Isis Comes to Play

Omah and daughter, pretty in pink.

Tigerboy decided to give his little sister a kiss.

Tigerboy was so gentle with his little sister.

Blowing your nose can be so much fun!

Jiho is playing with Sugar. That furry ball is a dog.

Poor little Isis wore herself out. Daddy cradles her on his shoulder, as only a daddy can.

Isis was so tired that not even Bonnie's laughter could wake her.

Tigerboy comes to play

In Korea, my brothers would be little grandfathers to my grandchildren. Raymond took the opportunity to be a little grandfather and delighted Tigerboy into a playful smile.


Tigerboy was having so much fun stealing his abuelito's hat. He would grab the hat off of his abuelito's head and run. I would chase him and retrieve my hat. Then is abuelito turned him topsy turvy, while he gleefully giggled all the while.

1944 Letter from Lt. Allen Ditzler

I was cleaning the upstairs bedroom when I noticed a piece of paper flutter off the table and onto the carpet. As I picked it up, I noticed that is was a copy from a newspaper article. I read the title: Lt. Allen Ditzler Visits Belfast, Ireland. Denise's dad, served in England during WWII. Although I have only known him as Raymond Ditzler, his "legal" fist name is Allen. His middle name is Raymond.

I took Eda Bea (Denise's mom) to Starbucks for a tall mocha. I ordered a grande soy latte with dolce cinnamon syrup at 139 degrees. Eda Bea motioned that she wanted to sit on the soft lounge chairs outside, where we could enjoy the fresh air and the sound of speeding cars from the street and freeway. As we sipped our hot libations, I leaned towards her, smiling widely and with a loud voice to challenge the rustle and tussle of the traffic, I blurted, "Hey mom, I found a copy of a newspaper article from 1944 signed by Ditz." Her eyes widened and filled with tears. Stutteringly, she spurted out, "He was my husband." She searched in her purse for a tissue with which to wipe her tearing eyes as she repeated, "He was my husband." The tears flowed as her lips quivered. She tried to apologize for crying. I patted her knee and explained, "You are entitled to cry for those you love mom. Heaven knows I cry for Jeremy." She breathed out a big sigh and requested a regular coffee.

Flashing lights from a police car returned her composure. She took a few sips and requested that I drive her home. As we drove past the flashing lights I noticed the motorcycle cop writing out a traffic citation. She smiled, being grateful for the distraction. I will take her out again today. I will read the letter in a place that is more conducive to heartfelt listening.

Sawdust Festival

Mary Michelle Denise at the Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach, California

House above the Festival Grounds with a view of the ocean.

Denise, Mary, Michelle and I enjoyed a day at the Sawdust (Art) Festival.

Abuelito with all 3 grandkids

Isis, Tigerboy and Dallin were giggling and wiggling while I held all of them. I look like a Southwestern story teller ;-)
Click on the image to get a larger view
Click

Time is our noticing changes

Nothing is permanent. Life is changing. I am changing. I am not the same as I was as a child, although I am the same person who had those experiences. I do not remember every detail of my childhood. Yet, I am still here. My awareness of self is still intact.

The Earth, the stars, everything is in motion and everything is changing form. Energy changes to matter and matter changes to energy.

Only this moment exists. And in this moment change is taking place. Our bodies are not the bodies of our youth. Every cell has changed with whatever our body had eaten and absorbed. Thus it is with every thing that exists. It is so obvious and so simple. Everything is changing. Time is our noticing changes. A flower blooms. The petals change and fall. The flower blooms again and again and again and it changes again, and again and again.

Everything is changing. When we suffer, we hold on to a moment, a still photo of that moment and we forget that we are in motion. “This too shall pass” goes unnoticed. Change is still taking place, whether we notice it or not. It is just that our awareness has been stilted as we focus on a past moment or a perceived future which we base on a no longer existing past moment.

Awck! Words can’t convey the way music, or swimming or being in the immediate present can. When I move my awareness to the immediate present and intend joy, I become aware of only the immediate present and I can not suffer then.

Waiting in the rain was normal?

I shot this photo of Celeste when I was picking her up after her class at Green River Community College. Imagine that this scene is the norm in the Great North WET. I am so glad to be in sunny Long Beach again.

Trevor's graduation from UC Santa Barbara

Our nephew, Trevor, graduated from UC Santa BarbaraIf you click on the photograph you will see his smile.

Mushroom, Jessica, Brett, Celeste, Grant, Trevor, Denise

Brett, Grant, Trevor, Shari

Denise and Celeste at the graduation ceremony
Grant and Trevor at the graduation dinner in old town Santa Barbara

He sang the national anthem, a Capella.
I included a short 14 second clip.

We are all very proud of Trevor.

Joseph is a photographer

My nephew, Joseph is turning out to be a good photographer. He took a good photo of me recently and posted it on his MySpace.

Morning Sun Beams

I awoke this morning to the sweet warmth of the sun beams tenderly kissing my face as they slithered through the window blinds. “Awaken to a new day, Brother Mushroom”, they whispered. “You are safe, you are loved, you too will shine today. Awaken to a new day, Brother Mushroom. Awaken and continue to be a blessing to all those you meet today.
One of my first thoughts was, “Hey, I'm not on the ship.” During the Viet Nam war, it was so delightful to wake up knowing I was not on the ship. The ship had no windows in the berthing compartments (sleeping rooms). When the sun shine woke me up, I delightfully knew I was out of harm's way, far away from the guns, the rockets and the killing.
I am grateful for the sweet gift that I received this morning from Brother Sun.

College Graduation

My niece, Sandra is celebrating her graduation from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado, formally called Adams State Normal School. My niece is anything but normal. She is fabulous. She has worked long and hard to earn her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. We are all so proud of her.

Her parents gave her a camera for a graduation gift. If she looks at her gift metaphorically, she will discover that it is an invitation to look at her world differently, now that she has reached this threshold.

And sometimes, she will find beauty right underneath, she just has to look at life a little differently.

April Fool’s is a wonderful, albeit weird, holiday

It affords us the opportunity to express a delightful aspect of our authentic selves. We take life far too seriously. We think we can control those things that affect our life. Ha, Ha, Ha. Now that is a joke for any day. April Fool’s Day is not so much about setting up pranks, as much as it is, letting go of everyday worries that burden us with the need to be serious. Listen to any elementary school playground. What you will hear is gleeful squealing and laughter. Why? Because we are really just a bunch of squealing, laughing kids in bigger bodies. We have succumbed to the illusion that we are adults that need to be serious most of the time.

I spent time with my daughter this morning at Costco, We ate breakfast there. We ate a combo pizza, while wearing gleeful grins. Later that evening, we met up with my son and grandson at a different Costco. I joined my grandson was we climbed into a wicker box that was a “coffee table” of sorts. We played hide and seek. Now that is what I call living life to the fullest. We play life and play with it.

So get off of your buttocks, and go moon someone.

Blanket for Dallin

I crocheted this blanket for my grandson, Dallin.

I want a complete separation of church and state.

A friend asked me to send an anti-abortion letter to President Obama. This is my response:

When I was in the seminary, preparing to be a Catholic priest, we had a discussion concerning the need to baptize a fetus that was naturally aborted by the body and the need to baptize a still born baby. The discussion centered around the question, " when does the soul enter the body?" There was no clear answer in 1965. This is before abortion became a Catholic issue. At that time, the Church had no definitive answer. So the consensus was that the soul did not enter the body until that time that the fetus could live on its own without mechanical help. A few years later, the Church chose conception as the time that the soul entered the body. It was easier to choose that point in time.

A few years ago I was at a car wash, paying the cashier. I started a little conversation about my dad being a Catholic priest. A young man overheard us and came over to talk to me. He told me a very fascinating story. He said that his mother had 2 abortions before he was born. She was considering getting a 3rd abortion. However, in a dream, this young man came to her and told her that this was going to be his 3rd and last time he was going to try to come into this life with her as his mother. Thus, she chose to go to full term and give birth.

I found this story very interesting because it gave an answer, of sorts, to the question we had in the seminary. The soul does not enter the body until it is ready.

I have a great distrust of government passing laws based on religious beliefs. Even if I hold those belief dear to my heart. If we start letting the government pass faith based laws, then we might eventually find our grandchildren praying to Allah, bowing and facing East. Women may be required to cover their heads and give up their jobs. That has already happened in countries that were not Muslim countries that long ago.

The Catholic abortion issue is a belief that the zygote, at conception, has a soul. Women have many natural abortions of the zygote. Should a Catholic female, ask a priest to come to the house and baptize every period she has after having unprotected intercourse, especially if her period is late? If the zygote has a soul, shouldn't a priest be baptizing it?

Now let's move on to legal considerations. If the zygote is a living baby, fully human, we should be able to get tax benefits such as a tax deduction for every time a female has a late period after unprotected sexual intercourse. We should be able to buy life insurance for a zygote. The incidence of natural abortion is high enough that insurance companies would fight tooth and nail to prevent a law that would give human rights to a zygote.

I do not like the idea of abortion. But I do not like the idea of government passing faith based laws even more. There is too much danger in that.

When religious people find that they can not make the non-believers or even their own believers to do or act in the ways that they want them to, they turn to government in an attempt to force everyone to complying with their wishes.

It is a matter of control. Jesus did not tell the Roman soldier, "No, I will not heal the person you are wanting to help, because you believe in Roman gods." Jesus taught us to love unconditionally and to serve everyone equally. He did not go to the political powers and demand that they change their laws to suit his beliefs. He did not tell his followers to change laws to eliminate human rights abuses such as slavery.

I am writing this note to you to tell you why I would never send an anti-abortion letter to a government legislator or policy maker. I do not want to legally require all residents of the US to adhere to my religious beliefs. Nor do I want to be required to adhere to other's religious beliefs. I want a complete separation of church and state.

Tigerboy & Bonnie's birthday celebration

Grandma is telling scary 3 headed dragon stories,
even great grandma Eda Bea is scared.

Whew! I'm glad that story is done, now that Grandma made my eyes glow red too.

Grandma and Dallin getting ready for the party

Grandma and Dallin playing in the mirror Prepare to blow!

Thar they blow!

Blown away!

Bonnie & Tigerboy celebrate their birthdays by biting into the cake.
Fun is the name of the game.
Click on the photos to get a better look.

Hope

I am posting two links to different versions of the same video. One has the voice of Willy Whitefearther talking about the video. The other is as he intended it, without voice. Both are worth the 8 minutes to watch.

Why Seattle Men Wear Kilts

Why men wear kilts in Seattle

Men wear kilts because Seattlites need sunlight. Now, I realize that may sound peculiar. But it is true. Just take a good look at the situation. Seattle gets so little sunlight that the weather predictors speak in terms, not of sunny days or cloudy days, rather, they speak in terms of sun breaks. Sun breaks are those rare holes in the perpetual Seattle cloud cover that remind Seattlites that they need to buy more sunglasses, (having forgotten where they put their last pair.)

Because the cloud cover is so thick, men's legs loose all of their natural color and turn white. This is a terrible predicament because white is not a manly color for men's legs. In response, the manly masculine men of Seattle have taken it upon themselves to expose their white colorless legs and thus reflect what little sunlight might happen to penetrate through the thick winter cloud layer in hopes of further brightening the otherwise depressing sunless days. Seattlites can be so altruistic.

This does have one drawback, however. It appears that wearing kilts adds to global warming.