Morning in Our Garden

Today I needed to go out into the garden and BE STILL. I have been hearing so many stories about people not being kind to one another, not taking the time to listen and try to understand differences (close to home and in the bigger scheme of world affairs) that I knew the garden was the place to offer me the peace and serenity to REALLY appreciate and value the gifts that are all around us IF ONLY we take time to stop and see them. I disovered over 20 varieties of flowers. I paused when I realized this and put life in perspective. This morning, I awoke with some of those same angry feelings and decided to make a collage that would bring me back to the garden and the beauty and simplicity that can be.
It's a lesson to be learned and right in my own back yard. Everyone and Everything has beauty, value and worth. Take the time to see it and honor it and then tell someone else about their value to you. While you are at it, don't forget to stop and appreciate your own value!!

Feasting at the Road Kill Cafe!!

Coming home from my visit with Rita, I was about to turn into the driveway and found that we had an uninvited guest who was in the neighborhood feasting at the 'road kill cafe'! Sad to say, I did not have the camera in the car for immediate photo ops and gratification, but asked him to stay around while I ran in for it! That he did. I was able to sit quietly and watch as he tried to go back out time and again for more feasting in between cars driving by. The neighbor's dog barking chased him away as well, but he did come back a few more times and enjoyed the taste of the rabbit which by this time was totally covered by flies and had quite a pungent odor!! My lesson - never leave home without the camera because you never know who could stop by!!

Becoming ONE and at PEACE!!

Yes, today it is all about ME!

Barbara Martie Wogan Mollenhauer

And you ask why?? Yesterday I spent time with my first friend and neighbor in Pitman, Rita. We talked about past, present and future. The joys of who we are and what we were still 'looking for'. How to take the best and move forward with it. Rita remembered me as Barbara - the persona/name I used for the first 50 years of my life. Then in a change of life moment, well actually not so impulsive, I legally became Martie. I thought that the Barbara person who was not accepted by lots of others because of her enthusiasm, spontaneity, sensitivity and feelings would be more complete as Martie - a softer, more gentle being. For the past 13 years, I have still struggled with some of the same issues. Rita got me to stop and reflect that 'little Barbara' is very much a part of me and so is Martie. It is the name I was born with and now it is time to ACCEPT both of their identities and merge them as one so I can truly love and accept ME and be the person that I have always meant to be. So...the next steps in the journey begin!!

I went out into the world to see what the day would bring, and the synchronicities that always come to me - camera or not - provide such amazement. So Catch Them Doing Something Right applies to me too!! How about that. If we don't start with ourselves, how can we be there for others?!?