"Something precious is lost if we rush headlong into the details of life ....

without pausing for a moment to pay homage to the mystery of life and the gift of another day."

Kent Nerburn

************

I think this is true. And, though this will be a very busy week, I will do my best to pause before I rush into anything!

I am preparing for another east coast transport. This one with five dogs and one cat. All going to great forever homes.

I have to remind myself to stop, sip (not guzzle) my coffee. And to blog, each day, about something beautiful! This is beautiful Bentley. He will be travelling east to a new forever home. He was hit by a car, and has had one surgery to repair his left leg already. He'll eventually need a second surgery for his right hip. He is really a blessing, though. And deserves the best home ever!

Amma

Kitty Ebb and Flow

I did not receive a "quote of the day" to ponder. So... I'll ponder this instead.....

Why is it that I had such a hard time finding a good home for the little torbie, Cupcake? And yet... in the group of nine kitties that I rescued this week, the two torbies were the first to be adopted?

This is Faith. She went home yesterday.

Life is strange some times.

Amma

"You don't get to choose how you're going to die.

Or when. You can decide how you're going to live now."

Joan Baez

*******************
I just saw an interview with Joan, as a matter of fact. She was talking about her experiences with Pete Seeger. In this film:
www.amazon.com/Pete-Seege...pd_bbs_sr_2 which I highly recommend.

While watching, I learned and remembered quite a bit ... about the history of the 50s and 60s. I'd say that this quote, of Baez's, just about sums up how Seeger and his cadre lived. Every day as if it might be the last. And every day as if it mattered.

In those days, the anti-war movement was censored. It gained great power as an underground movement. Quite unlike today, frankly. Now it has been co-opted by slick advertisers, with big budgets, to push forward their unsavory agendas and sell their "peace-wares." I truly wish I knew a way that the people of today could rise above all that. But, we seem so vulnerable to the propaganda spewn from television sets and radios. And, yes, I'll say it... from Youtube. (Astroturf does not really equal grassroots. We just think it does.)

Anyways... BIG SHOUT OUT to Joan and Pete! For walking the walk, long before they had anybody like Oprah, or Move-On, to finance their videos!

Amma

PS. As far as I know, Pete is still with us. And he is still a Unitarian. And an activist. Age = 90.

Iceland's new Prime Minister is an Openly Gay Women!

Meet Johanna Sigurdardottir!

A few quotes from THE ASSOCIATED PRESS:
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090..._new_leader

""polling company Capacent Gallup said Sigurdardottir was Iceland's most popular politician in November, with an approval rating of 73 percent.

She was the only minister to see her rating improve on the previous year's score, Capacent Gallup said Wednesday. The poll of 2,000 people had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

"It's a question of trust, people believe that she actually cares about people," said Olafur Hardarson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland.

Sigurdardottir is seen by many as a salve to the bubbling tensions in Iceland. Thousands have joined anti-government protests recently. Last week, police used tear gas for the first time in about 50 years to disperse crowds.""

Brava to the people of Iceland! For recognizing TALENT to lead.... and not being bogged down in antiquated thinking about WHO can lead!

******************

I think it is worth mentioning that Iceland is among the happiest places on the planet:
www.ericweinerbooks.com/content/book.asp

"Many an individual has turned from the mean, personal, acquisitive point of view

to one that sees society as a whole and works for its benefit. If there has been such a change in one person, there can be the same change in many."

Mahatma Gandhi

*********

The Mahatma points out that we know change can happen, because our experience tells us so. Not because we hope it is so. Or because we make posters that say "Change." Not because we rally around rock stars who sing about it, or preachers who preach about it. Not because politicians promise it.

Experience tells us that change can happen. And it can happen for the better.

Now there is some wisdom for ya!

Amma

"The best way to predict the future

is to invent it." Alan Kay

*****************

I really hope that Gratefulness.org isn't going to make a habit of sending out these kind of trite, new-agey slogans. I don't really know who Alan Kay is. Maybe he's not "new-agey" at all???

Anyways. Yes, I have set out to re-create my future. I say "re-create" cuz it's not the first time I have tried to lose these pounds. Or look great in a smaller size. LOL.

So I was looking back at older photos of myself for inspiration. From my "thinnest time" this decade. That was around the end of 2007.

Amma

"Everything that irritates us about others

can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."

Carl Jung

*********************

So, these are my sis, mom, aunt and cousins. In my home a few evenings ago. Yes, they irritate me. Because they have all lost boo-koo pounds doing things like Weight Watchers and Jazzercise. (Well, not mom. Mom was always skinny.)

I had already resumed my water work-outs and walks. So I am OK in the exercise area. But... now to re-take off that 20+# I gained last year.

OK. I joined Weight Watchers last evening. And today is a new day in learning to eat..... yet again.

Humph.

Amma

PS. We had a wonderful party over the weekend. And we all ate Godiva chocolate like it was ... well.... like it was candy. While sipping wine and/or coffee. Teehee.

"From experience we know

that whenever we are truly awake and alive, we are also truly grateful."

David Steindl-Rast
Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer

*****************

This quote is a little bit harder to grasp, I think. Because I can remember a time when, to be truly awake... meant to be truly experiencing a crushing pain.

But, I also remember the moments of clarity that were given during that terrible dark time. And, yes.... I believe that within them, existed a kernel of gratefulness. For the parts of the experience in which we felt the love of friends and family. And for the ways in which we were supported those terrible moments.

Peace,

Amma

Photo: My two sons with their cousins. Christmas, 2007.

"If your heart were sincere and upright,

every creature would be unto you a looking-glass of life and a book of holy doctrine."

Thomas a Kempis

Moving along now. This is the first in a series of quotes I will (hopefully) share, here at Tribe. It is from the Gratefulness.org network. If you've sign up for a daily quote... this is the one you would have received this morning.

I like the fact that this is the first quote I have received. It's appropriate to my life as a rescuer.

They also have a beautiful page about the significance of animals in our lives, if we but open our hearts to them. Here it is: www.gratefulness.org/t/aanimals.htm

This is Corky. He'll be coming to me when I pass through Mansfield on my way home from CT next month. I love the clear, bright look in his eyes!

Amma

Kewl Things I Am Grateful for: Part Five

Shiva Raye pointed out, yesterday, that "Kewl Stuff I Like" sounds much like gratitude. I've been thinking about it and, you know, he's right.

These past two years I have, quite frankly, had a tough time feeling grateful.

2007 was the year from hell for me, because of the loss of my son-in-law.

2008 was not a whole lot better, because of the political fallout for the women I know and respect.

2009 dawns as a new day, though. I have been letting go of the grief. And basking in all the things I am grateful for. So far, the year has been busy! Full of wonderful things....

Afternoon swims.

Yoqua.

Wagging dogs.

Purring Kittens.

Wine with chocolate.

Dinners with family.

Laughing children.

Warm winds.

Cold nights.

Raging wood stove.

Sunshine.

Just last week, I resumed watching this video: www.youtube.com/watch as often as I can. As a meditation. Each morning. It reminds me.... of all the kewl things I have to be grateful for.

Peace,

Amma