ON CHILDREN

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) On Children, from the book The Prophet (1923)

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls; for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For Life goes not backwards nor tarries with yesterday.

...You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is a time to give thanks to our Moms for all the things they have done for us over the years. As with most everything in modern day life, Mother's Day has become over the top commercialized, and so we buy gifts and send cards and make the obligatory visit. Despite that though, we are happy that this day rolls around each year to remind us that our Moms are to be celebrated.

If we are lucky. Sometimes Life isn't always rosy. Abandonment, abuse, neglect exist for some children and those hurts last. We can only look to people like Oprah and Tony Robbins for inspiration. Their childhoods were not so easy but their Moms did bring them into this world, and I think we would all agree, they've made the world a better place for having been in it!

There are some who say that we are on this earth to experience, and we cannot know joy unless we know sorrow, we cannot know love unless we know its lack. And that we choose the circumstances we are born into - the love, the sorrow, the poverty, or the riches. It's a curious thought indeed. But what if we do return again and again in order to experience? With each day, through experience, we learn more and more. Why not Life after Life as well? 

THE SEA

The Sea

Vast in volume

Wondrous wide

Mysterious and deep

Sea of silence

Won’t you share

The secrets that you keep?

An original poem by Nancy Elizabeth Luz 

(c) 2012

HAPPY THEY ARE BACK

It is estimated that from 30-60 million bison may have roamed North America prior to the mid-1800s. Market hunting and sport hunting in the 1800's by European-American settlers and the U.S. Army campaign in the late 1800's to eliminate bison (as a way to control Native American tribes that depended on them for food), nearly decimated the species. Yellowstone was the only place in the contiguous 48 states where wild, free-ranging bison persisted into the 20th century. 

By 1902, Yellowstone’s bison were reduced by poaching to approximately two dozen animals. From that small herd has grown the two large herds now occupying Yellowstone National Park. Many people consider the protection and recovery of bison in Yellowstone to be one of the great triumphs of American conservation. 

Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. 

Bison fun facts: 

• In Yellowstone today, the bison population fluctuates between 2300-4500 animals.
• The bison is the largest land mammal in North America. Males (bulls) weigh up to 2,000 pounds, females (cows) weigh up to 1,000 pounds.
• Bison are among the most dangerous animals encountered by visitors to the various U.S. and Canadian national parks and will attack humans if provoked. They appear slow because of their lethargic movements but can easily outrun humans. 
• Bison have been observed running as fast as 40 miles per hour. 
• They can jump 6 feet vertically and pivot quickly.
• A bison’s massive hump is comprised of muscles supported by long vertebrae. This allows a bison to use its head as a snowplow in winter, swinging side to side to sweep aside the snow!

Not sure about you, but I'm glad they are back! And like the rest of Nature, they should be left to be what they are. Wild and free.

"The greatest joy in nature is the absence of man."

Bliss Carman (1861-1929) 

GIANT REDWOOD

How sad...

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, 
Nature is imagination itself."

William Blake (1757-1827)

According to Wikipedia, these giant evergreen trees are Sequoia sempervirens and are the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family. Common names include Coast Redwood, California Redwood, and Giant Redwood. These massive trees live 1200–1800 years or more! The species includes the tallest trees living now on Earth, reaching up to 379 feet in height and up to 26 feet in diameter. 

An estimated 95% or more of the original old-growth redwood forest has been cut down for lumber. What an awful testimonial to man that he should see such grandeur and just destroy it. Thankfully, what is left is now protected in the Redwood National Forest in Northern California. If you visit California try to get to see them. They are jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, the Giant Redwood occurred naturally in an estimated 2,100,000 acres along much of coastal California (excluding southern California where rainfall is not sufficient) and the southwestern corner of coastal Oregon within the United States. 

VALERIUS

Valerius Maximus was a writer in ancient Rome during the reign of Tiberius (AD 14 - 37). His most famous writing, Memorable Doings and Sayings is instructional in nature and arranged in short chapters, each focusing on a particular virtue (anger, cruelty, bravery, gratitude, etc.). 

Valerius gives an unending number of examples of life in and around Rome in the first century AD, incorporating a moral undertone and words of wisdom. For centuries his book was used as a guide for Roman etiquette.

Having never heard of him, I was surprised to hear his name called out to me in a dream, as if I were him!

"Step out of the shadows Valerius!"

What does it mean? I could only imagine! Where the mind goes in sleep is so very mysterious.

I looked 'Valerius' up on line, and discovered that he was a writer, with interests similar to mine! Of course... I had to read Memorable Doings and Sayings, and am halfway through it now. Perhaps through dream, he was trying to tell me to focus -- to keep on writing. 

In honor of the ancient writer here is one of his musings, and one of my favorites:

"The richest nourishment of virtue is honor."

A C T I O N S

"You cannot have a proud and chivalrous spirit if your conduct is mean and paltry; 

for whatever your actions are, such must be your spirit."

Demosthenes (383-322 BC)