Small Stone: January 27, 2013

Somewhere in life, I learned

how to make a civil smile.

Yesterday, I exchanged

friendly, reserved, very polite smiles

with a pleasant woman

as we passed on my street.

Then, down the block a child hit me

with an unlearned smile.

The photo is of my great-grand nephew, Luke, on 

another wonderful occasion. His bright, fresh smile─

spontaneous in most children.

Small Stone: January 26, 2013

Tonight is Wolf Moon.

A search on the web tells me

to emulate my ancestors and take refuge

in my home…stay close to the fire on this dark

winter night as the winds and the wolves

howl outside.

OK!

Small Stone: January 25, 2013

Mid-winter: a time of recollection

or even collection, perhaps.

Evaluate, keep or discard.

Not Spring cleaning…

more a letting go.

Once joyful affections,

memories, beliefs

dusty with lack of care,

just fall away.

Winter, by the calendar,

is one-third over. The days

are warm here, some say

a false-Spring. It seems real.

 The photo is just a mood shot...seemed about right for today.

Small Stone: January 24, 2013

A question for the prickly pear.

What protects?

Little impedimenta,

limiting life, achieving

neither security,

nor freedom

from petty fear.

It is a time 

to remove

the spines,

one by one.

Small Stone: January 23, 2013

Looking out, or light coming in.

I am unsure. Even the light seems

at odd angles.

Little things alter my focus,

skewing much larger values,

questioning some long-held beliefs.

Aging and letting go? Perhaps.

With some sadness:

relevance and meaning

may well be the issue.

Window in the chapel at the Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma, CA--the very last mission built at the end of El Camino Real.

Small Stone: January 22, 2013

The delicate fragrance brought me to a stop as I walked down my busy street this evening....could not imagine where it was wafting from…it came from the same scraggly magnolia that caused me to laugh at its impertinence the other day…blooming on the edge of winter....reflected in the amber street lamp…a waxing gibbous moon in the distance. First seeing, now experiencing the fragrance of this street tree is the message: this is my environment. And, I have a new friend.

(Japanese Kobushi--the mountain magnolia)

Small Stone: January 21, 2013

 

"We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall ... Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law—for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well."  

                                                    President Barack Obama: 2nd Inaugural Address

 It seemed unimaginable that in my lifetime the President of the United States would state that gay rights are a civil right in the inaugural address. Tears and applause were appropriate!

 

A beautiful ending to a very special day.