When I Died

 A  L  O  H  A ! 

" Let reality be reality.

 Let things flow 

naturally forward 

in whatever way 

they like. "

Lao Tzu 

" The expression 

a woman wears 

on her face 

is far more important 

than the clothes 

she wears on her back. "

Dale Carnegie 

Sounds merely "nice"

B U T

 SO TRUE!!!

" Always remember

 that you are

 absolutely unique. 

Just like 

everyone else. "

Margaret Mead

Truth is too big

for either / or;

So look for paradox

when you hunt

 Reality :)

What, I wonder,

 will I leave behind,

dangling

 from the 

neighborhood powerline

 called Life?

*_=+=_*

Today's title
does not refer to
 EMILY DICKINSON's
poem (Here).

When I had my temporary
dying experience
(years ago)
it was obvious to me
that there is
NOTHING
whatever to fear;

That when we leave here,
we remember who we 
really are
in all our glory,
like a huge film star
who has been playing
homeless
for a role.

Yes, we return
to a really cool realm!

As we mature in life,
we experience those around us,
and those things we love,
changing -
even passing away.

We become intimate
with decline.

Well it is a huge
WASTE OF TIME
to become 
exclusively focused
on decline
as if that is 
our job now.

It isn't.

As long as you are here,
you are in a unique position
to experience and to
learn;

To become
soulfully empowered
in ways quite 
impossible
once we depart
this unique Earth Life.

So don't be sorry later
that you wasted 
choice Life Years
by saying goodbye
too soon.


" The things that one
 most wants to do
 are the things
 that are probably 
most worth doing. "

Winifred Holtby

You said a MOUTHFUL, Winifred!


WHO AGREES?

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MoonDay Monday

A  L  O  H  A - 

Happy Canada Day!

" There are some things 

that are real, 

that you can see, 

that you can observe, 

like the moon, 

and grass and things. 

But for ideas 

to become real, 

they have to be played 

on your senses. "

Jane Campion 

Great explanation for the

importance of Art!

"To ride in the sun"

" I don't want 

a pickle, 

just want to ride 

on my motorsickle. "

Arlo Guthrie 
 

" Nature was here 

a series of 

wonders, 

and a fund 

of delight. "

Daniel Boone 


 > < } } (°>


Summer -

Long days

long rides

long smiles
among longtime friends.

I'm so glad that

YOU

are mine, 

our,

 dear friend

here at the Spiraling Comfort.

Oakland Daily Photo Lady (link)
was nice enough to call this blog

"A bulwark against the seductions of pessimism."

Isn't that COOL!?


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Welcome Wonders

A  L  O  H  A !

" Life is like dancing. . . 

 Some will get angry 

when the rhythm changes.

 But life is changing

 all the time. "

Miguel Angel Ruiz 

" He plants his footsteps

 in the sea,

 and rides 

upon the storm. "

William Cowper 

X - Band Radar, USA ( LINK )

" How, child, 

do I know 

where you're headed? 

 Because I'm there,

 and I can see you

 coming.  "

Robert Brault

“He is

 a modest little man 

who has a good deal 

to be modest about.”

 Winston Churchill 

 > < } } (°>

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I Like

A  L  O  H  A !

" Keep love in your heart. 

A life without it 

is like a sunless garden 

when the flowers are dead. "

Oscar Wilde 

" A day without sunshine

 is like, you know, 

night. "

Steve Martin 

" We are shaped

 by our thoughts; 

we become 

what we think. 

When the mind is pure,

 joy follows 

like a shadow

 that never leaves. "

Buddha 

" I like 

nonsense, 

it wakes up 

the brain cells. 

Fantasy is a necessary ingredient 

in living, 

it's a way of looking at life 

through the wrong end 

of a telescope. 

Which is what I do, 

and that enables you 

to laugh 

at life's realities. "

Dr. Seuss 

> < } } (°>

I like that!

How about Y O U?

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Smoothscapes

A  L  O  H  A !

" A moment's insight

is sometimes worth

a life's experiences. "

Oliver Wendell Holmes

" I detest 

the person who hides 

one thing in the depths 

of the heart 

and yet 

speaks forth another. "

Homer

" The main things

 which seem to me important 

on their own account,

 and not merely as means

 to other things,

 are knowledge, art,

 instinctive happiness,

 and relations 

of friendship or affection. "

       

 Bertrand Russell

"Bird?!      Where What?!"

"It is one of the blessings

of old friends

that you can afford

to be 

stupid with them. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson

> < } } (°>

Today,

Allow, accept,

appreciate

Your own Mastery.

Pause the strive

for a minute.

Refresh - Rejuvenate.

My wishes for YOU 

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44 Years From Stonewall

A  L  O  H  A !

Back in the day,

 there was no rainbow flag,

 no signs, no hoopla. 

Gay bars were hidden away from view,

dingy dives (often) operated by criminals

 and regularly raided by the vice squad.

Patrons were arrested, roughed up,

 had their names and sometimes faces,

 published in the local papers.

Then they lost their jobs,

 family support, apartments.

The only place the GLBT people could gather 

and be themselves

 in lives that consisted of prudent hiding

of  the most fundamental personal things,

was the bar.

Being gay was a crime,

 a sin, a moral weakness.

44 years ago this month

 the Stonewall Inn,

a gay bar in New York City 

was raided around 3am.

This time, the patrons had enough! 

Office workers,

shopkeepers, and drag queens

 in full regalia 

battled the cops

for several days.

Yesterday, the US Supreme Court 

declared that

if you are a gay couple, 

legally married by the laws

of the US State you live in,

then the federal government

 will NO LONGER

discriminate against you.

Social Security benefits, survivorship,

 federal taxes,

military benefits,

all will acknowledge

 same sex couples

along with opposite sex couples.

I was 16, and 90 miles away

 when Stonewall happened.

I marched in the first

Gay Liberation March

in Philadelphia

in the early 70's.

Today, I rallied 

with about a 1000 Hawaii friends

at the state capitol,

to celebrate this day. 

The fight for marriage equality

 is not over

in Hawaii, 

or perhaps your state or province.

But determined people,

despised, powerless, abused,

discriminated against,

summarily fired,

beaten and killed,

called mentally ill,

can change all that.

I played a part,

I've seen it happen.

So speak up for what you believe.

I helped to change the world,

You do too, every day.

Make it count!

YOU can read more about 

Stonewall  HERE

 > < } } (°>

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