2012

I have been thinking about the short and long of the Mayan calendar.
The calendar ends in December of 2012,
so people are cashing in with books and movies
about the end of the world
at that time.

Working with hospice patients,
I'm familiar with the energy
that comes with this way of thinking.

If I have two years (or less) to live
what do I need to get done?
What do I need to say to people?
What do I need to learn, to forgive, to resolve?

It is a good and healthy thing
to live with short term deadlines.

Motivates us to get moving,
to do the things that we keep putting off
for uncounted tomorrows.

But I'm also intrigued with the LONG
of the Mayan calendar.

In our culture it is unheard of
to plan ten years ahead,
much less 5000 years.

If I make a new calendar
not for this month or this year
or this decade or this hundred years...
but for the next 5000 years,
what sort of planning does THAT entail?

The Mayans were truly remarkable
with their calendars short
and their calendars long.
They were people comfortable with
both the short view from harvest to harvest
and the long reach into the vast unknown.

Biltmore's Flower Quilt

Some pics of the great flowers at the Biltmore House last Sunday evening. Very pretty.

Below, the view on the other side of the wall from the flower quilt. I basically took the above picture, pivoted, and took the one below.

The Backyard in August

Butterflies and Godchildren

Butterflies

The butterflies started hatching out yesterday.
So far there are three.
No clear pictures as of yet,
but they are sitting quietly
in their butterfly habitat,
with sugar water in a feeder
at the bottom.

Chrysalides

It turns out that plastic cup photography
is not my best, but still...
Over the last couple days the catapillars
all made their way to the top of the cup
and each changed into a chrysalis.
In a week or so, they will be butterflies!

Hiking John Rock

Hiked up John Rock yesterday.
John Rock is the rock face behind the flags. Here we are at the top.
That's me behind the camera.
You can see the parking lot
in the lower left hand corner
of the picture.
There was a lot of "up" in the hike.

As unenthused as I was about portions
of the "up" in the hike...
those portions where I was sure my
out of shape heart would explode
in my chest...it was worth it.
The picnic at the top
was simply lovely.

The hike down was also lovely.
The mountain laurel were in bloom.
Down is easy on the heart
(and hard on the knees)
but you can enjoy the views more.