~ firefly-dreaming a virtual home to learn (or teach!) alternative methods of solving problems we find facing us each day. By sharing ideas & knowledge on living with less stress, more joy & embracing tolerance & compassion we are working towards building a sustainable future for all living beings.
As many of you know if you read my essay about my date with my husband to see John Mayer here I ended up writing mostly about the back up band Michael Franti and the Spearheads. Michael Franti is an American poet, musician, and composer. He is the creator and lead vocalist of Spearhead a band that blends hip hop with a variety of other styles including funk, reggae, jazz, folk, and rock. He is also an outspoken supporter for a wide spectrum of peace and social justice issues.
If you ever get a chance to go to one of their concerts DON'T MISS IT I tell you it is pure fun! None stop dancing, pure fun from start to finish!
This Saturday I had my tickets and I had been looking forward to seeing michael Franti for months, we woke up to rain. The concert was outdoors and as much as I love rain I did not want it to rain during the concert but there is no wishin' weather away and rain it did. It rained all day and all the way to the concert and continued all night! Now rain doesn't stop anyone in Seattle the sold out crowd was there in full force.
We found our spot, got a beer and enjoyed the people waiting for the backup band to start.
I was soon to have the shock of my life...........
Ten years ago my husband and I used to go to the outdoor concerts, at least 2 or 3 during the summer, now with mom gone we are out and about again. There are lots of places in our area where they have outdoor concerts, one is on the waterfront in downtown Seattle. There you can listen and watch the sun go down behind the Olympic Mountains across the water while the lights of the city come on, awesome. Another favorite is St Michelle Winery ( a beautiful place) http://www.ste-michelle.com/ev... there you can lay your blanket out and drink your favorite vino and Marymore park where we will go this Saturday to see Michael Franti, I'll write about that after http://www.concertsatmarymoor.... . Last night we went to the Zoo concert at Woodland Park Zoo to see Mary Chapin Carpenter. I forgot to take my camara. :o(.
She started alone on the stage with this incredible song....... each of her band members joined her one at a time through the song, as they joined her on the stage they bowed a deep bow to each other, it was powerful humble testament honoring each other's presence, very moving.
There are places we go in our lives that change us forever, places that open our hearts so our eyes can see more clearly, where is that place? Can you close your eyes and go back to tap that moment when you were forever changed by the space you were in?
My favorite gardens are the Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island in Canada. To me this garden carved into the stone grottoes, with moving water is an oasis created by man and mother earth, the ultimate in art. As you walk the 55 acres up and down the trails and pathways it is nothing short of a religious experience for me. The hushed respectful sounds blending with the beauty of the space speaks to what everyone there is experiencing as they walk amoung such creation.
If you ever get a chance to spend a day in the splendor of this 55 acres of wonder carved into one of the most beautiful places on earth please treat yourself to the magic.
"The Earthship concept is the brainchild of Michael Reynolds, who has written several books on the topic. Near Taos New Mexico, where he has his Earthship Biotecture business, are whole communities of earthships. The basic earthship design incorporates substantially bermed, passive solar architecture. The primary retaining walls are constructed with used tires, filled with earth and stacked up like bricks. The interior surface of the tires is then plastered with adobe or cement so the tires don't normally show. Mike has also pioneered the use of empty aluminum cans mortared into lightweight, curvable walls. Earthships often employ many ecological concepts, such as water catchment from the roof, reuse of greywater, composting toilets, indoor gardening."
This video is from the CD, which was 13 minutes long, that came in our Sierra Club packet. The packet also had a letter to Obama that everyone signed.
See it here:
http://action.sierraclub.org/s...
This annual party that turned into the Sierra Club "Beyond Oil" Party was almost canceled because of my mom's quick decline. With no sleep I was so overwhelmed, but friends rallied for me and helped us pull it together. Hospice nurse said you can't stop living she could linger like this for months, so we charged ahead knowing mom loved parties, she would have this last humdinger to take with her when she decided to go.
("Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings." ~ Victor Hugo - promoted by newpioneer)
Red-winged black bird
Shortly after my mom died we had a sign she was free and happy, this is the story.
My parents loved birds, they fed them, studied them, kept track of the migration patterns and watched the birds that graced their yard on their journeys year in and out.
When my father was dieing we put his hospital bed in the living room by the big window so he could look out over the garden they tended so lovingly. The pink roses were in their glory with the huge pink dogwood tree in full bloom behind the roses. Three days before he died he saw an eagle chasing a white dove. That eagle was putting on quite a show, dive bombing around and around in circles trying to get the dove to drop it's food. My dad could no longer speak but lifted his arm and pointed at the birds to make sure everyone saw this display unfolding before him.
The day my father died I walked into my back yard and there was a white dove walking around on the patio. It watched me and wasn't afraid, it hung out there with me for over an hour just watching me then it flew away to never return. I knew it was my father and later that night I had a dream of him and he was letting me know he was happy and free.
The day my mother died is fresh and raw in my heart.
July 3rd mom took to bed with a fever and never got up. The fever went away but she was done, her 89 and 1/2 year old body broken beyond repair. Her last breath was July 12 at 7:25 AM with her children around her. Three weeks before she died a bird showed up and forced us to take notice, it took some effort because we have a lot of bird activity here on the lake and our lives are busy. It was a red-winged black bird and that bird perched itself at the tip top of a stag down by the lake shown here in this mornings light:
There is a spot at the top that looks like it might be a bird but it is the back side of a flower from the vine, the flowers are huge.
We could see the bird from the house and every time we went outside it would loudly talk to us. We finally started noticing it was always there, it was so odd that we made a point of looking for it each morning and watching it through out the day. It would fly up into a big fir tree and then back but mostly it just stayed right there. We thought maybe there is a nest in the clematis vine (as you can see is currently in full bloom) I had planted to grow on the stag but we never saw it go into the vine, it just sat on the tippy top and made sure we paid attention.
"Great Spirit, show me the way. I hold the lifeline of the Shaman's rattle and drum. I let myself go into the sacred dance. In the dance there is no past or future, only the eternal now. Circling round the fire, I will dance until my mind is clear and my heart is pure. May I see the path with a heart, the path of healing."
May all beings walk in peace.
From the DVD of Earth Drum by David & Steve Gordon - imagery of the sacred Olympic Rainforest in Washington State Olympic mountains - Trance beats with Taos Log Drums, Native American Flutes, electric and acoustic guitars, world percussion, atmospheric syntesizers and sounds of nature.
I stumbled on this site while I was wondering why we are so unhappy. I know there is a long list of good reasons but my guts says there is more to it. I keep remembering my time in the few countries I have been in where people have nothing and are happy. Leaving me wondering what the fuck? So it is a no brainer that having stuff IS NOT what makes us happy. As long as there is food, shelter and love people can be happy.
This world map measure happiness around the world. The red indicates the unhappiest, so this got me looking into this Happy Planet Index.
The Happy Planet index uses 3 measurements of scoring.......
The day after the president's speech from the oval office about the tragedy in the Gulf Rachael said she was so disturbed by what he didn't say, the missed opportunity that rarely comes to take the bull by the horns.
Her head just kept churning. All she could think about was what should have been said so she wrote it down and this was the result...
For those who haven't seen it, it is a mind blower as she once again hits the mark.
This is one of the last songs that Michael Jackson wrote and sung, it was for the earth. What ever your thoughts are on Michael Jackson there is no denying he was very talented. I saw him as a troubled, yet lover of the world which were reflected in so many of his creations.
In this powerful work he is expressing the earth's anguish at her destruction. He sang it in the movie, This Is It, footage taken as he prepared for his last world tour that never happened.
