Apparent Silence
Everything in life is speaking in spite of its apparent silence.
— Hazrat Inayat Khan
Come to me
Wonderful gentle music, balm in these turbulent times.
More work from this songwriter can be found at RedBubble
Dragonflies, Dragons, and Her Mother’s Death
by Thomas Davis
She looked at all the red-eyed dragonflies
That hovered on the water of the pond.
Inside the small stone house, just ten years old,
But feeling like she’d lived at least two lifetimes,
She wondered how the dragonflies perceived
Her hugeness when she walked out to the pond
And stared at them, their gauze-like wings and bodies…
Put a jump and a sparkle into your day
Well that’s the message I got from this little creature when I was plodding about the paddock just after sunrise 
Heading underground
I was most excited this week to do a trip to the Naracoorte Caves located in the South East of South Australia in the region of the Limestone Coast. I’ve tried to condense things, but it’s still quite a long post for me – in fact, I’ll have to do it in two parts.
This is Part One.
Naracoorte Caves National Park is South Australia’s only World Heritage site. The site was officially recognised in 1994 because of the importance of the fossils in the caves.
The park is home to over 100 known fossil deposits, preserving the bones of megafauna that became extinct roughly 60,000 years ago.
Naracoorte Caves preserves Australia’s most complete fossil record for the past 500,000 years. 
Enter this building, and you can take a trip back into time…….and I can assure you, it’s a great journey!
There is much to see, different tours to take, but on this occasion, I visited first the Victoria Cave.
From the moment I took my first breath of ‘cave air’ I was hooked – it felt just like home to me, and a wonder world of treasures awaited.
The caves are well lit, and the guides incredibly enthusiastic, and well informed. A small group meant that there was time to ask questions, to stop to take photos, and just generally go ooh ahh
The Limestone deposits have formed over millions of years – I hope I look this good when I get this old…..
The skeletons of two megafauna give scary shadows on the cave wall. These beasts co-existed with Aboriginal people – imagine trying to get away from those carnivorous jaws on the left!
Paleontologists come from all over the world to study and do research on the fossils here. What is visible here, is just a tiny portion of what has been unearthed. Imagine trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle of thousands of pieces and with no idea of what it’s meant to look like. Such is their work.
While down there in the bowels of the Earth, we experienced what it would have been like for the animals who fell into these caves, thousands of years ago. Imagine falling many metres down into a hole and waking up to this.
I made sure I wasn’t going to join them by falling down into this section.
Out on the surface, this is what the land looks like. Caves are still being discovered, sometimes accidently, such as when a heavy vehicle breaks through the thin crust covering over an opening.
Can you imagine the excitement of discovering a cave like this? I think it would be wonderful!
Our guide took us safely back to the centre, and from there I went onto the next tour – to the Bat Observation Centre and Blanche Cave . You can read about this when I do Part Two.
The tour guides are fantastically enthusiastic about their jobs and I think they do a terrific job of educating the public about not only what happened in the past, but on what we can be doing today to ensure the survival of the endangered species in this region.
Oh, GMO...
I cruise around the Internet all the time, as I'm sure you all do. Sometimes my occasional sidetracks take me to "alternative media" sources which y'all might not have seen yet, including a few I'll focus on today while discussing another disgusting facet of the GMO industry: The incestuous relationship between GMO manufacturers and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Sunrise 156: Ault Park (The Pavilion's Alignment With the First Day of Spring...)
The weeping cherry grove at sunrise in Ault Park
The late sunrise colors turned into a slurry of pinks and purples, kind of like an Easter palette.
An aligned sunrise behind Ault Park Pavilion
Happy first day of Spring! And also, it's official. Ault Park (through the symmetrical axis about the pavilion) can be considered to be aligned with the first day of spring.
Monsatan Lovers
I recently received a comment from a fellow blogger in response to my blog post, "Sustainability vs. Monsatan." I was going to just delete it because it is unbelievably ROOD and condescending, but I'm feeling righteous this morning and have decided to rebut his unsolicited patronizing blurb of wrongness. Here is his comment, unedited by me or anybody else:
"Submitted on…
New horizons
Last night the weather report forecast early morning fog, and so I made preparations for going out in the car, instead of on my bicycle. When I peeked out the window this morning, I was disappointed to see only a light fog, but decided to proceed with the original plan anyway. There was a twinge of regret as I walked past my bike – it looked forlorn at being bypassed….
Fred was excited of course at the change in routine. Actually, he gets excited whatever the form of the outing! Always a reminder to me to stay light and in the moment.
We headed in an easterly direction up the road, and probably about 4 kms from home, stopped for a couple of quick shots, and then moved on for another km and after parking the car, proceeded on foot along the road. The sun was coming up through the fog, and I was happy with the unfolding views. It’s possible I’ll try along this road another time – but have to make sure our visits to the cattle don’t suffer too much!
LEED and human health
Does living or working in a LEED certified space mean that you are safe from building contaminants – or does it promote a false sense of security?
A study published by the nonprofit, Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI), in May 2010, emphatically claims that you are not safe. The lead author of the study, Dr. John Wargo, is professor of environmental policy, risk analysis and political science at the…
Saint Patrick's Day Parade Prize awarded to "NO FRACKING IRELAND!"
Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all!
If you are planning on visiting the "Land of Saints and Scholars," to see the "Forty Shades of Green," make sure you come before the Fracking Starts!
This was the message today from the Saint Patrick's Day Float which won the "Most Entertaining Float," in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in my local town of Drumshanbo!
Sustainability vs. Monsatan
A fellow blogger asked me to expound on the topic of heirloom/organic vs. hybrid/organic seeds. I've been putting it off because the subject is bigger than just seeds and begs a much more detailed account of what "sustainability" means to me and my partner. To answer the question simply though, Heirloom/organic = sustainable/healthy; Non-heirloom/non-organic = non-sustainable/potentially unhealthy. Heirloom seeds produce fruits and vegetables that in turn produce seeds that will make the same fruit and vegetable, over and over again, year after year.
Rumi's guidance for road trips
Waking up center of the night, I rose up to quell the humm of the ever-present air conditioner over the door. Uncharacteristically awake, I couldn't help but notice the sneak-around-movement of the tiny chorus of dancing ladies. They had exited their purse, and were carefully folding up all of my clothes and spiriting them away in the bag I was too tired to pack once escaping the terrace-by-the-
they call them holy moments
They call them holy moments...
the unearthly moments, merely seconds, that stop us in our life series and future concentrations.
Like when he grabs you close by surprise, to dance, allowing no time to put a guard up and all you can do is smile shyly and sway to the silence with him.
Or sitting inside a small town church, distracted by a sparkle coming from your left finger, hiding laughter as to how a country boy ever had the money for it at the time.
The breezes at dawn
“The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you
Don’t go back to sleep!
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep!
People are going back and forth
across the doorsill where the two worlds touch,
The door is round and open
Don’t go back to sleep!”
― Rumi
Milk-crate farming in the city
Double-stacked, modified milk-crates as the basis for a large-scale vegetable growing system on a city rooftop. Yet another example of why rooftop farming is possible, even if you don't have tonnes of infrastructure...
Vision
Carl Gustav Jung
Another glorious start to the day, with a light fog, clearing to sunshine, making the discomfort of numb fingers a mere trifle. I look into my heart, and feel peace when I can capture scenes like this and share around the world♥
There are now 50 followers of my little blog, something I’d never imagined would happen when I began it many years ago. Thank you each and every one of you, for your time and interest and encouragement. It is very much appreciated♥
Japan, one year after the catastrophe
The earthquake changed Japan, the oldest state, and showed the world that nature can destroy an economy in seconds. As a result, towns were completely destroyed, thousands of people died and a nuclear meltdown almost put at risk the survival of the nation. Never forget, we are talking about Japan, one of the most technologically advanced society.
2011 Miyako 2012
2011 Otsuchi 2012
2011 Minamisanriku 2012
2011 Minamisanriku 2012
A fire in the heart
Mary Lou Retton
I think I’m a late bloomer. I think also, I’ve found what fires me up. I don’t think this fire will easily be quelled.
