The war to end all wars didn’t.
Still wars tear people and countries apart.
Why are we so slow to learn how to get along,
how to share and take care of the beautiful world
we’ve inherited.
It’s not about money, power or politics,
it’s about living together in peace;
sharing the resources we have
and helping those who don’t have.
We can do that, can’t we.
©2019 Sharron R. McMillan
Finished and hung. From the inside looking out
And from the outside looking in. Trim and hardware still to do but we love our homemade doors.
A handmade bag I carry
while visiting the eye doctor.
A young man sitting in the waiting room notices
and comments on it.
We chat about where I got it,
how handmade is always so beautiful.
We laugh, smile, connect.
He didn’t say much about himself
but I felt his worry, impatience,
sadness.
And I prayed peace around him
as he left.
I will pray for him each day
I remember to
because we connected.
©2019 Sharron R. McMillan
Ultimate Recycling
Fallen cedar tree reborn into beautiful cedar posts that will hold our new French Doors.
The universe is a single reality—
one long sweeping spectacular process of interconnected events.
The universe is not a place where evolution happens; it is evolution happening.
It is not a stage on which dramas unfold; it is the unfolding drama itself. . . .
This [great cosmological] story shows us in the deepest possible sense that we are all sisters and brothers—
fashioned from the same stellar dust, energized by the same star, nourished by the same planet, endowed with the same genetic code, and threatened by the same evils.
This story . . . humbles us before the magnitude and complexity of creation. . . .
It bewilders us with the improbability of our existence,
astonishes us with the interdependence of all things,
and makes us feel grateful for the lives we have.
And not the least of all, it inspires us to express our gratitude to the past
by accepting a solemn and collective responsibility for the future.
~Loyal Rue
We all grow up with the weight of history on us.
Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains
as they do in the spiralling chains of knowledge
hidden in every cell of our bodies.
~Shirley Abbott
To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle.
~Walt Whitman
Fungi are the grand recyclers of the planet and the vanguard species in habitat restoration.
~Paul Stamets
Fall back to golden chilly days
to crackling fire
and morning haze,
woollen socks to warm our toes,
curled up in our mohair throws.
Back to winter’s basic norm,
splitting wood and keeping warm.
©2019 Sharron R. McMillan
“If you feel all damp and lonely like a mushroom,
find the thick, creamy soup of joyfulness
and just dive into it in order to make life tastier”
~
Last ray of sun
kisses my forehead,
vanishes behind cedar trees.
Chill suddenly inspires me
to go inside.
I’ve nibbled the last pea,
and sour blackberry of the year.
October
and the garden
are finished.
So am I.
©2019 Sharron R. McMillan
Trick or Treat
Hisnibs and Hernibs Halloween Chiminea
Extra Daughter’s Grouchy Pumpkin
Eldest daughter’s pumpkin attack
