personal information of millions of Americans.

Two officials at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) were reportedly placed on leave after a standoff with Doge members over access.

Read the full article here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77rkg5dm3vo