Stop by for a drink

Having a heater in the birdbath brings lots of visitors throughout the cold weather.

This one was by far my favorite the other day....

Here's a sample of some other of the many varied visitors. I missed a shot of a chipmunk having a drink as he was just too fast.

My very least favorite uninvited guest is at the end!

February blues

 I wrote all glowingly about snow yesterday.....from the safety and warmth of the inside of my home.

At the same time, some of you were driving through it on sloppy roads and not seeing the 'beauty' in it. I get it.

One night a few weeks ago I was the passenger for a white-knuckle drive while traffic crawled along, cars fishtailing around us on black ice. Meanwhile, the other side of the highway was dark and empty as it had been shut down due to a serious accident. The journey was ominous and bleak and I wanted nothing more than to be home in safety.

Every season has its dangers, but somehow winter can seem the bleakest. All we seem to see and feel is the longer hours of darkness and bone chilling winds that hold us in their icy grasp. February is often the most difficult month for many to get through.

 

Maybe it's the gardener in me, but I try to look at winter as necessary..... a season of patience, preparation, rejuvenation, and learning. Don't forget what we can't see right now........below that snow and hard soil, green sprouts are beginning to emerge. Sap is running and buds are forming on those branches being bent by cold winds and ice. Bulbs are building their strength and pushing their way upwards to burst forth when it's their time to shine and provide us with the astounding beauty of spring, when warmth, colour, and light wipe away the affects of the long bleak months of winter.

 

Would we appreciate the warmth if we never felt the cold? The color, without the dark and grey? The life, without the death? We want to answer "Yes...let me try it please!!!!"...but life's just not like that.

 

I recognize that different areas of the world experience seasons in different ways. But life really is a seasonal thing. Whether the seasons we experience are each dramatically different from one another or more subtle in nature, we all go through the dark, bleak times when life slows to a crawl and our heart ices over. We wonder if we are ever going to experience a brighter, warmer time in our life again.

Springtime follows winter. Winter is never the end. Whether in this life or the next we always have hope for brighter days ahead, and strength for the journey. Hold onto hope and the One who provides it. 

 

 

Take another look

 There's nothing quite like waking up to a Saturday morning with lots of snow and nowhere I have to go. My gardens were giggling with glee (yes they were) as their dry layers were craving the moisture and warmth provided by this glorious white wonderful white fluff. We have had precious little of it this year and I have missed it. A co-worker described to me how her adult friend visiting from Cuba had reacted when he saw snow for the first time. He ran outside more excited than a kid and reveled in the feel of this wonderful cold stuff. He couldn't get over it or leave it alone. Oh to experience fascination again about things that are just too familiar to excite us anymore!

 

 As I went about my chores today I was continually distracted. Pulling the sheets from the bed for the laundry, the window kept calling to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Just as when my children were young, chores had to wait for time spent with them......so must this empty nester now spend time while the opportunity is at hand to catch glimpses of what's amazing just outside my window.

May it never become so familiar that I lose the wonder!

 

Emulating Mr Bean

Our Pastor spoke this morning on new beginnings....of course this is often uppermost in people's minds in January. More than the typical New Years Resolutions though, it's important to set spiritual priorities and goals.

The cool thing that he emphasized was that God is the Creator. 'In the beginning God...' and God is quite capable of creating a new start from nothing in our lives.  (Do you know what God said to the scientists who were attempting to create life in their laboratories?  'Get your own dirt!').

At the end of the sermon we were asked to do something very Mr.Bean-like. We were given a page, an envelope, and some time to write a letter to ourselves. We wrote it, sealed it in an envelope with our name and address on it, and handed it back in.  It will be mailed to us without warning sometime in about 6 months. When we receive the letter from ourselves we can evaluate how far we have progressed from today.

Normally I don't advocate people emulating Mr Bean....but in this case, maybe Mr. Bean has a good thing going here....


Mr Bean - Birthday at a restaurant by mrbean

Gotta love old ladies!

The closer I get to becoming an old lady (definition of old lady unknown...my kids think I'm already there), the more respect I have for them. They've already lived a lot of life and could teach me a thing or two, negative or otherwise.

I will not forget driving in busy Toronto and stopping at a busy intersection, waiting to turn right on a red light. All was clear, i pulled up and could have made my turn, but I noticed an old lady nearing the intersection on my right, cane in hand. With the best of intentions, rather than make my turn before she reached me, I chose to wait for her. I motioned for her to go ahead and expected a congenial, thankful response from a grateful old lady. Instead, she made her way through the intersection, obviously muttering in disgust at me, thrusting her cane in my direction because I was over the line from having pulled ahead earlier. (I really wasn't blocking her way). I'm glad I couldn't hear what she was saying. I felt profoundly sad for her in that moment and wondered what she has lived through in her life that she would be so miserable and miss the kind gesture.

There are miserable old ladies who complain at anything and everything.....and then there are the ones I love to sit near at church. 

I want their faith, grace, and humility to rub off on me.

I have watched a couple of them in particular. In many ways life has not always been kind to them and over the years their bodies have started to hunch over, and walking and standing has become painful and difficult. Their faces do not reflect misery, but a peaceful disposition. I've watched hands that can't reach far, but none the less turned upwards in their best response to worship they can give. They don't care that the music is not their style of hymns from their generation...they respond with eyes closed, basking in the presence of the One who has been faithful...and will be to the end. He's never changed and they know He won't. They will just never get over His love for them.

Each generation has its own set of stressors, each quite different than the next, and yet stress just the same. 

And each generation needs to know God for themselves...being encouraged by the old ladies and old men who have found His love unchangeable....to all generations.

Your vacation destination!

If you've never considered North Korea as your vacation destination, perhaps you should plan a trip there soon, what with all the international attention this country has been getting recently.

Be sure to visit their high tech official website of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for all the information you need. I've provided a link to it at the bottom of this post. You really MUST check it out! 

Expand your understanding of the nation and it's leaders from the wealth of knowledge provided on the site. We have all seen the beauty of South Korea, but this website provides seldom seen glimpses of realistic-like photos of their northern neighbour. Read about their leaders. Here's a sample from the website:

"Leader Kim Jong Il of Korea is possessed of an unusual ideological and theoretical wisdom that is originated from his innate gifts.

Kim Jong Il is a man of keen observation and clairvoyance.

The ability to observe and see through is essential to a political leader who has assumed the mission to gain a scientific insight into the trends and demands of the times and laws governing historical development, and light the way the masses of the people should follow.

Kim Jong Il has attained great ideo-theoretical achievements, always gaining insight before anybody else into the pressing issues of the times by dint of his keen observance and clairvoyance and giving scientific solutions to them. For instance, he expounded original ideas and theories such as the theory of ideology that ideological consciousness decides everything and the theory of the motive force of the revolution that the masses of the people are the driving force of history and the leader, the Party and the masses comprise a socio-political organism.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, when socialism collapsed in succession in the former Soviet Union and other East European countries, he saw through the fact that maintain the Juche character and national identity in accomplishing the cause of independence of the masses is essential to the rise or fall of a nation, and clarified that this is a fundamental principle to be adhered to in carrying out the cause of socialism. In the mid-1990s Korea held aloft the banner of Songun-it was also attributable to his keen observation and clairvoyant power by which he quickly grasped the features of the development of the times and situation, which demanded strengthening of the military might ahead of others for defending sovereignty and dignity of the nation amidst the imperialists’ high-handedness and arbitrariness.

Accurate analysis and excellent judgment are also innate gifts of Kim Jong Il.

It is fundamental question decisive of success in an undertaking to compare, analyze, reason and colligate things and phenomena to make a correct judgment.

Kim Jong Il, who had acquired sharp judgment, irrefutable logic and deep theory from his childhood, gives a definite conclusion to whatever ideological and theoretical questions on the basis of scientific analysis, colligation and systematization of them.
In his days at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang from 1960 to 1964, he made an in-depth analysis of the scientific and importance of regional base in socialist construction, and presented a paper, The Position and Role of County in Socialist Construction. He scientifically proved in the paper that the country, a regional base in socialist rural construction, becomes a comprehensive unit that links town with village, imparts policies of the Party and the state to the countryside and directs and develops the political, economic, cultural and all other realms in rural areas, and that enhancing the role of country is of great significance in developing the socialist rural economy and pushing forward overall socialist construction.

There are many other examples for his brilliant analyzing ability and judgment. He reviewed way, and formulated the revolutionary ideas of President Kim Il Sung into an integrated system of ideology, theory and method of Juche, thus successfully fulfilling the task of the era, and published a series of works that indicate the road ahead of socialism on the basis of analysis and review of the historical lessons drawn in socialist construction.

Leader Kim Jong Il is endowed with scientific foresight.

Scientific foresight is an attribute due to a political leader who should provided people with ideology, strategy and tactics.

All his ideological and theoretical activities have been based on such a scientific foresight. He gave a definite scientific and theoretical solution to the historical necessity of socialism and the ways to build it up in his work Socialism Is a Science, in November 1994, proving that socialism as a science is sure to be victorious. In the end of the previous century, when Korea was undergoing the bitterest trials, he unfolded a grand blueprint for building a great, prosperous and powerful socialist country with his far-sighted unusual acumen, and clarified in detail the theoretical and practical problems arising in its implementation, inspiring the entire army and all the people to the great drive of building a thriving nation.

Eye-opening successes that are being made in Korea today in the efforts of breaking through the cutting edge, improving the people’s standard of living and building monumental structures showcase the scientific foresight intrinsic to leader Kim Jong Il."

Leaves you speechless eh?

Book your travel plans with them now to avoid disappointment as I'm sure the prearranged dates on which you are allowed to visit will be readily snatched up. A large group of 20 maximum is allowed for these planned tours. I'm sure there is much preparation required ahead of time on their part to accommodate 20 people for the scenic trip, so again, book early. They will of course accept credit card payment, however don't bother bringing your credit card with you as you will not be allowed to use it within their borders. Your cell phone will have to be left at your 'locker' before leaving for the tour. You of course can bring your camera. Your passport will remain with authorities for a while. For other tips for a more enjoyable trip, check out (very carefully) this wiki travel advice.

Now, if you are feeling badly that you are not able to take this trip of a lifetime, don't worry. You can bring North Korea right into the comfort of your own home. Click on 'Shop' on their Home Page and you will be electronically whisked to Cafe Press where souvenirs  can be yours in abundance ordered online or from the toll free phone number.  You REALLY need to see these. Who could resist a Tshirt, ball cap, water bottle, or mug with North Korean propaganda images on them, such as army soldiers with guns. I was particularly drawn to the iPhone and iPad covers with tasteful North Korean propaganda inscribed on them. They must be particularly popular with 'the masses of the people'.

So plan your getaway now. 

Just imagine if you were able to bring one or two North Korean citizens back home with you to your own country to live with you for a while.....so they could step outside all that they know, and learn about your culture. 

What a getaway THAT would be for a North Korean.

Here's your link to interesting reading about North Korea!

Making life easier

Have you seen this article on the Internet yet called "35 tips to make your life easier"?

It is a feature on the website www.thedailybuzz.com.  A cool website with some super cool ideas for your household! Check it out!  

This is my favorite idea...

Live in the moment

I was somewhat taken back by this picture when I saw it. 

When Jack Layton passed away this year, I perused many pictures of him reviewing the influence his life has had. I found this one taken in 2005. I was struck again by the realization that nothing is certain in this world and things are always in a state of flux.

These men look rather bored - who knows what they were thinking. Imagine if you were the photographer in 2005, and immediately spoke to these gentlemen about what their future held in 2011. They would probably each call you crazy.

You would tell the man on the right...the Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin, that his strong ruling Liberal party would not only fall, but would sink to incredible lows by 2011 that the party would need to be reborn again from the bottom up.

You would have to break similar news to the very popular and influential man, leader of the Bloc party, Gilles Duceppe (second from the left), that he and his party would also go down to a crushing defeat in 2011.

 The best news would be for Stephen Harper, Conservative leader and the official opposition, (second from the right), that even though the Conservative party knew that same defeat in the past, Mr. Harper would not only soon be the Prime Minister of the country, but in 2011 would secure a majority. He might scarcely believe you, nor would most of the country.

 But most tragic of all would be to speak with Jack Layton, leader of the NDP party (far left). He had perhaps fought the hardest of all, yet his party had never managed to come anywhere near official opposition status. 2011 would be that year for the NDP to surge in the polls under Jack's leadership and finally his dream would be realized...only to lose the ability to enjoy it with his sudden sad and untimely death.

 So much can change in the course of a year and none of us can be certain of anything but change. Perhaps this Christmas season you have perused old photos for which the landscape has now changed. People in your life then, are now missing. Things just aren't the same. Though we sorrow for a season, we should have cause for hope, not gloom.

You are breathing. Every day is an opportunity. Anything is possible.

Let's seize each day while we can and live each day we are granted in 2012 with renewed purpose and hope. We don't know what tomorrow will bring.....but there are things we can change for the better today.

Live in the moment.... but live in wisdom....and peace.