A Lazy Thought
There go the grownups
To the office,
To the store.
Subway rush,
Traffic crush;
Hurry, scurry,
Worry, flurry.
No wonder
Grownups
Don’t grow up
Any more.
It takes a lot
Of slow
To grow.
~ Eve Merriam
All this hurrying soon will be over. Only when we tarry do we touch the holy. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke, In Praise of Mortality, translated and edited by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy
Where are you hurrying to?
you will see
the same moon tonight
wherever you go! ~ Izumi Shikibu
Laughing with somebody till the tears run down your cheeks. Waking up to the first snow. Being in bed with somebody you love. Whether you thank God for such a moment or thank your lucky stars, it is a moment that is trying to open up your whole life. If you turn your back on such a moment and hurry along to business as usual, it may lose you the ball game. If you throw your arms around such a moment and hug it like crazy, it may just save your soul. ~ Frederick Buechner
I get so preoccupied with the details and pressure of my schedule, with the hurry and worry of life, that I miss the song of goodness which is waiting to be sung through me. Joyce Rupp, O.S.M.
We are naturally reverent beings, but much of our natural reverence has been torn away from us because we have been born into a world that hurries. There is no time to be reverent with the earth or with each other. We are all hurrying into progress. And for all our hurrying we lose sight of our true nature a little more each day. ~ Macrina Wiederkehr, Source: Radical Grace, the Center for Action and Contemplation
Hurry, hurry has no blessing. ~ Swahili Proverb
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THE DAILY ROUND 
I love these pictures… especially the second from last. That bird seems like an old man to me… could be a picture of me looking at the pond. And the quotes were very nice too. Another very beautiful post.
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Thank you, Shimon; I love that heron, too. he always seems to be meditating/contemplating so deeply. He resonates with my heart, too…but I think now he’ll be “Shimon” to me. Peace, my friend.
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What a delightful post Kitty, I feel all the more chilled for having read it. Such lovely quotes, yes, we do dash about being busy, busy busy, and we do need time to contemplate. I love the herons, how wonderful to be able to watch them on the water like that. If I lived there I don’t think I’d be doing much, just nature watching by that lovely old river. You lucky, lucky thing!!!
Now, is that a toad? a rather magnificent creature it is!xxxx
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Thank you, Dina…yes, it’s coming to the time of year when I can sit at the bridge for long, long meditations with the birds. We’ve had such a spell of over-the-top-heat, but it looks like cooling is on the way: Hooray!
The herons, cranes, geese, turkeys, and hawks are very dramatic, but yes, the tiny toads and insects have been calling to me, too. Quite a preponderance of toads this summer…this is a Fowler’s Toad, I think; small, colorful and plentiful. I’m so grateful we’re not experiencing a drought here again; the north western part of Wisconsin is very, very dry.
Peace to your week’s end…
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Oh my, that sure is a lot of awesome wildlife.
I forgot to say how lovely it was to see you and your friend, was that you both as kids too?
Enjoy sitting by the bridge,it seems like my kind of place too.xxxx
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That is my sweet and very talented friend in both photos. She was diagnosed with MS many years ago, which has curtailed her amazing artwork and especially quilting, but she can still knit, crochet…just gorgeous work. We enjoy seeing her and her husband, also a talented man (musician). It’s good, with all the relocating I’ve done in my life, to have such treasured touchstones…I feel blessed. I’ll dream that one day you’ll write and say you’ll be in the States and Wisconsin…and can sit with me on the bridge before we head out on adventures. 🙂
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That’s so lovely to have a friend all those years, especially such a special one. Ahhhh.
Oh my…..I really really hope I can get to you one day, how amazing it would be to meet and go exploring your world together, and I imagine we’d be talking to the early hours!!! xxxx
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🙂
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Beautiful post, Kitty; a wonderful reminder not to rush, make haste, and hurry. Just what I needed to hear! The hot muggy weather for the past few days made “slow” imperative, but thoughts were still racing inside my head. While reading your post, I just found myself taking a deep breath and relaxing on the inside. Rilke was so right – “Only when we tarry do we touch the holy.” Thank you for the inspiration!
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Thank you, Lynn…you know, I really think most of our art could be seen as letters to our spirits and hearts, reflections and encounters with our own deepest questions, insights, hopes, or hurts and derailments…so I ‘m glad my own need to be reminded that hurrying is not helpful also resonated with your spirit, and it’s an honor to hear it.
We’ve been closed inside the past week due to bitter heat, dashing out to make visits and run errands…today is cooler and more relief is coming, hope this is so for you as well. 🙂 Peace to your day!
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Kitty, I think you are right on with this: “most of our art could be seen as letters to our spirits and hearts . . .” I firmly believe that most artistic endeavors are autobiographical that transcend the form to become a universal experience. Perhaps that is the definition of art, to translate the personal into the universal. Namaste.
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🙂 And to you…
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Ah, thank you for all the wise words and beautiful pictures.
I stopped in the middle of my half-crossed-off to-do list to read this. Perfect!
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Thank you, Robin; your kind words are appreciated and I’m grateful for the time you took to slow, and to share your words. Peace to your day and new week.
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My dear Kitty,
I know it’s been a while. I’ve been taking a lot of slow. Even as I am slowly gearing up to re-enter the blogging world again, yours is one of the first I wanted to come by. I am so glad to see you at your best. To the beauty of every moment. May we learn to savour every morsel of it without any hurry. Blessings your way, Sharon
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Ah, dear Sharon! It makes me so happy to hear from you; you have been in my heart and prayers. I’m grateful you’ve taken time for your own journey and then time to visit me…now I look forward to your wonderful writing and photography: Lucky me! Joy to your week.
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