2020 has been such a challenging year for the entire world. It has taught us a lot about others and ourselves. We all cope in different ways. Sometimes we don’t cope at all, and then there is a sunrise on Thanksgiving that gives promise to something greater than ever. Today was a day when one sunrise photo just wasn’t enough. The farther I walked the better it got. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Happy Thanksgiving 2020.

It was a lot of fun making all the illustrations and putting them together with my poem. I’m looking for an agent or publisher. Here is the whole book. Let me know what you think. Thank you.

November 1 & 2 Dia de los Muertos is celebrated to honor deceased loved ones. It is not a Mexican version of Halloween. The two traditions are different in so many ways.

See photos and explanation here:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/north-america/mexico/top-ten-day-of-dead-mexico/

Today I am honoring my mother, Floy B Nichols-Stephens, who lived to be 103. She was my role model and I love and miss her so much. On this day, I am honoring her with an ofrenda, which is a tradition in Mexico.

The tradition includes flowers, prayers, water for the journey, the deceased’s favorite food, candles, and stories and remembrances of the loved one’s life. It is a celebration rather than mourning.

I still need to get some water and food for this, and one thing she loved was chocolate chip cookies, so I’ll be baking them today.

The last stanza of “On Death” from The Prophet, by Kahlil Gribran

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
     And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

     Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
     And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
     And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. 

Sending you songs of love, Mommy.

More precisely, come into my kitchen (cocina) where I prepared our Prickly Pear Cactus fruit (tuna) into a delicious drink.

In the summer every year our prickly pear cactus shows off all its splendor. First it’s the gorgeous orange flowers and then in late summer the fruit (tuna) come out.

Mostly the birds get them before we do, but this year I was able to get some of them without bird pecked holes in them. Also, the little juancito that lives around here loves to eat all the cactus. They are a burrowing animal that resembles a tiny chipmunk. They are annoying because they are like a little gopher. In fact, the Mexicans we know refer to them as gophers.

I was successful in getting my first batch of these tasty fruits and I felt so excited.

Today was the day I would try to eat them for the first time. The plant itself is about 10 years old, and I’ve had it for 8 years. It has been through a very damaging hurricane (Odile) and it broke a big section. So, we planted the part that broke off right next to what remained, and now we have one gigantic plant (that is really two). The paddles on it are thick, not like the prickly pear cactus you probably have seen. And the spines on this one are so tiny and numerous, and you can hardly see them in your fingers and hands. Ouch. The pads, or nopales, on this plant are huge and fat.

Cactus pads (nopales) are eaten year-round, but it’s only in summer that the fruits reach maturity. Our tuna are deep magenta in color and the outer skin is green until it’s ripe and then it’s red.

We have two other prickly pear plants and they are more like the kind you see in San Diego, CA and in AZ. They put out beautiful yellow flowers. The pads are thinner and have more distinct spines to watch out for. Actually, they are so distinct that I rarely get them in my fingers, as I can see where the darn things are. 

Today I made us two awesome drinks with the fruit (tuna) and lime, water, sugar, and ice in the blender. I made a syrup out of the rest of the juice to save for making more yummy drinks for us.

Wash the tuna. Put them on a platter to dry. 

Slice off the ends and then slice down the center of the fruit, making two halves.

Remove the fruit from the thick skin and put it in the blender.

Blend them well.

Pour through a strainer to get all the juice and throw the blended seeds out.

Pour the strained juice back into the blender to make two glasses (about 2/3 cup of juice) and blend with 4 Mexican limes and 1/3 cup of sugar, 3/4 cup of water, and a whole tray of ice cubes.

Oh my! The heavenly and refreshing drink is our new favorite. Next year we are going to be diligent about getting the fruit before the birds and juancitas get them. If you are lucky enough to have these in your yard, you must try getting the fruit. Wear gloves. Even if you think there aren’t spines, there are. Believe me. Wear gloves.

Let’s Kick the Bums Out!

in our dealings we are cautious
to stand for our democracy
daily news just makes us nauseous
say farewell to the hypocrisy


Let us bring on the clarity
and justice for all citizens
who strive for racial parity
and work for equal privileges


sobered by the many portents
of governing calamity
feeling sick with all the torments
of the POTUS and his vanity

Stand for our Democracy

Let’s Kick the Bums Out!

take the time to show you care

give your time and just declare

earth needs our help

as icebergs melt

and air is choked

and laws revoked

set some lofty goals for her

catastrophe must not occur

be an earth warrior

Do you say you love the sea? Can you be a devotee?

When you visit do you litter? Drive a car that’s an emitter?

Too many plastics we’ve produced, now the oceans need a boost

Don’t know the pain that its been dealt? Don’t know a reason you should help?

Planet Earth–a gift we’re given, how to help we can envision

Let’s be aware, and show we care

BE AN EARTH WARRIOR

My Beach Umbrella

flutters in the breeze

happy as you please

shades me from the sun

making life more fun

Flowers in my Garden

in the sun they flourish

and my soul they nourish

Sunset

Colors of a sunset will sink into the ocean

Music of a quartet that fills me with emotion

That’s all she wrote.

This is a good time to read this poem. It speaks to what is going on in America and other parts of the world, but he wrote it for America. He wrote it for himself. And for you. And for me.

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes – 1902-1967

Let America be America again.

Let it be the dream it used to be.

Let it be the pioneer on the plain

Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—

Let it be that great strong land of love

Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme

That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty

Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,

But opportunity is real, and life is free,

Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,

Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?

And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,

I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.

I am the red man driven from the land,

I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—

And finding only the same old stupid plan

Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,

Tangled in that ancient endless chain

Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!

Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!

Of work the men! Of take the pay!

Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.

I am the worker sold to the machine.

I am the Negro, servant to you all.

I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—

Hungry yet today despite the dream.

Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!

I am the man who never got ahead,

The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream

In the Old World while still a serf of kings,

Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,

That even yet its mighty daring sings

In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned

That’s made America the land it has become.

O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas

In search of what I meant to be my home—

For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,

And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,

And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came

To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?

Surely not me? The millions on relief today?

The millions shot down when we strike?

The millions who have nothing for our pay?

For all the dreams we’ve dreamed

And all the songs we’ve sung

And all the hopes we’ve held

And all the flags we’ve hung,

The millions who have nothing for our pay—

Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again—

The land that never has been yet—

And yet must be—the land where every man is free.

The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—

Who made America,

Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,

Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,

Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—

The steel of freedom does not stain.

From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,

We must take back our land again,

America!

O, yes,

I say it plain,

America never was America to me,

And yet I swear this oath—

America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,

The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,

We, the people, must redeem

The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.

The mountains and the endless plain—

All, all the stretch of these great green states—

And make America again!

Some days my mind is so wound up in the tangles of troubles we are experiencing in our world today that I can’t concentrate. I feel off balance. Sad. Disturbed. Worried. Full of fear. What’s going to become of us?

We are all looking for positive ways to get through this scary and confusing time of a pandemic and all that comes from it. We continue to struggle with racial tensions, our individual responsibility for them, how to ameliorate them, in addition to how do we care for people in nursing homes, prisons, how do we educate our children, which monuments should we keep and which should we replace. Oh, and there’s also that thing about putting food on the table when you don’t have a job anymore.

I hear people asking a lot of questions. People pointing fingers. I’ve done some of that myself. I’ve also been pointing my finger at myself.

One of the big questions in my mind is why are people so adamant about individual rights at a time like this when a small personal sacrifice of wearing a mask can help? Why is that so hard?

In time of crisis it is necessary to work together and whatever the inconveniences, we need to support each other, instead of demanding individual freedoms. We must come together even more than we do in war. We must demonstrate solidarity. Let’s ask a lot of ourselves. Let’s dig down to find our individual greatness, strength, and respect for ourselves and others in order to beat this virus. Do it for the common good. Wear a mask and keep the required physical distance. And in the meantime, if you have the means, give to your local food bank or some other organization that helps people in your neighborhood who need it.

I am looking inside myself to find some ways to change my own behavior in order to allow for others to enjoy the freedoms I enjoy. I am working to educate myself about what it’s like to be a person of color, those who live without the privilege I have.

Reading books, articles, listening to podcasts, and joining in dialogue with others is helpful, but it is also very difficult because it’s work. It’s very painful personal work. I feel like mud is what runs (slogs) through my veins instead of blood. I feel it as a stomach ache. And I’m person who is known for how I laugh, and now I just feel ugly and depressed.

Sometimes I need a break from it. I crave a good escape novel or movie. A meal with friends and NOT talk about what’s going on. So I treat myself to a break. I walk on the beach with Greg and our dog. I paint. I listen to the birds. We watch the sunrise, the sunset. I take a nap. All good ways to restore and refresh.

What are you doing to make necessary changes so that we can live and love in health and harmony in our world? What are you doing to get through this turmoil?

I’m sincerely looking for answers.

The 60s and 70s were a tumultuous couple of decades in the United States of America. In a naive way, I thought the Civil Rights Movement in the US would change things. As I see it now, much of what I imagined was pure fantasy. The social unrest was just that. Unrest. It went on for awhile. People marched. People prayed. People participated in sit-ins. Some things changed. Schools stopped being segregated. The refrain “I’m Black and I’m Proud!” could be heard everywhere. I think it was James Brown who was responsible for that powerful cry.

Some attitudes didn’t change though. It seems they have lain dormant until here we go again.

Same problems. Different days.

I don’t want to be naive anymore. I don’t want the status quo either. Coupled with all the political divide, the racist attitudes, the anger and frustration that is playing itself out again, the global pandemic, and endless wars, we have a lot of problems. Sometimes as individuals, we may feel helpless, but there are many things we can do to ameliorate our problems.

I’m going to go with what I can do.

Just me.

You can do what you can do.

Just you.

Together we can do this. I don’t know about you, but allowing for helplessness isn’t going to get me anywhere.

In the middle of all this, I wrote and illustrated a children’s book. It was a dream of mine and I made it happen. It was one of the most thrilling days of my life when the book became available for purchase. The exhilaration was short-lived because one of my former colleagues who bought the book wrote me that it contained two typos.

As a former English teacher this is not acceptable, but unless I’m willing to part with more money–lots of it–$300.00 worth–it will remain a flawed book. I already spent close to one thousand buckeroos to make my dream come true. Now, I have learned more lessons in life. At least two. One: do a better job of editing the publisher’s copy. Two: learn to live with egg on my face.

I keep thinking of that adapted line from Proverbs in the Bible, “Pride goeth before the fall.”

Now, to put everything into perspective I have to take a deep breath and embrace the fact that this tiny problem of mine is not worth worrying or fretting about. I am a human being who has learned a lesson. One of many of life’s lessons. And as a woman who wants to remain a life-long learner this is a gift. Not my favorite gift, of course, but a gift nonetheless.

My life is very good. I am blessed with health and love and I live in a beautiful place surrounded with nature’s incredible gifts. I get by with lots of help from my friends too.

I have joined a group of women who are going to meet and discuss the racial divide in the world, and what our roles and responsibilities might be. They will differ I’m sure, but we are going to study white privilege, look inside at our own biases, and study topics like “school to prison.” We will learn how we can use our voices, join with others to do small and big things to help make things equitable.

As American women, we have the privilege to speak up, to act, in ways that all women in the world cannot. We must do it for our sisters. And our brothers too, because we will all be better off with a just and equal society.

Will my voice be heard? Will your voice be heard? I hope so.

The Tarahumara, (“where the night is the day of the moon”) as the Spanish named them, or Rarámuri, (‘the light-footed one’) as they call themselves, are an indigenous tribe who live in Las Barrancas del Cobre (The Copper Canyon) in southwest Chihuahua State in northern Mexico. The Spanish invaders came in the 16th century. That part of their story is a sadly similar history as many other places in the world.

A couple years ago, Greg and I did the El Chepe Train trip into the Copper Canyon and visited many places where we saw these people selling their basketry, weaving, and other hand crafted items. They have their own language and when we visited this All Girls Boarding School in Cerocahui, we learned that these students were being taught Spanish by the nuns who run the school. They are also learning about Christianity. I don’t know how their families feel about that, but many of the girls who live in this boarding school come from families that can no longer provide for their children.

Some of them are orphans. It costs 50 pesos a month for each student. They eat mostly rice, beans, vegetables, and fruits. The nun told me that the girls learn to cook and clean, do traditional crafts, as well as to read, write, and speak Spanish. They have a small store where they sell the items they make, much like their mother’s make and sell in tourist spots in and around the canyon.

As a former teacher, I was intrigued with the classroom doors (we didn’t go inside the rooms).

It reminds me of 1st grade decor that I’ve seen in the United States.

Here is the bulletin board as you enter the school:

Check out the section that is about the exportation of petroleum and Winnie the Poo in the right lower corner.

Like children everywhere, they take time to play.

And typical of little girls, they like to make their hair pretty.

The Tarahumara are famous for their ability to run long distances, either barefoot or in their traditional sandals.

There is a beautiful old church across the street from the school.

As an observer for only a brief time, I thought the girls seemed content. The nun we spoke with was very sweet with the girls, though she was rather no-nonsense when I asked her what she thought their lives would be like once they were old enough to leave the school. She said they could only do what they could do for them while they were there. She wished them well when they left, placing her faith in God, and she focused on the ones who remained. Her English was excellent, by the way. In case you are wondering, we did donate to the school. It seemed like a no-brainer.Ju

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As tourists we saw many Tarahumara people on our trip, mostly women and children, as they rely on tourism to sell their hand-made items.

I will leave you with a photo I took at the station when we were waiting for the tram that went back to the Adventure Park of the Copper Canyon in Divisadero after our zip line adventure.