Life Lessons


"Figuring out our gifts in life is part of our journey to becoming enlightened human beings.” – Allison DuBois

Thursday, April 17, 2014

A Little Cooing Going On

Song - Bird Song by The Wailin' Jennys




Last week I posted about the Mourning Dove that built a nest on Mr. B's ladder in our side yard.

She (or he) is still there!





Since posting, I have done some research on Mourning Doves and found out that the male sits on the nest during the day so the female can feed and then the female sits on the nest during the night giving the male a break. 

However, I also found out that the female is always on time but the male occasionally will leave the nest a little early.  Sound familiar?





My oldest son, Andy had to go and one-up me by sending me a photo of his Mourning Dove at work.......mmmmm......I think his wins for most beautifully decorated!








At the Getty museum over the weekend, I found this lovely little painting with Doves nesting in a the helmet of Mars.


Detail from Mars and Venus, an Allegory for Peace by Louis-Jean-Francois Lagrenee



“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man's-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again. ” - Pema Chodron

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Road Trip To Southern California

Song - 26 Miles by The Four Preps

Over the weekend Mr. B and I drove down to Redondo Beach to visit our son Jon who's been living there for the last year and a half.  Lets just say that California is a very long state and Highway 5 is turning into a dust bowl with the current drought.  Uggh.

But once settled in town, we had a wonderful visit!

Saturday we went to the Getty Museum which sits on top of a hill.  You park below and a little transit system takes you up to the museum.  Jon is not a big museum person but he tolerated it for good-ol-mom! Thanks Jon!!!



I will write more about the Getty on my Painting site and show some of their beautiful paintings.  http://jeanettebaird.com/


Meanwhile, we had purchased tickets for a little trip on Sunday.  From the above song maybe you can guess where we went?


Our coach awaits us......



As the boat approached Santa Catalina Island, a school of dolphins happily greeted us.   They dove and played alongside the boat.  I was too busy enjoying them to snap a photo.

As we came off of the dock, Jon saw some orange things in the water.  We mistook them for Starfish but upon closer inspection, they were Huge Goldfish - well I thought they were goldfish but later we found out that they are the California State Marine Fish - Girabaldi.  Go ahead and look it up. You learn something new everyday!


We had a great lunch at a restaurant over the water. 



 Mr. B and Jon were enjoying their grilled artichoke.  They look very serious and maybe a little competitive as to who will get the last bite!

We then took a tour of the island that didn't have the greatest tour guide but it was fun to be driven around in a open trolley an enjoy the sights.

On our return voyage the boat stopped so we could watch a whale breaching.  Sorry folks, but by the time I got my camera set up all I got was a little spray......


But trust me, it was a whale....I saw it!

I'll have to be more prepared with my camera in the future.

Monday we took the long drive back home.  It was hard to say goodbye to Jon.  I cried half the way home - poor Mr. B.






Don't worry Jon, we will be back again soon!  Although next time, I think we will fly......

All morning while preparing for our little boating excursion, I kept humming this little tune.

 

"Just sit right back
And you'll hear a tale
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny ship.
The mate was a mighty sailin' man,
The Skipper brave and sure,
Five passengers set sail that day,
For a three hour tour,
A three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed.
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The Minnow would be lost.
The Minnow would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore
Of this uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan,
The Skipper too.
The millionaire
And his wife,
The movie star,
The professor and Mary Ann,
Here on Gilligan's Isle."


 - Theme song from Gilligan's Island


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