catnipoflife

Observe life at its best, Listen to life’s songs, Embrace life’s bounties, Breathe the breath of life, Savor life to its fullest!

Jun 30

Inspiration: Evanescence

by catnipoflife

Flickriver: Most Interesting Bugs

*****

The dissipating misty morning fog and the afterglow of dawn’s early light fade and gradually vanish from sight. Flashes of iridescent blue quickly appear as a dragonfly skims across the water and glistens in the sunlight. Morning glories stretch and yawn unraveling their splendor in early morning to all too quickly fade after only a few hours pleasure.


In the midst of it all lie remnants of an enchanting dream, perhaps even a nightmare, reflecting particles of hope within rainbow thoughts. At the end of day, the shimmering soft silver essence at twilight embodies a romantic mood as soothing as the mysticism of song.

Evanescence

*****
Between dawn and sunrise
Where time seems to stand still
The sun not yet visible
Ascends in slow motion until…

Sunlight scatters along the horizon
Where clouds catch the first rays of dawn
Erupting into a blaze of color
Only heaven could possibly spawn

Standing on the edge of silence
A sense of calm penetrates the soul
Hovering between darkness and light
Sheer magnificence to behold

Between sunset and dusk
Day’s last light seems to stand still
The sun barely visible
Descends in slow motion until…

Intense color splashes across the horizon
Where the sky catches the sun’s last rays
Illuminating a thin veil of haziness
Below the clouds that are now ablaze

A silhouetted figure lost and alone
Against the pending backdrop of night
Grasps the last red-orange rays of the sun
Fervently kissing the day’s twilight

With radiant images now past
The world becomes shrouded in gray
While the twinkling of night’s first stars
Engulfs the glories of the day

catnipoflife ©2012
Sharla Lee Shults

Lessons in the Evanescence from a Dragonfly

 Click HERE!

“Don’t be afraid of the shadows, that only means there’s a light nearby.”
― Evanescence

Inspiration PoetrybySharla Uncategorized

12 Comments »
Jun 27

The World of the Extraordinary

by catnipoflife

Sometimes it is silent
Yet its still voice is heard
Sometimes it is swift
Like the flight of a bird

Sometimes you miss it
Other times its voice is clear
Sometimes you wonder
Is it far away or near?


Sometimes it is bright
Yet hides inside shadows
Sometimes you find it
Openly in meadows

Sometimes you feel it
Without slightest of touch
Sometimes it whispers
Inspiring as such


Sometimes it is alone
Or so it seems
Sometimes it is shared
In life, in dreams

Sometimes it is real
Often it is imaginary
It is the pulse of life
The world of the extraordinary

“If you let yourself be absorbed completely, if you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.”
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Inspiration PoetrybySharla

4 Comments »
Jun 17

To all Fathers. . .

by catnipoflife

“I talk and talk and talk, and I haven’t taught people in 50 years what my father taught by example in one week.”
~Mario Cuomo

A true father is a hero
In a special sort of way
He’s always there for comfort
Throughout the night and day

He picks you up
Gently when you fall
He’s there to help
Whenever you call

Questions always arise
Answers he’ll always know
Agreement comes and goes
Sometimes yes, sometimes no

He sees you make mistakes
Helps you overcome fear
Provides encouragement
Every day of the year

He’s full of wisdom
More than you know
That reality sets in
As you grow and grow

His heart is filled with passion
Passion for love and life
With eyes forever watchful
Protective during strife

When you least expect it
He’ll catch you by surprise
You’ll know what’s in his heart
You’ll see it in his eyes

©2012 catnipoflife

A Quote for Today PoetrybySharla

4 Comments »
Jun 5

Messages in the Wind. . .

by catnipoflife

“Simple messages are potent. Stay tuned in. . .” ~catnipoflife

Gentle whispers of the wind
Echo of days gone by
Unveiling nostalgic thoughts
Within a windswept sigh

Walking along the seashore
Sunbeams radiate warmth
Soaking into the bare skin
Any day, any month

Strands of tousled hair
Crisscross about the face
Swirling, twirling wisps
Completely out of place

A sudden short burst of wind
Forces a swift brush of the hand
Providing view of a sea gull
Standing proudly upon the sand

First there’s only one in sight
Then, out of the blue more and more
Massing along the shoreline
As they’ve done many times before

Assembling in loose flocks
Together as companion and friend
Side-by-side they stand
Decoding messages in the wind

Gentle breezes, whirling gusts
Boast of a whisper-quiet hue
Don’t miss a single moment
What does the wind say to you?

A Quote for Today Inspiration PoetrybySharla

5 Comments »
May 13

Mother’s Day

by catnipoflife

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” ~Tenneva Jordan

 To my mother, Anita Louise Weston Lee (1919 – 2010):

You Don’t Seem So Far Away

 Sometimes you seem so far away
Memorable moments shorten the way

Moments you firmly held my hand
Guiding me along life’s hardened land

Distance spans an epic terrain
Visions of your smile block out any pain

Smiles of delight as well as tears
Carrying us through the roughest years

As tears fall with each passing day
Voice of memory keeps sadness astray

In other words. . .

Though you seem so far away
You are as close as my thoughts

Thoughts remaining ever so clear
Never to fade from year to year

Images implanted in my mind
Lift my spirits at any time

Spirits to refresh my soul
Keeping me toward life’s goal

 For you see. . .

 Thoughts of you eternally stay
You don’t seem so far away

Echoes ©2012
Sharla Lee Shults

From: catnipoflife
To: all Mothers near and far


May your sons and daughters
Know how special you are

PoetrybySharla

2 Comments »
Apr 21

Life IS a Bed of Roses

by catnipoflife

Roses and Thorns @amritham99@wordpress.com Click the rose. . .

We have all heard the expression “a rose is a rose…” Knowledge of this sentiment may be attributed to its reference in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the poem Sacred Emily by Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) or The Rose Family by Robert Frost (1874-1963). Each of these famous poetic encounters focuses on the softness and loveliness of what we have come to know as the rose. Would a rose by any other name still be a rose? Of course, it would be the same flower only its name would be different. Now, that brings a strange thought to mind: If the rose had been named ‘dandelion’ from its inception, then a dozen dandelions would be the perfect affirmation of love!

Let’s get back to the rose as we know it: Showy clusters of big, cherry, ruffled petals emanating a slight spicy fragrance. Oh, but don’t stop there for with the rose’s flowery essence is its accompanying thorny stem. Um-m-m? With that, another thought enters the mind in the form of a question: Have you ever heard anyone exclaim, “Wow! Those are great thorns on that rose. I’ll take a dozen.”? Sounds silly, doesn’t it? Of course it does. Yet, the statement “life is NOT a bed of roses” falls into a similar category and has been around a long, long time. Its meaning is based solely upon the perception of the rose’s soft, velvety petals and sweet succulent aroma that can calm the most brutal of stormy encounters.Perhaps we should give this ‘rosy’ situation a little deeper thought. If we lie upon a bed of roses, will only its velvety touch prevail? Probably not unless we lie only upon the petals of the rose. Maybe we should say, “Life is NOT a bed of rose petals.” Seems more appropriate. Um-m-m-m? Let’s see. Remember, we have those prickly thorns to consider.

Let’s continue with thoughts as questions. Is life, in and out of love, always protected? Do we continuously experience love and compassion with only a mere thought or desire within a magic touch? Are all thoughts of hurt and sadness abandoned with blissful events filling the cracks and crevices of our mind? Does rain bring forth showers of refreshment without any possibility of a stormy outcome? If wishes were automatically granted, would life, love and happiness include extravagance without times of despair? Such thoughts shed a different light on whether life might indeed be a bed of roses! For me, life IS a bed of roses and I thank my mom and dad for preparing me for life’s many thorns and instilling in me the importance of perseverance.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree on this profound theory of life among the roses? After reading bed of roses, share your thoughts on this thorny matter. . .

Photo Credit: 123Greetings.com

“With the beauty of the rose comes its thorny stem.
Life captures the essence of the rose for it too is beautiful
but filled with many thorns.”

bed of roses

dewdrops glisten in the morning light
gently resting on the petals of a rose
a sunbeam reveals a dark shade of green
while a mild fragrance permeates the nose

swift movements,smooth clips with the blade
the perfect long stems are carefully sought
elated with the feeling of surprising a true love
a thorny prick awakens a dreamy thought

throbbing sensations snap the mind back to reality
for love is rare that does not inflict pain
enduring heartaches,harnessing desires
genuine and caring,until all is well again

red roses symbolize passionate love
those that are yellow keep hearts bright as day
talismans hold dreams of tomorrow
while the white embellish true love all the way

so, my love, keep these roses close to your heart
protected and secure with love’s seal
for life is a bed of roses,full of many thorns
sharp,cutting,but not without the power to heal

©2004 Echoes
Sharla Lee Shults

“But he who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose.”
~ Anne Brontë

PoetrybySharla

8 Comments »
Apr 6

Thoughts on the Easter Lily

by catnipoflife

Sometimes we ponder and ponder in hopes of eventually mustering the right words to tender an emotion, offer inspiration or purpose newfound knowledge. That is exactly where I found myself today as thoughts were enveloped in the “spiritual essence of Easter.”

Ah-h-h-h! The wonders of the Internet directed my fingers toward exploring its limitless boundaries in search of something overpowering. Webcrawlers fetched page after page delivering data, information, pictures, videos, etc.  At the end of the day, a plethora of windows had opened stroking my heartstrings with sights and sounds of wonder and passion. For every time a window opened a new window was discovered that led to another window and . . . Oh, my! Sounds like something venomous caught in a silky web waiting to be a tasty appetizer while life begins to ebb! Doesn’t it?

Needless to say, my efforts were not in vain. The words of my heart had already been written and laid to rest upon the sands of time to be revisited and never forgotten. Now, I share with you, my readers and followers, what thoughts I discovered on the Easter Lily. . .

Thoughts on the Easter Lily

“Rightly the lily is the flower of Easter. It lies buried in the ooze of pond or stream. There is  the grave of the dead lily that appeals to nostril or eye. But silently the forces of life are  dark and the damp to prepare a glorious resurrection. A shaft of green shoots upward toward the sun. This is followed by a cluster of tiny buds. One day the sun smiles with special warmth upon the dank, black ooze, and there leaps into the light a creature of light and beauty; it is the lily, an angel of the earth, whose look is light.”

—Author Unknown

Blooming of Easter Lilies

Having become totally absorbed in the thoughts on the Easter lily, click the video clip to the right and witness a time lapse of the Blooming of Easter Lilies.

History of the Easter Lily

How did the lily come to grace the fields of America? The cultivation of lilies did not originate in the United States for the lily is a native of Japan. History reveals the account of a WW I soldier, Luis Houghton, bringing a suitcase full of hybrid lily bulbs to the South coast of Oregon in 1919. Houghton freely distributed bulbs to his friends and neighbors. Because of the events of WW II, the Japanese source of bulbs was abruptly cut off. Therefore, those growing lilies as a hobby noted the value of lily bulbs sky-rocketing and many decided to go into business on their own. At that time, Easter lily bulbs were known as “White Gold,” resulting in cultivators attempting to cash in on the crop. By 1945, there were about 1,200 growers producing bulbs up and down the Pacific coast, from Vancouver, Canada to Long Beach, California.

The Lily. . .

Of course, this post cannot end without my own personal atonement to. . .


The Lily. . .

Sounding of trumpets
Extol the most high
Rallying a crowd
No one should deny

Calls to drill and battle
Resound a time nigh
Echoing surrender
Or a battle cry

No white, just crimson
Adorn the fields
Beds of blood and bone
A battle yields

Within times’ passing
Ghastly signs disappear
Blades of bright green
Awaken thoughts held dear

Slender stalks emerge
Rising from earthy graves
Flaunting scaly bulbs
Pompous as ocean waves

Milky-white trumpets
Surge with praises toward the sky
Spiritual essence of Easter
Extols the most high

©2012 catnipoflife 
Sharla Lee Shults

“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.”
Song of Solomon 2:1

Happy Easter to all and may your day be filled with blessings beyond words!

PoetrybySharla

6 Comments »
Apr 1

Daily Reflection

by catnipoflife

We all write because we have a passion for sharing knowledge and understanding that will somehow embrace someone else’s life. Of course, with writing comes a lot of reading. Whether it is selected for research, entertainment or enrichment, each of us seek encouragement and reach out for visions in our own unique way.

A very important aspect of life is that of daily reflection, which comes in many forms, shapes and sizes. It is a means for sharing love, dreams and inspiration to send a heart racing, free a heart from grief, or perhaps offer a path for forgiveness.  Emotional journeys are the keystones for setting experiences or imaginations to paper. Poetry is a formidable mode of expression to soothe the heart and lift the spirit. Fiction explores a world seen through the mind’s eye and casts imaginations into depths often times seemingly unfathomable. Non-fiction offers a path to obtain information or to experience art and relive/revive history.

For whatever reason you write or desire to write, keep that passion alive! Let your fingers take their daily walks (across the keyboard or glide effortlessly with pen and paper in hand) as your mind expands all horizons working out the creativity stored in the scrapbook of your mind.

Everyone has a story to tell and every story has its time and place to be read among thousands upon thousands waiting to be discovered.

Reflect on your mental imagery and that which is stored in your Scrapbook of the Mind. . .

Scrapbook of the Mind

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wild flowers adorn a country hillside
Emanating shades of purple and green
Intermingled poppies add accents of gold
And overshadow new buds in between

Pastel colors gleam within a rainbow
Creating a hand-painted watercolor sky
Honeybees swarm feasting on sweet nectar
As passers-by dreamily let out a sigh

Fields of green expand the horizon
Rich in chlorophyll from the warm sun
Ardent admirers decide to linger
Tempted to take off their shoes and run

Tall twin oaks appear majestic in the distance
Offering cool shade after the summer rain
Travelers venture outward stepping into a picture
Wanting to remain, never to leave again

Visions through a rear view mirror
Capture picture-perfect images of a rare find
Eyelids blink at shutter speed
Storing mental pictures in the scrapbook of the mind

©Echoes 2004
Sharla Lee Shults

“Just as pieces stitched together in a quilt warm our bodies,
scrapbooks bind together memories to warm our hearts. “

PoetrybySharla

4 Comments »
Mar 28

Do you have a favorite pet?

by catnipoflife

At different points in life, you have probably had one or more pets of different breeds, colors, sizes, and ages. Of all the pets that have been a blessing along life’s journey, there is more than likely one which stands out above all the rest. THE one may be cutesy-wootsie, bullmaster, Miss Priss, goofball, scruff mutt or any of hundreds of possible descriptors. But, the fact remains he\she was (is) YOUR pet, your friend, your companion.

My husband (Jim) and I have been fortunate to have had many pets from gerbils to dogs to cats each with their own unique personalities and of course, tales of laughter and woe. The gerbils by far left their mark many times over, especially when middle daughter felt sad for the male and female to be in separate cages. “But, Mommy, I only let them play together a few minutes!”

Then,  there was Dock, the short-haired tabby that was rescued from old seadogs along the dock of the bay. ‘Fishbait’, I don’t think so! As a tiny kitten he fit in the palm of one hand and was brought home in hubby’s shirt pocket. One of his best Kodak moments was the time he shared his supper time with the mouse. Yep, there they were eating out of the same bowl glancing over at each other between bites. Naturally, it was a missed Kodak moment because the camera is never close by when you need it.

The raccoons were never really pets but did enjoy visiting the back porch and absolutely loved the dry cat food. The thing is the cat food was kept in a Rubbermaid storage bench. Here they were these two hungry rascals just at dusk – one would lift open the bench seat and hold it while the other got his fill. Then, they would trade places gorging on the tasty morsels as though they had not eaten in a week. You would think once they realized they were not alone away they would run. Nope, not these two! They looked up as though they knew it was time to go and one behind the other slowly meandered off the porch, down the steps disappearing into the twilight.

There are dozens of stories with Chief (the labrador) and Prince (the dalmatian) being the only dogs that graced our premises. Dogs are just great for kids, especially our son. These two, however, were nothing but just kids themselves. Prince was always the instigator with Chief nipping at his heels. The telephone call to the animal control was the clincher. Seems a call was received from a boat owner that could not get on his boat because of the dogs. The funny part is the phone call. “Sir, what seems to be the problem?” asked the dispatcher. The owner replied, “I need to get on my boat. There are two dogs – one is onboard guarding the boat while the other jumps in and swims!” It was about this same time we called in trying to locate our dogs who were missing.

Needless to say, today we have two cats, Foxie and Boots. Both were rescued under different circumstances. Foxie is a dilute calico and Boots is a grey long hair. You hardly see one without the other, especially during play time. They think the field mouse in the back yard is their play thing. They don’t hurt it, just scamper around chasing it through the yard until it gets tired. Then, they mosey off and let it go its own way.

As I said in the beginning, there is always that one pet that pulls at your heartstrings and has you wrapped around its paws. For us, it is Our Foxie. . .

PoetrybySharla

25 Comments »
Mar 24

We Share the Same Dreams

by catnipoflife

There is a question that to this day still perplexes me: Why not make any day a Valentine’s Day? Is it just the cards, flowers and gifts on this one day that make the heart truly sing? I don’t think so!

Think about it. Each day begins with a sunrise and ends with a sunset. There are dawnings and there are twilights each flaunting spectacular colors equal to the challenge of any prism. From delicate to blazing, butterscotch to psychedelic hues, watercolor pallets emerge in a burst that fathoms beyond all imagination. Showers of gold outline sunsets of pink and echo angelic views across vast landscapes and open seas. As we rise each morning and retire each evening, the angels dance across both clear and cloudy skies leaving footprints of illusion. These are perfect times as nature’s paintbrush wisps through the clouds, over the horizon and across the seas. Can you see it?

Um-m-m-m? But what about the between hours? Are they not equally as poignant?

Vibrant blue morning glories gradually shifting to natural shades of purple enhance the splendors of the day— subtle, delicate, perfectly balanced. From the low, warm light of mornings and late afternoons to the mystics of the night time, all around us nature awakens, ever emerging, ever changing. Do you feel it?

Lights, sound, action! What a magnificent, anything but silent, motion picture right before our eyes—rumbles of distant thunder announcing a Springtime shower, the roaring of the ocean along the beach in Summer, the rustle of leaves in Autumn, the crunching of footfalls in the dry snow of Winter! Can you hear it?

The smell of rain along a dusty road, salty sea spray to raw ocean smells, smell of bayberry and cinnamon, and the burning smell of a cozy open fire invite all to lift their noses and take a deep breath. Do you smell it?

Delight comes with candlelit dinners for two, double straws in a single vanilla float, cuisines of festivals with every crumb taste tested, gripping taste of hot cocoa around a blazing campfire and so much more. Can you taste it?

Love is sharing whether by sight, feel, sound, smell or taste. Share with the one you love that in love, We Share the Same Dreams. . .

 

PoetrybySharla

5 Comments »
«Older Entries
Newer Entries »
Blog at WordPress.com.