You Mean It’s NOT a River?

Some people say life is a river.  I think it’s more like a mountain.

 

It has its ups…

…and downs.

It can be glorious.

Mysterious.

Precarious.

Fraught with fire…

…and ice.

No one can climb it for you.

But, oh, what a trip.

As you find your way…

…the climb can be difficult.

But there will be beauty all around you.  In little things….

…or stretched out before you in all its grandeur.

Life is a delicate balance, a precious jewel, a piece of work.

May there be friends to share the journey.

Look before you leap.

Wear the proper footwear.

And remember, we don’t trip on mountains.  We trip on molehills.–Japanese proverb

All words and images Naomi Baltuck

Click here for more interpretations of The Weekly Photo Theme:Path.

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True Confessions of a Tacky Tourist, and the Be-Very-Lated Sunshine Award

I’m a bad dog!  Aside from 2012 Blog of the Year Awards, I haven’t posted an  award since last May!   Those bloggers who honored me with these nominations have probably forgotten all about it, or long since given up.  But I’ve kept track, because I knew I’d get around to it……………………………………..eventually.

Here are the four simple rules of the Sunshine Blogger Award.

1. Display the logo on your blog.  2. Link back to the person who nominated you.  3. State 5 facts about yourself.  4. Pass the award on to 8 (or 10) other bloggers, and link to one of their specific posts so they get notified by ping back.

As long as I’m spilling the beans, all five facts will be the true confessions of a tacky tourist.  I hope you will still respect me in the morning.

5.  Yes, we are the tacky tourists your cool friends warned you about.

4. We didn’t get a magic carpet video in Cappadocia because we were running late, and our travel companions would’ve shunned us. But we wanted to.

3. We have discovered many practical and economical uses for a quality  zoom lens.

2. I must also confess that, in our travels, as hard as we tried, we were rarely able to embarrass our teenagers…

1. …Or get ourselves arrested.

Here are links back to the bloggers who nominated me for The Sunshine Award.  Be sure to check out their blogs–you will not be disappointed!

Sarah Potter of sarahpotterwrites is pursued by the muses of prose, poetry, and music.  She is a very fine poet, a heavenly singer, and a novelist.

Micheline of Micheline’s Blog features art, music, books, history, and current events.  Very classy!

Paula of stuff i tell my sister shares just that–all the stuff she shares with her best friend who is also her sister.  It’s like sitting at their kitchen table.

Carol of Loethen Art Designs, Creativity, Camera, and Computer!

Rara of rarasaur, where frightfully wondrous things happen.  She has a fun, quirky, natural voice that I really enjoy.

Maggie Myklebust of flyawayhome is an American author living in Norway.  She shares her life on her blog and in her memoir Fly Away Home.

Now I get to pass forward The Sunshine Award to the following bloggers.  Please take a minute to pay them a visit.

Nikki of imayfly has a fun fresh voice with a wry sense of humor.

Island Traveler  of thisman’sjourney is refreshing and inspiring.  If you ever need a little hit of sweetness–and sunshine–check out his blog.

Tess at How The Cookie Crumbles is a sharp writer, and I really enjoy her flash fiction.

Naomi at The Teatime Reader has excellent taste in books, and reviews them for her readers intelligently, perceptively, and eloquently.

Christine of Texana’s Kitchen is funny and smart, a great storyteller, and she always leaves you with a great recipe to try out.

Russel of Russel Ray Photos will give you great photography tips, as well as share pearls of wisdom from his wise old Grandma!

4AM Writer will give you tips on how to balance your writing and your life.

Ruth of Ruth E. Hendricks Photography will give you sweet glimpses of sunshine and shadow in her beautiful photography.

The Geek Goddess of Two Different Girls will take you to interesting out of the way places and make you smile every time!

I have more be-very-lated awards to post, and many more great blogs and bloggers to introduce you to.  I don’t want to overwhem you, so I will dole them out like Blog Candy.   Thanks for stopping by.  Warmly, Naomi

Jack Shit: Just Say Yes

When my daughter Bea was a little girl, she found a seed in a seedless Satsuma, and planted it in a tiny pot on our kitchen windowsill.  She kept the soil moist and, to our delight, a tiny Satsuma tree sprouted.  We nearly lost hope when the little tree was infested with insects, but it hung on.  Through the years, we tried everything we could think of to bring it back to health. We washed it with dish soap to get rid of the bugs, and transplanted it to a bigger pot.  We tried covering the soil with plastic wrap, to keep the bugs away from the leaves.  In desperation, we trimmed it down to almost nothing, but it came back–and so did the bugs.  I half hoped it would die, just to be done with it.

Last summer I set it out on the deck, like a fish thrown back into the water, to sink or swim.  But the little tree liked the fresh air and sunshine, and grew greener and healthier than ever.  I brought it inside before the nights turned cold, and it’s back on the windowsill, perhaps gazing out at the yard and looking forward to warm summer nights.

We live our lives in hope.

Almost everything we do is an act of hope. Big ones and little ones.

Hope is writing this post, even when I couldn’t figure out the new Photobucket last night.  It’s trying a new flavor of yogurt.  It’s getting out of bed each morning.  It’s teaching your child to look both ways when crossing a street.  It’s writing the address of a friend with cancer into your address book—in ink.  Hope is page one of every new book you open.

It’s writing page one of a new manuscript before the last one has sold.  It’s everything from watering a plant to having a baby, from a blind date to getting married.  It’s why Jack planted his magic beans, against all odds and common sense.  Hope was the last most precious thing left to us, when Pandora opened up her box.  It’s more important than love, because as long as we have hope, love might yet grow.

A scientist studying nature vs. nurture put identical twins into separate rooms, one stocked with toys, candy, a real live pony.  The other he put into a room filled with manure.  When he went back to observe, the twin in the room of toys was sitting in the middle of it, crying.  “What’s wrong,” said the scientist.  The child replied, “I just know I’m going to break something and get in trouble.”  The scientist found the other child up to its ears in manure, laughing, leaping about, scooping up handfuls of the stuff and tossing it to one side.  “What are you doing?” asked the scientist.  The child answered, “With all this shit, there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”

Who says Jack doesn’t know shit?  Bring on the magic beans!

With all the shit life throws at you, there’s got to be a pony in there somewhere.

All words and images c2013 Naomi Baltuck

Click here for more interpretations of The Weekly Photo Challenge: Hope.

Click for more interpretations of The Island Travelers Weekly Image of Life : The Blessings of Hope, and Jake’s Sunday Post: Hope.

Shadowplay

What is life?  The flash of a firefly in the night, the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.  It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.  –Native American Blackfeet–

Every man has a different idea of beautiful…best to take the gesture, the shadow of the branch, and let the mind create the tree.–Wm. Faulkner

A man cannot jump over his own shadow–Yiddish proverb

Beware the dog–it’s shadow will not bite.  –Danish proverb–

Worry gives a small thing a big shadow.  –Swedish proverb–

If you stand straight, you need not fear a crooked shadow.–Chinese proverb–

Observe carefully, and you will find wisdom even in the shadows. –African proverb–

One can live within the shadow of an idea without grasping it.–Elizabeth Bowen–

The shadow is often more interesting than the object itself.–Ellen Thompson–

There are dark shadows on earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.–Charles Dickens–

Imagination is the real and eternal world, of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow.–Wm. Blake (1757-1827)

No hill is without gravestones, no valley without shadows. –South African proverb–

Like our shadows, our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.–Edward Young–

Count your nights by stars, not shadows; count your life with smiles, not tears.–Italian proverb–

All images c2013 Naomi Baltuck

Click here for more interpretations of The Weekly Photo Challenge: Shadows.

Click here to see Turkey, a Land of Light and Shadows.

Does This Make My Butts Look Big?

When my sister and I were in England to research a novel, on the outskirts of many a quaint village we saw signs that read “The Butts.”   Needless to say, this caused much speculation.  Walking around Shaftesbury in Dorset, we met an elderly woman outside her stone cottage, and  joined her as she watched workmen re-thatch her roof.

“That’s a woman who appreciates tradition,” I thought.  I asked if she knew the significance of The Butts.  Of course, she did!

In 1363, a law was enacted requiring all men to own a bow, and to focus on their archery skills every Sunday, so the king might call upon each village for archers in time of war.  This law forbade “on pain of death, all sport that took up time better spent on war training, especially archery practice.”   The places assigned for this were called The Butts, after the mounds of earth they leaned the targets against.  To avoid accidents, The Butts were usually situated just outside the village.  But wherever there are weapons, there are accidents.  King Henry I passed a law absolving anyone who accidentally killed someone during target practice.

The longbows were made of the strong flexible wood of the yew tree.  In every churchyard there was a yew.  One of many explanations for this is that in a churchyard the yew would be protected until many new longbows would be needed to defend the kingdom.  But the yew trees are still there, shading the churchyards.  Nowadays there are so many better ways to spend a Sunday, and so many better things to focus on.

c2013 Naomi Baltuck

Click here for more interpretations of Cee’s Oddball Challenge: Week 9.