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A Joyful Noise

sunset

Manifesto

July 25, 2019 by Melodye Shore

And if we can’t save the world,
and who says we can’t, then
let us try anyway. Perhaps
we have no superhuman powers—
can’t see through buildings,
can’t fly, can’t bend the bars of cages—
but we have human powers—
can listen, can stand up to,
can stand up for, can cradle.
And if we can’t imagine
a world of peace, and who
says we can’t, then let us
try anyway. Perhaps we start
tonight—on a Wednesday.
Thursday works, too. Or Friday.
Doesn’t much matter the day.
All that matters is the choice
to meet this moment exactly
as it is, with no dream of being
anyone else but our flawed
and fabulous very self—
and then, wholly present,
bringing this self to the world,
touching again and again what is true. 
— Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer (excerpted from MANIFESTO)

Posted in: Poetry, Quotes, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, San Diego, water lantern festival, writing Tagged: manifesto, poem, poetry, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, san diego, sunset, water lantern festival, water lanterns

#ThankfulThursday: “A fierce and enduring gratitude”

October 26, 2017 by Melodye Shore

Let us meet just slightly west and south of a place called despair.

It is a place that does not turn away from difficulty or fierceness. And yet it is also a place of paradoxical gratitude, where images, metaphors, powerful language and practices of grateful living combine to bring about moments of belonging, grace and yes, even joy. —Dale Biron

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Posted in: #ThankfulThursday, Gifts from the sea, gratitude, Thankful Thursday, writing Tagged: #ThankfulThursday, A fierce and enduring gratitude, beach at sunset, Dale Biron, gratitude, laguna beach, sunset, thankful thursday, Treasure Island

On flipping the calendar page to September

September 1, 2016 by Melodye Shore

The last vestiges of summer….how in the world did that happen?

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Change sneaks up on us, doesn’t it, unless we’re paying attention.

Seasons turn, the days blur past, the sun sinks into the sea and rises again the next morning.

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Tides roll in, the waves recede; seals clamber onto the rocks and then slip back into the water.

I’m standing again at the threshold–that liminal space between then and now–remembering anew:

Change is inevitable, but mindfulness is optional.

Posted in: aliso park beach, beach, Laguna Beach, liminal spaces, September, sunset Tagged: aliso park beach, beach, laguna beach, sunset

Holiday Gifts from Mother Nature

December 26, 2015 by Melodye Shore

Ho Ho Ho! Mother Nature gave me some spectacular gifts this holiday season. You, too?

When I stepped onto my front porch, for instance, I realized that a hummingbird’s been ferrying fresh fluff-and-stuff to the fuchsia plant along our walkway. Using her beak as a needle, and spider silk as thread, she stitches the cushiony material to a sturdy branch. A quick whirl of her tail feathers, and voilà! Her walnut-sized home’s beginning to take shape.  ‪#‎RoomAtTheInn‬

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Just yesterday, I spied a pair of perky ears, lurking behind the low-lying wall in our backyard. Could it be…? Yes! Wile E. Coyote loped along our fence, and then posed for the camera before trotting up the neighboring hillside.

Oh, and hey, did you notice the tender green shoots, poking their heads through the damp soil at his feet?  We’ve had lots more rainstorms of late, and the thirsty soil is gulping it right down! Here’s hoping El Niño showers us with bountiful rains this winter,  so we’ll have wildflowers aplenty, come springtime.

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“Walking in a Winter Wonderland” might suggest snow flurries and hot chocolate to some, but it sings to me of blue skies and sandy beaches.

When sunlight slants through the water just so, the waves sparkle and shimmer like jewels. Nudged by strong currents, they’re capped these days with frothy meringue peaks. You can’t buy holiday treats like this, anywhere! But at Aliso Creek Beach, they’re free for the taking.

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Here, the simple joys of the holiday season, accompanied by the ocean’s magnum opus.

The sun sinks below the horizon, and a pair of surfers wash ashore.

Behold! They stand at the water’s edge, in soggy board shorts and dreads. We witness together the grandeur of this moment.

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In this season of giving, we’re encouraged also to receive…

Unspeakable joys, for those who watch and listen. Timeless gifts, no proof of purchase required and no expiration date.

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Posted in: aliso creek beach, beach, birds, california, Christmas, coyote, hummingbird nest, mother nature, Orange County California Tagged: aliso creek beach, christmas, coyote, Hummingbird nest, sunset

Loosening the string on your kite

August 30, 2015 by Melodye Shore

You will find truth more quickly through delight than gravity. Let out a little more string on your kite. —Alan Cohen

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Yesterday’s highlights: A last-vestiges-of-summer picnic, and a kite that danced in the shimmery clouds at sunset.

This, at the tail end of a decades-long genealogical search that came to a sudden, dark conclusion.  The shadow’s reach is long. But it’s all for the good, because when secrets are exposed to sunlight, their gravitational hold is lifted and the healing process begins.

Day 30 of the ‪#‎AugustBreak2015‬ photography challenge. Today’s prompt is smile. It’s out of sequence, because…vacation! I’ll upload my retrospective snaps to a single post, before this month is over.

Posted in: #AugustBreak2015, Flight, joy, Photography, Quotes Tagged: alan cohen, beach at sunset, joy, kite, photography, quotes about kites, sunset

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