A triple punch post delivering poetry, photos, and an essay. Also it responds to two Haiku prompts from One Deep Breath and answers yet one more interview question from Atypical at Nonsensical Text. Turns out it's all about the sunrise and sunset and greenery type stuff.

First the Haiku's because they lead into my answer to Atypical's question.

Energy in Mass

Mountain wrapped up
Energies glowing, fading
Fires my soul in awe.


Earth's Day

Human throws up dirt
Sun heats up our dirt-filled air
Earth swelters away.

Atypical asks:
2. What emotions are evoked in you by sunrises and sunsets? Are they vastly different experiences to your internal and external senses?

Have you been going through my photography archives? Hmm, no, actually to see my sunset images you would have to go to my old gallery at Betterphoto.com -- something I plan to fix. I even have a meme that I plan to use to my own devices in order to accomplish this. I know -- a completely unexpected behavior from me.

Sunrise is something I saw very little of until this year -- first, because I tend to avoid getting up that early and, second, because ... well ... this use to be my tag line: "I deeply resent living in a place where man's handiwork is striving to blot out my ability to see God's glory in His creation." In other words, there was no point in getting up early to see the sunrise unless I was also willing to dress and drive and be disappointed by a limited view. Such is city life.

This year, God has blessed me with eight months of sunrises over a beautiful patch of the Great Swamp and, during the last five years, at least six months each year have been filled with sunsets. So, because of this, I can actually do a compare and contrast.

They are hugely different. My attempts to photograph them has caused me to be more focused on when and where and how the light plays. And do you know that God's creation loves light like crystals love light? It's true. The flora and fauna, the water and air, all work together to play with light's nuances. And in general, I think I love summer best because the light plays longer with the creation.

As to how they affect my attitudes and feelings, well, I've been quite surprised to find that my mind clicks on when the sun comes up -- and I can see it come up, which is rather often here. The mornings are often my most creative time. Because the sun comes up so softly, I feel myself kind of easing into the day when I allow myself to just be still and enjoy the gearing up process. Yes, I very well know that this is a luxury that is not allowed so much during the mothering years, so tuck it into your "I'm looking forward to this..." folder ... or get up realllly early on a few summer mornings and try it out.

Sunsets ... oh goodness ... now let me tell you something. I know the far left-wing weirdos are trying to turn this "global warming" thing into a platform for all manner of weirdness ... and then the far right-wing is trying to say that it's all in God's hands uhhh and we're just channeling out whatever is going to happen. But both sides are full of malarkey ...

The truth is in the middle. God is calling us to be stewards of His creation. Proper stewards do not fill the air so full of dirt and pollutants that it is dangerous to breathe.

Lets grasp hold of something that is real, and true, and now. The real truth, right this minute, is that in large cities we should not be breathing the air.

Ok. ok. Really. This has everything to do with sunsets. The sunsets up here, away from NYC, tend to be soft and gentle. I watch the sun tilt and play with the grasses and trees and hills. Usually, the sky reveals incredible blues and soft pastels. It is very different from the fiery sunsets back home. I could pass this off as the difference between being in the north and the south. In some ways it is. I'm sure latitude does play some part ... but ...

One of the longest, most color-filled sunsets I ever observed was in the desert when VioletKey and I went on our road trip. Guess what is naturally up in the air in the desert? Dirt. Yes. Really! Dirt. Remember God's creation loves light like crystals do? Dirt is full of reflectors.

In Texas, I sat on the east side of a lake that marked the demarcation line between "city and city wannabes" and "the country." My side of the lake was actually greener. They said it was due to "lake effects." Anyway, there was nothing between me and the sunset but the lake and a thin, distant horizon filled with man's buildings. But sunset revealed one other incredible thing. The Dallas air tended to stay on the west side of the lake and it could turn the sunset into a spectacular show of intense color. I will just have to show you the photos.

As much as I found this color show to be amazing, breath taking, awe inspiring, I found it equally disturbing. I found it even more disturbing when someone off-handedly mentioned that the sunsets over that lake rivaled the sunsets near Mexico City. We all know how bad the pollution there is and how long it's been a problem.

So, in a big picture way, sunsets remind me of God's grief. I don't think He is so happy with our determination to hide and destroy His creation. He's gonna let us because we are its caretakers. But that doesn't mean that the destruction of His creation in this manner is what His original goal and desire was.

On a daily basis, I have come to look at sunsets as an opportunity to purposefully shift my mindset and activities. This is to say ... I see it as an opportunity and the shift does automatically happen in one way or another ... but sometimes I grab hold of the opportunity and purposefully shift -- usually this is a much better thing.

Atypical's excellent blog is Nonsensical Text. Her interview questions have given me much to write and think about. I still have one more to answer.

Go read/see more poetry about Energy and Mass and about Earth Day

My Gallery at BetterPhoto.com (30 images many are sunset).

I'm supposing a few of you have noticed that I seem maybe a little distracted. I hope that's what you're supposing. There are other things you could suppose but ...

The truth is I've taken on something new – a new experience. New, for me, always means an initial time of immersion. Something about me seems to insist that the new wear off as quickly as possible. In general, I do not like surviving new experiences – especially new experiences that are largely up to me. Beforehand: I read up, ask a bajillion questions. After I'm into it: I keep reading and I keep asking a bajillion questions.

So ... the new experience is Second Life. I am a body of one wandering into areas where I know nothing and no one. One can wander around blindly like this for months on end or one can take the bull by the horns and tame it. So. I've been working on taming it. Reading. Exploring. Shopping.

Hey ... your image in Second Life speaks as loudly there as in First Life aka Real Life. Trust me. Shopping is essential and it's tedious. I've purchased outfits and shoes. I chose an appropriate hairstyle – a French braid, of course. And I've picked up a few free skins. And I've paid $1L ea for many demos.

And then my husband started shopping. OH NO! He's worse in SL (Second Life) than in RL (Real Life). He pops into a place and before it's ever completely rezzed in (meaning the walls, floors, ceilings, stairs, and the merchandise shows up) he's already decided that there's nothing to be had. He's ready to use the "poof machine" aka "teleporter" to pop into the the next store. Today, I took his avitar shopping for skin demos. Tonight, he can try them on by the beach or by the campfire.

I'm ready to find a place to rent ... maybe buy. I am ready to find some ladies who would like to meet me at the coffee shop and chat ... or ... there's a few museums (I haven't seen yet) or we could attend classes together ... or ... we could teach classes.

OH! Last Sunday I went to church in Second Life. I missed the main service so I sat down in one of the areas where I could watch a re-run. Way Cool!

So, I know you're wondering ... what about all that s e x and stuff? It IS actually possible to mostly avoid it. That said ... I would NOT consider running it with children around (although there is an under-age, teen grid). Nor would I run it around anyone who is easily tempted – and you know who you are.

Look. Here's the deal – how I see it. Second Life is not just my playground. It's also a potential workplace and mission ground. This is what the whole Internet will look like at some point. Okay. If the Lord tarries, it will ... ... so ... do we Normal People ... people who believe in right and wrong ... regardless of our religion or non-religion ... Do we give the territory over early or go in and stake ground? I'm for staking out my plot of virtual land and virtual culture ... and virtual friends -- and we all know they become real. The lady in the picture is Jade Lily. She has a group in SL called Counting Sheep. Why? Because she is part of The Electric Sheep Company. Electric Sheep has built some rather nice spots in Second Life and I hear tell they're involved in There.com (for teens), as well. Jade and I had a quick chat about building community. She is a very considerate and compassionate lady.

So is anyone else out there in Second Life? Wanna join me for a cup of tea or coffee? It's MarillaAnne Slade, there.

3. What are some methods you use to keep a little bit of Texas with you wherever you go?

And so I continue to answer Atypical's interview questions out of order.

This question caused me to laugh. We all know I've been suffering from a wave of Texas Spring Fever. One of the things I did was order a Texas Travel Guide. I was looking through it today. It started reminding me of things ... things it never intended.

There is something uniquely different about Texas and it's in the people. We don't understand how independent we are.

We've been told we're un-accepting of people different from us but that's a huge lie that we tend to let people believe -- mainly because we're independent and don't need a stamp of approval. We're actually very friendly and outgoing and people from the North tend to thaw out after they move down there.

In Texas, if you express a hope or dream strongly, people seem to automatically believe you are capable of accomplishing it and they automatically start directing you to people in their network who can probably help. Some call it the "good ol' boy" system but the women share their resources as well. Lately, the ranks are merging and the men and women are sharing their networks.

And Texans tend to be the types that believe in right and wrong ... which contributes to our independent ways.

These are the parts of Texas that are always with me because they are always in me. It makes it difficult for new areas of the country to assimilate me. It made Oregon impossible for me to enjoy. Kansas is difficult for me to understand. New Yorkers are actually a lot more like Texans than they know -- well at least the one's out away from NYC are. Possibly this is because not so many generations ago Texas was populated by people from the east coast. Even families that hailed from Tennessee were only a generation or maybe two away from the Virginia area.

Because of the lifestyle changes Billy and I chose and that were sometimes chosen for us, much of what is Texas is in my laptop (ok well now in my desktop) because dragging Things around the countryside in small vehicles and later in boxes and then even in backpacks ... is a PAIN. But it is amazing what can be cherished in pixels. I have photos of people, places, and things. I have emails and saved chats. And then, Lord, what the Internet holds for me of Texas is most amazing.

I would have to say that one of the most defining things about me ... that is Texas with me ... is that I cannot seem to leave an area without saying, "Whelll ... Ya'll have fun. See ya later." (That is a three syllable "well.") I Say This to Complete Strangers that I have Not made any arrangement with that would even hint at a hope of seeing them later. Now, that confuses the daylights outta people. But it's Texan.

The other thing I do is claim to be "A Texan living on the southern fringes of Upstate New York and loving it." For some reason people are usually amazed to find out that I, as a Texan, love living here. "Upstate New York" cannot be clearly defined by New York natives. It confuses me that everyone in the populace here has a differing idea of where Upstate begins and ends. Then, I was shocked to find out that the New York court system considers me to be living in Upstate while another government body considers me to be living in a portion of the "New York City metropolitan area" ... which is just as wrong as saying I'm upstate. The Federal Courts consider me to be part of the Southern District But if I claim to be from Southern New York, then there's whole 'nuther region that would object. Then my husband stated trying to tell me that we live in the Hudson Valley ... Uh NO! We do not live near the "canyon" that the Hudson River flows through. I don't care that a portion of our county does. We do not. We actually live on the edge of The Great Swamp. But, if I say that, then people think I live in New Jersey. I'm just sooo much better off saying I live in New York, near Danbury Connecticut.

So my revenge is in the ironies of my statement of who I am, where I live, and how I feel about it. If I'm going to be confused, everyone else can be confused, too.

Ok so I started out to put together just a small sampling of how I keep Texas with me digitally. Well, I had to include a bit of this and a bit of that and, well, it was just wrong not to show you the people ... because the spit-fire and mischievousness shows up in their eyes ... along with the "Hey! There you are!" attitude ... As usual ... it got way out of hand. There's about 255 images. They are small so they display quickly. I know for a fact that I will not leave this album up in it's entirety -- definitely a "limited time" offer.

You have options:
1) View the slide show and set the display to about 2 seconds. OR
2) View the thumbnails and pick and choose. But if you can't tell why the image is in the group ... you should click on it.

Texas to Me

Family, Friends,
Fireworks, Flowers, Dogs, Lakes, Land,
Starbucks, Moon, and Sun.

Well, there's a little problem with asking a storyteller a question: Storytellers don't answer questions with three words or less. PLUS You will always get a very very long story if you ask the storyteller when she's starting to feel alive again after spending a week cooped up, isolated and feeling like a pile of cold, cooked spaghetti noodles. (Really.)

Plus we all know I have this meme affliction wherein I twist every meme to meet my own objectives.

Yeah ... so ... out of Atypical's interview questions ... I generated at least an entire week's worth of verb-age.

I am starting with Atypical's question #4:

Can you give one example of a time in your life where joy welled up so much inside of you that it had to spray out, sprinkler like, on anyone who happened to pass by?

My very, very first thought was of the incredible experience that carried us from Oregon to New York. (I had wanted to go back to Texas but ... )

How many people do you know who have nothing ... nada ... zippo ... ZZ-EE-RR-OO in the bank account and no reason to believe money is "in the mail," "winging it's way to you," and certainly "we're in the money" is not a phrase they know?

Ok how many of those people would paper the nation with a resume and cover letter claiming to be able to "self re-locate" at that very moment -- in that very condition?

We did it with my husband's resume -- with a complete trust in God that He was perfectly able to make it happen. The very first clue that this was a perfectly fine idea was how the two of us felt about it's very existence. It's birth was the first time Billy and I had been on the same page in almost a year. That out of sync feeling that had been so disconcerting suddenly disappeared.

I want to tell you that from the time the phone rang 30 minutes after the first resume went out until we moved into our current apartment 90 days later -- every single moment of every day was filled with contentment, peace, joy ...

Yeah ... and I'd have to lie in order to tell you that. It was full of struggle, suspense, doubt, anger, fear, hurt, separation from my better half, etc. Of course, this drama was only one of six extreme drama's going on all at the same time. Oh yes ... when we do drama, we do it up right!

So, how is it that I reached a point of "sprinkling" joy everywhere? Because God is good ... Great ... AWESOME !!!

If you start at the beginning of the story and read all the way through, I created a page just for that: Our Moving to NY Story

You will find most of the dramas listed in this post: A Banner Week. I started my blog a few weeks after I sent out this "Dear Everybody" note.

The overview to strictly the moving story and some of the conclusion is in A Moving West Coast - East Coast Story. It also has footnotes with links to the hair-raising details of the money story. If you are looking for some courage to believe in God's care, I strongly suggest you find those footnotes.

The joy part? :: smirk :: Seek and ye shall find. It's a perfectly grand story that deserves it's place in time. So, I encourage you to persevere to the end.

I used this as an opportunity to go back and put these posts back in order the way I want them read and I turned on the commenting for each post.

It is perfectly legal to bookmark the story and come back to read in bits and pieces.

Enjoy