This little bluebird didn’t make it threw the process. It broke before it could get fired in the kiln. This happens with ceramics. It’s a process that puts a lot of stress on the artwork… drying the clay without cracks, moving it into the kiln without breaking, firing up to 1600 – 1800 degrees for the bisque firing and a second firing that can be as high as 2200 degrees for the glaze…
It’s a metaphor for how life can be… We take it for granted that things won’t break when sometimes things do break and sometimes things don’t turn out the way we want it to… but in the end everything turns out just right… whether we like it or not.
Bluebird #18 may he rest in peace.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Bluebird #17
There are places around town where people gather for one reason or another. They come together for a fellowship of hope. A lot of times the places are churches or temples and sometimes the people that meet there are not of that particular faith. This is not a religious posting today (and it would be wise not to expect one from me even though it is December, just sayin’).
Every Saturday I go to this place to meet my friends for an hour. I know of several 12 step meetings held at this location. This place has a banquet hall that is used often by their own parish. There is a school on the premises. I also know that this place has emergency funds for people in need and they are one of Food Shares Pantry Partners too. There is a lot of hope being generated in this location… and shared.
Bluebird #17 Landed at the Presbyterian Church on the corner where Poli & Lincoln meet.
Every Saturday I go to this place to meet my friends for an hour. I know of several 12 step meetings held at this location. This place has a banquet hall that is used often by their own parish. There is a school on the premises. I also know that this place has emergency funds for people in need and they are one of Food Shares Pantry Partners too. There is a lot of hope being generated in this location… and shared.
Bluebird #17 Landed at the Presbyterian Church on the corner where Poli & Lincoln meet.
Bluebird #16
Where is Bluebird #16? Where did 16 go? He was here in the flock... what? He flew the coop?! He went out on his own to find a place of hope himself?!! Well, there you go!
Bluebird 16 flew the coop... destination unknown!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Bluebird #15
Food, the topic is food, feeding people who can’t afford food… I just spent the last hour looking at statistics of poverty and housing expenses in Ventura County. It is a wonder that any of us can keep a roof over our heads with the housing cost… looking at the numbers I wondered how I do it.
Most of us can afford to buy food. We get to go to the grocery store and pick the food we like & want to eat. Others don’t have that luxury. There are places in town who feed people who are in need of a meal.
I just went to the Food Share website http://www.foodshare.com/ and found a plethora of information. Catholic Charities is listed as a Pantry Partner which provides free fresh food to people who can’t afford to buy their own. Catholic Charities also provide meals daily to people who find themselves homeless. There is a ton of information on the Food Share website including lists of shelters & other services. If you know of anyone in need of assistance, this website is a great resource.
Catholic Charities is located on the corner of Ventura Avenue & Park Row. And this is where Bluebird # 15 landed today.
Most of us can afford to buy food. We get to go to the grocery store and pick the food we like & want to eat. Others don’t have that luxury. There are places in town who feed people who are in need of a meal.
I just went to the Food Share website http://www.foodshare.com/ and found a plethora of information. Catholic Charities is listed as a Pantry Partner which provides free fresh food to people who can’t afford to buy their own. Catholic Charities also provide meals daily to people who find themselves homeless. There is a ton of information on the Food Share website including lists of shelters & other services. If you know of anyone in need of assistance, this website is a great resource.
Catholic Charities is located on the corner of Ventura Avenue & Park Row. And this is where Bluebird # 15 landed today. Bluebird #14
There is a building on Fir Street that I go to several times a week at noon to meet with some friends. It is a place where we talk about our experience, strength and hope on a daily basis. We share our successes and our defeats. Some of us live on the hill and some of us barely have a sleeping bag. There is always coffee. In this building I find hope.
Bluebird #14 landed on the brick wall just outside the door today as I was walking in.
Bluebird #14 landed on the brick wall just outside the door today as I was walking in.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
December 15
Where does hope live?
The Bluebirds of Hope have been quiet for a couple of days. This project has been a true exercise for me. I know I have said it in previous postings but the more days that pass the more interesting it gets. And when I say interesting I mean hard. Pulling the hope from within to share with you is easy some days and not so much on others. Sure I could write something everyday that sounded like a Hallmark card but that is not the point. I am doing this because it isn’t easy pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps everyday. Some days we just don’t feel like it. And if it goes to long then we get apathetic and the world becomes a bleak place.
Part of the reason I decided to do this project is that I have the time. I don’t have any work this month when I need to work this month. The idea of sharing hope with the world when I needed some myself seemed like a good exercise in faith. I still believe in the concept. But I have to walk the walk if I am going to talk the talk.
This week I hit a wall and what I realized was that with this project being daily I am counting the days and by counting the days I am focusing more and more that I don’t have work. And then the fear starts rolling in like high tide.
Now I am not complaining, I am explaining where I stand… because I don’t think I am standing alone here. And so I had to take a step back and breathe. Breathe out the fear and breathe in the faith. Already a solution has arrived and I can focus on the issues at hand: bluebirds.
Hope is wishing that something good will happen. Faith is knowing that it will. And Trust is total confidence that it will all be taken care of.
So stay tuned there could be a Bluebird landing somewhere near you…
The Bluebirds of Hope have been quiet for a couple of days. This project has been a true exercise for me. I know I have said it in previous postings but the more days that pass the more interesting it gets. And when I say interesting I mean hard. Pulling the hope from within to share with you is easy some days and not so much on others. Sure I could write something everyday that sounded like a Hallmark card but that is not the point. I am doing this because it isn’t easy pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps everyday. Some days we just don’t feel like it. And if it goes to long then we get apathetic and the world becomes a bleak place.
Part of the reason I decided to do this project is that I have the time. I don’t have any work this month when I need to work this month. The idea of sharing hope with the world when I needed some myself seemed like a good exercise in faith. I still believe in the concept. But I have to walk the walk if I am going to talk the talk.
This week I hit a wall and what I realized was that with this project being daily I am counting the days and by counting the days I am focusing more and more that I don’t have work. And then the fear starts rolling in like high tide.
Now I am not complaining, I am explaining where I stand… because I don’t think I am standing alone here. And so I had to take a step back and breathe. Breathe out the fear and breathe in the faith. Already a solution has arrived and I can focus on the issues at hand: bluebirds.
Hope is wishing that something good will happen. Faith is knowing that it will. And Trust is total confidence that it will all be taken care of.
So stay tuned there could be a Bluebird landing somewhere near you…
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Bluebird #13
Bluebird #13… Two birds in one day… yeee-ow!
After the doldrums of yesterday and figuring out where #12 was to go on the 13th, I was still in a quandary as to where to put #13!! Procrastination or constipation don’t work for this project at all. The days keep coming, day after day. Figuring out where hope lives is a full time job.
Libraries have been a place of inspiration for me. Curiosity is something that keeps me going. I hope that I am curious to the day I die. When I lived in Pasadena I would go to the main branch on Walnut. I would get lost in the books for hours. I caught up reading literature that I was supposed to have read in High School English… let’s just say I missed a couple of classes and Cliff Notes aren’t the same. I looked at art books with beautiful prints of paintings and sculpture. This curiosity got me back to college when it meant something to me.
Today when I went to both the Avenue Library and the E.P. Library I was happy to see both places in use by many: little ones with their grandmother, elementary students with tutors and teenagers doing homework. At the Avenue Library there were a couple of older women at the back table reading the newspaper, some fellas on the computers and a group of 4th or 5th graders with a tutor in the children’s section. There was even a young man just outside the door playing his guitar. And of course the two friendly ladies at the front desk who I love to chat with about books.
Well it seemed fitting that #13 be placed at my neighborhood library because there still is a library in my neighborhood. It is well used and well stocked for such a small place. Bluebird #13 landed in the Avenue Library right next to “Louise: The Adventures of a Chicken”.
After the doldrums of yesterday and figuring out where #12 was to go on the 13th, I was still in a quandary as to where to put #13!! Procrastination or constipation don’t work for this project at all. The days keep coming, day after day. Figuring out where hope lives is a full time job.
Libraries have been a place of inspiration for me. Curiosity is something that keeps me going. I hope that I am curious to the day I die. When I lived in Pasadena I would go to the main branch on Walnut. I would get lost in the books for hours. I caught up reading literature that I was supposed to have read in High School English… let’s just say I missed a couple of classes and Cliff Notes aren’t the same. I looked at art books with beautiful prints of paintings and sculpture. This curiosity got me back to college when it meant something to me.
Today when I went to both the Avenue Library and the E.P. Library I was happy to see both places in use by many: little ones with their grandmother, elementary students with tutors and teenagers doing homework. At the Avenue Library there were a couple of older women at the back table reading the newspaper, some fellas on the computers and a group of 4th or 5th graders with a tutor in the children’s section. There was even a young man just outside the door playing his guitar. And of course the two friendly ladies at the front desk who I love to chat with about books.
Well it seemed fitting that #13 be placed at my neighborhood library because there still is a library in my neighborhood. It is well used and well stocked for such a small place. Bluebird #13 landed in the Avenue Library right next to “Louise: The Adventures of a Chicken”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
