Monday, November 30, 2015

Shop Window

A  L  O  H  A !
North Beach, San Francisco

“He's not pining, he's passed on. 
This parrot is no more. 
He has ceased to be. 
He's expired and gone to 
meet his maker. 
He's a stiff, bereft of life, 
he rests in peace. 
If you hadn't have nailed him 
to the perch he'd be 
pushing up the daisies. 
He's rung down the curtain 
and joined the choir invisible. 
This is an ex-parrot!”

                         Monty Python 

Linking to
City Daily Photo


SQUAWK!
cloudia

Freeze Warning

A  L  O  H  A !
"Be like a tree 
and let the 
dead leaves 
drop." 
                         Rumi











It is not Antarctica,
or Chicago.
This is COLD weather
for the Bay Area.
But I can handle.
In fact I ADORE
wearing clothes!
After 30 sweaty years,
I am digging this!












Let The FUN Continue!
"Let no one 
ever come to you
 without leaving happier."
                            Mother Teresa

[><]

Thank YOU!
            Warmly, cloudia

Monday Mural

A  L  O  H  A !
Back to the alley between North Beach 
and Chinatown, San Francisco

Linking to 
in that great 
city across the Bay:
OAKLAND!

               Warmly, cloudia

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Northern California Flavor

A  L  O  H  A !
“The whole culture is 
telling you to hurry, 
while the art tells you
 to take your time. -













Always listen 
to the art.” 
                         Junot Diaz
















“Art is when 
you hear a 
knocking 
from your soul — 
and you answer.” 
                       Terri Guillemets















"All do and are 
done to in 
accordance with 
their nature."
                   Duke of Chou





[///////]

Thank You!
             Fondly, cloudia

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Shadow Thoughts

A  L  O  H  A !
 Bar Shadows

“The unfed mind 
devours itself.” 
               Gore Vidal















Dusk Shadows

"When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight 
is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's 
off with her head
Remember 
what the dormouse said
Feed your head
Feed your head"
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE [LYRICS]
"White Rabbit"




Linking to



Thank YOU
for making it
worth while!
               Fondly, cloudia

Wonders of the North Bay

A  L  O  H  A !
 Vallejo across San Pablo Bay

“What do you do there, 
moon, in the sky? 
Tell me what you 
do, silent moon. 
When evening comes you 
rise and go contemplating 
wastelands; then you set.” 
                                Giacomo Leopardi
















 Alcatrace (Pelican) Impersonates Pterodactyl

"A wonderful bird is the pelican, 
His bill will hold more 
than his belican, 
He can take in his beak 
Enough food for a week
 But I'm damned if I see 
how the helican!"
                        Dixon Lanier Merritt (1910)
















Look!

She's DOING it!
















Especially Click on This One to Enlarge


"The rollin' hills seem 
to do something for you
It seems they're meant to be 
looked on by you
And when the sunshine 
is doing it's thing
Then you know that 
all you see is true
Every day every night the 
same old groovy feelin'
People that live a lot
 love a lot
And everything there 
is so good 

Look at California
Look at California"

                    (Frankie Beverly &) Maze



Linking to
Saturday Critters





[=]

Thank You!
           Fondly, cloudia

Friday, November 27, 2015

Aloha Friday

A  L  O  H  A !


" God visits us often, 
but most of the time 
we are not home. "
                 French Proverb










" Our greatest strength 
lies in the gentleness 
and tenderness 
of our heart.” 
                          Rumi 






" A gentle word 
opens the 
strongest lock. "
                 English Proverb




(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_('')

Thank YOU!
Warmly, cloudia

Yellow Rose

A L O H A !
"Always be on the lookout 
for the presence of wonder."
                           E.B. White

Linking to

Thank You!
                            cloudia

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Sky Watch

A  L  O  H  A !
Marin Wetlands, Calif

I had forgotten the 
pale pink beauty of 
an early winter sky.
 Especially as rippling 
across duck inflected waters 
with  geese flying punctuation.

Thank You !
                          Cloudia

Linking to 

Nature of Gratitude

A  L  O  H  A !


 'Any fool can be happy.
 It takes real heart to
 make beauty out of 
the stuff that 
makes us weep.' 
                     Clive Barker

Linking to
Good Fences











Open Road

“Carpe every damn diem.” 

Justine Musk














"There are years
 that ask questions
 and years that 
answer." 
             Zora Neale Hurston






[''']


In the USA, today is
a holiday dedicated
to gratitude.

The earliest Europeans
on these shores
would likely have
perished if not for
the generosity of the
First Nations 
already here.
The settlers were grateful
to their God, and to
their neighbors.
[one hopes]


Lately, 
I have given thought
to gratitude. One starts
by noticing things to be
grateful for, noticing,
and expressing it.

It became a habit with me,
and a nice one that
certainly improved my life.

But is gratitude a feeling?

My habit of feeling grateful got
somewhat pushed out of the way
in all the folderol of moving.

I was preoccupied with finding
new ways, places clothes, routines.
How could I be grateful for
what was still overwhelming?

So I started to wonder if
it is valid to express gratitude
when you are just not feeling it?

Is that insincere and false,
or is it lovely and powerful?
Saying 'Thank You'
to the universe, to God,
to your subconscious, is a
powerful and insidious thing!

Saying 'Thank You' for arising,
even though I was just
going through the moves
caused chemical reactions
and soon I FELT
grateful again!

Feelings are valuable guides,
but I think we make them
too important. Carry on.
Don't wait till you feel like it.

And who knows?
Maybe soon you 
WILL-








Thank YOU!
              warmly, cloudia

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Wednesday Bird

A  L  O  H  A !
RAVEN

" Not all bad 
comes to harm you. "
                      Janice Mock
























“Some people are 
electrifying, they 
light up a room 
when they leave.”
              Yiddish Proverb 






















'Any fool can be happy.
 It takes real heart 
to make beauty 
out of the stuff 
that makes us weep.' 
                     Clive Barker


Linking to


Thank You
for fluttering by!
              Fondly Feathered, cloudia

Silly GOOSE!

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Homing

A  L  O  H  A !
Marin Sunrise
"You don't stop laughing 
when you grow old, 
you grow old when 
you stop laughing."
               George Bernard Shaw








" The most terrible 
poverty is loneliness 
and the feeling of 
being unloved. "
                        Mother Teresa










" As I grow older, I 
pay less attention to 
what people say. 
I just watch 
what they do. "
                Andrew Carnegie





[/;/]


I gotta say
I'm loving Northern
California.

The women all look
like they are dressed up
as me for Halloween:
jeans, boots,
long hair.

I haven't raised
a sweat all day!

My thin "pineapple blood"
is getting used to
bracing temps.
But this isn't 
Chicago: it is NOT
snowing. I could
drive to some snow!
But there is too 
much closed at hand
to see anew.

I wanna go back in
to San Francisco
again soon.
Too many GREAT
photos waiting there!

Gotta moisturize,
that's a must,
but my hair looks 
better not plastered
to my forehead in
this drier clime.


Hawaii is part of 
me, especially
her people & culture.
I really grew from
punk to adult there.

But I do seem to be
in my element here.


I feel younger, too if
that makes any sense.

Perhaps it is the 
stirring memories
of growing up with
four seasons
that make me feel
full of youthful
associations and
possibilities.

I do miss some
Hawaii comfort foods,
but have spotted a
Japanese restaurant
that serves donburi,
and noodle soups,
and tempura. It ain't
Zip Min, but it will
have to do.

Photos of Hawaii
sunsets tear at my 
heart. But it was 
time to leave.

I will be back,
Waikiki;
For a visit.
But the Bay Area
seems created just
for me and millions of
other like-minded friends
of every race, creed,
and lifestyle.

How's life
in YOUR neck
of the woods?
Are you a 
Newbie or a Native?


Thank YOU!
                  Fondly, cloudia