Category: photo

mini roses, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Photo: Two small pale pink roses, wet with drops of water.

How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one finds darkness not only in one’s culture but within oneself? There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light.
~Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams

Last night I had the strangest dream (queue 80s music now)…
I was in the garden and it was early dusk. We were all enjoying the warmth and joy of the evening as we do on a regular basis. But then it got very dark very fast and we looked up and realized that night was coming on like a huge storm (can night do that?). The moon was full and dark, with clouds covering it. It wasn’t the large moon that I am used to enjoying on evenings in the garden. I felt afraid.

I woke up early, perhaps prematurely, and had a big glass of water and decided to go back to sleep. I returned to my garden in my dreams. I was sitting around the table with my family enjoying the evening again. Only this time a huge group of people from our former church life–the ‘leaders’ rather than our friends–came by and were peering over our fence. I felt threatened and defensive.

I woke again and snuggled into John’s shoulder and felt safe. Then I got up (for the final time) and enjoyed a cup of Wedding Imperial tea and a generous slice of apricot cake.

All is right in the world again.

purple beans, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Last night I made a yummy steamed-bean salad with a mix of these funky purple-podded beans (from Seeds of Change–love them!) and a handful of green beans. What tasty fun!

This is my first year with bean success. In years past I’ve tried growing bush beans and the bugs ate them all. Also tried pole beans last year but they were mowed down by a rogue bunny. So this year I sowed both purple and garden-variety-green pole beans. I’ve discovered that the purple-podded beans grow earlier, faster, and are more hardy in my garden microclimate (in other words, I am so growing them again!). The kids made a darling teepee with castoff wood poles for growing the beans on. It is pretty cute and they are so proud of *their* beans.

blue stripey, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

A blue flower for you (especially Sara, whose blue morning glory flower just blew me away this morning….)

We were up late last night with friends. I was tempted to say we were up too late, but is there ever a too late when you are having just too much fun to come home? (Yes, my friends, Apples to Apples is addictive!)

So we had school and work today even though yesterday was a holiday. The kiddoes are a bit testy. And I am a bit less patient with their testiness.

But it was well worth it. :)

pinkish, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

A Baha’i prayer, from a comment on John’s blog:

O God! Educate these children. These children are the plants of Thine orchard, the flowers of Thy meadow, the roses of Thy garden. Let Thy rain fall upon them; let the Sun of Reality shine upon them with Thy love. Let Thy breeze refresh them in order that they may be trained, grow and develop, and appear in the utmost beauty. Thou art the Giver. Thou art the Compassionate.

– `Abdu’l-Bahá

shasta, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

I will love the light for it shows me the way.
Yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.
~Og Mandino

This weekend we watched Ratatouille. Fun. Well-written, well-crafted. Almost forgot for a moment that it WAS A MOVIE ABOUT A RAT. Almost.

The night before the movie I had a run-in with an ROUSS (Rodent of Unusual Size) on my front porch. Thinking it was just a charming little raccoon that was fiddling with the garbage bag that I’d inadvertently left on the stoop, I peeked out the trough the screen door to the see the little critter. Instead I found a fully-opened (previously knotted shut) grocery bag with a ginormous skin tail and hindquarters hanging out of it. Not a rat, it was just a few times worse: a POSSUM. Ugh.

What followed, for me, was part panic attack, part meltdown. I wish I could understand why I react the way I do to such creatures. But it was like the whole universe had suddenly gone dark and sucked me into a whole and the only thing that was in that hole with me was my nemesis Mr. ROUSS. And he was in attack mode.

I mean, I knew that the possum was on one side of that screen door and I was on the other. I knew I had my John and two kitties between me and the ROUSS. I knew that the varmint was way more interested in my trash than in me. But for about 3 minutes all of those rational thoughts were gone and all I could hardly breathe, much less be rational about the fact that on the porch, where I had been standing just a few moments before when I walked home (in the dark) from my neighbor’s home, was a RODENT. And I just wasn’t sure that I would ever be able to exit my house or live a normal life. Because RODENTS exist in this world and I would never escape from them again.

Deep breath. Sigh.

So I went to see the ratflick anyways and I was mostly okay. My breath got a little shallow when the colony exploded out of the farmhouse ceiling. But other than that the RAT-ness of the film was abstracted and cute enough for me that I was a-ok.

Hmmmmm…..but Ellycat has been spending a lot of time with me out of doors ever since.

PS: Still haven’t forgiven Pixar for naming the rat “Remy”…..

beeyooteeful, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Photo: image of a purple flower with a bee sitting in the middle of the flower

Today’s photo is of the same flower and same bee as in a photo I posted last week. Which do you like better and why?

After Sara’s post about the emotions in photos, I’ve thought a lot about why some pictures “work” and others don’t. I get a lot of my inspiration from 3191, because their photos are so simple yet incredibly inspiring (they nearly take my breath away every morning—for example, who knew that two apricots on a paper towel could be so lovely?).

spiky, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Photo: closeup of purplish round spiky flower

Not sure what this flower is–I encountered it at the Huntington Library. It was just so alien-looking that I thought I’d try for a photo. Because it was bright outside it looks a bit washed out on the edges. Were I to use photoshop I’m sure I could fix that….

We are all a bit weary around here. The Farmer’s Market was hot today and we went around noon-ish. This, after CatGirl’s slumber party at a friend’s house last nite and GameBoy’s 4 hour Wii extravaganza at Bonny’s cool beachfront place (and GB will arrive home momentarily from a pool party w/his D&D friends and will undoubtedly be exhausted). Add in to the mix the fact that John and I ate at the tastiest little French bistro before strolling to the Lido for “La Vie en Rose” last nite and you can guess that we are all ready for an afternoon nap! ( I am still digesting the best-ever melt-in-your-salmon from last night’s dinner…)

A part of me can hardly relax, though, because of all the excitement in the garden. We’ll soon be harvesting our funky purple-podded beans, early this morning I planted all of the basil and tomatoes rescued from Suz’s garden (yay!), and we bought the most gorgeous hidcote lavender bush at the Farmer’s market (just what I have wanted for years!) that needs to be planted when the weather cools a bit this evening. I also need to tend to the blueberry bush and mini-orange tree from Suz–I rather hastily placed their pots in the garden and I need to fertilize them and make sure that they are placed in ‘just the right places.’ Oh, and a friend gave me a copy of Pat Welsh’s Southern California Gardening and now I have so many new ideas/projects….

wildflower, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

photo: orange daisy-like flower with dark mosaic center.

This flower was among those that I dug out from my sister’s yard in preparation for her move. I’m just loving it and its floral companions in my garden! Such a bright spot in my day :)

Today they load the truck and she&Chris&Pete&Stinky are on their way north. We are looking forward to croquet and DDR and Riverside nachos in their new home!