Me Speaking

  I hugged a tree today , heartily…needfully to draw upon the energy of its very sap. I acknowledged the sight of the tree in my eyes, and reflected. This tree was born years before my own birth, and will be alive years after my own death. I reflected upon my family tree. The storm thrashed winds of time in crisis toss wild the branches. The roots hold steadfast. I grounded myself today. I acknowledged sights, a kite, a bench, a tree, a dog. I acknowledged the touch of the felt in my hat, the paper in my hand, the grass, the leather. The sounds of the distant tractor, the wind over my ear, the movement of tree branches, I acknowledged. The smell of the grass, I acknowledged. I felt the sting of the pang of need in me, and welcomed its discomfort. I let it go, like dropping a ball. Repeatedly, I dropped the sting of the pang until it diminished. It did diminish. Where the pang hurt in my stomach, I caressed there with my hand gently, whispering to myself  “I love you Mich...

Para todos ustedes que les gusta el uso de palabras para escribir historias, artículos de opinión y composiciones, lo menos utilizado es palabras para la creación de poesía. Sobre todo en nuestro mundo de comunicación inmediata, lo mas importante es el rapido pensamiento en casi todas las maneras. El reloj y las horas son nuestro dios, y al resultado veamos un mundo donde no hay casi nada suficiente espacio para reflexionar. Entonces nosotros estamos perdiendo los beneficios de la poesía.  Pues, ¿entonces cuales son esos beneficios? Pero ya un momento. Primero se debe sentir y mirar la belleza que existe en nuestro mundo. La belleza es tan importante en un mundo lleno de cosas feas. Escribo poesía, y aunque muchos de mis poemas expresan el amor y la belleza del mundo, otros poemas fueron escritos para transformar lo feo que es belleza. Por ejemplo, hay obras espectaculares de pintura en lo que se crece o se nace afuera de heridas en el corazón. Muchas veces el resultado del arte no...

Miré a los miembros de una orquesta de una gran ciudad del mundo.    Qué de importante tienen todos ellos? Todos de ellos practicarieron como utilizar sus instrumentos musicales y practicar habitualmente.  Mi padre siempre me digo que su pasión fue la música. El tocaba el saxofón y canto. Yo recuerdo tan bien como el practicaba en la sala de nuestra casa. Y por esa razón mi padre fue extraordinario con el saxofón.  Mi padre, Clyde Bell, esta cantando por los soldados  americanos durante el Guerra Segunda Mundial Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, algunos lideres de posición superior del ejercito de los Estados Unidos trataban de encontrar a los mejores músicos del ejercito para formar una banda y de esa forma entretener a los soldados.  Mi padre fue elegido para formar parte de esa banda. La unidad del ejercito a partir del cual fue enviado para combatir contra los japoneses. Y un ochenta por ciento de esos soldados murieron en las b...

Soy gringo de los estados unidos, y he viviendo en Ecuador poco mas de cuatro años. Especialmente a los nativos de Ecuador, me gustaría compartir cuales son dos opiniones y observaciones míos entre las culturas de ambos países. Incluir luego una explicación de como a sobrevivir yo a través de la transición a un país extranjero. Seguro por lo hago necesite amistades ambos gringos y Ecuatorianos. Nunca tuve el deseo de vivir en una isla de Norteamérica dentro del Ecuador. Aunque comprendo porque no muchos gringos hablan español, oído la idea que yo hablaría exclusivamente en ingles. Unas de las diferencias veo es la tratamiento de dinero. Por ejemplo con falta de centavo es imposible comprar en mi país. No hay casi nada excepción no importe si o no es necesario el producto por salud del cliente.  Al contrario desde he viviendo en Ecuador muchas veces he llegado a una tienda o farmacia sin todo el dinero pagar y me fui con el producto necesitaba. Claro no así es ni en Superm...

All the dogs around here excited, barking...running around happy licking faces of fifteen or so humankind come to maybe find a mascot. It's a fun day at Jay Dee's Paws with Hope rescue compound. Visitors at Paws With Hope Meet and Greet Dog lovers congregated, united in sentiment---it's cliché, I know, to say dogs are mans' best friend, but folks here sure seem to believe it. These rescued dogs were maltreated or sick animals found homeless and in need of medical help. So give credit to Jay Dee---she works like mad as an instrument of succor. She does more than bless animals like priests do on the feast day of Francis of Assisi , not to imply blessings don't help. But Dee goes out on the streets and looks for malnourished and homeless dogs. She shelters and bathes them. She feeds them. She pays for veterinary aid.  Rescued dogs at Paws With Hope Compound ''Unfortunately I cannot take in more until some get adopted and I catc...

Since its domestication 3000 years ago, the storied history of horse and man together exemplify special bonding---the loyalty of horse to man---the love of man for horse. FLAMENCO TAN NOBLE The cinematic prestige of movies like ''Seabiscuit,'' ''National Velvet'', ''War Horse'' and ''The Black Stallion'' treat of this deep esteem for the noble equine characteristic. A less heralded yet equally deserving acclaim champions the horse as healing benefactor to mentally retarded people. Patient at Empoderamiento Con Caballos Marthy Ch, a nurse for The Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador, also works with therapeutic horses and those patients whom she calls her ''babies'' at Empoderamiento con Caballos, (Empowerment with Horses)--- an organization directed by clinical psychologist Christini Ring and located in the Cotacachi area of Imbabura Province in Ecuador. ''Horses ...

Take notice about it. It's akin to when a dead blue jay bird is discovered in the front yard of his house by a five year old boy---nobody needs to teach that five year old what his instincts do. The temporal nature of life exemplified in the bird's corpse is sobering. The boy realizes he too will die. Almost none of us talk about it---the subject of death. We hide it under a blanket named the cares and concerns of daily living. Undertaker cosmeticians meanwhile dress the deceased to appear as if in deep sleep. It is all of it understandable; yet so momentous the passage from life to death, is it not worthwhile to suggest it be afforded thoughtful and considerate preparation? Wills put in order. Funeral arrangements made. If death is imminent, farewells extended to family and friends. But is there a responsibility to prepare to die for the sake of oneself? Is there duty to contemplate the matter, to weigh the pounds and measure the feet of what is the last a...

My internet connection crashed yesterday afternoon, and I felt molested to the upmost degree about that. My partner and I were in the middle of what is to us doing important work---building a website to market art resources and supplies at Art Easels for the Artist. By the way I ask readers to do us a favor and check out our website and leave a comment---this will encourage the traffic that leads to higher ranking in the search engines.     My partner Osnelly and I at Mall del Rio in Cuenca, Ecuador Anyway, it´s late morning now and my web connection is still down, but a trusted and experienced internet systems engineer at damonbreeden@gmail.com   is going to come over at 3 pm to re-establish the connection. I am fully confident he will succeed. Obviously my tranquility is associated with a reliable and fast moving internet connection. I am tied to the net. It is a part of me and I am a part of it. But I am old enough...

This is a guest post written by Paul Yhip. Paul owns a landscaping construction and design business in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also writes songs and short stories at Pablito´s Corner. __________________________________________________________ I went to dinner with my wife Anna the other day, along with our best friends Tom and Judy. We tend to be open with each other and talk and debate on a lot of different subjects. Judy opened the conversation and said ¨ I dated a few guys before I met Tom.¨ Interrupting, Tom said ¨A few? That´s like saying Hitler only killed a few people!¨   Anna and I looked at each other with forced smiles, and Judy, glaring at her husband of fourteen years said ¨What do you mean   Tom? I was a slut!?¨ ¨No, no let me correct myself,¨ replied Tom, his expression turning apologetic, ¨I meant not so much the quantity but the quality. I suppose every man you met was a different type of guy.¨ Anna and I looked...

At Zona Refrescante restaurant in Cuenca, Ecuador, every afternoon on Thursday, Ecuadorians meet with native English speakers to practice speaking English. It´s fun, and it´s a way for people from both cultures to inquire about strange customs they don´t understand.   This bright middle school age student had a question for me this past Thursday about Halloween. I pause to interject. This girl of about 14 years never lived in any English speaking country. She learned what she knows not only because eight hours of English per week is a requirement at her school, but also because as she explained, English is her favorite subject! She speaks it well and has decently good pronunciation, and she impressed me.   But all that above about her is beside the point. This girl, an obviously curious expression on her face, was asking me to explain Halloween . I tried but felt flabbergasted. I didn´t have an answer satisfactory to me. Halloween as it´s known in North Ameri...