Uphill idealist

My daily reader (Simple Abundance)   had something to teach me about 'Ecopsycology' today. According to the author, Psychologists that embrace " ecopsychology believe that deepening our emotional ties to nature is vital to our well-being as the close personal bonds we pursue with family and friends. When we follow our instincts to leave the city for a weekend in the country, garden in the early morning...visit a zoo... we are responding positively to psychological and physiological urges to connect for survival." (Simple Abundance, Oct 16 entry)  In August of this year, I relocated to a more urban area than I've lived for twenty years, but thankfully where I live is surround by a considerable amount of green space. My living room also connects me to the outside world by a small terrace that looks out onto a green courtyard...this morning I noticed the sweep of fallen yellow leaves dusting its corners. This small change and contrast to the green delighted my ...

It's a work in progress, but I wanted to share a glimpse of what I've been working on for the last several months. The mural is located at First Lutheran Church in Jamestown NY and has been a community effort of the True Sisterhood Jamestown group . It is a rendition of the seasons of a year represented by a tree and landscape scene that changes within the piece.  It's to help depict the Sunday School theme of, "Growing and known in Christ.  Thank you for all your help team TS. We are 90% done! By Easter week this project will be complete! Stay tuned art friends...

Sources of light can bring warmth, discovery, and safety. May your day be filled with moments of authentic warmth, discovery of new joys, and the safety of a heart that is supported just enough to reach out and help someone that is surrounded by darkness.

Image found at Thomas Jefferson Journal. The sound of my feet slapon the blacktop. The padding, panting, and leash jingling of my dog add to the rhythm. Deep breaths followed by thankful exhales, help me press on in this tempo of activity. The sky is hazy, the air is thick with humidity. Sweat is already running down my back and face. This isn't going to be easy. The crickets boldly sing providing the song's base, the morning dove croons her pretty solo for variety, and the frogs bellow a backbeat to cheer me on. I suppose I didn't need my ipod after all. Feet slapping, arms swinging, lungs working and heart pounding. It's time to take this show on the road. T.L. Eastman 2011'

Just when you thought everything was all gray - some sunshine and snow show you different. Photo taken at Strider Field in Jamestown NY/February 2010

Image from Better Photo . Red bird, red bird what is that song? You sing it every morning, every day and every dawn. Red bird, red bird how do you know? The melody that you sing, how it moves me so. Red bird, red bird, will you teach me? To hold that tune close when my heart feels bleak. Red bird, red bird, what did you say? Sing it high or sing it low, but sing it all the way. T.L. Eastman 09'

Lilies of the field and sparrows of the sky have a lovely agreement. The lily looks upwards as the sparrow flies, reaching higher and higher in the sky, and swoops back the greet the lily. Then the lily nods her reply and the sparrow flies by and by. T.L. Eastman 2009'

Waking up to sunshine instead of an alarm, going for a morning walk with my boys, discussing youth ministry efforts in the near-future with a newly assembled team of folks in my small city, putting the plumbing guts of my mother-in-laws above ground pool together with the WHOLE family, eating the first grilled burger of the season outdoors, and topping it all off with watching two episodes of Dr. Who: the Christmas and Easter Specials. The only down side, the massive sunburn on my back and shoulders from misjudging the strength of the spring sunshine. Ouch! Thank God for chilled aloe in the fridge. Ahhhh. After such a long, cold winter - summer is almost, almost here.

Original cat image here . Its a foggy morning washed in damp gray. I see a sleepy serene city, slowly starting its day. School buses stop at each street and are covered in morning dew. Little children dressed in yellow rain coats dance in the mist with their umbrellas, as they wait for dripping folding doors to open and allow them to climb those big black steps inside and sit on a big vinyl green seat. Windshield wipers steadily, but slowly cross my windshield. Keeping the pace with water spitting tires and red stop lights; driving down a hill, up and hill and around the corner. I feel like a gunpowder gray cat that wants to curl up and rest in the quiet of this day. I'd nap away the morning chill till the sunrise dried up the dew and its beams came in my window to wake me. I'd curl back up in a ball, nose to tail, and find a cozy patch of sunlight to sit in. Then I'd think about getting started, maybe. But, I'm already started and halfway there. Engine running, turn si...

Just when I thought the ground would be frozen forever. Just when I thought I'd never be able to wear sandals again. Just when the gray around me couldn't be any grayer and gloomier. I heard it first. A faint honking in the sky. In the V formation that reminds me of the victory of spring almost forgotten. The geese from Canada are passing though town today. They are heading home, for a season of warmth, welcome and rebirth. One goose straggles behind the group. Beating its wings as hard as it can to catch up. I feel like the bird lagging behind. Spring, hurry up. Don't forget me.