Link – Page 8 – Elizabeth Oakley Weaver

BLM I

art by Amanda Nagle; photos by Elizabeth

Elijah McClain Akai Gurley Philando Castile

WE SHALL OVERCOME BECAUSE THE ARC OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE IS LONG, BUT IT BENDS TOWARD JUSTICE.

MLK

Kagami (mirror) mochi (rice cake) is made and placed on an altar right after Christmas when the festive Japanese season begins. The mandarin orange symbolizes a family’s generational continuity; the mochi disks, the passage of years. During the season’s Kagami Biraki (opening the mirror), the now brittle mochi is broken and shared to both celebrate the new year and prevent illness and accidents. Kagami mochi is one of many meaningful traditions in Japan.

Longest Night

Happy Winter Solstice!

Many will sing and hold vigil tonight so that the Sun can sleep deep & long and then rise in the morning renewed, ready to begin a brand new day & year. In many traditions, tomorrow marks New Year’s Day in honor of Solar Time.

May this be a year of increasing peace, compassion for others and oneself, potable water & food for all and the building of a kinder inclusive world, not for profit but for love.

To your Joy and Life!

River

I can tell you about the river
or we could just get in.

Bill Callahan

Sea Fog

Sea Fog forms when warm moist air cools over colder water.

Go Far

If you want to go fast, go alone;
if you want to go far, go together.

Attributed to many though Unknown Origin

Preservation

Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.

Audrey Lorde

Five years old!

Joya entered our lives heavily pregnant, matted, burred and emaciated after having been abandoned on the streets. The day after Joya came here, she got a bath, a full body shave and a vet check.

Five days after her arrival, she gave birth to six large, healthy, hungry puppies.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Nicco! Finley! Koko! Rory! Buckie! and Brady!!!

Each of these birthday pups was adopted by a wonderful family and each is having a great life!

Special thanks to NorCal Poodle Rescue, who ensured their survival since Joya was literally on death’s door when she was rescued from the streets. As Joya’s foster, I was deeply impressed with the commitment NorCal Poodle Rescue provided to the puppies and Mom. This rescue continues to help too many wonderful dogs in dire circumstances and spreads joy through the world whenever one of these poodles/mixes is adopted.

Rescued

Joya arrived 10.5.16, poem & photo by Elizabeth

                  DOG CLOUD

when clean
              you feel like a cloud
     as I finger your hair
                             so  soft   &   light
  you might                             drift away 
                           if not
                  for Love's Gravity   
                
                        gold as Sun
                 airy as Sky
                             You are our Constellation
       after we'd raced too long & lost
              through stars' buckshot 
                       until You reconnected 

          those beacons of Light
              Beauty     &     Hope
    with balls & squirrels & a belly
                  splayed
       for all the love & joy
                  our hands could supply

Thank you NorCal Poodle Rescue for letting me foster the wonderful Joya, five years ago today.

Love as…

       And if you are to love,
Love as the Moon loves;
     it does not steal the night
          It only unveils
The Beauty of the dark

isra al-thibeh

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