I’m sitting on this Sunday after exercising and doing my Yoga and all I can hear is the sounds of my hummingbird’s attacking each other. They are posed for fight, tails spread. Their so…
Source: May Peace be with You
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May Peace be with You
I’m sitting on this Sunday after exercising and doing my Yoga and all I can hear is the sounds of my hummingbird’s attacking each other. They are posed for fight, tails spread. Their sounds of hitting each other while their wings rapidly flutter is a constant whir in my consciousness. They are relentless. I’m just relaxing and trying to read, but I cannot because I’m endlessly fascinated by their behavior. They never let up. They are little gangs of brutality and beauty.
I have hummingbirds year round. The many species I have interact and accept each other as best they can. I’m an impartial observer. That is why I find them so interesting. Sometimes they drink from my feeders without much fighting, but today that is not the case. They all are militant like fighter jets bombing the enemy. My presence so near is not even acknowledged. They are going for the feeders like it is their last meal.
As I am distracted by them, I have a lot of thoughts running through my brain. They actually remind me of how people are responding to this presidential campaign going on now in the United States. They are ready to kill for the nectar, just as people are ready to give up friends and family for their beliefs about this election.
Maybe I have mellowed in my life since I’ve moved to Paradise, but one thing I have learned is you are not going to change anyone to your way of thinking. Just like my hummers. They are not going to stop fighting for their time at the feeders, taking that precious sip of nectar. Let it go. Vote your choice and be done with it. Hopefully, the world will survive just like my very aggressive hummingbirds and we will find something else to be scandalized about.
Me, well I’m aggrieved that there is no true fairness in this world. Some people win and some people lose. I lost in my quest to get the murderer of my daughter in jail. It breaks my heart, and there are many just like me who have not seen justice. We go on. Just like those hummingbirds who fight every single day for the chance to drink the nectar. Let your life become about good things, peaceful things, happiness. Stop trying to make everyone see it your way. It’s not important. What is important is being a good human.
Sometimes my hummingbirds are peaceful with each other, they sit nicely while they all feed together. Let us try to be that way with our lives. They often sit peacefully together drinking nectar and flying off to rest on a branch. My home is a place of peace where the hummingbirds entertain and amuse all who visit. I’m certain they are not worried about the other species, sizes, sex , or colors of those they battle with to get the feeders to themselves. Maybe, just maybe, us humans should look to nature more often. The fighting seems to be a bit more fair. No prejudice involved, just wanting to have a place to feed. That is why I have so many feeders: I give them all an even chance. What they do with that chance is a decision they make. What happens in this world is kind of like the hummingbirds, it is all out of our control even when we want so much to have the control. Just do your part and vote. Then let it go. Don’t lose friends over this. It is not worth it.
I’ve come to the conclusion we all think differently. We have brains that look at the exact same message and process it in completely different ways. If we only associate with those who think exactly like us, what do we learn? I’m all for freedom of speech, but I remember my mother and father always saying to me “politics and religion are not to be discussed with others ” and I have to agree. It is just not worth it. When I was younger I didn’t know what any of my friends believed. Because we were just having fun and liked each other for the people we were.
I’m certain we can choose to do this again. With social media it is difficult: but you can stop the hate by posting good things, happy things on the Internet. If you are offended bite your tongue, let it go. Let peace become your way of life, not hate. Hate never wins, even when you are seeing so much of it. Just let it go. Let peace be with you.
A Thin Line
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/narrow/
Life isn’t a narrow path upon which we walk in a certain direction. Life is curves and loops, a winding road to a quest which is impossible to predict. We can try our hardest to obtain our desires, but then something changes and so do we. We have to adapt to what is given to us.
We can take any direction, thinking it is the right one. But along comes a bump and that deviation changes everything forever. What we get is often not what we expect nor what we have planned for. We need to adapt. We need to think broadly in terms of our future. We can’t be limited in our observations of life and the world. We must be open to all possibilities.
There are lines we should not cross, immoral ones. Those are the exceptions. We have to stay true to our own moral compass and find our own truths. But we cannot follow a thin line. To follow that line without an ability to change is to become stuck without experiencing everything you need to see in a life that can be way too short.
If we look at life in such a way that we know it is fleeting, then we can expand and grow. We can find ourselves even when we feel everything is falling apart. Because we are
the future, we have free will.
That is how I have adapted to the death of my daughter. I know she had free will. I was not responsible for her choices as she matured. I did my best, but I am still haunted. I always will be. I will never know if I could have changed the outcome. I will always think about the thin line.
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/layers/
As we age we get wiser. Layers of life. Life, does it continually evolve? Or does it change as we evolve? I often wonder about my own life…the developments that made me who I am now. Sometimes, it is like the past was a dream. I am living completely who I want to be at this time, with a life that many dream they can live. Even the most rich on this Earth don’t have the freedom to enjoy life the way I do now. But I have this underlying sadness. It is like I have had so many stages that all came together and then just stopped when my daughter was murdered.
Then came Colombia. Where I see myself as I should be for the first time. At one with nature and my surroundings. I live with a heart filled with questions, and an eye’s view of all the beauty that surrounds me daily. The questions haunt me always, I feel them prying into my soul every night when I try to have a peaceful nights sleep. Then I awaken with birds singing and mountain views and I find that tiny corner in my mind that allows me to go on. With these life pictures I see every day I am able to overcome a lot of hurt and sadness. I have come to crave solitude as I age. I want silence. I want to feel the Universe vibrate in my soul. I want to find what my life is supposed to mean. Will I ever be able to do this? I don’t know. It is impossible to even say, as each day is like a wave that breaks at the shore of the ocean. A wave that can be fierce from a storm approaching, or soft like a summer evening with a beautiful sunset. Layers of life. Pictures will always speak for me. I take them randomly with no thought besides the image that appears in front of my view. I see so much beauty in simple things now. I wish I could go back and stress that to my children. That you need to live without a need to impress, that you need to live in such a way that you will never be ashamed of who you are, that you need to live without the need to hurt others: even when you have been hurt so badly you feel so angry. That is what I am discovering each time I click my camera, the images are part of me.
I am slowly blooming again. I am taking my life back. It took moving to a new country to discover just who I am. I am a strong woman, I am a mother, grandmother and a person of integrity. I no longer hold in what I feel. If I need to say something I do. I will not ever allow anyone to control or intimidate me. I will be honest, I will also be forgiving to the best of my ability. I will grow stronger each day as my layers unfold. That is who I am now. A person with strength to say what I mean, and to let go of what I need to. I will thrive despite a past that hurts me so much. A past others brought to me, but I tried to fix. It never worked. I will no longer fix anyone but myself, because you just can’t. I have learned that in the layers of myself.
I will continue to do what I need to do, despite the displeasure of others. I no longer care. I only care to do the right thing in a world filled with madness. A world filled with uncertainty and immaturity. A world filled with judgmental people who have no right to judge. I will ignore that and look towards the layers that define me. I will inspire others, and I will show strength and beauty through my photos; photos of many layers. Layers of life, layers that show the sweetness of life, not the adversity. A life I have made by standing tall and proud, no matter what others might say. I have defined my life through these layers and I will continue to do so, no matter how much sadness I endure.
Understanding the Layers of Life
Opposites do Attract
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/opposites/
Nature. So many opposites are always confronting me. There are the hummingbirds who are all different species here at Villa Migelita. They are definitely opposites! Even if they are the same species. They fight and fight each other all day long…and if there is a wasp they hover around it until they can find a time that is safe to land for their precious nectar.
Then there is the animal and human connection. However, we co-exist so beautifully. I love this photo that I took recently. Love is in the air!
Then there is my bird Luci who is a total and completely fearless little being. She has clipped wings but that doesn’t keep her from being mobile. She is always terrorizing my dogs…sometimes she stands where they leave to go out to the yard and bites their feet when they pass…they run from her. It is really funny. I wake up every morning and smile when I see big Orion run away from her.
How about age? Here is a photo of me dancing with a man that is part of my family who is now 104 years old…amazing really. He still dances and enjoys life with zest…I could be his granddaughter!
Orion the Best Partner Ever
There is no one I want to be partners with more than my dogs, but Orion is just the best ally a person could ever have. He protects, loves and gives so much. He is a gentle giant that looks like a bad ass. He is the mascot of Villa Migelita. We have so many tourists, guests and family that visit. No one can leave without their requisite photo of Orion. He is just such a celebrity. Seriously. I think I could make an Instagram account of him just having fun, lying around, swimming, or with a cast on. Yes a cast, like for breaks. He has broken his front paw and his back leg femur. He is a delicate dog, even though he doesn’t look like he is. He is always hurting himself. I am always worrying about him.
If Orion had his way, he would just sleep all day and all night with a person lying on top of him, hugging him and cuddling him. He has no idea he is huge. Orion is an albino Dogo Argentino. He prefers a body to his dog beds…yes he has many dog beds because Orion is the king, el rey, of Villa Migelita
Orion has a job to do, and he knows it. At night he is a protector of my castle and he does it well. No one would dare enter my property with Orion guarding the palace. NO ONE. But, he has never been aggressive with a human, and I hope he never will have to be. However, he knows his position and every night when it is time for bed he goes to his dog room, yes he has his own room as in bedroom, and sleeps with one ear always perked up for any noise he is not familiar with.
So when you come to visit me at my Bed and Breakfast be prepared for big love from my big ole dog…and enjoy a very good night’s sleep while he watches over my lovely finca in the mountains of Colombia. He will always be available for a photo, a treat and a big doggy kiss. He is the most amazing dog, and he is a rescue I adopted. He is growing old way to fast, as time quickly moves on. I worry about him getting older and am already looking for a Dogo puppy. The tradition of Orion must live on.
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Rebuild the World by Stopping the Hate
My blog is about my life in Colombia plus some personal musings. I often share my thoughts on my personal problems but today I am sharing about the worst mass shooting in the history of the United States. I live in a country now as an expat that has rebuilt itself from a horrible and violent past. I have also rebuilt myself in a way, not as violent as Colombia used to be, but certainly a tragic past with so much sadness I cannot get out from under some days. My daughter’s death rests with me in my soul always. I take the death’s of others really personal now. This happens when you lose a child. Every person in that nightclub in Orlando was someone’s child, sister, brother, friend and they were massacred by a man able to gain access to an assault weapon without a problem. This is when I have to speak up. I know some think “oh she left the USA and is an expat without regard to her country” which cannot be further from the truth. I left because of personal reasons and have found a better life in my pursuit of happiness. With my new life, I see a way of living which gives me so much peace and contentment. I might never get over the loss of my daughter, but I live without fear and with a great sense of accomplishment.
Why is it possible to gain access to assault weapons in the United States? I would think after the massacre of little children that legislation would have changed immediately. It didn’t. It seems the USA has become desensitized to the lives of people killed in these mass shootings. I see so many political posts from each ‘side’ about how guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Let us examine this argument. 1. Guns are designed to kill, no other reason. Way back when the constitution was written, guns are for killing our enemies. So YES guns do kill people, especially when any person can obtain one. 2. Second amendment rights: Why have assault rifles? They belong in the hands of the military, the SWAT teams, the FBI, the police, but not ordinary human beings. I truly believe a gun in your home for defense is fine, but not an arsenal of ammunition and militia to hurt others. This has to be reformed and I hope the Gay community can do it! I have never seen a better group of people in my life. I know, I grew up with them. They are harassed and persecuted for their entire lives. They live with condemnation every single day from hate filled people. They are still nice and non-violent. I started working as a flight attendant at the age of twenty. I had no one telling me anyone was ‘bad’ nor ‘good’. I decided for myself, and always have. The gay community are my very great friends. 3. We have regulations for driving our cars, for insurance on our homes and cars, for drunk driving, for living in any land including Colombia which I go to the USA every year to renew my Visa. I am now able to obtain a residency. Why not for guns? What the heck? Make the people by insurance for them at least! Why give killing machines a free pass? 4. I have a right to live my life with my granddaughter when I visit to the USA without fear. I no longer feel that way and avoid places that are crowded; such as movie theaters, any high-profile place such as Disney in Orlando, or crowded venues of any sort. Why should I adapt my life around people who want to parade their guns in public? I certainly would hightail my ass right out of any business that allows someone to open carry a gun!
My last words and not because I am condemning a culture. But I live in a controlled country that got rid of violence. They got rid of it with the help of the USA. Why then is it possible to mass murder others the way it happens every damn day in the USA? I have no idea, because I live peacefully, without fear in a lovely and very loving country now. I wish everyone could put aside political correctness, religion, racism and more an examine why they think it is OK for a terror suspect to actually buy a gun legally, even after being investigated twice by the US government? Do you really want an assault weapon that much? That innocent lives are taken? Because you know, no one has come for your guns, and your guns are killing people!
Pure Beauty, Pure Color, Pure Happiness
The word pure brings to mind so many images. They can be real, they can be bright, they can be simple, full of innocence, or just natural like the featured image of the water as the rain slowly fal…
Pure Beauty, Pure Color, Pure Happiness
The word pure brings to mind so many images. They can be real, they can be bright, they can be simple, full of innocence, or just natural like the featured image of the water as the rain slowly falls over a lake with mountains in the background in Colombia
. A child smiling, a brightly colored street. Pure is a thought process that all of us delve into daily. We wish we could live a pure life, a life free of stress and silly annoyances. We wish we could see everything we take in on a daily basis in a way that shines brightly to our soul with divine beauty. Here are a few photos I love.
What a Ride!!!!
I had a bucket list adventure with my best friend recently. It was something I thought about for over five years. I finally did it, and believe me that day we left I was in a panic. Who jumps off a…
Source: What a Ride!!!!
