Tag: peace

My Island My Playground

there will be peace

I’ve done something unusual today. I am on my porch writing. I am in my daughter’s alcove. It’s where she comes outside to smoke, on her too brief, visits with me. It’s on the street side of my home, where I have two, white rockers, in between a round table, covered with a nice table cloth from a second hand shop, around the corner.

It’s almost becoming too light, for me, to feel at ease, out here, in my bathrobe. In my too thick, soft, warm and embracing coat of comfort ~

2 the easing or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief or distress: a few words of comfort | they should take comfort that help is available. • [in singular] a person or thing that helps to alleviate a difficult situation: his friendship was a great comfort. 3 US dialect a warm quilt. 

The wind blows hard through the tree, across the street. It makes the rushing sound of impending rain. Rain that will pass us by, today, The bird, that sang alone, is now in concert, with others near by and blocks down the road.

The first car passed at 5:26. They were in a hurry.

I took the picture above, in yesterday’s evening. Around the bend were hoards of people. Everyone enjoying themselves. Children swimming, on the edge of the dangerous currents, of the Nassau River. Not a care in the world.

Back to my right, are fishermen. Some good and others, not so good.

We had to leave when the fish started biting, due to one of the many laws and regulations, here on Amelia Island. You cannot be on the beach, after sundown.

I took all of the comfort that I could out get, in my afternoon hours, walking with my feet in the sand. Smiling at all of the people; Latin, Asian, People of Color and Anglos. We were of different cultures. We were all mixto, and no problemo.

But not far down the road in Jacksonville, there is protest and riots, in the streets. They are working towards compromise, but I can’t help but feel, that the white people want the black people back in their cage.

I am a wild thing.

I live on this Island, that is over run. It is being inhabited by greed. The greedy ~

greed·y| ˈɡrēdē | adjective (greedier, greediest) having or showing an intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth or power: greedy thieves who plundered a defense contractor. • having an excessive desire or appetite for food. ~

Everyone wants their slice, but the pie is only so big.

So, the Island has become pie in the sky.

I sit on my porch and enjoy the breeze, momentarily, unhindered by the stench of the mill. I enjoy nature and I wait on it’s Mother.

She will have the final say so.

There will be peace.

There is peace.

Be Still and Know ~

Desiderata

100_2312-1shsbI last wrote on March 2nd….It’s now March 13th.

In that interim, I have been in MINDFUL contemplation.

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

This is the first line of the Desiderata, a prose poem that was written in 1927 by Max Erhmann. I first became particularly, interested in these words when I asked a dear friend, “How did you deal with it all?”. The question was in reference to our teenage years. Upon reply, she told me, she had memorized the Desiderata and used it as a guide. It reminded her, that she is as important as the stars in the sky.

I have never forgotten her words. And although I don’t have the poem memorized in full, I do know the first line.

It’s been good for me to be silent and BREATH.

The world keeps spinning at a high velocity, and I don’t feel in any danger of flying off the face of the planet. The same force that draws the tide of the ocean, and holds me on the ground rules my personal world.

That force is God.

May you be with Him now!

Unplugged

In my last post, I stated that I was seeking serenity. Peace of mind, is high on my list of priorities. So, I packed my ditty bag and headed to downtown, Jacksonville.

That might not sound like a destination, for a spiritual retreat, but for me, it was. I wanted away from the currents of confusion.  I found a place off Main Street.

I rented this room for a very reasonable price. It was not a hostel, but very similar. Like I said before, I’m a shoe-string traveller.

I went for walks. I found a great book store and coffee shop. I did a lot of people watching.

I walked by the tracks and had train songs singing in my head.

I saw this billboard and thought to myself, “Do people really think that is real fruit?”

Then I saw this piece of paper at my feet.

I bent over and read it. I thought to myself, “That’s cool.” I kept on walking. Then I was stopped in my tracks. I wear a diamond ring that I found, just like I found those words on that tattered piece of paper. I went back, picked it up and put it in my pocket. I am still carrying it. I’ve worn my diamond for twenty-eight years. I’ll have to see how long I carry the paper. I know which one is more valuable.

Being raised in the Bible belt, I use to resent people asking me if I was saved. No matter what I said, I couldn’t convince them. I know today, I don’t have to convince anyone and I certainly don’t have to defend myself to God.

I’m back to work now with a new perspective. It’s always nice to take some time out. What a beautiful world we live in~hostel or hostile~it’s a choice.

Those few days in the city, offered the perfect spiritual retreat. 

I think God knows what he’s doing~ I can’t, he can, I think I’ll let him!

Dumb Ass Gringo

When I arrived in Playa Negra/Los Pargos, Costa Rica, to set down stakes, back in 2001, I had “DUMBA*S GRINGA” written on my forehead. I was soaked in it. 

After two years, I was beached. My motor was rusted and my hull was dark. I had gone beyond my limit.

Now mind you, I had surfed and surfed and surfed.

There’s a silver lining to every cloud. The downside of being here, experiencing what is called “the learning curve”; like somehow calling it that, makes everything OK: I chalk up as part of the adventure.

We’re not called “gringos” for nothing.

They say what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.