Head in the Clouds.

I've always liked clouds, especially on days where they dance on blue skies.  The puffy, cotton ball ones.  The flimsy ones that look like they were pulled from the end of a Q-Tip. The cotton candy clouds that I like to think would taste like Haagan Daas lemon sorbet, the kind that has no artificial coloring, just tart white iciness.  (The kind that I haven't purchased since last summer when I thought it was a splurge at "two for $5"... the good ol' days). 

Cotton ball, anyone?

Cotton Candy. Yumm.



Q-Tip Clouds (not to be mistaken with the cirrus, stratus, or altostratus cloud formations!)

  I like the way the clouds blow across the sky, transforming their shape. 

And, I like the way they just sit there contentedly, providing a temporary hiding spot for the sun or an airplane.

I tend to prefer the soft, cotton ball clouds that look like they smell of fresh linen, until I see those billowy grey ones with the sun hitting them just right so they look like satin--the proverbial clouds with silver linings.

I like the shadows that the clouds cast on the ground (moreso looking down from a plane, of course, than when I'm in one of those shadows and it's cold).  I like the way that the clouds sometimes look untouchable, but sometimes look like you could reach them if you just had a bouncy enough trampoline. 

It is crazy to look up at the clouds and think that every person and animal on this earth. sometime, somewhere, gazes upon the clouds and just takes in their magnificence.  The clouds, they belong to nobody and are so easy to share.  I can get lost in them like I get lost staring into the flames of a campfire.

When I was a kid, I remember lying on my back in the grass at the playground, or on a towel on the beach, and looking up at the clouds in the sky.  I would look at the clouds to see if I could see a shape, or an animal, or some other semblance in the clouds.  I remember thinking that, with so many clouds, it should be so easy.  Yet, my recollection is that I was never able to find anything very good.  This inability to find animals, people, cars, or other things in the clouds just validated my belief that I lacked imagination and creativity.  I loved clouds.  They were magnificent and fascinating, but I saw them as miracles to be admired for their beauty and function, not as playthings or distractions.  Just clouds, for heaven's sake.

Well, the other day was a "primo" day for clouds, and I decided I was going to attempt to free myself from the label I had attached to myself--the label that said this girl is the rational, organized, analytical, and practical achiever, and the delusion that being a practical realist, not dreaming of what things could be or might become, was a good thing.   I gave the cloud watching another try.  To my surprise, I found success this day as I sat outside on a chair, camera in hand, and named the clouds:
 

Elephant.

Horse.

Airplane.

 

Duck learning to fly.  Is it just me, or do these clouds remind you of our little duck friend?

Seahorse? 

Flying pig.

There was something about being able to find a horse, an airplane, or a flying pig in the clouds that I found uplifting.  Though it started as a challenge, it actually ended up being pure fun and enjoyment.  Perhaps it sounds crazy, but I actually felt like I learned something, like I developed a new skill, or somehow came out of my shell a bit.  I didn't feel guilty about the hour I spent making cloud figurines.  Let me tell ya, for someone like me, that's life changing.  I'm growing up, and I'm finally looking for and finding figures in the clouds.  Sure, I still will score off the charts in the "analytical" category of the Myers-Briggs test, but I will take less pride in it.  I will be aware that there is something valuable about having one's head in the clouds at least some of the time.

Beauty in the World.

First things first.  Be sure you are logged in to http://tshallbetter.blogspot.com/  instead of viewing this post through Facebook Notes (they don't have the music).  Then, be sure your audio is on and the volume turned up.  Take a few deep namaste-type breaths, close your eyes, then take a few more.  Hopefully, by this time, the playlist music has loaded for this blog and Macy Gray's song, Beauty in the World, is now playing on your computer. (If your internet connection is slow like mine, you may need to take a few more deep breaths).  If you are reading this blog after I have already posted new entries, then you'll need to scroll to the playlist at the bottom and then pick out and play the "Beauty in the World" song. Now, here we go.

It might not seem like your type of music.  On first listen, it didn't make me want to get up, throw my hands up, holla, and shake my booty.  But listen to it.  The words, they are fantastic, and if they don't seem to do it for you today, give it time:

I know you’re fed up
Like a lead up for us
All they talk about is
What is going down?
What’s been messed up for us?
When I look around I see blue skies
I see butterflies for us.

I wasn't feelin' "it" today so I went for a drive.  And in so doing, I caught an eyeful of the beauty in the world.  The kind that is tangible, visible, and easy to spot...

Blue skies.  Beautiful.  Clouds?  Beautiful.



   Two weeks ago.                                       One week ago.                                     Two days ago .



Sometimes, it's the eye of the beholder.

But it's always there.

Dandelions.  Weeds, perhaps.  But beauty.  It knows no boundaries.

Listen to the sound and lose it
Its sweet music and dance with me
There is beauty in the world
So much beauty in the world
Always beauty in the world
So much beauty in the world...
.

Shake your booty boys and girls for the beauty in the world
Pick your diamond pick your pearl there is beauty in the world
All together now...

No, I didn't have to look hard to find the diamonds and pearls today.  Unfortunately, or fortunately--depending on how you look at it--on many days and in many circumstances I need to look a bit harder for the diamonds and the pearls.  But, always, they are there.  Somewhere, in something.

....Change is gonna come
Like the weather
They say forever
They say
When they’re in between
Notice the blue skies
Notice the butterflies
Notice me.

Stop and smell the flowers
And lose it the sweet music and dance with me
There is beauty in the world
So much beauty in the world
Always beauty in the world
There is beauty in the world.

For me, it's generally easier to find and see beauty in nature than elsewhere.  But, equally amazing, albeit for me sometimes harder to see, is the beauty that people bring to the world.  Every one of them, people of every kind, and faith.  Even the bad apples, in some way, at some time, I think.  The beauty (just like the ugliness) is there, in every one of us.  Sometimes it is the significant, the man who doesn't leave his wife's side, wipes the dripping milkshake from her chin, and laughs and loves her even though she no longer recognizes him.  It's there in the healthy children playing at a park, and it's there in the sweet ones cooped up in hospital beds getting treatment.  We see it in the moms and dads who cheer their kids on in Special Olympics.  And, we easily see it in the folks with the potential to live very comfortable lives who much prefer to spend their lives and savings working with kids on the street, with people with mental illness, or with fellow humans on other continents who don't enjoy the basic right and blessings that we do.  We see it in those people we try to "help," who somehow find beauty in their unpleasant circumstances. It's there in the people, even the politicians at times, who do their darndest to stand up for what they believe to be fair and right and true, even though, we don't quite see the fair, right and true the same.

More often, it's the mundane; the cashier at the grocery store that takes your word that the butter is on sale for $1.99 even though it didn't ring up like that, the person walking in front of you on the sidewalk who reaches down, picks up, and disposes of that empty paper cup that someone who was not so cognizant of the beauty around had thrown down on the ground.  It's the driver who waves you into his lane.  The postman who covers the extra six cents on your letter instead of "returning to sender."  The neighbor who lends you his tractor, or his time.  Simple and perhaps insignificant, but beautiful. 

I am just so grateful that the beauty is there.  We may have to search for our diamond or pearl, or maybe we are just as pleased to find inexpenive substitutions, but we can find it.  And people do.
  

They find it in this place.  A house next to I-90, with powerlines overhead, and a collection of junk vehicles in the yard?  There's beauty there.  They see it.  I see it.

It's just about getting the right angle.  The right perspective...

The diamonds and pearls may seem rare, trapped in oysters, or in need of polishing.  But they are there.   
 

Shake your booty boys and girls for the beauty in the world
Pick your diamond pick your pearl there is beauty in the world
Heya throw your hands up and holla
Throw your hands up and holla
When you don’t know what to do
Don’t know if you’ll make it through
Remember god is giving you beauty in the world

Hey baby when I’m looking at you
I know it’s fact is true
There is hope for love
There is beauty in the world
Hey baby
Hey baby when I’m looking at you
I know this vibe is true
There’s love
There’s hope for love
There’s beauty in the world.

So, throw your hands up and holla!  Shake your booty.  And promise yourself that if you don't "holla" and "shake your booty" this week, you will use the words "holla" and booty" in a sentence.  It's fun.  And beautiful.



Today's Song:  Beauty in the World by Macy Gray.

The Green Invasion...and Other Visits

Last weekend, the Greens, who call Mississippi their home, dropped in for a visit.  Bonnie, Chris, Hadley and Hudson.  Hadley quickly informed me when I opened the door to welcome them inside, "Mama has a baby in her belly," so, God willing, next time they visit, there will be five of them!

I met my bestie Bonnie in our University days at a PEF meeting.  We were in New Jersey.  Bonnie's parents were in California.  Chris was not yet her husband, but he hailed from Chicago.  I lived in Washington.  We didn't know where we'd end up after University, and indeed, the thumbtacks marking our homes on a map were placed far apart.  In a streak of good fortune, Bonnie's parents relocated/retired to the Tri-Cities.  This is significant because it means that Bonnie and Chris make their way to Washington at least once a year to visit her parents.  And, even better, Bonnie almost always coordinates a visit with me--whether it be her inviting me to join her parents for one of Bonnie's mom's culinary feasts at the house in Tri-Cities, or, Bonnie and Chris making the trek to Cle Elum to visit me! 

Last weekend was the latter.  And for me, it was fabulous.  We fed carrots to the horses...

And to the dogs.  Hudson remains partial to the dogs.

Children picked daffodils,

And, we painted, and colored, and played.

And enjoyed all of the interactions of a big sister and her little bro...

Hudson quickly figured out who could be trusted....and who wouldn't fight with him over crayons or toys.

Hudson loved the dogs.  He would bring them books and sit down beside them as if expecting them to read him a story.

After a good night's sleep (well, for some of us), we walked around Suncadia....

The Green invasion was a welcome one, and a beautiful reminder of the gift of good friends, and the promise of good families.



I love you, Bonnie Green Jeans and family!  Thanks for the visit for the much needed fix of young'ns.  Think that will do me (in) until I visit my niece and nephew!

*****
The sadness of the Greens' departure was softened by a road trip the next day to Pullman to visit my Dad and Sandy.

Dad gave us a tour of the finer (i.e., engineering, facilities, and operationally-related aspects) of WSU.  He also was perceptive enough to see that we actually were more interested in seeing the other aspects of WSU and, among other things, took us to see the Grizzly Bears, including several giant adults and four little bitties! We had lunch at Zeppos (where I later discovered I had left my wallet), we visited and caught up, we watched a couple episodes of "The Viriginian," and almost best of all, we had ice cream at Ferdinand's.

The WORST part--I didn't take any pictures.  Pictures with family are the kind that you cherish and hold on to.  Yet, I didn't take any.  I tried to take one of us in the rain eating ice cream cones in front of Ferdinand's but the camera was finicky and needed adjustment, and it was cold and rainy, and I just said, regrettably, "next time."

The BEST part--not taking any pictures while we were there means we will have to go back soon....