LAST MINUTE PLEA FOR VOTES -- ENDS ON 12TH - TOP 200 CONSIDERED FOR SCHOLARSHIP

My Favorite Photo (I've Ever Taken) Brickfish

ST JAMES FESTIVAL - CALTIGIRONE

St. James is the patron saint for Caligirone and his feast day is 25 July. Every year on the 24th and 25th, the 142 steps of the Scala di Santa Maria dei Monte (each riser decorated in different styles, colors and patterns) are lit up by thousands of lamps fueled by olive oil. At 9:30 in the evening, the town lights are turned out and one long wick is lit that runs to all the cups (think of a domino chain) lighting the design.

One of newer churches in town ...it was built after 1669 when the major earthquake distroyed much of the town ...
Ceramic tiles set in a bridge wall ...
A guard at the entrance to the government building ...

The staircase with thousands of people lighting candles ...
Thousands of individual candles set on a huge staircase -- each with an outer wrapper of red, green or white paper (the colors of the Italian flag) laid out in a design selected the town council of Caltigirone. The red figure at the far end is St. James.
Looking down the stairs (another visit to town, Don and I watched the candle lighting from about where the white car on the left is).
The stairs of Caltigirone without the candles -- another visit.

CARMELA'S FLOWERS

Carmela (our landlady) could make a dead stick grow! Here is the planter on one side of the front door ... don't remember ever seeing flowers quite like this one.

FISH MARKET

A quick trip down to the Catania fish market ....

"FOUR LIMITLESS QUALITIES" - TIME FOR A CHANGE

Waterlilies are symbols of growth to our higher selves... sprouting from mud and muck rising to water's surface as a clean, pristine flower ...


It's time for a change. I'm tired of the negativity that I have let into my life ... I can choose to continue holding on to the hurts my adopted family inflicted on me ... or I can let them go. It's time for them to go .... will it be easy? Not hardly ... but they need to go for me to heal and be the person I was meant to be.

One way is through the Buddhist tradition of "Four Limitless Qualities." The practice is to aspire to loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. They are as follows:

May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
May we be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May we not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.
May we dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression, and prejudice.

The bodhichitta practices is just one way to sow the seeds of well-being, not only for ourselves, but for others. Everyone has to choose the religous belief that is right for them ... I put none down, all have value.

To me this is a way of thinking, not so much a religious practice. But like all things, it will take practice in learning to want for others as much as myself. It's like moving a river ... the channel has been cut for such a long time and now you are trying to get the water to go another way -- creating a new channel. Thus we atay in the patterns of behavior that keep us unhappy. Maybe -- just maybe ... this is a way to start healing my inner self.

First, I must start with myself and those I love the most.

Express the wish that I enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Next expand the wish for someone I love.
Using the thought that they enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Continue expanding it to a greater and greater circle of those in my life.

Start with self, moving out to those you love (where love and kindness is already felt) and then on to those that we neither like nor dislike and finally to those we dislike before expressign at long last good wishes for those unknown ... think of what a change could be felt in the world ....

It won't be easy to open my heart and act on my fears. The mediation teacher I had in San Diego warned that these activities had power to cut away useless habits and patterns of behavior. By acknowledging love, compassion, joy and equanimity and nurturing them --- they will strengthen.

Happiness is being free of anger, resentment, guilt, greed, envy, the list goes on. It is through our thoughts that our reality is constantly forming. Learning to train our thinking is fundamental to creating the kind of world we want -- this sounds like a plan. Am I ready for it? I have to be ...

This is a Bodhisattva's vow‏ ... "However innumerable beings are, I vow to save them." A Bodhisattva is anyone who is motivated by pure compassion and love -- seeking enlightenment not only for him/herself but also for everyone. Most people are self-motivated and work primarily to solve their own problems, keeping others a distant second. Should one do an act of kindness, repayment of some type is generally expected be it as a thank you, further praise or other action.
A Bodhisattva is motivated by by genuine concern and love for all living things.

SICILY IS DRYING OUT!

Sicily is drying out ... everywhere it is dry and brown. Don and I took an evening trip over to the center of the island to watch a candle-lighting ceremony in honor of St. James, the patron saint of Caltigirone, and when we came back at midnight -- it seemed like every other hillside had a line of fire burning on it. Sardina's having lots of problems too. I heard on the Italian news that arson is being blamed for many of the fires. Sad....

BRITISH MUSEUM - LATE MAY TRIP

Mesopotanian gate statue ... meant to be seen either head-on or from the side ... not at an angle - you see 5 legs when looked at from an angle













Last four pictures ... an Elgin marbles taken from the Acropolis- one of the Nike Victories .... Don resting - the British Museum is HUGE! .... and finally, some Estrucan pots similiar to one my adopted father's family was given when Dad was an infant (he was born in Turkey in the early 1900's - the doctor who delivered him was given the pot by a farmer who dug it up in a field) .... Mom had me look for a place to donate it a few years before she died ... the new J. Paul Getty was interested but since there was no official documention bringing it into the country, they would only accept it as a donation ... Mom's birth-daughter insisted on Mom getting money for it .... don't know what ever happened to it. Mom told her chaplain and I at a meeting not long before she died that her birth-daughter had managed to sell it, no idea who it was sold to ... the proceeds most likely paid off Mom's medical bills and other expenses after she died ...

WHY DO I BLOG?

My husband asked me tonight why I blog ... first response was that I do it to share what's going on in our lives with my son who lives on the other side of the world.
But it's more than that ....

Other reasons I blog:
-To share our lives with family and friends
-Central place to keep and share recipes
-Serves as a photo album
-Better than a diary ... though I don't write my deepest secrets and thoughts here - some things should remain private
-To make friends
-A connection to the world
-Share my thoughts, hopes, dreams and experience
-It's fun!

Why do you blog?

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

May you have...
Enough happiness to make you sweet
Enough trials to make you strong
Enough sorrow to keep you human
Enough hope to make you happy
And enough money to buy gifts.
~ Unknown



I like this thought ... it and today's picture came from SusansDailyDose .. pictures, thoughts, links and all sorts of good stuff...

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SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST -PLEASE VOTE FOR ME

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My Favorite Photo (I've Ever Taken) Brickfish

BLOG BACKGROUND GIVEAWAY

Shabby Creations is holding a giveaway for a blog background --- there are some wonderful layoust ... go check it out!

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DINNER TONIGHT

Got off work late tonight -- and it's still nearly 100 degrees. We stopped at a newly re-opened furniture store, a hardware store and a general store (this one is like Super Wal-mart or Super Target) on the way home. By then, it's nearly 8:00 pm - so we decided to pick up a roasted chicken (this vendor stuffs it with french fries and whole olives), the bakery for bread and a fruit store. All this plus the homemade white wine Giovanni and Carmela (our landlords) gave us the other day made a fine dinner....

HAPPY 4TH!

Fireworks back home ....