Surprise Arch: A Poem

I'm on the quest to write at least one half-decent poem in my life. Because of my perfectionism, I avoided taking a creative writing class through all six years of earning my degrees in literature. I just knew I could never write the way the poets I love did. But I figure I'll never learn if I never try, so here goes.

This one I hammered out today when I felt very comfortable. I started exploring that feeling, the sensations, the places it reminds me of, and I came up with this poem about Surprise Arch, a part of the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park. The picture is a view of that arch from directly underneath.

Within the ancient rough-hewn room
Cave of Cliffs—and an Arch—
the Expected Place, no Surprise,
Nothing grows of Physical Matter
but of Spirit.

Cradled between the rising walls, blocking
the ever-parched Sun
A shelter provides rock, hard and cool.

Sand-paper sound on boots, on hands,
And an always-ready Breeze hollows the shout
of the Word Outside muted, softened,
Lifting hairs on arms, the gentle brushing
Easing Breath, as atmospheric pressure
on the Shoreline.

Besides this breeze, alive—
Persists the Barren Stone.

Canteen water, warm and metallic,
dripping slightly,
Splashes upward, outward—Expelled Away
from the unreceiving Rock of Earth.

There is no use of Living Water
in the Desert Cavern.

A Single Rose Can Be My Garden

A single rose can be my garden, a single friend, my world.

-Leo F. Buscaglia

Retreat to the Canyon

This rapid shift from a long, snowy winter to a blazing hot summer has been an odd one. Last night Kevin and I ordered takeout and headed up Millcreek Canyon to get out of the heat. Can I tell you how awesome it is to be just minutes away from fresh, pine-scented mountain air?

Thoughts on a Summer Solstice

I love long days of May and June. The summer solstice is always a bitter-sweet time for me, as I want to celebrate the longest day of the year, but I am melancholy that for the next six months I will observe shrinking daylight. In my way of obsessing about the bleak future of sunlight, I often let the beauty of the day slip by me.

Today I offer a mediation. These thoughts are brought to you by Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love:

When I get lonely these days, I think: So be lonely, Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience.

It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of someone else's life perfectly.

Not only in the big global Hitler-n-Stalin picture, but also on the smallest personal level... I can see exactly where my episodes of unhappiness have brought suffering or distress or (at the very least) inconvenience to those around me. The search for contentment is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving and self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world.

Collectively, as a species, this is our emotional landscape.... There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history. "How much do you love me?" and "Who's in charge?" Everything else is somehow manageable.

You need to learn how to select you thoughts just the same way you select what clothes you're gonna wear every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That's the only thing you should be trying to control... On first glance, this seems a nearly impossible task. Control your thoughts? Instead of the other way around? But imagine if you could?

You gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone oughtta be.

From Reef Tank to Huey

In Hawai'i I became obsessed with coral reefs and saltwater tropical fish. Kevin and I went snorkeling every day, usually at excellent spots, and I just fell in love with the fish in the ocean. This led to a nightly routine, where Kevin would sleep and I'd sit on the computer in our condo researching reef tank set-ups. And I'm not just talking about a saltwater aquarium. I mean a live reef tank, where the decorations are live coral, urchins, anemones, and all that jazz. I also looked up minimum gallon requirements for the fish I desired to have, based on my snorkeling experiences.

Here are the fascinating species I saw out in the ocean:

This is a Hawai'ian trigger fish, also known as humuhumunukunukuapua'a. How could you ever forget a name like that? But apparently these fish are aggressive in live tanks, which makes sense because they were always pushing each other around in the ocean.

We saw two sea turtles while snorkeling this year, and they're always amazing. They're endangered, so even if we had a room-sized tank, it would do no good. They're not for sale.

This one is a puffer fish. We saw one of these, which was enough for me. They're pretty big (we saw probably a 14"-15" one).

These are convict tang fish. There are a variety of tangs. Dory, from Finding Nemo, is also a tang. These are hugely popular fish. These ones are smaller and live in schools, but I found out that Dory fish, which grow to 8"-12", aren't supposed to be in a smaller tank than 125 gallons (which is a big tank).

This is a butterfly fish, "because no one ever suspects... the butterfly[fish]" (OK, just a little call-out to Simpson's fans). There are lots of different types of these too, including one that looks strangely like the Moorish Idol.

These are flounders, who dig in the sand to disguise themselves and have their face on one side of their bodies, oddly enough. Kevin and I saw these off of the beach our condo was on.

And this is the beautiful Moorish Idol.

These are needle fish, who like to swim up at the surface, and often looked very perturbed when I swam by.

And these fish make me laugh. They look like they're wearing makeup. These are parrot fish, which are huge and beautiful. I, of course, liked to follow them around, which made them swim away, which made me follow, etc., etc.

Which leads to where I am today. Kevin would catch me in the bookstore reading "Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies" and doing even more research on tropical fish. I knew he was worried that I'd bite of more than I could chew. So last week I tricked him into going over to PETCO with me. We looked at all the fish, and I admit, only the saltwater ones were interesting. But, I finally settled for this one, which cost about $3.60,lives in fresh water, and I guess is pretty too for a very low-maintenance fish.

I think Kevin was relieved.

We've decided to name him Huey. Kevin suggested Bluey, which reminded me of "Kablooie" from "Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie" from Calvin and Hobbes, and that just naturally led to us calling him Huey. Even if he isn't a hamster. Welcome to the family, Huey.

Photo Journal: Thanksgiving Point Gardens

To celebrate a couple of birthdays, all my family went to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point.

This one is my favorite, showing a time-honored tradition of soaking half the family when we get to the Secret Garden.

Dolphins, Geckos, and Monastery Tag

We've captured some of the fun and funny Hawai'i moments on video, and after swallowing my pride about being seen in a bathing suit so up close and personal, I've decided to share. First, after breakfast one morning on our lana'i, we saw a whole huge pod of dolphins swimming right by our hotel. They're far out, but you can see them if you look for the sideways splashing, as they were all jumping out of the ocean on their morning romp.

And because I like animals so much, I can't let a gecko go scurrying by without chasing it all over. I finally caught this one.

This one is from Napili beach, a very sandy beach with steep shores and small waves. This makes it perfect for "Monastery Tag," a game we learned from our guidebook. In this game, you race your partner as high up on the shore as you can get without getting beached. It may look really stupid, but when you're that close to the sand, it looks like you're moving a lot faster. I still have the sand burns on my skin to prove my devotion to this pastime. This one you'll want to turn your earphones down on--I was obviously having a great time.

I am Elizabeth Bennet

Jenny linked to this fun (and totally obvious) Jane Austen quiz to see what heroine you're most like. I knew the answer before I took it. Even though Jane Austen claimed she was most like Emma (I know, I should cite the source for this), I have always related most to Elizabeth Bennet.

Take the Quiz here!

And I love this hilarious description. Let's not forget that Elizabeth Bennet often found herself on the outside, being quite unpopular:

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

Meow Meow Meow Meow

So I have one cat that honks like a goose and another that chirps like a song bird. And no, I didn't have any treats. Aja just wanted me to tuck her into bed, and Phoebe was just there because Aja was.