Last post

This is maybe my last post on this blog. I have to say farewell.
Please visit my new website:
http://simpleimages2.wordpress.com

Fruits of the Holy Spirit

The fruits of the Holy Spirit:

“agape (love), chara (joy), eirene (peace), makrothymia (patience), chrestotis (kindness), agathosyne (goodness), pistis (faithfulness), praotes (gentleness), and engratea (self-control).”

Apostle Paul “describes the fruits of the Spirit in the form of a scale, a hierarchy. He lists the highest and the most exalted gift first and ends up with the most basic and fundamental…” One could see that “one must traverse the lower steps to reach the highest of stages.” One has to “start from the base, with self control, and climb up the ladder all the way to love.”

“Paul did not place faith at the top part of his hierarchy but at the bottom triad, namely faith, gentleness, and self-control…”  because Paul “claims that a time will come when faith will be transcended. It will take place when we have direct contact with God. Faith will no longer be necessary, and only love, the ultimate stage of the spiritual hierarchy, will remain.”

---excerpts from Inner River by Kyriacos C. Markides

 for more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce at: http://athomewithbooks.net/

(photo: of Napa's eastern hills after the rain taken from First Street bridge, downtown Napa,CA )

Wine

"Wine to me is entwined with pleasure, joy, fun, family, and friendship. It’s not the sort of thing that requires book learning, academic training, or special classes, but rather an elemental pleasure that satisfies emotionally and physically. Yes, wine also has its aesthetic dimension, its rare and subtle beauty that becomes more apparent with experience. Plunging deeply into wine can be thoroughly rewarding. But it’s not at all required. It all depends on what you’re after. The simple contentment that comes with a glass or two at dinner is no small thing."
...excerpts from How To Love Wine by Isaac

Skills

"While hard skills are best put together with measured precision,soft skills are built by playing and exploring inside challenging, ever changing environments."
"...most talents are not exclusively hard skills or soft skills but rather a combination of the two."

...excerpts from The Little Book of Talent by Daniel Coyle

On thinking for oneself

"A library may be very large; but if it is in disorder, it is not so useful as one that is small but well arranged. In the same way, a man may have a great mass of knowledge, but if he has not worked it up by thinking it over for himself, it has much less value than a far smaller amount which he has thoroughly pondered. For it is only when a man looks at his knowledge from all sides, and combines the things he knows by comparing truth with truth, that he obtains a complete hold over it and gets it into his power. A man cannot turn over anything in his mind unless he knows it; he should, therefore, learn something; but it is only when he has turned it over that he can be said to know it.

Reading and learning are things that anyone can do of his own free will; but not so thinking. Thinking must be kindled, like a fire by a draught; it must be sustained by some interest in the matter in hand. This interest may be of purely objective kind, or merely subjective. The latter comes into play only in things that concern us personally. Objective interest is confined to heads that think by nature; to whom thinking is as natural as breathing; and they are very rare. This is why most men of learning show so little of it."

…excerpt from: On Thinking For Oneself  by Arthur Schopenhauer

What the trees tell us

SOME TREES

by John Ashbery

These are amazing: each
Joining a neighbor, as though speech
Were a still performance.
Arranging by chance

To meet as far this morning
From the world as agreeing
With it, you and I
Are suddenly what the trees try

To tell us we are:
That their merely being there
Means something; that soon
We may touch, love, explain.

And glad not to have invented
Some comeliness, we are surrounded:
A silence already filled with noises,
A canvas on which emerges

A chorus of smiles, a winter morning.
Place in a puzzling light, and moving,
Our days put on such reticence
These accents seem their own defense.

*************************

Ashbery writes: “...the trees try

To tell us we are:
That their merely being there
Means something; that soon
We may touch, love, explain.”

(photo: taken from one of the meadows that overlooks Lake Tahoe that we hiked a day after Thanksgiving. Alone and bereft of leaves, the tree stands with pride and dignity. )

My blogger free storage is now full. I'll not be able to put any photos unless of course I upgrade and buy additional space.

Life of Pi

Yesterday Cheri and I watched the movie, Life of Pi, extreme digital and 3-D, at the newly opened movie theater. The scenes and visual effects inspire and excite imagination and creativity. The movie follows the book story including the written text. I enjoyed the book and the certainly the film.

""It's important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go.Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse."
…from the Life of Pi-Yann Martel

place for love

 ". . . Earth's the right place for love; I don't know where it's likely to go better". — Robert Frost, "Birches"

(I found this quotation just before I went to bed.)

Silence

"Even now I am the last priest in this land. But Our Lord was not silent. Even if he had been silent, my life until this day would have spoken of him."

…from Shusaku Endo's Silence (last lines)

Three philosophies of life

The difference between philosophy and religion is the difference between speaking and listening, between man’s speaking about God and God’s speaking about man with man listening. This is the difference between reason and faith. Philosophy is man’s search for God; the Bible is the story of God’s search for man. Ecclesiastes is the only book in the bible where God is silent.

from Peter Kreeft’s Three Philosophies of Life

Ecclesiastes: Life as Vanity

Job: Life as Suffering

Songs of Songs: Life as Love

On writing

“Koestler, who gives an impression of great  frailty, writes two

 pages a day or perhaps four in some eight hours of work. (Graham) Greene the same. And Julien Green’s difficulties too. I view my frailty with alarm. Or rather, I ought to be content to work a little harder and a lot more patiently when I write. The fact that I have to revise a line does not mean that I have come to the end of my rope. Or should not.”

…from A Search for Solitude-Thomas Merton

two experiences of adult life

“…ours are ‘ the two experiences of adult life’ of which Pavese spoke, success and failure, to kill the whale or wreck the ship; one should not surrender to incomprehensible matter, one must not just sit down. We are here for this-to make mistakes and to correct ourselves, to stand the blows and hand them out. We must never feel disarmed: nature is immense and complex, but it is not impermeable to the intelligence; we must circle around it, pierce and probe it, look for the opening or make it.”

…from the Periodic Table

for more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce at: http://athomewithbooks.net/


(photo:  a man hiked an ascending trail for about a mile, cut a tree for Christmas tree, and carried it back to his car. We were hiking when this man carrying a saw passed us going up and while we were on our way back halfway down he passed us again carrying this seven- foot tree.) 

But to whom do you give yourself?

"But to whom do you give yourself? God reveals himself to the humble in small things. -'He has filled the hungry with good things' (Luke 1:53)-but the proud, who only attach importance to outward appearances, cannot see him even in big ones."
...from The Sacrament of the Present Moment by Jean-Pierre De Caussade

Thanksgiving Day

A day of gratitude.
Thank you Lord for all your blessings. 
Give us the grace to share our blessings with others.

Words without photos

Everyone left for Reno and I’m left with a beagle at home. Buster climbs up to the window sill, looks out, and barks at any passerby, people or his kind.

I start reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance again. I first read it a long ago and come back to some of its pages now and then.

“The Buddha, the Godhead, resides comfortably in the circuit of digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does on the top of the mountain or in the petals of a flower.”

-from the Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

(note:my Google storage is full. I could not add any photos without upgrade.)

The day after the snow melted

I wandered lonely as a cloud

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. 

William Wordsworth

What is faith?

“The ancient monks, seeking quiet for contemplation, found the desert’s emptiness perversely hectic, wild with inner demons, and were tempted to despair; the tidy faith they had brought with them failed before such overwhelming bafflement. But that failure eventually revealed itself to be the point. The faith that the desert teaches is a faith that risks and trusts, a faith that survives in the wilderness of the world not through the fortress of routine and unassailable vows but through the simple reliance on the mercy of God. And God in His mercy has made us human beings.”

…from The Monk Downstairs by Tim Farrington

(photo: yesterday's snow) 

Words without photos: a prayer

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity 
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; 
Enjoying one moment at a time; 
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; 
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it; 
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life 
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Inverted bridge

 for more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce at: http://athomewithbooks.net/

I rummaged from a few photos I have in my old laptop and found a photo of an old inverted railroad track located in Lockport, near Buffalo,N.Y.(photo: by Cheri)



It's raining up here in Lake Tahoe.Snow will come later this afternoon. Should I  take pictures of raindrops? During or after the rain? Is snow better than rain? Silly questions.

Cuddle

A time to cuddle.
(photo:Incline Village at Lake Tahoe this morning.)

To the mountains

...heading up to the mountains for Thanksgiving week; a forecast of snow.
( photo: Thanksgiving, 2010)

Where's is the exit?

"What could I tell you? I could not tell you any other way….I'll catch up with you at the next exit…"

(a snippet from Added Poignancy, a poem by John Ashbery)

Fill the boats with learning

I’m taking 4 eCourses:
Modern and Contemporary American Poetry-University of Pennsylvania
Human-Computer Interaction-Stanford University
Learn to Program: The Fundamentals-University of Toronto
Crash Course on Creativity-Stanford University

The poetry class opens my eyes to the beauty and richness of language. Our last week’s class is on Conceptualism and Unoriginality. 

I find The Human -Computer Interaction interesting and teaches technological design and communication.

The Fundamentals in programming shows me how difficult it is to create a computer program.

The Creativity class teaches me awareness and how to think with a new eye. Our text is the book:InGenius by Tina Seelig. 

All the courses allow interaction with students from all over the world.

Learning is joy and work and play. Let's fill the  boats with learning and sail the seas.

( photo: Cheri took the photo while she was in Boston 2 years ago.)

Link: https://www.coursera.org/universities

and 

https://www.coursera.org/courses

a river and its contents

(photo: Napa River along the Riverfront and Veterans Park, downtown Napa. Third Street bridge behind))

Sabbath Day

"MAY I BE FREE FROM ATTACHMENT AND AVERSION, BUT NOT BE INDIFFERENT."

(one of the Buddhist Nine Prayers)

Mesostic

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. 

I'm taking an eCourse in Modern Poetry through the University of Pennsylvania. One of our assignments is to write a mesostic, a postmodern poetic form, invented by John Cage or do one of Bernadette Mayer's writing experiments.

This is my first attempt of writing mesostic.  


Mesostic poem adapted from The New Spirit, one of the poems in Three Poems by John Ashbery

                                                            that would Be one way 

                                                                       leavIng 

                                                           another foRm

                                                                   this siDe of air

                                                        turning yourSelf as a leaf

                                                       of contradictiOns

                                                        drink the conFusion 

                                                                         samPle that other

                                                                           meAning

                                                           to be your bReath

                                                                             shAped in the new merging

                                                                           insiDe each other

                                                              where the rIver pours into the sea

                                                                              paSt the ideal rhythm

                                                                             of rEality

                                              

Pause

    Let's lean and rest for a moment

It's not what it seems

Fall

VOTE today

Fill your seat. Don't leave it empty. It's a precious privilege.

Bring a friend

I'm fond of Charlie Brown and his friends.
(photo: taken at Charles Schulz Museum,Santa Rosa,CA.)

Come sit under the trees

(photo: grounds of Greycliff House, near Buffalo,N.Y.  Greycliff House was designed buy Frank Lloyd Wright)

Veterans Park

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. 

There was a lot of activities earlier. On the back, left, the new Riverfront building.

                                                                           This is one of the banners to honor the veterans.
(photos: Veterans Park, downtown Napa, last Saturday)

Really?

(photo: upcoming store in First Street, downtown Napa)

Red balloon

(photo:Paws for charity and tricks or treat last Saturday in downtown Napa,CA)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

(photo: bats caught during the Coffin Races last Saturday, downtown Napa.)

Detached

(photo: taken last Saturday at a downtown street corner)

The Giants are giants

CONGRATULATIONS SF GIANTS WORLD SERIES CHAMPION

(photos: Matt Cain pitches at home in SF Stadium last month. A young Giants' fan)

Let's praise the climbers

Saturday snapshots

For photos link with Alyce :http://athomewithbooks.net/

(photo: rock climbing  at the middle of Main Street downtown Napa, Napa Valley,CA)

Lunch

Cheri and I  visited  J Winery, Healdsburg,CA today.

 (photo: lunch at J Winery's Terrace)

Muffuletta Sandwich 
Soppressata, Mortadella, Provolone, 
Romaine & Olive Relish on Focaccia

Summer Salad
Corn, Tomatoes, Basil Vinaigrette 

Sweet & Salty Fruit Pineapple Skewers 

Dessert
Crème Fraîche Twists 

Cheri had Chardonnay. I had Pinot Noir.

Gratefulness

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more. -- Brother David Steindl-Rast

(photo: bird of paradise is blooming again in our tiny backyard)

Mahjong anyone?

Go Giants

CONGRATULATIONS SF GIANTS  NATIONAL  LEAGUE CHAMPION

on to  the WORLD SERIES

(photo: SF Giants warm up before the game)

Sabbath Day

Sabbath Day. Time for reflection.

How to hang bottles of wine

Saturday snapshots

For more photos link with Alyce :http://athomewithbooks.net/

photo: hanging decoration  next to Morimoto (Restaurant) at the Riverfront,downtown Napa,CA.

Neighbor's rose

(photo: rose on the other side of the fence)

Lemons in the backyard

Cheri and I are babysitting our 3 grandchildren. They go to 3 different schools and have sports related practices after school. Their parents are in Maui on vacation.

(photo: lemons in the backyard).

Arches

(photo: double arch in the Arches National Park, Moab, Utah)

The Art Walk

(photo: one of the sculptures in the Art Walk in downtown Napa, CA)

Give me a break

(photo:music band on break)

Dawning of the season

(photo: decoration on the stage where the music band plays during the Homebrewers Classic yesterday).

Should I?

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books.

(photo: during the break from our preparation for the Homebrewers Classic, our Rotary Club's fundraising event, held today. For $25 one can taste a selection of 40 or more homebrewed beers.)

Lowest tide

(photo: Bandon, OR, during the lowest tide 2009)

Birthday Flowers

photo: Cheri's birthday flowers

Breakfast

Gelato

(photo:  "frati" or monks decoration at the newly opened Frati Gelato Cafe  at the Riverfront, downtown Napa, Napa Valley, CA)

Bella

(photo: store sign in the downtown Healdsburg, CA)

Beaver's dam

Behind the condo is a creek that beavers like to build dams. Some parts of the creek are wider now and with marshy banks.I wait everyday during fading light to catch a view of the beavers but they are shy creatures.

 for more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce at: http://athomewithbooks.net/

Sunset

(photo: sunset at the eastern hills of Lake Tahoe)

Just a sign

(photo: a cafe in downtown Healdsburg,CA)

the hawk returns