December 2: Inspire Peace

"A lifetime is not what is between
the moments of birth and death.

A lifetime is one moment
Between my two little breaths.
The present, the here, the now,
That's all the life I get.
I live each moment in full,
In kindness, in peace, without regret."

Chade Meng, Taoist poet

Today, I needed most to be reminded to breathe. Driving in heavy traffic, moving lots of chairs, working through tough issues at a meeting. For all of these things, I needed to breathe. To be in the moment, conscious and thoughtful.

I turned off and took the country roads home, I took more trips with the chairs to lighten my load, and I spoke my mind.

It was a good day.

Breathe. Peace. Breathe. Namaste. Aloha.

December 1: Inspire Peace

I grew up in Evanston not very far form the Baha'i House of Worship. I remember going there with my church youth group and again on other occasions as the building was incredibly beautiful and inspired such a sense of peace within me.

I was back in Evanston yesterday and had this urge to stop and visit once again. As you can see the sky was a brilliant blue and I knew that the building would be a beautiful as ever. I took time to walk all the way around the building and spent time in the visitor center that is below.

"Bahá'ís believe: the purpose of life is to know and worship God, to acquire virtues, to promote the oneness of humankind and to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization all humanity was created by one God and is part of one human race work performed in the spirit of service is a form of worship."

Inside I found this display rack:

In the rack are literature about the building and the religion in many different languages. How many places do you visit that are this inclusive?

I walked into the meeting area in the visitor center, it is a big round room with a tall domed ceiling below ground. There was a very strong scent of flowers and when I looked by the podium I saw a large vase if Day Lily's.

On the upper floor they ask that no one take photographs. Oh, how I wished I could take just a few images of the domes ceiling. It is beautiful and intricate and no one was there to stop me. As I sat wishing, I realized that taking that photograph and posting it here about inspiring peace would be very hypocritical, so I just sat for a while and took in the quiet, the space, and the light coming through all of the windows.

There is beauty, peace and serenity throughout the world. My goal this month is to notice and photograph those moments when I am peacefully inspired and share them here.

Happy Thanksgiving

I give thanks for the rich bounty we receive from the earth. I share my current favorite recipe for a wonderful healthy, healing soup.

Butternut Squash Soup


1 Butternut Squash
Cut Butternut squash long way in half. Scrape out seeds and pulp. (Separate seeds to roast in the oven with a light coating of olive oil, salt and paper. They have a richer flavor than pumpkin seeds.) Bake in oven skin side down at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until squash is soft. Cool. Scrape out squash, discard skin, and set aside.

2 TBS. Olive Oil
3 Carrots, chopped
3-4 Celery Stalks, chopped
1 Med. Onion, chopped
1 Tart Apple, seeded and chopped
8 Cups Vegetable Broth
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. All Spice
1/2 - 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt to taste

In a large soup pan, pour in olive oil, heat. When hot, add copped onion, carrots and celery. stir and cook until onion is soft and cooked through. Add, vegetable broth, apple, squash, and seasonings. Simmer on low heat for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Blend the soup in a blender or food processor. You are now ready for a tasty treat.

Enjoyable additions to the soup, Quinoa and/or bacon bits, or roasted squash seeds.

Myriad, Veritable Cornucopia, Plethora

There are so many ways that you can look at the world and the things around you.

You can look down on it.

You can look up to it:

You can look at everything around it and lose track of the subject.

You can also look at it through colored glasses.

In the end, it is up to you to choose how to look at and deal with it.

But, when it comes to hindsight, it is nice to know that you looked at all of your options and selected the one that suited you the best.

Dedicated to my friends Candi, Tracy and Cathi

The Last Day of October

A month filled with strange things, technology going crazy, and often feeling like my world was a bit upside down.

Thankful for the trip to New Mexico (Photos on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/16033511@N00/), a trip to Haunted Brookfield Zoo with friends, a spooky night of scary stories in the Cemetery, and great people to be a part of the Library's parade entry.

Boo!

Enter if You Dare!

Three Storytellers

October 28: I choose . . .

to enjoy the fun and spirit of Halloween.

These were taken at the Brookfield zoo last weekend. There are more to come.

October 9th: I choose . . .

Serendipity.

This little vacation has been filled with happy accidents.

At the airport I asked if I could switch from and aisle seat to the window seat. I got the exit row with no one next to me. When we went to get our car, we paid for economy (Yes, we were being cheap. There are more exciting places to spend money than on a rental car.) When we went outside to pick a car, all of the economy cars were gone and we got a free upgrade.

We were supposed to go for a hot air balloon ride on Friday morning. It was rained out. Instead we met a nice waitress at a little diner, a great photographer, Robert Crispin, and then had a great day wandering in the Jemez Mountains.

Saturday we slept in (got up at 7 am). We decided to go back to the Jemez Mountains to see the Caldera and all points in between. As we headed north out of town, we saw balloons flying over the city. The pangs of what we missed tugged at my heart. We planned to come back for the evening glow, but took 7 hours to get up the road to the old volcano. We met several nice people, two Basset Hounds, one Cocker Basset mix, and a Golden Retriever who belonged to the Basset Family. (No kidding). We met a nice man who worked at Amanda's Trail Shop, and saw so much beauty around us.

Sunday would be the day to go to see the Hot Air Balloons. Another 4:30 am wake up call. When we got to the  Field, I suggested that we put out name on the waiting list to go up in the balloon. We were two of the last three people to go from waiting to riding.  There is no way to explain the sensation, the beauty, the wonderful time that I had. A few pictures might help a little.

Lift Off

Aliens

Touching the Rio Grande

So, to continue with Serendipity. The balloon pilot was Andy Williams from Galena, Illinois. One of his balloon chasers, Garrett, is the nephew of a patron at the Sycamore Library. Another crew member has her Master's in Library Science. It's a small beautiful world.