Ifetayo's Poems by Annelinde Metzner

 Isn't April Poetry Month?

My dear friend, Annelinde Metzner shared her poems from "Feminism and Religion's" blog publication, Ifetayo's poems.

She introduces them thus:

For a number of years, I’ve been staying at the St. Helena’s Island, South Carolina home of Ifetayo White, Reiki Master, teacher of doulas, and healer in many modalities. I am always deeply healed by Ifetayo’s presence, and by the island itself.  This island near Beaufort is the home of the Gullah people, who have kept their land since Reconstruction according to a legal system called “Heir’s Property.”

The spirits are strong here, and I’ve tried to capture some of the essence of the island and of Ifetayo, in these poems.  In the first, I describe Ifetayo’s wonderful healing room.  The second features the Grandmother Tree, one of the live oaks covered with Spanish moss, so prevalent in the Low Country.  The third features the Resurrection Fern, which appears brown and almost dead on the limbs of the oaks, but springs into vivid greenness after a rain.

"The Healer's Home" begins: (see more through the link above)

In the front room, the living room,

of course!  A majestic altar.

Quan Yin, Mother Mary, Yemaya,

animals of the earth and sea,

winged ones, stone people,

arrayed around the biggest rose quartz

you’ve ever seen.

Love radiates throughout the house.

But in the back room, the healing room…

Windows open to live oaks,

“old greybeard” moss swaying in the breeze,

vermillion camellias, pink azaleas…

all this surrounds the souls who come here

to Ifetayo’s table 

to be healed and made whole.

*

Ifetayo White, Reiki Master and healer

The Grandmother tree

Maybe and maybe not

 

This was posted on Facebook last week. Then there were comments saying these were entirely different people in this photo.

So it's interesting, a few guys were squatting, I wonder why with a photo. And the man on the right looks like he decided to not be in the picture at all. Then of the guys in chairs, the one wearing a white shirt decided to look at his boots, thus hiding his face with his hat brim. They all probably were dragged out into the sunshine by the photographer, from the nice dark saloon behind them!

Today's quote:

“I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.”

Audrey Hepburn

The Giants

 You've probably all seen them before.

But these extraordinary machines/dolls are just so wonderful.

I'm sharing the link from fellow blogger, irisflavia. This was a few years ago. But art is timeless

Today's quote:

Risk itself is a process of constant unfolding. And taking risks is the process of peeling back the layers of what you are and who you want to be.

PHOEBE ENG

The good news

 

Americans of Conscience Good News Special Edition for April 12, 2024   If you're like us, you want the world to be a better place, but so often the news is downright frightening. That's why we pause every other week to share what's right in the world and how our efforts are leading to the kind of changes we long for. Celebrate every small step toward progress with us!  The Biden administration cancels close to $6B in student loan debt for 78,000 public service workers. The Interior Dept. designates a 4-million-acre conservation area in Florida that will support both wildlife and recreation. The EPA bans the import and use of asbestos, making work safer for construction workers, mechanics, and firefighters, and more. The bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act recently signed by President Biden restores access to federal benefits to workers and residents of Compacts of Free Association territories. 20 women in total will be featured on the quarter through the national Mint’s American Women Quarters program. CT: Starting July 1, all children under 15 whose families meet certain requirements will be eligible for Medicaid regardless of immigration status. MA: Manufacturing and energy companies applying for permits in the state must determine whether pollution from production would harm communities of color or low-income areas. NE’s Sec. of State’s office proactively reaches out to the 3% of residents without photo ID ahead of changing voter requirements. WA will require public schools to incorporate LGBTQ-inclusive curricula, joining CA, CO, IL, NJ, NV, and OR. All parents in Flint, MI can access cash aid for a year. Patients in some states can now access mifepristone at CVS and Walgreens with a prescription. Solar panel recycling company Solarcycle opens a research lab to work towards a zero-waste materials refinement process. The first stadium in the world purpose-built for a women’s professional sports team opens in Kansas City. The honeybee population in the U.S. reaches an all-time high. Get more good news by signing up for the Americans of Conscience Checklist and positive actions for democracy, people, and planet. Subscribe here!

A quick trip to Asheville

 It was a quick in-an-out trip down the mountain.

I didn't even go to my favorite grocery (Aldy's) or stop for lunch anywhere (and there are soooo many wonderful places to eat!)

I just went to the doctor, came on home. Perhaps feeling under the weather, as they say.

And as I walked into the Asheville Pulmonary offices, this greeted me. I pulled out the handy dandy phone to capture this luxurious dogwood.

Since Asheville is a couple hundred feet lower in elevation, they actually are a few days advanced from Black Mountain's spring blooms.

And stopped at a light I had the opportunity to capture these wonderful tile roofs of The Cathedral of All Souls. One of these day's I'll try looking inside these unique buildings.

My pulmonologist visit was a normal 6 month check in about COPD and bronchiectasis. I've been doing fine using the two machines that help...one to help me cough up stuff using a saline nebulizer treatment, and a C-PAP to help me breathe from sleep apnea. I did say I was feeling really lethargic, taking more naps, and just feeling low energy. Dr. Stashinko listened to my lungs and heard congestion, so is trying me on an antibiotic for 10 days. I've sure taken a lot of them in the last few years, and wish that I hadn't needed them so often. But I do have a bit more energy now after the first few days!

I've been in Physical Therapy to hope to improve or at least retain posture where my head is not bent so far forward (the good old sign of aging, or something to do with vertebrae.) So far I've improved my range of motion of my arms, which still do not go straight over my head. But yesterday I was on that huge ball sitting and doing some motion from my hips. I'd already done some sit/squats to the chair. But when I got up from the ball I felt like I had sea legs...seriously, remember when you get off a boat and dry land seems to heave around you? I clumped into the chair nearby and that was the end of that session. Even resting didn't cure it though. I kind of loose-jointed-walked to elevator, car, then home. Eating a banana and sitting with a cup of coffee did help.

And sitting here I just checked, yes, I can walk around now a bit more securely. Perhaps a bit of low blood-sugar also I'm thinking. Isn't it fun being old and thinking about all this? About 50 years ago, I was more concerned about the clothes I wore and my hair and makeup!

Today's quote:

Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison. 

-Mary Wollstonecraft, reformer and writer (1759-1797)

From CBS Sunday Morning, April 9, 2024

 

Universe in Verse

NASA posted this to Facebook from James Webb telescope.

Sunday April 7 evening, an event to kick off eclipse gatherings. After all, all these tourists arrived in San Antonio and Austin and had nothing to do waiting until the next afternoon. But this event was more than just a time filler. The YouTube live coverage let me snap a few photos off the computer. 

This is Maria Popova, a young genius editor of The Marginalian Newsletter. She was the MC for various talented creative people who gave their own poetry or that of famous others. Maria also gave a wonderful historic narrative of astronomy as it developed. The Greeks, for instance, didn't have the word for science (and she told when it was adapted) but the Greeks left all these musings to philosphers.

My stills from the video of several presenters:

 

Please skip the first 42 minutes before the actual program starts. It's fun to scroll through the presentations (IMHO).

Please skip the first 42 minutes before the actual program starts. It's fun to scroll through the presentations (IMHO).

Eclipse experience of 2024

 Notes from April 8 Eclipse Day

Walked over the parking lot, then the wood slatted deckway with my cart of laundry. Said hi to John, the paraplegic diabetic who has a little long haired dachshund named John Wayne. John loves to sit in his reclining chair in the sun and just bake. He listens to his little radio/phone while sunning. I teased the dog that he should be thrown in the washing machine with my wash...just kidding. The laundry room was empty, and I started my one load for now. I have a lot more that needs to be washed, but I'm still low on energy.

I excused myself from the rocking chair group on the porch in the shade, who seemed to enjoy saying it was Judgement Day, and all kind of strange things. I said that was interesting, and went home. Took a photo of the pink dogwood across from my front porch. It's been silhouetted against the sky most times I've tried today.

Earlier today:

Up early (for me) to pick up Judy from her having dropped her car at the repair shop and take her home. We met at a nearby coffee shop, Moments, and had some breakfast together first.

I shot some nice photos of her neighborhood in Swannanoa with trees, bushes, and tulips in bloom. That shall be a post over on the other blog.

Home for a while, finally opened computer. Then gathered knife, fork, spoon, napkin and a mug to take to the lunch program. And texted a friend to meet her following lunch so we could exchange a few things. My side of the deal was coming home with eclipse glasses.

Then home again, feeling the meal I ate wasn't quite adequate, I had some jelly beans and a date. Pretty nice balance of sweets. And this time the jelly beans won as the most tasty.

Sorted one week's worth of clothes into my little pack and roll cart, and took them to start the wash in the laundry room across the parking lot. I like that there's now an app that I can just point at the machine to pay the $2/load. My timer I set on my phone lets me go home, or wherever nearby, until time to switch the clothes to the dryer.

Eclipse is probably starting now, it's 2:06 pm. But the highest amount won't be till 3:06...though even then it will only be partial. It's partly cloudy out.

I'm taking a break to pay attention to laundry.

Then I tried to see through the eclipse glasses, but the clouds were too dense to get anything coming through them. I finally got a quick glimpse through the clouds. I gave the glasses to a woman who was sitting there trying to see it. 

I drove over to pick up Judy to her car, which had been fixed and was a reasonable price. For all the trouble she's had from a bad fuse of some kind that kept her battery draining, I do hope it's a final fix.

Stopped next at Hopeys Grocery. Got pears and bananas that I knew I wanted, some other things including a frozen pizza.This grocery has a lot of discounted things, as well as "past their expiration date" so I always check, especially on dairy products. Bought a shopping bag that will advertise for them. When did it start being something customers have to pay for to advertise the businesses we patronize? Seems they should pay us. Every time I explain that to the various clerks, they look at me with bulging eyes.

As I drove around our little community I saw one family standing in a parking lot with their heads bent back to see the sun. It definitely became greyer at the height of our 3 hour experience of the moon passing in front of the sun. The cloud cover seemed to gather and be denser, and it was noticeably cooler. It felt like it would rain in a few hours.

But there were moments of  the sun shining through clouds, and there was definitely a slice taken out of it. It wasn't ever clear enough to see any changes to shadows.

People seemed to follow their regular routines. A man was observed dancing down the sidewalk, but one of the porch sitters said he's always like that. (I've not seen that aspect of him before!) 

I  received Facebook posts from cousins in Phoenix AZ and Austin TX, both acknowledged the darkening of daylight. Austin was in the path of totality, but had heavier cloud cover than we did here.

I waved at my friend who I'd given my glasses to when I came back from the store. It was just about over at that point. She said she''d been able to use the glasses, and shared them with others. Excellent!

Now to hang up my clothes which came out of the dryer, home in the cart, and spread on the bed in hopes of deferring wrinkles.

The eclipse experience of 2024 was a happy one of shared community for this person.

Today's quote:

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

HELEN SCHUCMAN

Just a quick stop today

 

Mental health and climate change

 

Art by Josephine Wall

Well, of course.

If you worry about climate change at all, it affects your mental/emotional well being..

"The physical impacts of climate change are easy to see — storms that destroy homes, droughts that cripple farms and heat waves that kill... [and more!]

But what’s less apparent is the toll that climate change is taking on our mental health. More than two-thirds of people in the U.S. say they have experienced eco-anxiety, according to an American Psychological Association poll. Nearly half of young adults (ages 18-34) say the stress they feel about climate change affects their daily lives..."

It’s important to remember that these painful emotions are an entirely reasonable response to what’s happening. They’re a sign that we care and that we’re paying attention, not a sign that something is wrong with us...."

 Research shows that collective action — participating in action to make this better, alongside other people who care — can help reduce feelings of depression related to climate anxiety and bolster feelings of hope and solidarity. 

Actively participating in climate solutions is a potent reminder that solutions do exist. There’s so much we can do to contribute to the world we want..."

Many people feel like climate change is an existential crisis, and personally meaningful spiritual practices — whether it’s your faith, meditation, spending time in nature — can help ground you in difficult times. 

And finally, I would say, be prepared. We all know that extreme weather is here to stay. Having an emergency plan can really help ease anxiety and help us cope more skillfully and calmly in moments of crisis. "

These quotes are from an interview with mental health expert Elizabeth Bechard of Moms Clean Air Force by the Environmental Defense Fund, "Climate Change and your Mental Health," by Shanti Menon, April 4, 2024. It arrives in my inbox from "Vital Signs, the latest climate stories to make you think and give you hope."

RESOURCES

• For climate-focused mental health support, join a climate cafe to talk about climate emotions; try the Good Grief Network for structured, step-by-step peer support; or schedule an in-person or virtual visit with a climate-aware therapist.
• For emergency planning, see the severe weather checklists at Ready.gov, specific to just about any type of emergency. The book Prepping 101 is full of practical ideas about how families and communities can be more prepared and resilient when emergencies arise (and in spite of its name, it’s not about hoarding beans for the apocalypse). 
• Moms Clean Air Force has an extensive list of climate and mental health resources and more advice for parents and kids from Elizabeth Bechard.  

 

 Art by Josephine Wall

 

The rest of the day trip to Asheville NC.

 From a few weeks ago...

Street sculpture in downtown Asheville...from the backside. One of these days I'll go around and read the plaque at the base of it, but there were these 2 plaques on my side.

Even with rain, these Bradford Pear blossoms were beautiful...including some little red hearts hanging with them still.

We all did a double take at seeing the fun coloring on this dog, who was eating outside on the covered patio. Black & tan met Blue Tick.

A silly selfie of our threesome at the Laughing Seed restaurant. We proceeded to be a bit silly, drink warm beverages, and eat lovely vegetarian fare. Big thanks for gift certificate!

While my decaf coffee was brewing a fresh pot, my friends enjoyed these pretty little teapots for their hot teas.

One thing Asheville is known for is lots of different restaurants, many catering to specialties.

But here are some more critters that I met on my travels, just so you all get to see more than the one.

Some visitors to my courtyard.

Sharing with Saturday Critters

Today's quote:

"The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."

-Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (1879-1955)

Children's lives

 

#1

1913 - An adult aunt and children 5 years, 6 years, 7 years, 9 years and 11 &12 picking cotton on H.M. Lane's farm, Bells, Tex. Lewis Hine Photo

#2

1908 children in Galveston TX in back of what I think is Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Galveston TX. These would have been my uncles Elmore and baby Alex, who weren't Catholics.

#3

A smile on the face of this young one, not dated, nor identified as to place. But besides the necessities of life that surround her, I notice the touch of the window curtains made by her mother and a pair of scissors - a scalloped edge to that newspaper.

#4

Though this young lady sat still, the kittens had other ideas.

#5

Wouldn't you like to give this portrait of a family a caption?

#6

There's nothing more freeing for a child than a set of tricycle wheels!

#7

#8

Photo by Solomon D. Butcher - in Nebraska

#9

Gypsy Camp 28th July 1951. Gypsy children play happily in overcrowded encampment at Corke's Meadow, Kent, UK. Photo by Bert Hardy.

#10

By famed photographer L.W. Hine while traveling through the South, 1909 TN or NC.  "Recently widowed family."

---------------------

Freedom Monument Sculpture Park.  @ 10 million Black people had been enslaved in the U.S by 1865. Close to six million of those people died as enslaved people—and @ half of all enslaved children died before their first birthday.

--------------------------------

My personal comments:
From what I've read in research, and known from friends, all the family had chores to do, whether picking cotton or dusting the house, or helping feed the younger children, or helping with animals or crops. The children of today don't know what the generations before them did.

Many children would die from diseases or accidents. For instance one of my uncles pictured above died as an adult from a disease, while his older brother accidentally drowned as a youth.

Family planning, where a woman could choose when she wanted to (or didn't want to) have another child, has only been available widely in the more affluent western societies since the 1960s. The rhythm method was taught to women for many years before that so they could possibly control their own pregnancies. An unwanted pregnancy could be legally aborted since the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe V Wade in the US. Recent revocation of the Roe v Wade by the new Supreme Court decision means those women who become pregnant no longer have access to safe abortions if they wish to terminate a pregnancy in a lot of the United States. The laws are currently made by states, and are so stringent in some that anyone who helps a woman travel to get an abortion is also liable for jail and fines.

Children's play was much more unrestricted prior to when? the 1970s? the 1990?  the 2000's?  At some point a litigious society in the US made it such that no children were left playing alone on playgrounds, nor were the playgrounds just cobbled together with spare lumber and pipes. Children had to be protected at all times. And unfortunately there were those who preyed upon the innocent, which made this protective attitude necessary. And accidentally broken bones, which always seemed part of childhood play, were suddenly to be avoided at all cost.

But parents are hardy souls and keep coming up with safe and enjoyable pursuits for their offspring. My old generation has somehow survived all the pitfalls of see-saws, ocean-swing-arounds, swings and slides, and plenty of chances to skin knees. What, climbing trees? You bet!

------------------

Sharing with Sepia Saturday

My topic on children is not exactly on the topic of Two-somes. But Sepia Saturday seems willing to look aside when we post other topics. Thanks, Alan! PS, I couldn't separate these two weeks apart in the suggested themes. Perhaps I'll find some brides or dancers for next week...

Today's quote:

Beauty is the purgation of superfluities. 

-Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect, and poet (1475-1564)  Only Michelangelo could say that, who chipped away at marble to find the figures he wanted.

A crazy old woman

Not helping the blood pressure along...

So today I'm feeling lack of energy to do anything, a bit light headed actually.

But I check my bank account on line, as a regular task as part of my digital life. And there's a charge for the local paper (Asheville Citizen-Times). I no longer take that paper as a digital daily news in my email in-box.

I haven't taken it for a year.

So I start trying to find a way to contact someone. Fortunately there's an 800 number.

We go along through a menu which can't understand my answers, and the representative I eventually get to talk with says she sees a big gap from my last payment a year ago and the one they are automatically taking from my checking account today.

After some research she sees that I did cancel that subscription. But she says in October last year, I signed up for a special deal $1 for six months and then $21.39 per month.

Nope, I say. I haven't received any Citizen-Times for a whole year. I never signed up again. 

After I hung up I scanned each debit from my account and did find their $1.07 deduction. But why didn't I ever get confirmation or any newspapers in my in-box?

I ask politely for a refund for a subscription which I never have received. I don't care about the $1, but the $21.39 would really be nice!

No, she cannot do that.

I do check that she has the right email address. And I look in my spam folder, nothing has been received from them, ever!

I ask about a half dozen times to talk with her supervisor. She advises me that her supervisor will tell me the same thing.

I have my blood pressure boiling by now!

How can a local organization do this to an 81 year old woman who just had no idea what they were up to, until they took her money for nothing?

I just hung up, thanks for nothing! 

And am writing an editorial, which of course won't get printed.

But maybe my high blood pressure is just spouting off. 

No longer the customer is right, that's for sure.

Using the tools in my toolbox

 

Thank you dear blog friends for your supportive comments yesterday. It means a lot to me to have a virtual team here rooting for me...as I feel the same toward all of you.

So I went to physical therapy today, and realized as I left home, that I was supposed to be there at that time, rather than leaving at that time. I rushed as much as I could but still was about 10 minutes late.

I usually give myself mental cues, and if I'm busy on the computer, I even set alarms to let me know I need to get ready, or leave.

But not today. I was late for the first time to PT and I felt really bad. 

But somehow I had confused the time of 10:20 to 10:40 that the appointment was. Now this was after I'd already known I had arrived late.

So my dear defense system said, well we thought we were not supposed to be here till 10:40.

Steve (the PT) said we never meet at 10:40, he does appointments only at 10:20.

I just shook my head.

As I walked to the car I thought, I'm not using the tools in my own toolbox. I know how to live a better life than I currently am. It's not just physical debilitation from breath problems...it's emotionally not getting better than I am at my worst.

So...that's the therapist Bingo above. And all the little tricks I can come up with...to get myself out of the slump. I often say, "this is the COPD/bronchiectasis causing this." But hey, I'm a whole being, put together of all these pieces and my emotional life is kind of still in a slump.

Helping others more and more. Telling them I'm not making much progress. Knowing the PT won't cure the curve of my back, but at least I can learn some core muscles to help, and can stretch my arms over my head again. So I have the pros helping me. Time to help meself.

Now I need to kick ass to this person Barbara!

Oh oh, I just remembered something from long ago body work, deep tissue work, Rolfing...my emotions are also carried in my body. So this work on posture may well be releasing these feelings. 

Whoo hoo. An ah-ha moment.

Just some thoughts

I didn't save the name of a friend who I'm pretty sure shared this...but I wanted to pass it on anyway.

 

OK,  that's enough with wise words being shared.

I'm dealing with the cough/infected lungs which is keeping me from working at clay studio. At least it's not covid, but it does mean I am frequently tired, and can't walk to the mailbox without getting out of breath. And evenings I sometimes run a fever. 

And the good news is that I already  have an appointment on Friday with the pulmonologist. Hope its good news anyway. He may put me on antibiotics. That's life with this condition. Avoid getting pneumonia!

The clay studio has become something I think I'll have to back out of for a while...and I'm hoping I can get a refund of my monthly fee which I paid for April. Fingers crossed on that score.

So I didn't really have anything interesting to post about. 

I did go to the lunch program today, which meant talking with some folks who are care givers of their elder relations, and some of the elder relations. I'm jealous of one who has still plenty of grey hair on her head, while mine has all turned white. I'm aware one was 94, and one has wet-macular-degeneration and will have a shot in one eye this week to keep it from getting worse. 

As Ram Dass said, we are all just walking each other home.

Today's second quote...or maybe 5th...

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

LAO TZU

A musical greeting for April!

 A variation on Rabbit Rabbit...here is the Hare Queen and her hares, Athy College, Co Kildare, Ireland

-----------------------------

From "Open Culture's Newsletter" I find songs from the 1500s being shared:

In 2006, Sting released an album called Songs from the Labyrinth, a collaboration with Bosnian lutenist Edin Karamazov consisting mostly of compositions by Renaissance composer John Dowland. This was regarded by some as rather eccentric, but to listeners familiar with the early music revival that had already been going on for a few decades, it would have been almost too obvious a choice. For Dowland had long since been rediscovered as one of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century’s musical superstars, thanks in part to the recordings of classical guitarist and lutenist Julian Bream.

(It goes on to give an example of Julian Bream's work on a classical guitar.) That video is available also on YouTube HERE.

Sting had laid down his own version of “The Earl of Essex Galliard,” sometimes otherwise known as “Can She Excuse My Wrongs.” In one especially striking section, Sting takes “the soprano-alto-tenor-bass part” and records the whole thing using only layers of his own voice: “there’s four Stings here,” [music producer and popular Youtuber Rick] Beato says, referring to the relevant digitally manipulated scene in the music video, “but there’s actually more than four voices.” Songs from the Labyrinth may only have been a modestly successful album by Sting’s standards, but it has no doubt turned more than a few middle-of-the-road pop fans onto the beauty of English Renaissance music.

Here's the YouTube production. I long ago bought the album Songs from the Labyrinth and enjoyed it over and over again, without this four part version!

My personal note for today is that yesterday's covid symptoms proved negative results on the test. But I am continuing to sooth the sore throat with jelly beans. However I'm limiting the amount so my stomach upset of two days ago doesn't reoccur. I've had breathing limitations this week, so missed studio time several days.

This Spring Chicken (can't I be a Spring Bunny?) is continuing the physical therapy exercises and enjoying having windows open to 70 degree sunshine. It won't last, and I shuffle the indoor plants so they get more sun and fresh air, and tell them not yet, there well may be another freeze. Then I'll cart them all out to the front porch for the summer!

Today's quote:

“A man can always command his time under the plea of business,” 

Mary Somerville (1780– 1872) would later write in her memoir; “a woman is not allowed any such excuse.”