Happenings at the Capitol

We may or may not have a budget by the end of today, the last day of the fiscal year for the government.

Things were hopping at the Capitol.

The press office in the Senate.
It's thrilling to watch and be part of history in the making.

Bravery

Sometimes, a few steps in a brand new direction is a very brave thing to do.

A lot of sewing going on...

This is a pretty pillowcase that adds more pinkness to the room.

I am enjoying rich, full colors... pink seems to inspire creativity.

A little bit of ribbon for a layer of color.

Go see more here.

I am

... part of the great I AM.

The Dad Man

Joe Kelly writes extensively about relationships between Dads and Daughters.

He wrote this book which became important to me as an adult when I explored how to create a better relationship with my internalized father. This is all in the spirit of self parenting.

My dad was a typesetter, in the days when when newspaper content wasn't created by computers. This was his typewriter, the forbidden tool only he could touch. It is a treasure I kept now that he is gone. Grasshopper is particularly fond of it. Grandpa would have been proud yet frantically worried about his prized possession...
It's mine now Dad...!

To the Science Center

Off to see the Lego exhibit...

It's a bit of a walk from the parking garage.

Here the nose sneezes out the balls that were placed inside the nostrils.

There were round tables set up for Lego constructions. These pieces were geared toward medieval creations. This one is Snowden's.

This one is Grasshopper's.

The chest of a taller than life size dude/guard. These were worth seeing.

Fathers

They can build a strong foundation in a child's life.

Here's to those who do... Happy Father's Day.

The actress

Grasshopper loves to put on a show...

Oppressed people are frequently very oppressive when first liberated. And why wouldn't they be? They know best two positions. Somebody's foot on their neck or their foot on somebody's neck.
- Florynce R. Kennedy,lawyer and civil rights activist (1916-2000)

St. Augustine

Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are anger and courage. Anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain as they are.
- St. Augustine

Communities by deliberate design

M. Scott Peck believes that communities can be created starting with the basic principal of communication. Platitudes and generalizations need to be challenged. Individual differences must be allowed.

I am having so much fun reading this book.

In genuine community

Here's more from the chapter The True Meaning of Community from M. Scott Peck's book "The Different Drum, Community Making and Peace":

"In genuine community there are no sides. It is not always easy, but by the time they reach community the members have learned how to give up cliques and factions. They have learned how to listen to each other and how not to reject each other.

Sometimes concensus in community is reached with miraculous rapidity. But other times it is arrived at only lengthy struggle. Just because it is a safe place does not mean community is a place without conflict. It is however a place where conflict can be resolved without physical or emotional bloodshed and with wisdom as well as grace. A community is a group that can fight gracefully.

That this is so so is hardly accidental. For community is an amphitheater where the gladiators have laid down their weapons and their armor, where they have become skilled at listening and understanding, where they respect each others' gifts and accept each others' limitations, where they are committed to a struggling together rather than against each other. It is a most unusual battleground indeed. But that is also why it is an unusually effective ground for conflict resolution."

Your whole and holy self

I am a book aficionado. I dream of a home library where minds meet to read and discuss books.

I was looking through a shelf recently and came across M. Scott Peck's " The Different Drum, Community Making and Peace". I have many books that have not been read. This was one of them. It looks like this was the right stage in my life to read it. I am so ready to understand the concepts he discusses that I have been soaking it all in.

This passage is striking:

"Paradoxically, then, a group of humans becomes healing and converting only after its member have stopped trying to heal and convert. Community is a safe place precisely because no one is trying to heal or convert you, to fix you, to change you, Instead, the members accept you as you are, You are free to be you. And being so free, you are free to discard defenses, masks, disguises; free to seek your own psychological and spiritual health; free to become your whole and holy self."

Fun

At the park.

Continuity

One honors one's gone parents by raising the next generation. The love continues.

Snowden and Grasshopper living.

Chihuly

We caught the exhibit on its last day at the Botanical Garden.

It was one of the best visits. A dream to photograph.