PROTECT. NURTURE. LOVE.

I have stumbled upon Anne Geddes' book more than four years ago. I stared at the cover of the hardbound beauty of "Until Now"- and I knew- It was love at first sight. Her works were expensive. But the pages were worth every penny. I have always loved children, I am taken by their innocence, purity and incorruptibility- Anne Geddes captures them in all her photographs. I bought the book that same day, and on 2 separate occasions I got her utterly disarming plush toys. It would be great to start a collection but I would have to start from scratch. I used to have the lady bug baby and then the bee. They looked like real babies in costumes!-only miniature. Ms. Anne Geddes, thank you for your genius! You have touched my heart without even knowing it.

YES WE CAN.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation. Yes we can. It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom. Yes we can. It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness. Yes we can. It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land. Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can. We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change. We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.

Y♥G

 

This is a collection of some captured moments of my life I hold dear. I have a renewed admiration for film makers because this simple video took me 72 hours straight (without a wink) to accomplish! I was so excited to send it to where he is as a surprise and just too glad he liked it.

NO SMOKING

All the men I had been with in the past were non-smokers. This is my first time to be with a man who shares the habit with me. It is the first time that a person I am in a relationship with does not impose on me about quitting the packs. For the first time in my life I sincerely feel that I want to take it out of my system. Smoking does nothing good to anybody. I wish I did not get myself into it. My dad was a smoker and when I was little sometimes he would ask me to light his cigarette for him. I sneaked out a few times and puffed in the woods. BAD.

But I really started smoking when I graduated from high school. My friend Carla at that time taught me how to smoke- "how to do it the right way" she said. Since then I had gone cold turkey and kicked the habit many times, only to find myself twirling another stick not long after. It was always a futile attempt to make it a permanent resolution. I gave in all the time.

My SuperYvon and I promised each other we will quit smoking. A lifetime is not enough to spend loving him and I don't want to truncate it by smoking our lungs away. I know we can do this together: one is not to underestimate the power of true love that feeds deep inner strength. If you are a smoker and you are reading this, let's beat it!!! ☻

CHASING FIREFLIES

Summer spent in my grandmother's house, growing up, meant being allowed to enjoy my childhood. I hold those summers dear to my heart. I most enjoyed playing hide and seek with other kids after dusk. Neon green lights blinking up in the trees always lured me away, put me in a trance. I would follow them and just before I had gone too far-somehow, one firefly would be so kind to just let my weak grasp catch it. These nocturnal beauties produce light in their abdomens by taking oxygen in and combining it with luciferin. Their body is actually cold.

I confess I was at one time a firefly murderer. In those inquisitive moments of my youth, I dismembered a fragile ethereal beauty, curious what to make of that luminous light flickering from its dainty body. Well, of course it was then beyond my comprehension. Even to this day- to me and I think for always- it will stay as nothing short of magic.

It is my dream to one day chase after fireflies with my SuperYvon- to gaze with him at their bioluminescent grace dancing away, twinkling and glowing across the serene dark sky. Now that is beyond magic...just plain eternal bliss.

THE LITTLE THINGS

Those stolen moments in between client meetings, rushing to suppliers, going back and forth the office and the restaurant. In my stressful moments at work, I would sneak in a call to my SuperYvon. Without fail- he makes everything better. His voice alone, even his laughter, and when he tells me he loves me or calls me his, sweet texts and phone calls out of nowhere from him just to ask how is my day so far- these little things are big things for me. I get excited to come home for our routine night talk after he gets home from work- phone calls that last at least 2 hours every time. I know it’s expensive and I’m grateful that he does it to keep the distance bearable. It’s been more than a month now since he left. I’m glad we have these little things to get us by everyday. Our relationship mostly spent breathing on the telephone; hardly anyone’s idea of a relationship I know, but that’s the way we do it because that’s what we have to deal with. So in the name of love- we make do.

GORGEOUS PEAFOWLS

When I was young, my grandparents used to have these decorative plaques hung on their living room wall with embossed image of a peacock on each. I wondered it if was a real creature and pondered what a magnificent, beautifully breath taking creature it must be. Well, you should know that as a toddler, I believed that Mickey Mouse was real- a part of me always knew he wasn’t- but at the same time I almost was sure in those fleeting moments I thought of it that it was indeed alive and that someday I would meet Mickey Mouse himself. Dementia in the making you say? – Perhaps (ha-ha). Oh and I believed in Santa Claus I could not remember mom and dad ever trying to trick me and sis into believing he was real because we did not have those “moments” really. So I guess it was all a wishful thinking of a very inquisitive and observant child that I was. And… and… and- unicorns!!! Yes- but I intend to have a whole separate post about that.

So anyway, growing up, I would light up every time I see a picture of peacocks. And I learned that they are REAL. I found out that peacocks are just the male peafowl, peahen being the female peafowl and babies peachicks! Peacocks shed off their long iridescent coverts during the end of summer of each year- the same molting process that happens to a snake shedding off its skin. This occurs timely before the mating season.

A set of even fuller plumes regrow into a perfectly scaled asymmetrical pattern in the duration of 7 months- just in time for the next courting season. Charles Darwin cited that the number and regalia of a peacock’s trail and number of eyespots (ocelli) determine the success of it luring a mate which is challenged by a recent study in Japan that the peacock’s dance (shivering) attracts the peahens more than its plumes’ brilliance. Which I guess we can relate to real life at how we choose a man. Yes?

The peahens’ much less extravagant feather formation and simpler colour scheme, on the other hand, is such in order to camouflage themselves from the predators especially when they are laying, incubating their eggs, or rearing their chicks. Also, peacocks don’t fly as well as peahens- you guessed it- it’s because peacocks’ long trail can be quite cumbersome and heavy.

Between the two known species of this pheasant family (Indian or Blue Peafowl and Green Peafowl), it is the Green Peafowl I am more attracted to: peacocks trails still regal yet the peahens aren’t too ‘deprived’ of those pretty colour combinations on their feathers. Green peahens are not as dull looking as their counterparts. I like that. But what I like more is the popular claim that Green peacocks are monogamous as opposed to the Blue peacock species which keeps harems of peahens. Yay! What a handsome couple.

Thus, I want to have some peafowl someday in the garden. They are the only mythical creatures of mine growing up that turned out to be real. But I also know that they don’t sound as beautiful as they look so perhaps a pair will suffice- not unless I get to have a whole mini forest for a garden someday.

For more information you may check out the book Beautiful Birds by Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein, and Laura Silverstein Nunn.