Inspiration from others – Page 10 – Elizabeth Oakley Weaver

Go Far

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

Attributed to many though Unknown Origin

Time

Time is not a ribbon. It is a ball. So if you take a step in another direction, you change everything.

Adrian’s nana, Aileen Fenton (Briscoe)

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

Sachet

I keep a sachet of your smells in the corner of my mouth.

Robert Gluck

Turn

Religion is a process of turning your skull into a tabernacle, not

going up to Jerusalem once a year.

Austin O’Malley

Always Humming

Anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.

David Whyte, The House of Belonging

Balance

Upon commitment, the Universe conspires to exist; who are you not to shine…be brilliant!

Marianne Williamson on Nelson Mandala

Though this looks like a single figure from a few feet back, Elizabeth used dozens of magazine strips to create the yogi, light and shadow. The green framing is van Gogh’s.