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 |   Drop by drop the snow pack dies, watering the arid lands below. |
    Other Blogs and Journals containing the continuing writing adventures of Prosperous Snow celebrating   "The Snowflake Chronicles"  "More Snow Melt" "Writing in Snow" "Welcome to My Life" "Memories of Snow" "Dreams of Snow " Poet999's Thoughts about Writing and Other Stuff http://poet999writingthoughts.blogspot.com/ Poet999 - A Butterfly Emerges From Her Cocoon http://poet999.blogspot.com/ |
| Kamál (Perfection), 8 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Monday, January 26, 2009 about 7:06 AM Pacific Time I keep getting reminders to update my blog, so I'm going to update my blog. I spent the weekend uncluttering and still have a long way to go. I put some of Mom's and my debts together in a spreadsheet and got depressed. I am going to finish putting them in the spreadsheet and probably get depressed again, but that is all part of the process. I am in a positive mood this morning, despite the weird or should I say disturbing dreams I had. All right, maybe disturbing isn't a good description either. In my dream someone put a beautiful sign on the font of my house saying "This is the home of (my mother's name). The front of the house in the dream didn't look like the front of this house. However, the houses in my dreams never look any any of the houses I've lived in and they are always the houses I've lived in. The only thing the dream did was energize me and make me want to get something achieved today. I'm going to have to reschedule some appointments because we don't have the money for the co-pays in either account and I'm not going to pay a $35.00 overdraft charge for a $10.00 co-pay. I'll make the appointments for next week, after the pension and Social Security checks have hit the accounts. |
| Istiqlál (Independence), 5 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Friday, January 23, 2009 about 10:01 AM Pacific Time I'm cleaning house today and Mom is a bit upset with me. She thinks I'm suggesting that she can't do her job, which she believes is cleaning house by herself. However, Mom is 87 and she isn't as fast as she was when she was 78. She needs a bit of help, but she doesn't think she needs help. I suppose I could do the house cleaning in the middle of the night when she's supposed to be asleep. That doesn't work out well because she doesn't sleep very good. Anyway I'm cleaning house and I'm not going as fast as I would like. I keep running across bills and stuff that needs dealing with; stuff I need to put in the spreadsheet so that I know how much we owe. I guess I could wait until I'm finished with the uncluttering and house cleaning. However, I've resigned as the President of the Las Vegas Procrastinator's Society. I have to put the stuff in the spreadsheet while I'm thinking about it otherwise no uncluttering will be achieved. I thought I would take a break to put some stuff in the spreadsheet, update my AVG virus protection, make a blog entry, and check some websites for cash opportunities. I'm probably going back to work part time next week, but I'm not looking forward to it. However, until I can afford DSL, which will allow me more on-line moneymaking capabilities I'm going to have to hold down a part time job of some type. I'll be alright when I get back into the swing of things. At least, I hope I will. |
Istijlál (Majesty), 4 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Thursday, January 22, 2009 about 8:23 AM Pacific Time Indoor plumbing especially on winter mornings when it's cold outside and going to an out house means freezing. Writing.com blogs that give me ideas for food I've never tasted before (I'll explain this one in a later entry). Chicken in supermarkets that is already cooked. Writing.com spiritual newsletter, which always gives me something to think about and quotes that inspire. The scriptures revealed by Baha'u'llah. My Baha'i prayer book. Coffee (for a coffee drinker this needs no explanation) |
| ‘Idál (Justice), 3 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Wednesday, January 21, 2009 about 3:39 PM Pacific Time I was a basket case this morning. On he verge of tears and worried. This afternoon, however, I'm in a better mood. I went to the DMV website and got an estimate on how much it will cost me to register the car. The estimate said about $43.00, which isn't too bad. I have just enough money in my account to cover the smog check, which is necessary. I have some aluminum cans in my trunk I can sell, but I don't think I have $43.00 worth of cans. I will get the smog check tomorrow morning. Take the cans up and sell them. After that I will come back home and see if my sister sent a check, which I'm not necessarily looking for. I will then go to the DMV and stand in line to see if there is anything I can do to continue driving the car until I get the money to register it. We would have had the money, but we had to spend $65.00 for a small bottle of eye drops to clear Mom's eye infection. It apparently did its job because the eye doctor we went to on Monday didn't say anything about an eye infection. Mom has cataracts and a blocked tear duct. The specialist will be calling us to make appointments within the next two weeks. In the mean time, I'm going to have to reschedule my medical appointment and Mom's nutritionist appointment until after the first of February. |
| Fidál (Grace), 2 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Tuesday, January 20, 2009 about 5:16 AM Pacific Time Today Barack Obama, the first African-American president, takes office and moves into the white house. This has led me to look back over the last century. My mother was born in 1921 on a farm somewhere in Oklahoma. I was born in 1946 in a hospital in Blackwell, Oklahoma. Grandpa Newland ran the farm by himself and did most of the farm chores by himself all most all year. However, when harvest time came he hired young African-American men to help him with the harvest. This was in the early part of the last century. The young men Grandpa hired were like every other honest man in the America at that time. They were just trying to make a living and feed their families. At that time, there weren't very many jobs they could apply for or get, they were doing their best to make a living in a culture that existed in America at the time. I grew up in Blackwell. In all the years I lived there I can remember seeing only one or maybe two African-Americans in town and then only during the daylight hours. Blackwell was a "sundown town". There aren't too many American under the age of 50 who know what sundown town meant. A sundown town was any village, town or city where blacks were not allowed to stay after dark. African-Americans could come to town and work during the day, but they had to be out of town by sunset. My mother is 87, I am 62 and we are living in a nation and culture that has change dramatically in the past 100 or so years. I can remember sitting in front of the TV set and watching the civil rights marches. The country and American culture has changed, the election of Mr. Obama has proved that, but there is still a long way to go before we live up to the words "all men are created equal". |
| Kamál (Perfection), 1 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Monday, January 19, 2009 about 6:17 AM Pacific Time Mom and I attended the Feast of Sultan (Sovereignty) last night. It was held in the home of one of the Las Vegas Baha'is. I had a bit of difficulty finding the place, I got directions off Mapquest so the directions were good. The problem was the house numbers weren't in sequence on that street. This happens sometimes in some of the older neighborhoods. However, the neighbors were friendly, explained the situation and told me where to find the house. The readings were beautiful and the refreshments great. We had sandwiches and pickles. There was fruit and hummas. When I left, I left by a different street then the one I arrived on. The street I turned off onto from Charleston was Cashman Dr. It has a gate blocking it (the neighborhood isn't a gated community), it's just that Cashman Dr. is usually blocked by the gate. The next time I go to Feast there I will turn onto Campbell rather then going down to Cashman. I like Campbell better anyway because it has a stop light. It's interesting Mom had a case of diarrhea on Sunday morning. I was afraid we wouldn't get to attend feast that night. However, Mom's diarrhea stopped about four or five hours before we had to leave for the Feast. This morning I figured out the food that caused it. Mom isn't suppose to eat any cereal with greater then 12% or 14% dietary fiber. The last couple of morning the cereal she ate had 20% dietary fiber. |
| Jamál (Beauty), 19 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Sunday, January 18, 2009 about 8:33 AM Pacific Time It's a beautiful Sunday morning in Las Vegas. It's a bit chilly but warmth and beauty don't necessarily go together. I'm not sure whether we will be able to go to Feast tonight. Mom is having a bit of a problem this morning that may prevent that. I hope it clears up before 6:00 PM because that's when we have to start getting ready for Feast. I'm going to go to the store later this morning because I have to get a can of wet cat food and some bread. I wonder if it could be the bread that is causing Mom's problem. She had crackers this morning, but I read on the box and the dietary fiber is 0% so that can't be causing the problem. I haven't read on the bread loaf, so I don't know how much dietary fiber it has. The last time I talked to Mom's doctor, Dr. M. said that it was probably something Mom's eating. However, I still have to get a stool sample to for test, which I will have to get tomorrow morning. I was going to blog about something else, but I had to stop writing to get the Sunday paper. I forgot my original plan for this entry. My short-term memory is functioning erratically. |
| Istiqlál (Independence), 17 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Friday, January 16, 2009 about Sunset Pacific Time As afternoon becomes evening, I sit at my computer and watch the slow transformation of the sky. It changes from daylight blue to sunset pink. I know the next stage in the transormation is night black. As afternoon becomes evening, I contemplate the pain in my lower jaw. The dentist pulled a tooth today. It isn't bleeding because I can't taste the salt of my own blood. I wonder if I should take a pain pill and go to bed. If I do, then I am going to have to put the eye drops in Mom's eyes earlier the I planned. I am going to take a pain pill and go to bed. Good night. |
| Istijlál (Majesty), 16 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Thursday, January 15, 2009 about 8:02 AM Pacific Time Again this month the spiritual newsletter covered an issue I am dealing with in my own life. This weeks edition concerned Facing Your Fears. This past week and probably the entire month of January, I have realized that my life for the past year or so (perhaps more) has been governed by fear. Most of those fears are ungrounded, like black balloon floating in the air, but others are connected to the ground by strings, like those of a kite. All of these fears are holding me back and have dominated my life for the past couple of years, at least. I have began facing these fears and some of them seem silly and completely illogical, these are the ungrounded fears. Things I am afraid of which never occur. Others fears are grounded in reality but become larger when I focus on them; sort of like a balloon that you are putting air into. When an event occurs that is based on a grounded fear, it is never a bad or as big as I thought it was going to be. The questions asked at the end of this weeks newsletter are: What fears bother you the most? What spiritual resources have you found to be most helpful when you are overcome by this emotion? What have you done to successfully overcome those fears and move out of their shadow? The spiritual resources I use are prayer, which helps me overcome the fear and carries me forward. Another thing I have recently found is just to start writing. Writing allows me to "write through the fear" and focus on a solution to the problem confronting me. I think I will take each one of those questions and deal with them separately. |
| Jamál (Beauty), 13 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Sunday, January 11, 2009 about 2:57 PM Pacific Time I'm planning on being up all night and for several nights. The cat litter, which Mom didn't get to today, needs sifting. The dishes need finishing and there is laundry to do. Mom can't do everything during the day, but she gets upset if she see me doing her job. I'm going to start doing it at night when she is in bed. I'll do what I can do without her catching me, I don't want to upset her and suggest she can't do it. If and when I go back to work, then staying up all night doing housework is going to be a problem. I'll deal with that when the time come. I want the house unclutter and clean; unfortunately Mom can't do the work the way she used to be able to. However, Mom won't admit she needs help, so I'm going to have to be sneaky about it. The dryer works for now. I thought it wasn't working properly, but it works enough to dry half a load of cloths in an hour. I'm going to have to have the dryer checked sometime this month, but not this week because Mom has an appointment for an eye exam Tuesday and I have a dental appointment on Friday. Since I am going to need a little sleep, I'm going to catch it when I'm setting on the couch or the love seat. Additionally, I have got to find some time to get on line. This plan sounds crazy to me, so it may just work or it may not. At this point, I really don't care as long as I get a little bit of everything done in a day. If I get the house uncluttered and clean, then I can figure out a way to get a maid in here to do some of the stuff Mom can't do. Of course, that takes money. I need a personal economic stimulus plan! |
| Jalál (Glory), 12 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Saturday, January 10, 2009 about 9:02 AM Pacific Time No one has enough time anymore for anything, including religion and spirituality. At least, that's what the religious page of the Las Vegas Review Journal implied this morning. An article reviewed religion on the go, ways for people to get a daily dose of spirituality in a few minutes. The article gave the names of several different books containing short meditations and Bible readings. I, like everyone else, day a longer day. I still thinks the problem has more to do with setting priorities, making a time schedule and learning to say no. I'm not sure you have to cut down on meditation and scripture reading to get through the day. It is nice to know, however, that I can go to the book store and buy a book that has short meditations I can read at stop lights or while stuck in traffic on the express way. No one has enough time anymore and complaining about how little time you have gives you even less time. I think the main problem is that everyone (including myself) is too impatient. We want more time in a day to do everything in rather then prioritizing the task, which means we don't get everything accomplished. We get stressed out because we don't have enough time and now we can get our religion and spirituality in five or seven minutes without taking time out of our busy schedule. No wonder we're so stressed out. We don't want to stop and say our prayers rather we want to say our prayers on the run and hope that God hears us. We want to work 24/7 without taking a rest. There was a reason God rested on the seventh day, it wasn't because God need the rest. God rested so that we could have an example of how work should be accomplished. |
| Istijlál (Majesty), 9 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Thursday, January 8, 2009 about 4:13 AM Pacific Time It’s a good morning in Las Vegas. I bit on the chilly side, but a good morning anyway. When I logged into writing.com this morning, the newsletters were in my box. The first one I read today was the Spiritual Newsletter. The subject this week is courage. This was just what I needed this morning. I woke up feeling like a failure this morning. This feeling usually strikes me of a afternoon or sometimes of an evening. It passes and then comes back the next afternoon or evening. Then about once a year it hits me in the morning, this usually means it’s going to stay all day. I know when the feeling first arrives, that I need to do something about, but I usually let pass. If I let it pass and don’t confront it by taking action, then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy and I let it affect my work. I suspect that’s been the problem for the past few days. The reason I can’t seem to get anything done. Let’s face it, is my thought you’re a failure and no matter how hard you try you’re going to fail. So why make the attempt?” The newsletter encouraged me to have courage. In case no one noticed part of the word encourage is courage. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that if I find something encouraging then I’m going to have courage. |
| ‘Idál (Justice), 8 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Wednesday, January 7, 2009 about 11:47 AM Pacific Time Sometimes we don't know what we have to be thankful for until we're without it. I have a car again and something new to put in my gratitude journal everyday. Being without a car is an educational experience. All right, I started to put being without a car is a pain. However, I just realized that the most educational experience I have had were all painful experiences. I have learned more about myself through painful experiences then any other type of experience. I am grateful for each experience. Pain is a part of life and while medication should be used to relieve certain types of physical pains, we don't need to medicate ourselves against the emotional pain because that is what causes our souls to grow and acquire wings. Some emotional pain we can avoid simply by being observant and knowing ourselves. However, there is some emotional and spiritual pain we can't avoid no matter how hard we try or how many pills we take. Some pain is simply a part of life, which everyone encounters. It is how we react to these pains that is important and the pains themselves. |
| I received this in one of my e-mail boxes from a family member. I thought I would post it to this blog and encourage anyone reading it to copy and past it, wherever you like. I am going to send it to one or all of the yahoo groups I’m a member of. After serious & cautious consideration . . . Your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2009! It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to screw it up!!! My Wish for You in 2009 May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words . . . May 2009 be the best year of your life!!! |
| Fidál (Grace), 7 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Tuesday, January 6, 2009 about 9:00 AM Pacific Time There are two, journal or blogging contest occurring on writing.com. Those contests are "Invalid Item" and "Follow the Leader" . Even though I know I would enjoy them, time constantans prevent me from entering at this time. I am going to attempt to keep an eye on them, I placed them under my favorites so I know when a new post on either of them occurs.For the next three months, I am going to focus on reviewing, entering other on site contests, earning money and paying bills. I am also going to attempt to read my e-mail more then just once a week. I have two off site blogs that earn a little money, but I have to post to them everyday. So I am going to put posting on those at the top of the priority list until after March 20, when I begin the New Year I celebrate. |
| I'm not feeling ill, just weird. That is the only way I know how to explain it. Of course, it's been cold or at least I'm cold so maybe I'm coming down with something. It could also be that I'm in the process of getting used to my new teeth. My gums are shrinking and I have to use someing to hold the teeth in while I eat. Not that it stops me from eating anything I want. Mom and I went out to Chili's last week and I ordered the huge burger. I had trouble biting it off so I had to cut it into small pieces. I have an appointment with the dentist on January 16 and he will line the teeth then. I haven't driven the car after dark yet and I don't think I will until after I get new glasses. Maybe that's why I'm feeling weird, my glasses. The thing is that I feel as if I'm expecting something, as if I'm waiting for something to happen. Not something bad, but something good. It could be that I just need to go to a poetry reading or to a movie. I don't know what it is; its just that I'm feeling weird. |
| It’s a New Year and I want a change. The only way to insure a change is to take action. This morning I took action and cleaned out two shelves in the linen closet. On one I put the fitted bottom sheets and on the other the flat sheets. I don’t like fitted sheets because when you get new beds you have to get new sheets. I also went to SocailSpark.com and set up my finances so that I can request money be sent to my PayPal account. I like using PayPal because I can transfer money directly to my checking account without any problems, such as waiting for the check to go through. Bank of America has a tendency to hold certain checks over $100.00 until they go through. I’m planning on doing a lot more things today, such I finding pay stubs that I should have properly filed last year, but didn’t. I’m tired of me, actually I’m tired of the way I respond to situations and procrastinate. Sometimes procrastination can’t be helped, but most of the time it can. I still have to take numbers off the answer machine, so I think I’ll set the virus scan to run while I’m doing that. I still have some more work to do on line, but I have to take those numbers and get back to the people in this coming week. This afternoon, I’m going to have to fax some papers and then when I get back home do some writing.com reviews and finish editing the fantasy newsletter. The newsletter is almost done, so that shouldn’t take too long. My goal for 2009, between January 1 and March 21, is to take actions. I should learn a great deal about myself in that time. Then on March 21, I will put the goals for 166 BE into effect. I always use the time between January and March to evaluate my goals before putting new goals in place. |
| In the holiday edition of Las Vegas Review-Journal and Sun (on holiday’s the two papers put out a single edition), in the Las Vegas Sun section were letters written to Barack Obama by several Southern Nevadans. The question asked by the Sun: “If you could pass a note to Barack Obama, what would it say?” Here is what I would say to President Obama. Dear Mr. President, The earth, America, and humanity are in the process of transformation and evolution. We are moving into a new era and a new civilization. Into a time when the individual components of humanity will realize that, we are a single species rather then separate races. The next four years will be a traumatic time for all of us. America has a great destiny to fulfill. In order to fulfill that destiny America must become self-sufficient and economical in its energy use. America must learn to use its natural resources wisely and set an example for nations just learning to use their national resources. America needs a new definition of unity, which goes beyond party and nation to encompass all of humanity. The country needs to find spiritual strength that goes beyond a single party, individual or the name of a deity. America can no longer afford to do business as usual. We need to strengthen our educational system, our economic system, and our health system. All of these systems, in addition to others, are components in the whole. The country’s healing comes by focusing on all the components and not just a single component at a time. The next four years will bring a great deal of change to America and to the world. American needs leaders with the integrity to tell it like it is not just what citizens want to hear. My prayers are with you and the country, Mr. President. |
The obstacle is the path. ~Zen Proverb “…I believe has a connection to us all. So, what's the connection to you as a person? Is it spiritual or on a personal level?...” ~ c.t.moon The path, of course, is the obstacle because each individual has her or his own path to transverse to the source of all paths. At the conception of a child, another path separates from the highway leading back to the Unknowable Creator. If twins are conceived then two paths are create because each individual must walk his or her own path alone. The individual soul connects each human being to the other. The soul is the one item every human has in common. Bodies differ in size, shape, gender, complexion, abilities, disabilities, etc. The human body is the home of the individual soul while on the material plane of existence. Body and soul join at conception and separate at the death of the body. The body decomposes and returns its minerals the earth. The soul is immortal and survives the death and decomposition of the body.
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"BLOG about a take on the experience of blogging for 31 days, mention the prompt scene etc. And include whatever you like." It’s the struggle between life and technology; between the soul’s qualities and the ego’s fears; between the muse and blog block. Once realized the duality of human nature becomes a tool for transformation goosing the individual to go beyond self-imposed limits to become her true self and individual writing for the pleasure of writing. Up to this point, I have completed all the prompts. I didn’t complete some of them on the day they were given, but I completed them. After I post this response, I have only one more day to do. I have the prompt saved in my offline copy of Snow Melt ready to write about. These prompts I have written offline and then copied and pasted into my blog. I used to do this all the time, but I hardly ever do it any more. The only time I do this is when I’m responding to prompts someone else has given. The 31-day Challenge has encouraged me to create specific blog prompts for every day of the coming year. I may not use each prompt for the day it’s scheduled for because something more important my come up. I am leaving myself open to the “changes and chances of outrageous fortune” when it comes to blog topics. Openness is necessary because, at present, earth, civilization, and the human race are going through the process of transformation. Civilization is moving from nation states to planetary unity. Humanity, the soul of the planet, is in the process of becoming world citizens and learning to be responsible for the planet itself. The stress of the next few years will change humanity and its individual components. I feel that as a writer and blogger, I have to leave myself open to comment on topics of the day. Even if the only way I do that is to write a story or a poem. I am going to blog on for as long as I have prompts and enjoy the process of writing and improving my craft.
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