Porch Time Chats

I have created a new blog. I hope you will come see it and participate in a porch time chat now and then. The site is  PORCH TIME CHATS.
Come on over and set a spell.  The porch is always lovely.

Another Oombulgurri, Australia Story

Elaine was one of two chosen to go to a Human Development Training Institute in India.Tthis was a momentous occasion since neither had been out of the Kimberleys, let alone on a plane.  I gave Elaine my best dress to wear and all of us women gave her enough to wear in style (so to speak).  Elaine was married and her husband was very supportive of her going on this trip. It had not really sunk in to him that she was taking a huge step on her journey, one which he hadn't even dreamed of ever doing hmself.

Elaine and the other two returned from the training with a new glow about them. Elaine was eager to share everything, including the fact that there was another woman there from the area of the ancient part of southern India who was a mirror image of herself, the strange and delicious foods she tasted, the plane ride, the new things she learned about community development, and on and on.

She had washed all her new clothes when she returned and hung them on her line to dry. She took them off the line and folded them neatly, placing them in a corner of her hut. After that was done, she told me that her husband was very angry with her and she didn't know what to do.

I immediately empathized from my own experiences of attempting to come into my own and laughed out loud. Elaine was, understandably,  really upset at my response.  I apologized and took her hands and looked into her eyes. 

"I understand, Elaine, and I will work with you to keep you safe."  I didn't have a clue how to help, not having figured out how to keep out of harms way myself.

We agreed that she would pay some special attention to his needs and hold off on the telling the story of her journey until he appropriated the transformation that had occurred in their relationship.

But, yes, he did beat her and ruin her new clothes, burning them in the pit. I attempted to be there for her, but she was angry at me and every one of us who had sent her on this wondrous journey and then did nothing to protect her when she returned.

She had no idea that she would encounter this domestic horror. I had experienced similar and was so caught up in my own demise, conditioned as I had become to it, I did not recognize the universal characteristics of what happens when women begin to leave their subservient status to come into their own expression of being.

Elaine sunk back into the person she used to be, totally avoiding her rightful claim to matriarchal status of an ancient culture, the secret of that global experience hidden in her heart.

How easy it is for women everywhere to fall into the old ways of relating to men just to keep the peace, one of our natural gifts. How important it is for us to become mindfully aware of our personal callings to transform and come into our own.  At least today, men know they have a part to play in this transformation.

Elaine's experience was well over 30 years ago, but how far have women really come? 

In the Yard

My l yard is 76'x100' in block 1 lot 12 of the city. At one time, where my 1400 sqf house was built, once stood the Orange Inn.  Originally a lake front cracker shack of a fish camp, it  was expanded into an upscale fish camp and dining hall annex. I don't own the whole of the original land, only a remnant of days of yore when when it also was surrounded by orange groves.  this old section of town rests between two lakes, essentially rendering this place as an elevated area of Florida swampland.

My yard has many stories to be told of the goings on during the past three or four centuries. Most of the stories will go untold, but I'd like to share with you some goings on these days in my yard.

Before I built my home here, I imagined conquistadors traveling through her on their way to discovering the original fountain of youth down the road a piece. There are no traces of such activity, only an occasional arrow head, empty bottle, or plate shard from the inn.

On my small remnant of the Orange Inn, I have planted key lime, lime, fig, guava, satsuma orange, red grapefruit, pomelo, avocado, banana, blueberry, a juice orange with three types of oranges on it, kumquat, rosemary, gardenia, night jasmine, jasmine, plumbago, milkweed, forsythia, rose, wisteria, azalea, poinsettia, begonia, bougainvillea, eucalyptus, and some types of aloe and palm. In addition there are other assorted other wild flowers, ferns, and some bushes and flowers which began in pots as gifts.

Dick plants a 15'x25' garden a couple three times a year along with  many varieties of peppers and tomatoes in pots. And there's still plenty of lawn space.

Wild life also comes calling - racoons, possums, snakes, squirrels, ants, bees, mosquitoes, love bugs, wasps, spiders and several types of butterflies.  But, what has been the most mesmerizing is watching birds nest in the fruit trees.  Presently building nests are blue jays and cardinals. We are waiting for the hummingbirds to return. Lately, there seems to be trees full of birds - especially robins and starlings -- there one day and gone the next. The usual annual parade of peacocks and sand cranes haven't been around for awhile. Gulls and grey heron hang around at the lake's edge. I also am beginning to realize that we haven't seen a red fox or panther for several years. Alligators, for the  most part stay in the lake.

Everyone seems to be building fences these days, but the animals don't seem to know what fences are for, except to rest on occasionally. What a great gift to be watching plants grow and bloom and die, too, and observing birds and animals going about their business of inhabiting in a safe haven.

It is remarkable to reflect that this small space, surrounded by ongoing development, increased vehicle traffic, and noisy boats and motorcycles and aging air conditioners, that nature is sustainable.

But it is.  Such a wonderful metaphor for a thriving community! so much yet to learn from nature! Tell me about your environment. I'd love to have such an image to hold dear.