Beautiful Old Broads

Dear Ones,

Am taking a break.  Will not be posting on my blog for a couple of weeks.  

Namaste,     Patti  

Beautiful Old Broads are made of stardust

Dear Ones,

Did some of you venture out into the darkness to view the meteor show this past week?  If so, hoping you had better luck than me.  From our hill top, it wasn’t a stellar show to say the least.  Between the bright moonlight and the light pollution, I only saw two meteors.  Perhaps we’ll have better luck in December.  However, it’s spellbinding to sit out on a warm summer evening and just lift your eyes and look at the heavens and contemplate that we are all made of stardust.

My lack of meteor sightings makes me think of a poem from my recent book “Stalks Of Talk”.  Hope you enjoy it.

                                                Night Owl

            Does the owl from his hollow tree count the shooting stars?

            One hundred thousand one, one hundred thousand two

            Last night I saw four.

            Does he search the skies for swift streaks of light?

            Watching coronas and comets and fireballs in flight

            Last night I saw four.

            Sliding into sleep, I hear the owl telling me the count.

            His sibilant sounds melting on the edges of my pillow.

            One hundred thousand one, one hundred thousand two

            Last night I saw four.

Beautiful Old Broads are star gazers

Hello Dear Ones,

 The poet  Mary Oliver reminds us  that in the rush of life what we are meant to do is “pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”   As that prayer I posted a few weeks back proclaims…It’s a beautiful world. We tend I think to look around, look down, look ahead but this coming week we need to look up into that immense darkness above us and pay attention.  Be a star traveler.

A  treat awaits those willing to pay attention to the gifts of grace that do come to us unbidden.  The Perseid Meteor Shower will peak on Tuesday evening August 12^th.  Sorry, it won’t be a spectacular show due to the big old moon but perhaps you’ll see one swift streak of white hot plasma  hurl across the sky that will cause you to catch your breath and be awed. 

The best viewing time this year is late evening before the moon shines bright, but  I like to go out about 4 a.m. and I’ll  sit facing the Northwest where it’s darkest and that’s where the Perseus galaxy resides though you may spot a meteor anywhere across the heavens. Along with meteors look for Vega high in the east, the brightest star in the summer sky and the planets Venus and Jupiter will appear before dawn.

From my perch on this hilltop, I observe the increasing light pollution that interferes with star gazing. There are numerous blinking towers in our hill country that were not there when we first moved here.  And lights from the new bridge and the school and the gas stations litter the atmosphere as real as the plastic bags that clog our rivers. Such is progress.

Back to my meteor watching.  There is something mystical about sitting out in the stillness of night, a softness surrounds us, a feeling of infinity.  The darkness of our night sky reveals so much.  And whether you see a meteor or not, the experience of looking up into the vast heavens on a warm summer night is an act of soul searching wonder.  Know you are just a blink in the scheme of things but remember you are a blink of stardust.

There are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand in every beach and desert on this Earth so look up and pay attention. It is what we are meant to do.

Beautiful Old Broads Go Out For Lunch

Ladies Who Lunch

This past week, I’ve been lucky enough to go lunchin twice.  Once out of town with old neighbors and later in week here at home.  Both times were pleasant and peaceful afternoons leading me to think about we ladies who lunch.  At the restaurant out of town I met with some old Austin friends.  The talk was lively covering everything from politics to pets.  Not surprising as there was a retired aide to a State Senator, a retired school teacher and a retired mom.

Later in the week, I met two close friends for lunch.  Again the talk ranged far and wide ending up with a discussion of the old testament (one woman was a staunch believer) the new testament (one woman declared her belief) and no testament (one woman didn’t believe in either).  Despite the differences, there were no raised voices, no rolling of eyes, (okay maybe a couple of times) and no hollering.  We all listened to each others views.  In short, we were courteous.  And at the end of lunch we hugged and agreed to lunch again soon.

Here’s what I propose.  What if beautiful old broads from all around the world sat down to lunch together.  Picture it.  We’d have tea, iced or hot or sweet or green, whatever.  Then we’d get serious.  You know…we’d admire each other earrings, ask who cuts  your hair? And maybe discuss the best place in town for take-out.  From that we’d move on to more serious topics…a shoe sale at Nordstroms for instance.  Finally after settling like a clutch of cats, we’d slowly work our way into world peace and the financial markets and health care and my favorite—why here in the United States we don’t vote on Sunday…at the mall.  It would be so much easier.  Whatever the topic, we’d be courteous. We’d listen.  Would we solve any problems?  Maybe.

Just think if our governments around the world could have lunch together and listen to each other like beautiful old broads do.            Anyone for lunch?  

            “The mature person is one who is in that stage of life where she may not see eye                            to eye with another, but she can still walk are in arm.”