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danger. be aware

This picture is from 2021… the snow was too high, visibility too poor for me to even get a picture today, but this is how the crows were lined up waiting for me to get to them. I had to park away from the area I usually drive into.. snow was too high, it was impossible to see where one could get out once in the area. I parked and hiked in… they watched my progress with rapt attention… cawing and calling out encouragement as I stumbled over a cement edging that was unseen under all the snow.

They were very appreciative, swooping down to see what goodies I’d put out in the feeding area. I saw that the corn and kibble landed in the snow … sinking in… but allowing for the birds to see where the food was. the food scraps I put near the big pole that is there.. that is where the bulk of the offerings go.. They were keen to get to the food, not even waiting for me to exit the feeding area.

I did not attempt the drive out Anderson Road to the Nature trails… if the city roads were so bad, and the parking lots still lost to shoppers, (the plows couldn’t keep up with the falling snow) I was not going to chance skidding off the country road… and being stuck for hours waiting for rescue. I know this area I was driving in well, yet I had to make educated guesses on where the lanes were. Thank goodness being Saturday, there were less cars on the road.

The weather forecasters warned that the next weeks, we would be dealing with more cold weather and snow… likely into April. !!!!!! yes I said April. No early spring. having filled my windshield washer fluid the other day, I needed to ensure I had another container of fluid, with deicer.. Canadian Tire is blocks from my place.. This is a huge store.. big parking lot.. always well maintained.. it is next to the ball park and government buildings. I was surprised to find that if you didn’t know there was an entrance at the lights, you wouldn’t know how to enter. The Walmart parking lot was the same. Neither lot had been plowed nor was there a plow working the lots.

Someone asked me.. what are the roads like, in one word… pathetic…. I would play it safe, travel at your own risk, and if you don’t need to go out… stay in.. this from the person who stubbornly goes out in most conditions.

Listen to others until the end. If you put your thoughts first, you will not be able to listen to others until the end. Firstly, listen to others to the end and understand them well.

March 2023.4 translated to English in Japan

it is what it is..no more,no less

Food prices are high.. Walmart has cheese on sale and some good specials on basic food products.The ice coffee was 2$ cheaper than anywhere else in the area. the block cheese at Metro was almost 10$ a slab… Walmart had a good selection of slabs 2/10$.. just saying.

nothingness

Everyday is another day…so…

Take action without thinking too hard. No matter how hard you try to foresee the future, you really don’t know how things will turn out. Do your best and see how it plays out.

Perfect Liberty 2022.4

Oyashikiri

another 10 plus inches due to fall over the course of the day.. .. yeah.. for real.

March 2

Good morning… It isn’t just what you see when you wander the woodlands early in the day… it is what you can hear. The other morning I arrived just as a coyotes were making their way behind these trees. They were just beyond the farthest row of trees… yipping and yelping enjoying the fresh albeit cold morning air. Not long after they passed the blue jays began to call out and give their “go away” “scoot, you are not welcome” cries, then the crows chimed in, it was a free for all in the skies (with vocals)… suddenly we saw what they were screeching at… a huge shadow flew over head… the wing span was wide… it was too high and going at a good speed that meant it was travelling through… how graceful .. and how thrilling to see it soar past. We ( on the ground near the feeders ) were relieved it was heading somewhere and not interested in our little gathering…

The scene on the ground was idyllic, soft white fluffy snow coving the landscape gave everything a peaceful, lazy ambience, but the sounds and activities of the wildlife in and around the visitors area began to pick up again …once the warning and shouts of the bigger birds had subsided. There is a spirit of community between the regulars that share areas where I go. Every day I learn something new,I go every day, around the same time give or take, and always there is something new to appreciate. or something I pick up on that I recognize that I would not have noticed 3 years ago when it all began.

Over the many days/weeks seeing the wildlife, standing in their environment, letting them do what they want to do, just appreciating the space … preferably I am standing still, or sitting… just observing.. they are use to me (most of them) I get to visit with them …up close .. at times they are less than an arms length away from me. It is awesome.

Do things joyfully instead of taking it easy. Enthusiastically engage with what’s in front of you. You’ll enjoy it more

Perfect Liberty 2021.30

Be a messenger of Peace. always think “for the sake of others and society” and express yourself for the happiness of all people.

Perfect Liberty 2022.1

A photographer friend I met years ago in my “woodland journey” said to me… standing still .. in one place.. enables you see so much of the world around you. I agreed, and it is why I find it so important to stand still and simply BE whenever I can. From one spot, you can see and capture (photograph) hundreds of interesting and thought provoking moments.

You hear me say this often… two people standing side by side can be looking in the same direction, and both see something completely different. Add to that. we all interpret what we see in a unique way. what we see will be based on our own knowledge and personal experiences.

PL Precept #15 All is a mirror

Oyashikiri

Have a sunshine day everyone! Bom dia a todos! Que assim seja .

March 1

If the giraffe here was in my back yard, maybe his head would be out of the snow, maybe. That is how much snow has fallen these past weeks. Good morning, Bom dia a todos. Here we are heading into another month. A few days ago, so much of the snow accumulation we’ve had Jan. and early Feb. was really disappearing, Now. . . we have had so much snow fall the last 48 plus hours.. the snow piles in areas where it had not been taken away ( our street had been cleared of the snow piles) the snow is deep enough that cars were getting stuck on our street, and neighbours and passer bys had to help get them going again,

Snow on my back steps was over 10″ deep almost the depth of my broom ( I was trying to sweep the steps, determining if it was a good idea to venture out or not.) I don’t know when it stopped snowing, I do know that I went out twice (in the back) to shovel a path for the dogs.. Had to do it a couple of times, that is how hard and fast the snow was falling. There is one section of the yard where the snow is taller than I am.. I am 5’3″ and shrinking.

Today’s calendar message is about World Peace.

Let’s pray for World Peace. The path to World Peace will open up with each person’s prayer for peace.

Perfect Liberty 2023

Spring is around the corner

photo – Dave Renz

somewhere

Good morning! as many of us look out at the bleary overcast morning, in my case, there is a heavy curtain of wet sticky snow falling making visibility very poor. I’m told by a friend whose work has her driving the roads, that they are very slippery. All around the city school buses are being cancelled, people are being asked to stay off the roads unless necessary.

What makes it difficult, is yesterday afternoon it was darn right balmy, roads were all dry and bare. But.. with the drop in temperatures over night, and the snow that has been falling now for hours, driving has become dangerous… there is black ice under the freshly falling snow .. drivers don’t know its there until they need to slow down or come to a stop and the wheels keep sliding.

If you have to go out, which some of us do… take your time. Personally I have decided not to venture out, especially my garage door is acting up .. and I may or may not even be able to open it this morning. Yesterday I had to manually get it open, and it was not easy getting it closed. With all this snow, I don’t want to have the garage filled with windswept snow etc. if I can’t get the door to close after I drive out.

Friend and photographer Shirley Keen in NZ was out walking yesterday, this is her “neighbourhood” .. just looking at the beach, water and hills in the distance was a breath of fresh air.. So…even tho’ I’ve already posted today, I wanted to shar the moment with you. What came to mind was that expression, “it must be five o’clock somewhere in the world” … in this case..we might be snowed in here, but somewhere else it is sunny and warm.

Live in Perfect Liberty

Oyashikiri

All of the photos in this post are Shirley’s

more snow

Develop new ideas through your imagination – softly and flexibly. If you could find a way to add a twist you will have more joy.

Perfect Liberty 2023.28

snow you say

This was yesterday ..and we are due to get a whole lot more starting tonight into the day tomorrow. It might have been relatively mild winter, but it has not been lacking in snow. We have had a lot of snow… so much so that the contractors who clean up the roads, laneways etc,. will exceed their contracted amounts of snow and patrons will be facing additional charges this year for snow maintenance.

To all our Brazilian readers, this is the area to the side and back of the church building. You can see how much snow has accumulated. In Japan there are areas that get snow, but in the parts where no snow falls, you can see what the church grounds are like here in Canada at this time of year.

Put Makoto even into small things. don’t let things go with “oh well” You will have a different outcome if you put Makoto (sincerity) into everything you do. Perfect Liberty 2023,27

A huge big snow smile just for you!

Smiles

Smiles are the world’s treasure. If you smile more, there will be more smiles in the World. Be one of those who make more smiles

Perfect Liberty 2023.26

Is it so hard to smile? Sometimes… yes sometimes I just don’t think of it.. not because I’m unhappy, I am just not a person who goes around with a smile on my face. I can be deliriously happy, still no smile on my face.. it is an internal happiness.. a contentment. However, having said that… when I come across someone and smile when I greet them.. I hear it in my voice, it does sound friendlier. AND for that second when strangers pass/meet on a path… and a smile is exchanged, I do feel a pleasant glow after the exchange.

Your thoughts??

Yup… it is snowing again.

mourning

Life is fragile at the best of times.. Ever since I found the Merlin and got to admire the beauty of her markings and her head I have been haunted by the experience. A small member of the falcon family she often hunts on the fly, catching her prey in mid flight. Today while at the feeders I could hear the crows going ballistic in another part of the woods, I attempted to follow the “noise”.. looking up as I took to the trail. I have never been able to use binoculars without getting a headache.. thinking I might try again with these newer and lighter models. I gave up as the noise grew louder but seemed to be moving further away from the area I was in. I didn’t have my camera with the powerful lens, I wouldn’t be able to see the bird if it was high up in the trees.

What I learned from this incident was that I “knew” and thought it was a Merlin when I saw her lying peacefully on the snow.. but when someone else told me no it was something else, I doubted my knowledge. I have since found out, I was right, this /that angel was a Merlin. I am unhappy with myself that I didn’t 1. take a picture, and 2. take better care in burying her. In PL one of our lessons in life is to learn to trust our inner voices. Here is an example of my not following my instincts, and then living with the consequences. Every life is important.. /has value.

Why am I finding it so hard to shake this little bird’s demise. I don’t know..I can only guess, it was a loss of life and I was privy to the passing on, of this life, Thankfully I didn’t settle for an answer that I got that I felt in my heart was wrong. Every life should be recognized and acknowledged. I have since said a prayer for her little spirit..

Discover something new today. Have a willingness and an interest to start your day with excitement.

Perfect Liberty 2023.22

I have to practice – letting go.. The little bird is at peace, now I have to find mine. Wishing and hoping won’t bring her back.

hawks

sharp shinned hawk Merlin hawk

In the last little while there have been visitors to the feeders that are not welcomed by the regular diners. This morning it was the sharp shinned hawk (left)… the other day it was a Merlin. With the up and down winter we’ve had, the birds have been traveling more. Ravens are already calling, looking for someone to hook up with. I noted that the crows have started to go further afield as well.

The more I see of the Merlin, the more convinced I am that the dead bird that I found the other week, was a Merlin. That beautiful head has stayed in my memory … it was a beautiful bird, even in death it was a true “beauty”. Next time I hope to remember to take a picture.

Be grateful for everything. If you see everything as material to express gratitude, you can encounter a number of opportunities you are grateful for.

Perfect Liberty 2023.21
Oyashikiri

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