August 2019 – Page 2 – ebb then flood

Endless Sleep And The Jazz Cat

August 14, 2019August 14, 2019 by Ebb Then Flood

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“Cats have it all – admiration, endless sleep and company only when they want it”

– Rod McKuen

It’s August ,and being a Leo myself, it’s feline time.

Pictured is our, now sadly gone, family cat Mingus (named for the Afro-American jazz great Charles Mingus), who was an excellent sleeper but great company too when he actually woke (and wanted it).

I was even suckered into this admiring shot while he slept in the sun…damn!

A very idiosyncratic beast he was. Preferred human food over cat food and could sense when someone was sick, and stay close by. Liked music.He was a La Perm breed (aka the “Alpaca Cat”); had unusual wool-like fur that would freak people out a bit when touching it.

A story about the cat and his name: I watched the 1968 black and white documentary on Mingus (the jazz one) with a friend in London. In the doco, Charlie wanders around his New York loft muttering random stuff and at one point fires a loaded rifle into the ceiling, bringing down paint and dust. Just a little unhinged, really. Years later we had just got Mingus (the feline), and I told my friend his name over the phone. He asked whether he was black. I said, no, just slightly crazy..

Ok, done.This blog’s sole cat meme is officially out of the way…

Red Lanterns Strung

August 13, 2019August 12, 2019 by Ebb Then Flood

“He liked to observe emotions ; they were like red lanterns strung along the dark unknown of another’s personality, marking vulnerable points.”

– Ayn Rand, from ‘Atlas Shrugged’

The Relentless vs The Sentinel

August 12, 2019August 11, 2019 by Ebb Then Flood

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What a match up! The Pacific Ocean against Sentinel Rock in Northland, New Zealand.

Continual surf crashes upon,and tidal motion swirls around and over, the rocks.

Pummeled.

24/7.

Every day and every night.

It’s epic, and relentless.

But still the Sentinel holds its ground, and stands guard.

Life is just as relentless as the ocean waves and tides.

It is hard to be rocklike in the face of attrition, I know. It’s easy to let your guard down when it feels there is no respite.

And there are times when I feel submerged but still manage to pull through,somehow.

And at those times I am grateful to people who are my “rocks”, shining concepts I cling to, and whatever higher power there is that guards me against destruction…

Ripple The Heavens

August 11, 2019August 10, 2019 by Ebb Then Flood

ripple the heavens

cast doubt on the earth

burn the blue

for all that you’re worth

Seated On Elephants

August 10, 2019August 9, 2019 by Ebb Then Flood

Retro chairs on the deck of a summer holiday place I love.

As close as I am likely to get to riding an elephant!

They are weighty beasts to be sure.

But holidays are all about taking the weight off…

The Descent

August 9, 2019August 8, 2019 by Ebb Then Flood

Ok, right turn, straight down, left turn….then what?

Just remember these simple directions:

“The descent to Hades is the same from every place.”

– Anaxagoras (Greek philosopher)

No believer in a physical hell, but metaphysically, yeah, and we can all find it alright.

If you feel yourself going down, grip tight the proverbial handrail, or latch onto any inspiration that will make you realise that stairs work in two directions…

Wilder

August 8, 2019August 7, 2019 by Ebb Then Flood

“Going to the woods is going home, for I suppose we come from the woods originally. But in some of nature’s forests, the adventurous traveler seems a feeble, unwelcome creature; wild beasts and the weather trying to kill him, the rank, tangled vegetation, armed with spears and stinging nettles, barring his way and making life a hard struggle.”

– John Muir (Scottish-American naturalist and writer)

Nowadays , when we are encouraged to find our “wild side”, we don’t really mean anything that would instill fear in us, or cause us pain.

It’s more like an extravagant extra, something different that takes us out of our humdrum existence.

A bungy jump; a raging party; acquiring some “edgy” art or clothes ; or a trip to somewhere off the usual “tourist trail”. Preferably something that can be posted on social media after the event…

But definitely not something we have to endure, or survive.

My own experience with hellish life events outside my control that took me to dark and wild places (nowhere I would choose), was exactly those two things. You too may have gone unwillingly into your own wild woods…

The words of Muir resonate with me as I think about those times: I knew with absolute certainty that everything could hurt me, anything could have my number.

The feeling of being utterly lost, blocked at every turn, and with each moment fraught with pain and danger, will stay with me always. It has changed my outlook on life, changed me.

The true wild transforms you.

If you survive it that is…

Birds Of Paradise

August 7, 2019August 6, 2019 by Ebb Then Flood

Flora corner: Bird of Paradise (also called crane flower) plants seen on the weekend.

You either love or hate them, but they are striking and individualistic.

Mimicking a bird’s head with plumage or with petals like a bird in flight – take your pick – they make a statement of unique style that would be the envy of any fashionista.

Go with your own style I say – nobody totally inhabits it like you!

Lift

August 6, 2019August 7, 2019 by Ebb Then Flood

“I think it is incumbent on anyone who can, to lift human dignity to the highest possible levels, maintaining one’s own and helping to raise that of others.”

– Henry Rollins

Great words from former Black Flag frontman and spoken word artist Henry Rollins.

Emphasises to me the togetherness of humanity – sometimes you will be the lifter (when you can) and sometimes the one lifted up (when you need to be).

As an aside, Rollins has also been a keen lifter of weights and famously said of the iron he lifted:

“The Iron is the great reference point, the all knowing perspective giver. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend……..Friends may come and go but two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.”

I agree…what gets lifted, and what lifts us up … is the Truth.

Tiny Temple

August 5, 2019August 4, 2019 by Ebb Then Flood

Pictured: one really tiny temple, on a little rock outcrop, beside a small river of running water.

Spiritual harmony in miniature.

This is an Asian-styled water feature at the entrance to my favourite Vietmamese restaurant in Otahuhu, Auckland (which ,by the way, has a killer banh mi roll…to die for!)

The little water garden is by far the prettiest thing about the place, which is a very ordinary boxlike 1960s office remade into an eatery without too much actual remaking having gone on, with kleenex for napkins.

But you come for the warm welcome and some of the best cheap eats in town, gathered with your friends or family.

Call me shallow(as a water feature river), but that is the sort of spiritual harmony that I can relate to!