Keepers of the Land

The land was sacred once

No earth left fallow

Nor fouled with wast

***

The land sustained us

Till glory succumbed

To greed and haste

Thanksgiving portrait

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My family, with the exception of my husband's daughter and her family who had other plans, celebrated a joyous Thanksgiving at my daughter Laura's new home. I love our family gatherings with their warmth and fun and come away happy and fulfilled. The topics of conversation are many and vary from the serious to the mundane. The kids join in much of the time but when they have had enough of adult topics, adjourn to the pleasures of kidom.

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

Thanksgiving always brings to mind the memories of going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I went with my grandfather in the late 40's and sat on his shoulders so that I would not miss a single band, float or balloon. It was not as lavish then but as I watch it on TV today with all the pomp, stars and entertainment, I find myself longing for simpler times. Back then, Santa really was the star of the parade.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

I would like to give thanks:

To my husband...for his constant love, for being there and helping me not to be afraid.

To my amazing family...for their love and support, they help me stay strong and give me hope.

To my very dear friends... for their love, standing by, visits and laughter.

To Hattie the cat...for her warm company and loud purr.

To mother earth...for crisp days, fragrant seasons, starry nights, soft rains, cumulous clouds and
stunning beauty.

To my hands and legs...for not totally giving up.

To all who visit my blog page...for your time and interest. I paint and write to sustain myself but if I touch anyone along the way, it warms me.

To the new people I am meeting here...Your insight, humor and caring have renewed my faith
in the human condition.

Peace to all,

Pam

Footprints

There's a journey we take

Decisions we make

Our footprints are left in the sand

With one wave to the shore

There are footprints no more

Live fully, live juicy, live grand

Ms. Hattie

I have a Siamese cat who is now sixteen and a half years old and looks like she is still a kid, God bless her. She is less temperamental than the average Siamese and although she likes to "talk" to me she does not go around yowling like some of them do. I've had others, so I speak from experience.

Anyway, my girlfriends came over to spend the night while my husband was at hunting camp and we decided that we should take a group picture for posterity. Since Ms. Hattie is one of the gals, we included her in our photo op without thinking about her reaction to the flash. A picture speaks a thousand words, as you can see.

Radio Flyer

I am my daughter's only parent as their father did not participate in their lives for more than a few short years. I was very young and confused, we had very little by way of material posessions ( my job didn't pay much and their father skipped on child support) but through all of this there was great love , lots of fun and many memorable moments.

I was not in posession of a car for much of their very young lives and used a bike to get to work, grocery shop and go to the laundermat. For family outings we had the wagon of all wagons, a Radio Flyer. And thanks to the card they made and gave me for my birthday this summer, all those memories came flooding back. Quick jaunts around the block, races with the wind and 8 mile walks to visit my friend. Yup, I pulled them 16 miles round trip just for a play date and a visit.

And when my youngest daughter was very ill I bundled her in the wagon and ran, panicked, all the way to the doctors on a bitter cold afternoon. By the time we arrived her fever had, mercifully, dropped from being in the the cold air. He cared for her while I quieted my pounding heart and struggled to catch my breath.

There were crashes, spills and laughter as we ventured on with our wagon, and enough memories to last a lifetime.

Hunting season

Once again it's hunting season in VT. I have very mixed feelings about hunting. Man has been hunting for food since time began and the hunters I know, including my husband, hunt for the venison. And, because we have stripped much of the Whitetail's habitat, there is validity to the fact that thinning the herd prevents many of them from dying of starvation.

But there are those who hunt just for sport, bringing these magnificent creatures down for the pleasure of bragging rights or to put a head with a rack on the wall. And our state, in its quest for cash has, too many times, made the mistake of putting out doe licenses and selling the right to kill to more hunters than the deer heard can support.

My husband has hunted all his life. He hunts with respect for the deer and the environment and we have had venison in our freezer more often than not. I like venison, it is organic (which my diet requires) is very tasty and is not loaded with cholesterol.

I have lived here long enough to know that if hunting is properly controlled, the herd flourishes. However, I feel guilty if I have to kill a bug and consequently have a conundrum.

Opinions?

The Snows of Kilemanjaro

I'm reading a book by Al Gore called "An Inconvenient Truth" and whether or not you like the man, his words are a wake up call for us all. His book is scientific fact and pictures that will stun.

The planet we call home is under grave assault and if you have read my blog you already know that I am passionate about our environment. I believe that big company profit is the driving force behind the destruction of our tiny island in space, but we must all do our part.

I use my art and words to reach out in hopes of touching those who are unaware (believe it or not, they're out there) those who don't believe it's that important, or sadly, those who don't think it concerns them. The condidtion of our home dictates the quality of our life and, in the end, it is the most important thing. If you doubt this, think about how you would feel if someone blew noxious gases in the windows of your house, your faucets spewed contaminated water and your food was inedible. Sound extreme? It isn't.

I could choose to paint the ruined and ugly to make my point but the beauty that remains on earth speaks volumes and offers reasons. Kilemanjaro is a case in point; famouse for its snows, global warming has caused them to melt dramatically and if things do not change, they will be gone, sooner rather than later.

Vicarious Flyer

I love this picture of my granddaughters for is sheer exuberance. Flying over puddles then jumping into them with all the energy they can muster has been a favorite pastime for
kids since, well, probably forever. As we get older we tend to forget the pure pleasure of uninhibited joy, caught in the restraints of our responsibilities and worried, too, about what others might think.

The child within me, I am happy to say, is alive and well and although I can no longer fly with my grandchildren, the joy of watching them soar and leap through life delights me beyond measure.

The Story of Little

When my grandchildren were younger I wrote poems for them from time to time. While going through an old drawer full of papers and photos I came across some of those poems and thought, since the kids have taken an interest in Mimi's blog, I would post one every now and then.

Little has lived with me for over 10 years and now sits on top of my moniter evoking sweet memories of young laughter.

Little was so sweet and small
On the shelf against the wall
Waiting for a home, you see
So I took him home with me

A tiny clown of red and green
Glad that finally he'd been seen
In a box he went that night
Wrapped in tissue, snug and tight

In my house he found a home
A happy clown, no more alone
And there he sits upon my shelf
With toys of mine, not by himself

Polar Bears Last Sunset

Toxins hang above overpopulated cities
The air, once pristine, now brown with poison
Waste caught in prevailing winds
Spills as acid rain
Into crystal ponds
Killing life
Coral Reefs, once teeming
Succumb
Rendering spcecies extinct
Remote glaciers melt
Stealing ice
At the end of the world
Great animals drown and starve
As we march on in greedy pursuit