Still Blooming, Even Quietly...

“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.”

Sometimes I think the Secret Garden (body of work) is dormant. 

And then when I'm looking for something I come across one ...

still blooming. Usually there is a quotation from Rumi that fits.

He had that gift.

I've Never Really Been a Landscape Photographer...

Last year, learning a new Nikon DSLR, I began to photograph my environment. Not just the usual, but the landscape. I'd always felt completely defeated attempting to capture landscapes, especially here. I am not a landscape photographer, a mantra I repeated often. 

Then I just decided to let myself off the hook, and instead of saying what I wasn't, began to shoot. Of course the clouds we have here during certain times a year really help. :)  And then there's the light ...

The adobe and umbrellas was shot on Museum Hill, during the Folk Art Market last July. I was eating lunch in the alfresco food court, looked up through my enchiladas, and spied this.

For those of you who have arrived here via the Santa Fe Workshops catalog, welcome. There will soon be a link to my newly-designed website, where you can catch a glimpse of some of the books I've worked on, as well as some of my own personal photo projects that have morphed into books——sojourns sandwiched in pages. 

You can view my Obamanos work here, which is turning into a sojournal book for Blurb.com. 

If you would like to receive updates to Bird's Eye View, please go to the sidebar and subscribe via RSS reader or email.

Earth Day is Every Day

Parlez is vigilant, keeping his patch of earth as well tended as possible. 

It's about 5 acres, so that's quite a bit for a little one not quite 9 lbs.

He invites you all to stop for a moment each day and smell the flowers, 

or watch a caterpillar . . .

The Soul: Everything You Are

"The mind is the last part of yourself to listen to. 

It thinks of everything you can lose. 

The heart thinks of everything you can give, 

and the soul thinks of everything you are."   

—Neale Donald Walsch

Pole Dancing With a Difference

I am so blessed to have such amazing friends who send me such wondrous goodies I can share. You know, of course, anything to do with dancing and/or animals will get a stellar spot on the blog. Turn up the sound, in-joy and keep dancin'!

In My Own Backyard...

Real photographers must be able to make compelling pictures in their own backyard.  —Annie Griffiths Belt

Gotta Dance!

Times like these I just wish I wouldda kept hoofin'. But still, it's great to watch. They make it look so easy, not a pant between the two (except for Fred's). Frank Sinatra narrates, while Eleanor Powell and Fred Astaire dance. 

Wow... Is all I can say.

Beads On My Dresser...

March Madness

Monarch butterflies, prepare for migration on March 21st from Mexico. Story here...

Ne'r has there been a spring when I have been jonesin to clear out as much as I want to this spring! Quite a few plates are spinning in my life at present, and it's very interesting to climb up on a ladder and look down and see them all. Especially knowing I was the one to set them in motion. Mon dieu, I'm a bit dizzy. :)

But onward to some very wonderful words by someone called Lena... Thank you, wherever you are. 

The main theme for March is OPPORTUNITY. Other influences and sub-themes will include creativity, inspiration, renewal, regeneration, breakthrough, moving forward, innovation, resiliency, resourcefulness, and new ideas. This may sound like a fabulous month and it can be, however you must be willing to give something up in order to be able to manifest and experience what the month has to offer: Attachment. Attachment to how things were, should have been, should be now, what you should have done, what others should have done, what you or others should be doing now.

As I look around at my two work spaces that are the antithesis of tidy I am gratified to read this...
High creativity can sometimes manifest chaos, confusion and depression when something keeps the energy from flowing. It is a highly feminine influence and does not come from the mental realm. It is important to allow creativity to use the emotional and the intellectual center but not to be restricted by either one. If you feel yourself falling into chaos, confusion or depression, move yourself towards something that inspires you.

And so to walking somewhere new...
The energy wants to move and it wants to move into new directions. Stubbornness is the fear of change by holding on to the attachments of the past. The combination of stubbornness and the feminine creative forces are manifesting for some of you in a lot of lower back issues, and problems with the hips and knees. It is a holding back out of fear that is manifesting itself physically. A good practice is to literally walk in new places that you have never been with intention that you are moving towards the new and the unknown with excitement and inspiration. Be inspired by what you see around you as you walk in new territory. Be accepting and fully receptive to any opportunity that your walk will provide. In this way you are doing a practice to retrain your habitual behavior and to assure the body that it is OK to try new things. It is also very important not to be comparing whatever you are involved in presently with your experiences of the past. So if you are walking in a new direction or along a new route, do not compare it with your old territory but rather see it with completely fresh eyes for how it supports you right in the present moment. This is a practice you can do with any little thing in your daily life that will help with moving through the stubbornness and the fear of change.

Resiliency is flexibility, another antidote to stubbornness. If something does not work out like you thought it should, accept it without judgment and move onto something else without the need to understand what it was that did not work. This is an emotionally centered year that means most things will not make intellectual sense but they will feel right or not feel right. If something does not feel right, don’t try and intellectually understand or define why, just trust the process. The beauty of these times is that things are moving very quickly and if something is not right is will show itself to be eliminated rather quickly. The main thing is to be proactive with any process and to keep looking forward, being receptive to any opportunity the universe sees fit to place in your path.

Bumble Fumbles the Sweet Peas

Here we are in the middle of what is for me the least appealing month in northern New Mexico. Our beloved juniper trees, that give us and the creatures so much joy and comfort, are in their season of pollinating. I don't know if you've ever seen this phenomenon but literally zillions of pollen spores (gladiator balls in disguise) are madly released by the wind, or even a breath of air from the wings of a passing bird.

The result is a cacophony of minute particles fighting for access to every orifice on a person. And they do succeed. Because I am drinking (and eating) the marvelous Xocai Healthy Chocolate, I am not suffering with congestion, coughs or body aches. Truly, it is miraculous. But the eyeballs are another matter entirely. The pollen particles gang up and surge onto these mounds of moistness. Added to that a rash. It's not pretty, I can tell you.

So it is with a lovely happenstance that I remembered this delightful bumble bee fumbling sweet peas while I walked the gardens at the Ville d'Este in Italy one summer. I was transported to a place where it had just rained, I'd disembarked the barco (ferry), and everything was so MOIST. 

Here he is: the amazing fumbling bumble bee. The biggest bee I've ever seen, with the bluest wings I've ever seen. A beauty. He's even got a little halo of pollen.

Now if I could just get him over here to gather some juniper pollen and make some juniper honey, along with a few friends, then perhaps the dry, dusty pollen attacks would disappear in a puff of dust. Poof! I'm going in search of some now, and at the very least I'll do a rain dance :~)

The Lyre Bird... Liar?

This amazing bird has the ability to mock any sound. He even fooled the kookaburra bird. As you can see and hear from this link on YouTube. And boy can this bird dance :>}  He even takes pictures. Well, kind of. Thank you Ilene for sending this to me to share.

Bird's Eye View is One Year Old

Well, actually it's a year and a few days old. How did that happen?! I have to say that it has been an amazing journey for me. Upon reflection I see I've been in internet school for the past year. Learning to set up and continue to refine BEV, and setting up The Blue Point of View (it worked!) in September using another platform; as well as listening to pod casts, and reading books on the subject, perusing blogs, endeavoring to understand tech speak regarding them, the DL on DNS, forwarding, etc. etc. etc. you get the idea, has been......... an education. To say the least. Then there's the etsy site, two of them actually, and the imagekind site. Well God bless the internet. What a way to get the word out, and stay in touch. Hec, I was even nudged (jabbed, cajoled) to get on Facebook, which I have. However, I do draw the line at twitter, flutter, mutter and stutter. I just can't go there.

So where have I been for the last few weeks?!! I have been very busy. Very busy indeed. Very busy doing what? Very busy eating chocolate. It's a full time job, let me tell you. Tough, I know. But someone's got to do it. You can find out more about my new adventure by clicking on this link and you will be transported to ChocoGoodness.com which is my page on the website of the company that produces Xocai -- sho-sigh. And truly, when you do eat this chocolate (healthy, dark Belgian chocolate with acai (ah sigh ee) berry and blueberry, a super food, and it really  is-- you do indeed show a sigh.

I am using my studies of the past year to build a chocolate blog which will feature my adventures in healthy chocolate, one bite at a time. I have been a little preoccupied with this amazing product and that's why you haven't heard from me quite as often. But once things are up and running I will be able to set aside my Wilhelmena Wonka hat from time to time, and begin to edit Parlez's first year with us for his..... drum roll..... very own book! But I will still be eating and sharing Xocai. YUM. Once more for effect: Y U M!

In the meantime, and in celebration of Valentine's Day, let me share part of a poem from my old and very dear friend, J. Rumi. Happy Valentine's Day all~

The Lovers

The Lovers

will drink wine night and day.

They will drink until they can 

tear away the veils of intellect and

melt away the layers of shame and modesty.

When in Love, 

body, mind, heart and soul don't even exist.

Become this, 

fall in Love, 

and you will not be separated again.

And Now For Something Completely Different

A friend in the UK sent me this, and of course I just love it. Liverpool Street Station is one of the busiest in London. I recently heard the line that business isn't about making money. It's about enriching people's lives, which is quite a lovely viewpoint. So here it is, from T-Mobile. Enjoy!

Alfred: A Gift from Parlez

One morning I was standing at the picture window sipping tea and looking at the powdered snow. Up the path padded Parlez, something rather large and bird-like hanging sideways from his mouth. My eyes blurry, I thought it was a Flicker. "No Parlez", I said, running out the door in my PJs. He made a dash for his hideaway, under the porch. No way I was getting under there. I left him to it.

Then dressed, I crawled around and with a large stick gently pulled this young hawk out. He was perfect. And that's when I thought he may have succumbed to the same fate Athena had. Parlez didn't seem to be interested in eating him, fortunately. Alfred was barely breathing when he had found him; I had strained to look under the deck and see it on its back, legs twitching one last time. 

There's something sacred about a recently transitioned bird placed on the silent snow. Especially one of such beauty as this one. I marveled at his long, taloned feet, perfect for swooping down to snatch whatever his yellow hawk eyes spied. Marveled at his perfectly pointed beak, his own portable cutlery. And at his young tawny-spotted chest, the soft feathers downy underneath, his magnificent tail feathers. And the soaring wings, now stowed. 

Parlez went to play with his catch. "No Parlez. Let him rest in peace".

He looked at me as if to say, "But I found him, mama".

He looked again at the bird. . . 

OK, mama. I'll let him rest.

Just Checking UP On You All...

                        ©Elsa Kendall 2009. All rights reserved.

1559: 450 Years Later

Today is the 450th anniversary of the coronation of QUEEN ELIZABETH I of England. She was 25 years old, and she loved pearls and continued to drench herself in them all through her 45 year reign. To me, she is the ultimate Pearl Girl.

I learned this when I was doing research on the National Portrait Gallery's site here. Upon closer inspection I saw not only the necklaces she wore, but also that many of her gowns were sewn all over with pearls. Apparently she had a team of seamstresses who would transfer pearls from one dress to another. It's an odd thing I never saw earrings on her. I think it was the men in Elizabethian times who wore the earrings. No lie.

Pearls were very rare in those days and were all from the sea. The current Queen of England, Elizabeth II, wore the coronation crown that has two or three of Elizabeth Tudor's pearls on it. I wonder where the rest of them went...

The portrait above is circa 1588 when she was 55 years old.

To commemorate this anniversary of the ultimate Pearl Girl all earrings on Pearl Girl Pearls are $15.59 for a whole week. You can find them here. Long live the Pearl!

Why is a pearl so amazing?

Because it's made from an irritation that becomes something beautiful.

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

This is a wonderful story. Thank you Martha for forwarding it to me. I once heard this "Violinist in the Metro" play in Santa Fe at the Santa Fe Opera. As he played a Camille Saint-Saëns piece a pair of finches fluttered high above the orchestra in the rafters. The male finch broke into song and accompanied the violinist for several minutes. It was one of the sweetest melodies I've ever heard.

Stradavarius violin from Wikipedia, here.

A Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3-year-old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

You can see the YouTube video here.

Shameless Self Promotion

Athena

I found Athena Screech Owl on the night of the new moon, laying on the dirt surrounded by snow in front of our shed. I am just in awe of her beauty, especially her fuzzy feet with the amazing nubby toes and talons. I cannot help but think she died of rodent poisoning as today Parlez brought a juvenile Cooper's Hawk who was in the last throes of its life. Parlez merely found it, he did not hunt it. Two raptors dead with no sign of external harm makes me suspicious. 

I will be posting images of him and more of Athena this week, with a plea to people not to use poison but instead let these beautiful creatures be the intrepid and profusely proficient hunters they are. For those who don't have these majestic birds in their midst, battery-operated mouse trap zappers work really well. 

You can pass this link on to others by clicking on the post title and copying the url from your browser into an email. Thank you for being aware. 

Wishing You a Sparkling New Year

Full of inspiration, innovation, contentment, and love~