May I Suggest....

A friend from California just sent me the MP3 of this very moving song.  This You Tube shows the composer, Susan Werner, along with Red Molly singing a very beautiful acapella version.

Thanks, MA!  I'll be in touch....

The correct method of weighing yourself

Mavericks Surf Contest - Half Moon Bay, California

 

This picture was taken at one of the Mavericks Surf Contest on the San Mateo coast of California.  They are not held every year, but only when the waves are humongous.  Apparently, on Saturday (13th February), they were especially large.  There was a rogue wave that crashed into the spectators injuring a few of them.  

SF Gate has some spectacular pictures of the surf competitors along with those of the rogue wave.  They can be found here.  Notice that all competitors wear a wet suit - it's the only way to enter the cold water of this part of California.  Southern California has the beaches with the warm water.

I lived in this part of California for 7 years and it is my favorite part of the California coast line.  It makes me homesick looking at the pictures.  I really do love the Pacific Ocean.

I am an emotional creature - Eve Ensler speaks

Definitely powerful.

How to cuddle with an Elephant Seal

When I lived in California, i used to go to Ano Nuevo to see the baby elephant seals - they are just adorable.  Ano Nuevo would not let people get this close and kept us on a roped off trail around the nursery.

I did get to see a young bull up close and personal as he lay basking in the sun on the beach away from the nursery.  We were warned by the Park people to stay far enough away so as not to spook them.  He was pretty big, but nothing compared to the full grown bulls - they are enormous!

Scenes from our snow storm

 

Kylie  

  

California coastal redwood - in New Jersey! 

 

White pine

I had some problems getting the other pictures to load properly - that is, they simply want to be on their side!  If you would like to see the other snow pics, please check my Flickr account here.

Wild Comfort

May the light that reflects on water be this wild prayer. May water lift us with its unexpected strength. May we find comfort in the “repeated refrains of nature,” the softly sheeting snow, the changing seasons, the return of blackbirds to the marsh. May we find strength in light that pours in under snow and laughter that breaks through tears. May we go out into the light-filled snow, among meadows in bloom, with a gratitude for life that we know ourselves part of this flame–one thing, never alone, never weary of life.

So may it be. — “Never Alone or Weary

There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature,” Rachel Carson wrote. “The assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” I have never felt this so strongly as I do now, waiting for the sun to warm my back. The bottom may drop out of my life, what I trusted may fall away completely, leaving me astonished and shaken. But still, sticky leaves emerge from bud scales that curl off the tree as the sun crosses the sky.  Darkness pools and drains away, and the curve of the new moon points to the place the sun will rise again. There is wild comfort in the cycles and the intersecting circles, the rotations and revolutions, the growing and ebbing of this beautiful and strangely trustworthy world.

— “Morning in Romero Canyon

I just read review of the book "Wild Comfort" by Kathleen D. Moore.  It is scheduled for publication on March 9, 2010 and it definitely is one that I'll be purchasing.

The quotes above are from her book and I found them at the Words of Comfort site.  There are more quotes from the book which can be found there. Definitely worth a peek.

Kathleen's website can be found here.