INSPIRED by mary anne radmacher

This is attributed to Abraham Lincoln- "We're just about as happy as we make up our minds to be." Is it fair to offer Appollinaire's advice, “It’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy”?  I've never quite been able to figure that out!   Because... Happiness is not an accidental visitor.   At least, not normally.                                      I am Happiness. I willingly arrive everywhere I am invited.   I come immediately where I am welcomed. I tell people who seem confused about how they can get me to show up (for a short visit or a long stay) to remember the last time I was with them and repeat that. I recognize the invitation in all forms.   My favorite kind of invitation you ask? I Love to show up in the beginning of the day when any inviter is still dancing. Yes. Beginning a day with dance is an ideal invitation to a visit from happiness. Another favorite is arriving in the middle of someone extending a kindness or offering a grace

Do NOT confuse the authentic-always-been-here-for-you outdoor school with the 501C3 that loads humans in vehicles and takes them to a wild place to learn about the "out doors." The actual out door school has been teaching humans on the other side of their domestic doors for as long as there has been humans. And doors. Don't get me wrong. I think THAT "outdoor school" has an important place in the world of education. We are just weary of people confusing them for us. The actual out door school. The actual out door school is always available. And always has been. The actual out door school doesn't come with a sack lunch or a scheduled lecture or craft. It does come with availability, immediacy and as many thoughtful lessons as your heart is open to hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting and touching.  Walk out your door. There we are. All of us. We coordinate our efforts. The results are sometimes beautiful. Sometimes harsh. Sometimes inconvenient. Regardless of th

Dispatch from a Dolphin:  The Friendly Factor I’m told that understanding the nature of friendliness is important to humans. Apparently there are two creatures on the planet that are considered friendlier than me: Capybara and Dog. Humans absolutely delight me - their many contradictions are absolutely fascinating. Capybara. A rodent that can grow to nearly 200 pounds and eat oh, around 8 pounds of food. A day! Rodents such as mice and rats don’t eat nearly that amount and are much smaller and more manageable to have around and yet humans don’t seem nearly as fond of rats as they are of Capybara. Dog. Although I’ve heard tell of a Chihuahua or two that didn’t seem especially friendly, I agree that Dog, generally, is really one of the friendliest creatures that comes to mind. Apparently Dolphin comes in third. I am more playful than I am competitive, so I am perfectly content with third place. I wouldn’t want to be land bound anyway so I’ve never wished much to be able to walk. If you w

  mary anne radmacher   < maryanneradmacher7@gmail.com > 12:12 PM (1 hour ago) to  me Lemon grass has gone global. You will find our origins in Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand evidenced by being intrinsic to their cuisines. You may mistake me for an ordinary sort of grass, but don’t let what looks like one thing dissuade you from the possibility of something else being true. At the risk of sounding like I’m bragging,  I am not only not ordinary I am rather extraordinary. I am not content just to look and smell pretty, I am nutritional, medicinal and antibacterial. Just my presence near human habitation dissuades mosquitoes from coming around. I am aromatic. I’m used in soaps, perfumes, cosmetics, teas, cleaning products and astringents. I’m tasty, too.  People around around the world use me in delicious dishes. Numerous traditional teas include lemongrass and insist that my anti-inflammatory and immune supporting benefits are measurable. I even play a part in the production of t

 Synopsis From Sand Oh my, there are so many things that I could summarize about the role that sand plays  in the universe. I will keep this letter as brief as I can. Let me first start with some foundational sand foot prints! I know beach sand and river sand just looks like a gazillion particles that are all the same. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Did you know that in spite of it looking like it’s all the same sand is made up of, among many other things, quartz crystal, shells, see urchin spines, coral and all kinds of hard bits from creature bodies? Here’s some other interesting bits - • Sand is a non-renewable resource. The only way to get more sand is time. Lots of time. Some speculate that it will take about 80 million years to get more sand. That’s why technically it’s called nonrenewable… Who can wait around 80 million years for more sand to show up? • Beach and fossil sand is used in concrete to the measure of approximately between 30 and 50,000,000,000 (that’s billion

A Helpful Hello from Hibiscus Hello on behalf of hibiscus. We are a hearty and perseverant family of plants. We try diligently to return to our beautiful blooms every spring after our winter sabbatical. We thrive in warm environments so those of you who shelter us indoors for the winter… Thank you for your hospitality. There are over 200 members of this Malvaceae family (did you know okra has a spot on my family tree?). We grow globally in tropical and subtropical climate. We’ve influenced some artists and even fashion designers with our beauty. Don’t let our outward appearance fool you, we are not just another pretty face. Humans have used our blooms, in fact all of us, to sustain and improve their health and environment for a very long time, longer than my memory is rooted. We are fortunate to not have issues with over exposure to the sun as humans do. The more sun for us the better. Wind is another matter and we appreciate being kept from it as much as possible. We get our common na

  Canine. Human. We go together like night and day, blue sky and rain. Always have. Ask any student of history and they’ll tell you that dogs have been loyal companions to humans around the globe since, well, ever. The world of dogs around the world… We are as different as the lands we walk. Our ancestry lies with the gray wolf. In spite of there being over 400 distinct, domesticated breeds, we all hold a little bit of the wild. Over time dogs have made roles for themselves in various levels in society. It’s difficult to acknowledge and yet it is true that not all dogs are treated like treasured companions. In some places dogs are a food source, and even in the United States puppy mills are a stain on the fabric of compassionate treatment. That travesty is offset by the rescue organizations that care for dogs who have special needs or need a home for different kinds of reasons. There are lots of things that make dogs different from each other - big or small, stout or fragile, calm or e