As The Party Winds Down

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Beginning With Flower Buds

In a previous post, I wrote about the Agapanthus flowers in my backyard and their riotous party. 

It all started innocently enough. Here, tight buds whisper among themselves about the explosion of color that will come from their blooms. 

Long stems stretch up and up into the sky, eager to show off their displays of blue-purple flowers.

Agapanthus buds make preparations for a blooming party.

Flowers Bloom

Flowers bloom with hearts wide open, tossing their colors across the yard.

The Sweet Calm Of Ripening

But, like all good times, the party has to wind down. After the wild blooming, the calm of ripening unfolds as blossoms give way to seed pods.

Here, a ripening pod plays peek-a-boo as it pushes its way out from flower petals.

Seed Pods

Agapanthus seed pods are no less rich and satisfying to behold in their fullness than the flowers themselves. Their long, green pods gleam in the sun, humming with the renewal of life. They tantalize with their shiny fruit.

Late Bloomers

They say there's always a late bloomer, and it proved no less true amongst these flowers. Below, a blossoming flower proudly sings its song even while the rest of the flowers have already turned into seed pods. 

Flowers Fill Our Hearts

Such abundance and love these flowers share, easily and freely. A grateful smile that I could witness their beauty. 

I was able to bring The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) to the full process of buds, flowers, pods and then quiescence. With TRT® hands-on, I touched the flowers with radiant energy (mindful of the bees!).

With The Second Degree of TRT®, I directed loving energy to the flowers, even as I watched them from my kitchen window. 

As we say goodbye to this season's blossoms, it's a bittersweet farewell since I won't get to see them next year. I'll have to be "in touch" with them from the inner light that we shared.

A new family lives there now. I hope they'll appreciate these glorious flowers known as Agapanthus and won't mind their wild and crazy parties!

 

A Riotous Party Of Flowers

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A Wild Celebration Of Purple

A cacophony of color has exploded in my backyard as Agapanthus flowers throw a party of riotous purple.

I'm usually not one for loud parties, but in this case, I have to smile every time I look out my window and behold the blaze of life-affirming color filling the yard. I never pick them. I let them live in all their beauty, anchored in the earth's thick clay.

Agapanthus Flowers Celebrate Life

Agapanthus flowers celebrate life with wild abandon as they stretch their purple colors up to a sky of blue. They welcome buzzing pollinators with joy. 

These flowers are nature's fireworks – bursts of purple streaks held in sunbeams, suspended in time for us to behold. 

Flowery Fireworks

No fear of fires started or damaged property, Agapanthus spreads loving blooms of color with everyone. 

No loud and scary explosions, the flowers erupt into gentle petals and delicious nectar that honey bees can't resist.

Yes, this is my favorite sort of celebration and fireworks. A riotous party of pure nature.

Communing With Nature

Students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) can dance with all the parties of nature. With TRT® hands-on, you can commune with flowers. You can place your hands on the flowers themselves, getting in touch with the fire of life in their petals. 

You can also spend time in the garden with the flowers and apply TRT® hands-on for yourself in various positions. Expand your awareness of the wholeness within nature and our deep inner-connection with the life force of our planet.

Front Position #1, in the heart, is wonderful to expand your loving connection with nature.

You Deserve The Gift Of Flowers

There's no unwritten rule that someone else should bring you flowers. You can treat yourself to flowers whenever you desire.

“Don’t wait for someone to bring you flowers.
Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul.”
 

Perhaps there are certain flowers that touch your heart. You can find them in a backyard, a park, or in a local flower shop.

You don't even have to pick them, just let them bloom in your heart.

 

 

 

Winter Storms And Healthcare Personnel

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Winter Storm Blasts East Coast

One of the biggest winter storms on record came rumbling into the East Coast in January 2016. Although we only had some "sympathy rain" in California – watching the intense news coverage made me feel like I should stay home, if nothing else, as a show of solidarity. Actually, that sounded good to me.

Any excuse to bake, prepare nourishing soups and catch up on reading. The to-do list also included practical things like sorting through drawers, but whoever does practical things at times like this?

Winter Soups

Soups in winter nourish and warm our hearts. It harkens back to the collective memory of an ancient hearth with wide bubbling pots hanging on iron hooks over a crackling fire. Homemade soups I prepared were Roasted Beet/Garlic Soup and Pasta e Fagioli (pasta and bean soup).

Essential Personnel

One thing I didn't miss was being identified as "essential personnel." Over many years I have been essential personnel; the folks who don't get to hunker down and stay home during a storm. Nurses and healthcare workers who provide direct patient care still have to get to work.

While elective surgeries can be cancelled and rescheduled, patients in hospital units still require round-the-clock, skilled medical care. Wound dressings need to be changed, tracheal tubes must be suctioned, and medications still need to be delivered on time.

Travel Bans

The news media went wild trying to fill up over 24 hours of constant video of the storm. There are only so many falling snowflakes that you can watch. With 24/7 coverage, I was hoping to see some stories on how they were manning hospitals, especially when New York City called for a travel ban.

“Road travel ban in effect in New York City starting at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Anyone not authorized to be on the roads will be subject to arrest, and their car will be towed.”
 

Alas, despite my tweet suggesting the story line to CNN and ABC, I didn't see any in-depth reporting on it. Oh well, so much for the suggestions of the little people.

Working In The Storm

When I lived in Maryland, I was a Registered Nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital on the Pediatric unit. A winter storm careened into the area, it was the December 1992 nor'easter. Perhaps not as large as the recent one, but, it was a storm that, nonetheless, would shut down the area.

I was scheduled to work several 12-hour night shifts during the storm. Plans were coordinated for personnel to sleep over at the hospital between shifts, if they desired, as it was not at all certain one could make it home or back again. Abandoning fellow workers and forcing them to carry on past their already completed 12-hour shifts was simply not an option.

Get To The Hospital

I packed a small bag and prepared a lunchbox to help tide me over the long 36 hours. Volunteers in the community with 4-wheel drive vehicles offered to transport healthcare workers to and from the hospital. I hitched a ride with a local driver and we chatted aimlessly as we inched our way along snowy roads. 

We made it through the storm, patients were cared for and my shifts completed. I managed to get some sleep despite the odd circumstances and I was happy to return home once the storm had passed.

Emotional Support During The Storm

Students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) can connect with world events, no matter where they are. Those who have studied The Second Degree of TRT® are able to direct energy to the storm and the people affected. Directing energy provides support from deep within.

While watching the news coverage, TRT® students can also use TRT® hands-on to balance their anxiety and bring emotional balance, especially if you are one of the people caught up in the storm. 

I benefited from TRT® hands-on to help decrease stress when I slept over at the hospital. Having a means to nourish myself on all levels was empowering, even while I was in a less-than-restful situation.

Thank You To Those Who Serve

Police, fire, medical personnel look out for us. In this recent storm, the National Guard were also called up as well as municipal workers.

I often think of those who quietly provide our healthcare and public services. They work nights while we snuggle in sleep and they cover 3-day weekends that the rest of us enjoy. They care for us in the background while we carry on in our daily lives of sturm und drang. I deeply appreciate my time, now that I can stay home during storms.

Thank you for your service.

 

 

Man walking in snow: Carlos Barria/Reuters
Shoveling snow: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Umbrellas in snow: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

The Beauty Of Dawn

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The Quiet Beauty Of Dawn

Early to rise, the lingering darkness of night surrounds you. A faint lightening of the horizon tells you dawn is on its way.

A hush is felt with this awakening, you whisper so as not to disturb small creatures as they begin to stir. No need to holler or yell, anticipation tucks its paws under and quietly waits.

A Poem By Rumi

You're grateful to be awake so early this morning and even more pleased that you're up and outside already. This rarefied moment rolls within you as if the beginning of time is calling your name.

It brings to mind the poem by Rumi. You have no desire to go back to sleep. The words play silently on your lips. Don't go back to sleep. 

No, sleep is out of the question. Not because you can't, but because you don't want to sleep. Not now, not while you stand witness to an awakening.

Dawn Spills Across The Sky

Gathering momentum, dawn spills across the sky scattering pigments across miles of space. It's the promise of a sun that has come to warm us, to bring us to life.

A sun upon which we are utterly dependent. When the sun snuffs out, the Earth will expire with it.

Today, however, such thoughts are whisked away on threads of pink clouds and evaporate in a brightening sky.

Let’s lift our hearts in the wonder of our fragile existence and in the strength of our courage to face another day. For this day we have been given.

Let’s savor the gift.

Today is here. Today is now. Today we rejoice at another dawn.

Sometimes It's In Your Backyard

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Photography Near Your Home

Sometimes you don't have to go any further than your own backyard to enjoy little moments with nature. Even if you don't have a backyard, there is usually a park nearby where you can take a peek inside your local greenery.

Observe the details around you. Especially in winter, the weather is often inclement and longer trips may not be possible, so the greenery of nature that is right next to you becomes a source of inspiration.

Macro Photography

Taking macro photos with an iPhone is tricky. There is a tiny place where it is in focus.

In fact, we think nature holds rather still, that is, until you're trying to get a macro photo. Things must be absolutely still for a perfect focus. Suddenly you notice just how much plants are swaying in the wind.

I have to smile as I wait for a breeze to pass. "Patience, little one," I say to myself.

One day, I struggled with a photo of a mushroom. The ground was soaking wet from the recent rains for which we were grateful, by the way, in our parched California. I needed to maneuver closer to it.

I had recycled the metal frame from a broken umbrella and saved the waterproof material shell, thinking it might come in handy to sit on. 

Sure enough, here was the moment. I pulled it out to sit on the grass so as better to see a mushroom that proudly displayed its brown cap.

The neighbor kitty popped over the fence and dropped into my backyard. 

"Whatcha doing down here?" she asked, my own backyard feline wildlife.

"Sitting on a tarp on wet grass, trying to get a photo of a mushroom," I replied.

Create Like No One Is Watching

We're staying with the theme of creating like no one is watching, without being self-conscious and without immediate judgment. Let your creativity stretch. Be willing to look at things in a different light. For some that is painting, art journaling, and yes, photography. Our smartphones put a camera in all our hands.

For students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®), let your heart guide you to experiment with your creativity. When you step outside, take a moment to place a hand in your heart with your TRT® hands-on.

You can become more in touch with your creativity and what nature is sharing with you. Is the air crisp? What's the wind doing? Listen to all the invisible parts of nature speaking to you.

Use of your TRT® hands-on is a great way to expand your awareness of the invisible, of the little ones and the often over-looked.

My Raggedy Mushroom

The mushroom picture I tried to get was quite a challenge. The depth of focus in macro photography is very short, meaning only a portion of my complex mushroom would come into focus. 

I had watched this mushroom when it first appeared in my backyard, smooth and round initially. Then, it opened its lower gills and all the edges frayed and split creating mystical dimensions of undulating mushroom flesh.

I never really got the photo I wanted of this mushroom... but that, too, is part of the process. Knowing that your interaction with nature is deeper and more whole than any image you capture is part of the joy and reward of being there, present, in person.

Happy creating!



The Butterfly And The Fly

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A World Of Insects

“Change your thoughts, and you change your world.”
— Norman Vincent Peale
 

In a meditation group, Kate wrote:

“A butterfly landed on my hand today! It was beautiful. I mildly squealed and jumped up off the bench and it flew away. Not very zen. But I still feel really honored...””
 

Something To Consider

Wait, what? Would you be just as honored if a fly landed on you?

If not, why not? I asked this question in response to Kate's message.

House Flies Or Butterflies?

Isn't every expression of the divine dance beautiful?

With our human judgments of less and more, good and bad, we define the world's existence.

As if our existence could be defined.

It doesn't seem possible that God, the One Source, the Creator of All, whatever you call it, finds any created creature higher or lower than the other. Otherwise, it wouldn't be here.

One person commented back to my question:

“Because butterflies are butterflies, while flies are flies.”
 

Well, he has a point. Flies can be concerning if they spread disease, such as:

“* Shigellosis - bacillary dysentery and other diseases causing diarrhea
* Salmonellosis - food poisoning, typhoid, paratyphoid and enteritis. Although flies are capable of carrying these diseases, it is much less common than the shigellosis diseases.
* Bacteria causing conjunctivitis - this mainly occurs in Asia and Africa and the Pacific regions
* E. coli (Escherichia coli)
* Parasitic worms - especially tapeworms.”
— HubPages, Helen Murphy Howell
 

Yikes!

Still, they have a purpose here on this planet. Housefly larvae feed and develop in a wide range of decaying organic matter which is important for recycling of nutrients in nature.

Forensic scientists love them.

“Small House Flies are annoying because they are attracted to food and toilets, but their affinity for corpses makes they quite useful to Forensic Entomologists.”
 

The scientists use flies to help them gauge the amount of time a corpse has been decomposing.

A Day In The Life Of A Fly

“You will find house flies pretty much everywhere there are humans or animals. Flies love things like garbage, manure and anything else that left out in a warm environment (like food you left on your counter all day).

House flies don’t feed off of human flesh – they get their nutrients from spitting saliva on their food, which liquifies it so they can suck it up with their sponge-like mouths.”
— Kids World
 

We tend to think of flies as being dirty, but in fact, they, themselves, are very clean. A fly spends a lot of time cleaning itself.

Picture all those times you see a fly rubbing its antennae together. It uses its legs to clean dirt from every area of its body, then rubs its legs so the dirt falls off. Great for the fly, although that dirt is now dropped on your food or kitchen counter top.

Flies are also remarkable:

“Flies use their antennae to smell.
A fly can go 45 mph and beat its wings up to 200 times per second.
Houseflies existed 65 million years ago!”
— bugfacts.net
 

Miracles Of Creation

The miracle of life expresses in both the butterfly and the fly.

Ah, man, who deems that his judgment creates the world. 

Of course, I, too, would be more inclined to have a butterfly landing on me than a fly. Still, it's nice to learn about both of them with an expanded vision that can appreciate all of creation.

To be here at all, together, is an honor.

Another commenter added his thoughts:

“I would be more honored by a butterfly because butterflies seek nectar while flies have a tendency toward bad smells!

But there is a great video on Youtube called Mindfulness – The Fly. Perhaps your views are right after all...”
 

Video: The Samurai and The Fly

 

Honey Bee Rescue

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Honey Bee Down

So there I was, minding my own business... Well, actually, I wasn't minding my own business.

I was in my backyard checking on the resident garden spiders. I've been watching them and learning by observation, but that's a story for another blog post.

A honey bee was caught in one of the older, tattered spider webs. He struggled to break free as he wiggled his legs against the confining threads. I took a quick look around, it seemed this spider web was abandoned. Or, so I convinced myself.

I understand the law of nature. If a spider already had the honey bee and was munching away, I would lament, "Oh pooh. Score 1 for the spider, 0 for the honey bee. Poor honey bee."

Since there was no spider in sight and none moving in for the kill, I decided to interfere. 

Help Has Arrived

I spied a forlorn leaf and scooped the bee out of the sticky threads. He was pitiful, unable to fly. He could barely walk as he fell this way and that on the leaf.

I remembered the sugar-water-on-a-spoon honey bee remedy that I saw on Pinterest. A way to help a honey bee that was exhausted and far from home. It seemed a little far-fetched, but I pinned it on the off chance it might come in handy.

Now was the moment.

I carried the leaf holding the honey bee back to the house. I briefly thought about bringing him inside, then changed my mind. If he had a sudden recovery and started flying about, we'd have another problem of how to get him back out safely. I set him down on the patio next to my sliding glass door.

I bolted into the kitchen and grabbed my sugar container. I poured a spoonful of sugar in a small bowl, added warm tap water, and stirred to dissolve the granules. I stepped back outside to find my honey bee still lying there. He was constantly falling over as he tried to walk. I maneuvered the spoon in front of him. He held on to its edge. He appeared to take a long drink. Or was he just holding on? Hard for me to tell.

He pushed off from the spoon and staggered about on the patio. He fell into a concrete seam and couldn't get out, I helped him up with the leaf.

Recovery Process

He was still staggering and falling over. I was worried. Perhaps I would simply bear witness to his demise. But then, he started to preen himself, cleaning his little antennae. Surely this was a good sign?

After more cleaning, he lied down, tucked in his tiny wings and bowed his head. I swear he took a nap. I know honey bees sleep, having seen photos of it (on Pinterest again). Maybe he even had a miniature honey bee dream when he gave a tiny jerk.

This had to be encouraging, since I usually saw dead bees with their wings open. On the other hand, maybe he was bowing his head as he prepared to die. 

I waited.

He awakened, legs started moving again. He was stronger, less staggering. Another careful cleaning of his legs and antennae. I wondered if he needed more sugar water and placed the spoon in front of him. Nope, he didn't want it. I retreated with my spoon, watching.

He buzzed his wings. Now it really seemed like a good sign. He walked forward with determination. He buzzed again. Suddenly, he lifted straight up and flew away into the blue sky. 

Honey bee rescue accomplished.

The Smallest Amongst Us

“... mysterious and little known organisms live within walking distance of where you sit.
Splendor awaits in minute proportions.”
— Edward O. Wilson, Biophilia
 

Moral of the story: some things on Pinterest really do work. 

You can see my Pinterest account here. I have an entire board dedicated to our brave and beautiful honey bees.

Students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) can combine a love of nature with their use of TRT®. A student of The First Degree of TRT® could support the honey bee with TRT® hands-on by holding their hand an inch or two above the bee. Students of The Second Degree of TRT® can direct energy as they have been taught in their classes.

With TRT® you have access to universal energy. This allows you to deepen your awareness of nature and open your heart to appreciate the many expressions of life here on planet Earth.

 

The first image is from the fable: The Spider and The Honey Bee