Author: Anne Doyle

Seeing

Threads

Anne Doyle3 Comments

I’m looking out my office window at a humongous spider web. Impressive in its design, it is intricate, delicate and sturdy. I took my camera out earlier this morning hoping to capture an image of it, but alas, my skills are too paltry. I spied while there, though, the web’s creator. A big, brown arachnid with legs tucked sat right in the center of its domain waiting, waiting, waiting. Now, though, it has moved on to some other venue leaving his creation to do its work. Thus far I see only a small bit of leaf blown onto the sticky net by the passing lawn mower. I feel for any creature that might find itself ensnared and yet that’s nature’s way.

Funny to think that I might have missed seeing this altogether if those incredibly fine silk threads had not caught a glimmer of the early morning sun light. It pays to watch for glimmers, but that’s another story…

I’ll keep an eye on this awesome work through the day and see what happens.

Listening

A visit to the past

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As the photo in the previous post suggests, I visited the Denver Museum of Science and Nature yesterday.   It was like a trip down memory lane since we used to go there quite often with a trail of youngsters in tow.   Now my little one is taller than me, but she was still enthralled by the dinosaurs.  And she knows so much more science now that it makes wandering the path through the various exhibits a new experience.

I was glad to find however that there is a younger set (yes, even younger than sixteen) that still runs there.  Their loud exclamations of surprise and wonder fill the halls.  But it’s the little side comments that I love.  Here were the two snippets  that I overheard that almost put me on the floor rolling with laughter:

  • A tiny little boy all of three feet tall looking up at the humongous T-Rex that was fifty tall if he was an inch, said, “He isn’t so tall; he must be a baby.”
  • A little girl in the Egyptian room held her arms stiffly at her side and hopped on both feet while singsonging, “I’m hopping like a mummy…I’m hopping like a mummy!”

It tickled me good, but maybe you had to be there…

On My Walks

On My Walks

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 . 

The other day walking along the trail next to my house, these signs drew my attention.  Who passing by would need reminders of these basic practices?  And yet, just a few steps away there is dog poop on the path…left, I’m sure, by someone completely surprised by and consequently ill-prepared for Fido’s need to relieve himself while outdoors.

My question is, would anyone behave differently if these signs weren’t present?  If that is true, then do these signs qualify as litter themselves?

Care to voice an opinion?

Words

Words

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So first I need to take time to look into my own self, to find in myself a willingness to be vulnerable, honest about my own story, its roots and its past, confronting the reality without attempting to escape into fantasy or nostalgia. For when I am attentive to where I am standing, I will also be attentive to where the other is standing, and only then will I be truly prepared to listen to them. There is nothing more important than this. It sounds so easy. Yet it is demanding, and essential, for it is fundamental, foundational. It means listening, the totality of listening, not only with ears but also with eyes.
—-Esther de Waal, To Pause at the Threshold, 2001

Reflecting

Technical difficulties

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If you’ve visited this site very often, you might have noticed that I love to post photographs.  They are usually of something that has captured my fancy, perhaps something slightly whimsical.

But I haven’t put up very many of late because my camera has developed a big problem:  it has no clarity.   It comes with a wonderful feature known as autofocus.  That feature is malfunctioning or just plain broken.  All the pictures come out looking fuzzy.

Afflicted with my own bout of the same, I haven’t been able to decide whether or not to send it for factory repairs.  Finally the other day, I just declared that it would be silly to send it off for $80+ to be fixed when I could buy a new camera with better features for $130.  Yet, when I went to the store yesterday the model I desired was out of stock.

And so, we wait.  I will get a new camera and I will take more pictures that I post here to help show bits of my world.

Now if I could reach the same level of clarity about my own status…

Stay tuned.  There is definitely more to come!