Silent Sunday

A Poem for Autumn

Autumn Day
   by Rainer Maria Rilke

Lord: it is time. The summer was immense.
Lay your shadow on the sundials
and let loose the wind in the fields.

Bid the last fruits to be full;
give them another two more southerly days,
press them to ripeness, and chase
the last sweetness into the heavy wine.

Whoever has no house now will not build one anymore.
Whoever is alone now will remain so for a long time,
will stay up, read, write long letters,
and wander the avenues, up and down,
restlessly, while the leaves are blowing.


Translated by Galway Kinnell and Hannah Liebmann,

More Talking Houses!

Here's a few more pictures from the If This House Could Talk project. I really enjoy looking at these!

The first two are from a 1920's Sears Kit House. I thought that was pretty cool. It's a nice little house. I've noticed it before and I like that I know something about it now. Pictures 3-7 are the McClatchy Library. It's about 3 blocks away from where I live so it's the library I go to most often. It was built as a home in the early 1900s and became a library in 1940. The last two pictures are of a talking apartment. I thought that was very clever how they participated!

Silent Sunday

I saw the shuttle!

The space shuttle Endeavour flew over Sacramento this morning as part of its tour around California before it settles into a permanent home at the California Science Center. They said it would circle the Capitol at about 1500 ft. I really had no idea how low 1500 ft was! It was amazingly close and easy to see as it circled the Capitol twice.

There were a lot of people out watching. It was scheduled to arrive about 9:30 but it was actually 9:50 by the time it arrived. I got there about 9:00 - I had meant to come early and get a good parking place. Unfortunately I was lazy but it wasn't too bad. It took me about 15 minutes of looking but I found a lot to park in that was only about three blocks away. So here's some of my pictures. I thought they came out pretty good, especially considering I could hardly see where I was pointing because of the sun. It was very cool to actually see the shuttle though - the pictures don't do it justice.

The first two pictures show a little of the crowds that were there. This was just in the small section I was in. I was across from the Capitol Park and in the park there were hundreds more people. I have no idea who the dinosaurs are or where they were going. It was a cool picture though! Pictures 3-7 show the shuttle, you might have to enlarge them to see it easily. The last three are close-ups I got from cropping. They are blurry but not bad. It was a fun way to start my day! 

A Close Encounter

Despite my unfortunate walk at the park last week, I decided to risk another one. This time I went to a different park though!

McKinley Park has a little lake with ducks and geese but there is also a walking path that avoids them. I walked a little and then went over and sat by the lake. I was taking some pictures when this guy decided to come visit. He (or she) came right up to me, about six inches away at the most. He kept eying my phone, I think he suspected it might be food!

If This House Could Talk

There are a lot of pictures today! I live in a neighborhood that has a number of old homes that were built in the early 20th century. If This House Could Talk is a community project that began today and lasts for a month. Residents were invited to participate by putting up a sign in front of their home that explains a little about its history.

Today was the kick-off day and there was a small street fair and a home tour. I didn't do the home tour but I had a lot of fun walking around and looking at the signs. It was nice to find out about houses that I walk past all the time! The street fair also had a bunch of antique cars which I really liked!

Here are a few of the houses and cars. I didn't see all of them today but over the next month I'll be walking around and taking more pictures. This is just the first post about the houses! I think that at least once a week I realize how pleased I am to be living in this neighborhood. I think it's one of the nicest areas of Sacramento!

 

Life, Love and Loss

I found an interesting blog the other day called The Bridgemaker. The subtitle is "simple paths to positive change." It has some interesting stuff, take a look! Anyway, the post that led me to the blog is called 50 True Things about Life, Love and Loss. I pulled out a few I especially liked to share - if you'd like to read them all, you can click on the link!
 

1. Savor every moment. It’s the only one that is guaranteed.
2. Leave your mistakes in the past. They don’t define your value, then or now.
3. When you hear your inner voice speak, it’s a good idea to listen.
4. Ask for what you want – believe you are worthy to receive it.
5. A leap of faith begins when you start trusting your heart as much as you do your head.
6. Don’t use your words as a weapon.
7. Forgiveness isn’t about letting the other person off the hook; it’s about freeing you of the pain.
8. Celebrate the good things when they happen.
9. You are stronger than you think.
10. Why not you and why not now?
11. Saying nothing can sometimes speak the loudest.
12. Forgive yourself.
13. The temptation to quit is strongest the day before you realize your dream.
14. Look in a mirror and make the commitment to take care of the face you see.
15. Courage is about following your heart in spite of what your head is telling you.
16. Give more than you take – and never keep score along the way.
17. It’s never too later to start over.
18. While love may feel fragile at times, if treated with care, it may bend, but it won’t break.
19. Do something good every day.
20. The point of being human isn’t to fear death, but to live as boldly as you can along the way. 

Time for a poem

Long Enough
  By Richard Hoffman

You would have thought it foolish to speak to the dead,
but I have lived two decades longer now than you
and all this time I have carried you in my head

so I think I have the right to question what you said,
dear teacher. My religious upbringing's residue,
you would have thought it foolish. To speak to the dead,

however, is sometimes necessary, especially haunted
by all the things I know you hoped I'd do
with all this time that I have carried you in my head.

In a dream last night I followed where you led
until you asked me in a loud voice what I knew.
(You would have thought it foolish to speak to the dead,

but I was dreaming and could not refuse.) I said
that you were wrong, that I could see your bitter view
(since all this time I have carried you in my head)

for what it was, and you for who you were. Instead
of dreaming your reply I woke as you withdrew.
You would have thought it foolish to speak to the dead
but all this time I have carried you in my head.

Not my best walk

I went to the park today for a walk. The walk was a good idea but the location didn't work out so great. There's a small lake and I thought I'd walk around it. As you can see from the pictures, there are a lot of ducks and geese. Aside from the worry that a couple of them seemed to want to attack me, their droppings make walking on the path a little difficult. You have to continually look down and watch your step. I tried walking on the grass but it's even worse because it's harder to see! Also the path is very uneven in spots and I felt like I was walking sideways. I made it around the lake though and got a few good pictures.

Returning to my car I pushed my little electronic opener to unlock the car, got inside and went to put the key into the ignition. There was no key. This isn't a regular size key, it's a large one, with a heavy black top so I don't know how I missed that it was gone. I searched through the car, I walked back over the grass to where I was when I took my keys from my pocket, I looked around my car. Nothing. I sat in the car for a few minutes wondering what I was going to do. I have a spare key at home but it was too far to walk so I finally decided I'd have to call AAA. I thought I'd take one more look around the grass before I called. When I got out of the car I realized I hadn't looked underneath it. Yep, there it was, lying near the back tire. I don't know if I dropped it before or after my walk but I was very grateful it was there!

Anyway it was a beautiful day and despite the path and lost key I had a pleasant time. After retrieving my key, I sat in my car and read for awhile and that made everything better!

Pictures from my walk