Above: Underground Mouse, watercolor, by Roberta Hoffman

The following consortium of musings was inspired by National Helper, Alexandra Boyer:

– Sunlight shining through a rabbit’s ears on my back lawn

– The sound of wind chimes below my window when I’m falling asleep

– The feel of fresh air on my face from an open window when I wake up

– Wind blowing through the twin cedars in my yard, each branch and needle moving uniquely while they all combine in a fabulous dance

– The sound of my husband’s velvety laugh when he’s relaxed at the end of the day

– Smell of freshly baked brownies

– My sisters’ faces right after we finish Latihan

Glimmers of Beauty

by Fayra Teeters

What I’ve learned from my 49 years’ marriage to Don Teeters is that the secret sauce to going the distance with a life-long partner is Compromise. Your never get a reality that matches 100% of your mental pictures. The key is to meet in the never-neverland space between your two internal realities – in the Land of Compromise. And it’s not always a 50/50 split. Sometimes it’s 30% Fayra and 70% Don; but then the next time it’s 60% Fayra and 40% Don – and on and on in the dance of life. When we forget to struggle and choose to compromise, that’s a daily miracle that contributes to our ongoing journey together.

We have a membership in the Oregon Gardens in Silverton and visit this magical place at least once a week thoroughly enjoying not only the obvious beauty of the well-planted, well-tended garden, but because it’s never the same. The garden is always changing as to which plants are currently flowering, blossoming, or putting out new and differently colored shoots. But my perception of each vista in the garden is constantly changing in relation to the light or shadow playing across the landscape.

Notes of beauty in my Everyday Life

by Jim O’Halloran

“Everyday” has been quite an anomaly as this week has centered around a truly lovely and inspiring family wedding. All the better! Here are a few vignettes:

Meeting Gimpy the turkey vulture, who has an injured right middle toe. The other birds pick on Gimpy, so individuals in the neighborhood sneak Gimpy food after the other birds move on.

The group of 15 to 20 young African women in hijabs hanging out late enjoying boba.

The play of sunlight on spiderwebs in the morning gentle breeze.
Brickwork patterns created by alternating protruding edges at corners, resulting in my gratitude that such work was valued and encouraged as the buildings were constructed.

A huge dog standing on a patio bench in order to see over the fence and witness the goings-on in the street.

Walking through a neighborhood enjoying poetry inscribed in the sidewalks, a city project featuring poems in Lakota, English, Laotian, Spanish, and Somali; a program funded by the city.

Witnessing 100’s of Monarch butterflies!
Hearing, seeing, and feeling classic Midwest thunderstorms-actually amazing to a Seattle guy.

The best part? Feeling and experiencing the coming together of group intent, commitment, and support between multiple families, friends, and relatives at a wedding which included traditional, blended and less traditional families. Feeling the fullness of spirit and joy in that coming together of so many people for a common purpose; and actually, deeply feeling the benefit throughout, including the benefit to my own marriage.

Notes of Beauty in my Everyday Life

By Anna Schroeder

I have to say the notes of everyday beauty have changed for me in the last five years.
I used to love to wake up to the smell of coffee brewing, in the morning. It meant my husband was awake, alive. I used to walk in the woods first thing to see what had changed: a new flower? a new mushroom? A new baby skunk wondering blindly along the path ahead?

I would pocket each sighting in my brain bank to look back on during the day which held hard challenges.
The day wasn’t unbearable. There would be a smile, a song, an insight.
The night got long as I never felt physically or emotionally able to give enough.

Now after a couple of years, my husband is gone and I am slowly able to see, and hear beauty again.
My hard heart, conditioned for survival, is starting to soften and open again.
Like a baby seeing color for the first time, things seem new again.
Flowers petals let light through like stained glass.
Songs have complexity of sound that flutter around tickling my brain cells.
Life has possibility. Art seems like an Honorarium to the different stages of our lives.