Bourque and Gibran

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet

and the winds long to play with your hair.

–Kahlil Gibran

Cottonwood Mural 2007

Check out the details of this mural in my close up shots shown below.

I'm including a poem that I believe relates to the images in the mural

and to the artist's purpose in her work.

I found this mural on the side of the Goodwill building in downtown Cottonwood.

The mural artist is Joan Bourque and these websites:

http://www.artfuloceans.org/html/murals.html

http://www.artconnections.org/html/joan_bourque.html

provide more examples of her works and explains the focus and intent of her art projects.

The Children
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children." And he said:Your children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.They come through you, but not from you, and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love, but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts.You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; for even as He loves the arrow that flies, so he loves also the bow that is stable.
-Kahlil Gibran

I found the above poem on the following website: http://colleenscorner.com/Poetry7.html. She shares quite a few poems that are worth remembering. Thanks Colleen!

About blogging: You know it never ceases to amaze me how much you can learn on-line about total strangers, who don't seem so much like "strangers" after you read so many details about their personal lives. The crazy thing about the blogging world is that for bloggers and those who read blogs...you could possibly learn more about "perfect strangers" than you may ever know about your own family members, particularly if you do not share proximity. I wonder what this says about us in this internet age? Well this strange phenomenon could be eliminated if everybody just blogged, sooo EVERYBODY GET BLOGGING! RIGHT?!? :)

Oh, and something else about Collen (mentioned above)...well, she is a terrific photographer! Check her pics out at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clinker/ It's totally worth the click.

Life can be full of one great discovery after another!

Recuperating at home

Should be at work right now, but here I am at home instead. I was attacked by the intestinal monster yesterday and he did a serious number on me. I had to leave work because of the increasingly intense pain I was experiencing. I forfeited my holiday pay with that decision, which is very disappointing, but I just could not graciously handle that level of pain at work. It took 12 more hours, countless hot showers, crying, and various remedies to fight off this pain monster. I think I will stay on a liquid diet for a week or so. The pain is now at a manageable level and so I don't want to take any chances. It was crazy, as this seemed to come out of nowhere. All kinds of stuff goes through one's head in these moments-food poisoning? nasty flu bug? complications from constipation? diverticulitis? celiac? I guess it's time to make that yearly trek to the doctor. If I can get in within a week or so, the memory of my excruciating ordeal will add intensity and seriousness to a request for a more extensive checkup.

I have only experienced this level of pain on three other occasions. The first time was in 1991 when I gave birth to my daughter. Then in 2004 I made a visit to the ER because of sharp adominal pains, thinking that my appendix was about to erupt. The docs did all kinds of tests on me, and basically concluded that I needed a colonoscopy to determine whether or not I had diverticulitis. As I experienced no additional pain or intestinal problems in the months following that ER visit, I chose to put off having a colonoscopy for another time. As a side note, I was under considerable financial stress at the time, and my conclusion was that my worrying had wreaked havoc on my GI tract. I am a strong believer that stress can significantly affect/alter one's physical health.

Since then I've experienced occasional discomfort/sharp pains in my stomach/intestines due to physical issues, and each time over-the-counter medicine has alleviated the problem. Essentially it comes down to aging and lack of fiber in my diet, as well as needing to drink more water, exercise more, etc.

So here I am writing this post and listening to/somewhat watching the Arizona Cardinal-Atlanta Falcon game, which is playing almost in my backyard. Well, sort of anyway, I mean I live only three miles from the University of Phoenix stadium where the game is taking place. I'm not a true Cardinal fan, and usually find myself making smart-aleck comments to guys at work that follow the games. [Go Phoenix Suns!!!!] But I thought I'd catch this game, as this is the first time for the Cardinals to make the playoffs since 1998 and first post season game since 1947. Not to mention there was speculation as to whether this game would be televised at all.

News was there were 3700 available tickets to the Card-Falcon game by Thursday afternoon. I guess in order for a game to receive network airtime, it has to be sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff time. The Cardinals were given two 24 hour extensions by the NFL to get those tickets sold. A Phoenix company, Leslie's Pool Supplies reportedly pitched in to help and swooped up a large numbers of tickets. Nice marketing move for Leslie's, as it's likely that most Cardinal players own pools, not to mention a majority of their fans here in the Valley of the Sun. Ha! (The above pic is from the Cardinal's website and I thought it was cool. Here's the link-http://azcardinals.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=2803)

Football fever kinda runs in my immediate family. Three of my four brothers played high school football. I lived in Nebraska from 1978 to 1983 and was a die hard Husker fan. My brothers and their families are Husker (Nebraska Cornhuskers) fans. It runs in the blood of many who reside or have resided in Nebraska. Coincidentially my daughter is currently dating and "in love" with a football player. Her "birthfather" was a football fanatic...and on and on it goes.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-4) won their 2008 bowl game against the Clemson Tigers (7-4). I did not see the game, but from what I read kicker Alex Henery (#90) carried the game with four field goals. The final score was 26 - 21. A link to info about the game off the Husker site is:

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=3638246

After reading about the outcome of the Gator Bowl, and doing a search on Alex Henery, I found an amazing fact about this young man. He kicked a 57 yard field goal offering up the winning points against the Colorado Buffalos on November 29, 2008. Final score: Huskers 40- Buffalos 31. Of course, none of this is news to hardcore Husker fans, but here's a link to video coverage of Henery's field goal. Definitely memorable.

http://www.scoresreport.com/tag/alex-henery-nebraska-field-goal/

Final score: Arizona Cardinals 30 - Atlanta Falcons 24

Kudos to the players and their fans!!!!

Definitely a beginner

It is now 2009 and there's a whole year ahead of living life...what will change? improve? shock? disappoint? surprise? What is now unknown, at this time next year, will, once again, be history. Will it repeat itself? So often it does. I have to admit sometimes I feel like a hamster just spinning a wheel round and round.

I've been thinking about this blogging thing too. I really originally started this blog simply to be able to write responses to other blogspot.com bloggers. So far I'm frustrated with the amount of time I spend posting just one blog! And so I know that if I'm going to stick with this blog, I've got to change my approach or maybe my mindset, and drastically cut back the time I spend pouring over what I write.

I've begun to realize that the posts I like to read are more personal, about family life and personal struggles and triumphs. I feel reluctant to move in a more personal direction with what I write here. But I have to ask myself, "Who's more likely to read this blog? And what do they want to know about me, my opinions, etc.? Well...my family will be the most likely to read what I write, for the time being, and so why not get more personal? As I write more about my everyday life...maybe I'll convince my family members to do the same. It really is a great way to find out about each other for those of us who do a better job of communicating in writing than in conversing.

I'll continue to post my opinions about what's going on in the world around me, along with adding items/stories of interest that I stumble across. And I will begin to write bits and pieces about my life...what is going on with me, what I'm doing, etc.

So here goes...I've spent quite a bit of time in the past couple days baking pans of brownies, a pan of lasagna and garlic bread sticks. I enjoy giving food as gifts to friends and co-workers. It was a cheaper way to shower lots of people with "love and good wishes". Also I recently ate a delicious dish, Tortellacci, at Uno Chicago Grill at the Arizona Center. My daughter picked it out and I have to say her choice was fantastic. Here's a description: PILLOWS OF PASTA (TORTELLACCI) Jumbo tortellini stuffed with beef, veal and pancetta, then topped with an Alfredo, Parmesan and our traditional Italian Bolognese sauce. We were both pleasantly surprised.

Work in detention has been extremely slow, which has allowed me to focus on Beat writings and writing responses. Writing these responses can also take considerable time, but I love reading creative writing by teens in detention and having the opportunity to respond in a way that encourages them to continue writing and also to think about the message they send in what they write. Providing increasing opportunities for teens to write in detention is one of my passions. Unfortunately I am somewhat limited, following my knee surgery, in what I can do to pursue this passion. I will have to remain in Control until May to allow for a complete recovery and safe return to the rigors and risks of working directly with the teens on units.

Blogging for beginners...yes that's me. I 've got alot to learn and that excites me! There is so much to learn about not only the computer, but life and relationships. The challenge is finding a balance between work, relationships (family and/or friends), hobbies, etc. Blogging for beginners was a topic covered on Talk of the Nation/NPR today with Neal Conan...check it out, if interested. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98935599