On The Pulse of Morning

 By Maya Angelou

A Rock, A River, A Tree

Hosts to species long since departed,

Marked the mastodon.

The dinosaur, who left dry tokens

Of their sojourn here

On our planet floor,

Any broad alarm of their hastening doom

Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,

Come, you may stand upon my

Back and face your distant destiny,

But seek no haven in my shadow.

I will give you no hiding place down here.

You, created only a little lower than

The angels, have crouched too long in

The bruising darkness,

Have lain too long

Face down in ignorance.

Your mouths spilling words

Armed for slaughter.

The Rock cries out to us today, you may stand upon me,

But do not hide your face.

Across the wall of the world,

A River sings a beautiful song,

It says come rest here by my side.

Each of you a bordered country,

Delicate and strangely made proud,

Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.

Your armed struggles for profit

Have left collars of waste upon

My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.

Yet, today I call you to my riverside,

If you will study war no more. 

Come,Clad in peace and I will sing the songs

The Creator gave to me when 

I and theTree and the rock were one.

Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your

Brow and when you yet knew you still

Knew nothing.

The River sang and sings on.

There is a true yearning to respond to

The singing River and the wise Rock.

So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the JewThe African,

 the Native American, the Sioux,

The Catholic, the Muslim, 

the French, the Greek

The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheikh,

The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,

The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.

 They all hear

The speaking of the Tree.

They hear the first and last of every Tree

Speak to humankind today. 

Come to me, here beside the River.Plant yourself beside the River.

Each of you, descendant of some passed

On traveller, has been paid for.

You, who gave me my first name, youPawnee, Apache, Seneca, you

Cherokee Nation, who rested with me, then

Forced on bloody feet, left me to the employment of

Other seekers--desperate for gain,Starving for gold.

You, the Turk, the Arab, the Swede, the German, the Eskimo, the Scot ...

You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought

Sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare

Praying for a dream.

Here, root yourselves beside me.

I am that Tree planted by the River,

Which will not be moved.

I, the Rock, I the River, I the Tree

I am yours--your Passages have been paid.

Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need

For this bright morning dawning for you.

History, despite its wrenching pain,

Cannot be unlived, but if faced

With courage, need not be lived again.

Lift up your eyes upon

This day breaking for you.

Give birth again

To the dream.

Women, children, men,

Take it into the palms of your hands.

Mold it into the shape of your most

Private need. 

Sculpt it into

The image of your most public self.

Lift up your hearts

Each new hour holds new chances

For new beginnings.

Do not be wedded forever

To fear, yoked eternally

To brutishness.

The horizon leans forward,

Offering you space to place new steps of change.

Here, on the pulse of this fine day

You may have the courage

To look up and out and upon me,

 theRock, the River, the Tree, your country.

No less to Midas than the mendicant.

No less to you now than the mastodon then.

Here on the pulse of this new day

You may have the grace to look up and out

And into your sister's eyes, and into

Your brother's face, your country

And say simply

Very simply

With hope

Good morning.

Dogs and Gods Part 2

•       I'm walking along Pumicestone Passage, photographing Gods handy work on a warm winters morning when I came across a lady and her dog. She is tossing a stick into the warm waters as a Pelican floats past towards a destination south. I catch a shot of the moment in time as the stick is tossed once again into todays calm waters, for the willing dog , to retrieve. The German Shepherd turns in a flash and chases eagerly to bring the treasure back to his master. Then i hear the call ! Good boy Zeus ! A thought crosses my mind how well Gods names go with dogs. I continued my walk along the sands looking upwards into the heavens. Dogs and Gods part 2 flashed through my mind as the suns rays pushed its way through the clouds.

 Zeus

 Pelican, Zeus and Friend

 Walking the Dog

Walking the sands with the Dogs and Children

At Dawn with a Friend

Friends Dogs and the Dawn

• Anubis is the ancient Egyptian god of mummification and of the dead. He took the form of a black dog or jackal usually in a lying down or crouching position, ears pricked and a long hanging tail. He wore a collar of magical connotations. He was also pictured as a human with a canine head. He helped judge souls after their death and guided lost souls into the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians did not worship animals. The depiction of a god as an animal was a device to visually convey the identity, qualities and attributes of the god. Cynopolis, which means “City of the Dog” in Greek, was the cult center of the God Anubis in Upper Egypt. They were twin cities known as Cynopolis superior and Cynopolis inferior. There was an Anubis shrine discovered inside the grave of Tutankhamun. 

Anubis Shrine - Wikipedia

The Anubis Shrine was part of the grave goods of Tutankhamun ( 18th Dynasty, New Kingdom). The tomb was discovered almost intact on 4 November 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in west Thebes by Howard Carter. Today the object, with the find number 261, is an exhibit at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, with the inventory number JE 61444.

  Heavenly Dogs

Canis Major -- is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name means “the greater dog” in Latin.
It represents the bigger dog following Orion, the hunter in Greek mythology. The dog is often depicted pursuing a hare, represented by the constellation Lepus.
Canis Minor -- is a small constellation in the northern sky. Its name means “the smaller dog” or “lesser dog” in Latin. The constellation represents one of the dogs following Orion, the hunter in Greek mythology. Both constellations were first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.

Sunny Day Rainbow Beach

• Year of The Dog -- 2018 is the Year of the Dog in the Chinese zodiac. It is made up of twelve signs and is based on the yearly Chinese lunar calendar which is determined by the movement of the moon. The Tiangou or Heavenly Dog has been said to resemble a black dog or meteor, which is thought to eat the sun or moon during an eclipse.

In Chinese Mythology, the Tiangou ("Heavenly Dog") is a flying dog responsible for eating the sun during a solar eclipse pic.twitter.com/wwIXezTgUg

— 41 Strange (@41Strange) May 1, 2018

• The modern western zodiac starts with the fire sign of Aries and finishes with the water sign of Pisces and are designated by the monthly positions of the sun and constellations. The twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac are all animals. The dragon is the only mythological animal, while the rest are creatures seen in nature. The signs are cycled through and repeated every twelve years, and the dog is the eleventh sign. The Year of the Dog begins on February 16th, 2018 and ends February 4th, 2019. 
   

Rufus Thomas and Walking the Dog 

• Name your dog after a GOD -- Apollo, Pluto, Thor ,Venus, Cupid.  Check more names here Names for Dogs

• Dog names  from Mythology and folklore 

• Kerberos -- In ancient Greek mythology, Kerberos is a huge, three-headed hound who guards the entrance to Hades, where he prevents ghosts from sneaking out and rejoining the world of the living.  Hercules was sent to fetch Kerberos as one of his twelve labours, a task which he accomplished with the aid of the goddess Persephone. A passage from Ovids Metamorphoses, “the hell-hound Cerberus, fast on a chain…. His three throats filled the air with triple barking, barks of frenzied rage, and spattered the green meadows with white spume.”

Bugs to Beatles

•    Harlequin Bug -- They are brightly coloured and rounded shield shaped bug that grow to about 20 mm. They reproduce rapidly and females mate multiple times with many males before laying up to 150 eggs per female. Adult females are mostly orange and males are both blue and red or orange. The colours are quite variable. They live in Northern and Eastern Australia and are known as the Hibiscus Harlequin Bug or Jewel Bug .They probably get their name from the Italian comics/clowns called Harlequin’s who's costumes were usually covered with many coloured patches. The comics patches later evolved into triangles and diamond shapes. In the Americas and other tropical areas they are known as the harlequin cabbage bug, calico bug,or fire bug.

 Harlequin/Jewel Bug
 

  
 Forgiven by A.A.Milne

Alexander Beetle by Melanie Safca 

based on the A.A.Milne Poem

• 
  

•  Arthur Alexander /Another Beatle  was born 10 May 1940, in Florence, Alabama. known to his friends as “June,” for Junior. By the time he left school in his teenage years, Arthur was crazy in love with music C&W, R&B, pop. In the early 1960s, he recorded a handful of discs that inspired a generation of artists. Sir Paul McCartney once said, "If the Beatles ever wanted a sound it was Arthur Alexander. Arthur Alexanders songs recorded by the Beatles were Anna,Soldier of Love and Shot of Rhythm and Blues. He first came to fame with “You Better Move On”, which peaked at number 24 on billboard charts in April of 1962 and then covered by The Rolling Stones.  During The Beatles search for songs to perform in their stage act, they were keen to learn songs that no one else was doing. Discovering flip sides of songs they admired became part of their live performances. The flip side to “You Better Move On” was “A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues”, which was the first performed live on stage. Then Arthur's  next single, “Where Have You Been All My Life” failed to make the top 40, but its’ flip side, “Soldier Of Love”, was also performed by The Beatles on the BBC .

Soldier of Love
Arthur Alexander

•  Arthur Alexanders next single, the self-penned “Anna” named after Arthur's real life wife Ann, became a top 10 hit on the Billboard R&B charts, and made an impact on  John Lennon, who suggested the song to the band and was recorded for their first album Please Please Me. “Alexanders’ R&B chart career continued for many years, but without being able to crack the Billboard top 40 again and struggling financially he decided to retire from the music business. In the late 1970's he became a bus driver in Cleveland, Ohio for a local social service organization. Arthurs final recording was Hound Dog Mans Gone Home in 1977. A tribute to the king. 

My Favourite Beatle 

•  George Harrison -- A master musician, best known as the lead guitarist and occasionally lead vocalist of The Beatles. He was born February 25, 1943, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Wonderwall was a film that George wrote the score for in 1968 and was the first solo album released by any of the band after the Beatles split and the first recorded on the Apple label. This was used as inspiration for Oasis song of the same name, according to the Gallaghers. The song Inner Light was written by George at these sessions and was used as the flipside for the final Beatles single Lady Madonna . My all time favourite album was Cloud Nine, Georges final album which included songs My Mind Set On You and Fish on the Sand. 

•  Personal Experience -- Thanks for the music and memories George ! My dad had just been diagnosed with cancer and given a year to live. During the twelve months I would make the 600 km road trip on numerous ocassions. One of these was with my eleven year old daughter. I remember the talks we had and that great George Harrison album that accompanied us. His final solo album Cloud Nine was filled with beautifully crafted music. I know my daughter had a soft spot for I Got My Mind Set On You. We played that tape non stop and talked about her poppy and all the music legends that had left us. I remember discussing John Lennon's shooting and the Beatles classics. Then telling her the reasons why George was my favourite beatle. I think back to us sitting, on the beach front, at a little town called 1770 and watching the sunrise listening to Fish on the Sand. Cloud Nine will always be one of my favourite albums. A beautiful piece of artistry compiled by George and his friends Jeff Lynne,Elton John,Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr.

Jewel Bug

• Scarab Beetle --  This particular species of beetle is represented in numerous ancient Egyptian amulets and works of art .The amulets were often placed over the heart of the mummified deceased and called heart scarabs. The reasoning was the persons was to be weighed against the feather of truth during the final judgement. In ancient Egyptian religion, the sun god Ra is seen to roll across the sky each day, transforming bodies and souls. The beetle would roll dung into a ball as food and as a brood chamber in which to lay eggs. For these reasons the scarab was seen as a symbol of this heavenly cycle and of the idea of rebirth or regeneration. The Egyptian god Ra, the rising sun, was often depicted as a scarab beetle. The scarab was usually inscribed with designs to form an official impression seal.

 Longicorn Beetles

 

Harlequin Bug

Elvis Beetle

Dogs and Gods

• Dogstar  The brightest star visible from any part of Earth is Sirius. Sirius is sometimes called the Dog Star. It is located in the constellation Canis Major or the Greater Dog. Although white to blue white in color, Sirius is also called the rainbow star, as it often flickers with many colors.The brightness, twinkling and color changes sometimes prompt people to report Sirius as a UFO ! The shimmering and color changes happen for other stars, but are more noticeable for Sirius because Sirius is so bright.

•      Greeks and Romans --  The dog days of summer occurred around the days when Sirius appeared to rise just before the sun, in late July. These days, were the hottest time of the year. Sirius was the god or goddess of the Dog Star.  It appears in many guises in myth. He or she was variously described as Maira or Maera daughter of the Titan Atlas, Maira the dog of the hero  Icarius, Lailaps or Laelaps the hound of Orion.When Zeus was a baby, a dog, known only as the “golden hound” was charged with protecting the future King of Gods. . The star was also connected with the dog loving goddess Hekate , daughter of Perses.

 Florence and the Machine 

Dog Days Are Over

• Egyptians --  The name Sirius signified its nature as scorching or sparkling. The star was associated with the Egyptian gods Osiris, Sopdet and other gods. Ancient Egyptians noted that Sirius rose just before the sun each year, immediately prior to the annual flooding of the Nile River. Although the floods could bring destruction, they also brought new soil and new life. Osiris was an Egyptian god of life, death, fertility and rebirth of plant life along the Nile. Sopdet who might have an even closer association with the star Sirius  began as an agricultural deity in Egypt, also closely associated with the Nile. The Egyptian new year was celebrated with a festival known as The Coming of Sopdet.

• In India -- Sirius is sometimes known as Svana, the dog of Prince Yudhistira. The prince and his four brothers, along with Svana, set out on a long and arduous journey to find the kingdom of heaven. However, one by one the brothers all abandoned the search until only Yudhistira and his dog, Svana, were left. At long last they came to the gates of heaven. The gatekeeper, Indra, welcomed the prince but denied Svana entrance. Yudhistira was aghast and told Indra that he could not forsake his good and faithful servant and friend. His brothers, Yudhistira said, had abandoned the journey to heaven to follow their hearts’ desires. But Svana, who had given his heart freely, chose to follow.

• Romulus and Remus and the Wolf -- Legend has that the twins Romulus and Remus were born around 770BC, the sons of a mortal priestess, Rhea Silvia, and the Roman god of war, Mars. The boys were abandoned at birth and thrown into the River Tiber in a cradle. However, they were rescued by a she-wolf, taken to her cave lair, and suckled on her milk. After being found by the shepherd, Faustulus, and raised to adulthood, the twins decided to establish a city where the wolf had nursed them, Rome. However, the pair argued about who had the support of the gods, and Romulus killed Remus and became king of Rome. Roman scholars record that Romulus also created Rome's military system and senate, and conquered many areas of modern Italy for his city before death. He was deified as the devine spirit of  Rome and the Roman people.

Trivia

A black dog is a spectral or demonic entity found primarily in the folklore of the British Isles. The black dog is essentially a nocturnal apparition, some of them shapeshifters, and are often said to be associated with the Devil or described as a ghost or hellhound. Its appearance was regarded as a portent of death. It is generally supposed to be larger than a normal dog and often has large glowing eyes.

Music Trivia 

In 1976,the song Shannon was a big hit written about Brian Wilson"s, dog. Who got lost at sea. The high falsetto voice was an imitation of Brian Wilson voice of the Beach Boys.

Shannon 

 Shannon is gone I heard 

She's drifting out to sea 

She always loved to swim away

 Maybe she'll find an island

With a shaded tree

Just like the one in our backyard

Henry Gross 

Ocean and the Sea

     Oceans cover more than two thirds of the earth’s surface and contain more than 95% of the earth’s water, and yet their vastness is their least impressive feature. Life on earth began in the ocean, and there it continues to thrive. Conservatively, there are hundreds of thousands of species living in our oceans, and we continue to find more every day. The oceans also play a vital role in regulating the temperature of the earth, absorbing solar heat and redistributing it around the world. As much as they give life, oceans are also a source of fear for many, and are frequently used to depict isolation.

Oceans and the Waves 

• John F. Kennedy Quote --We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came.

•    Mahatma Gandi --  You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

•  Isaac Newton Quote -- I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

• Pacific Ocean --The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean basin on Earth.The Pacific is also our planet’s deepest water body, average depth of approximately 4,000 meters and was named by explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, due to the calmness of the water at the time, pacific means peaceful.

Jim Warren Surreal Art 
 White Horses

 Van Morrison 
Into the Mystic  

“Hark, now hear the sailors cry, smell the sea and feel the sky”

• The Indian Ocean -- is the third largest and the warmest ocean in the world. It is growing by 20cm every year due to the melting of polar caps .Indian Ocean water has the lowest oxygen content in the world.Recently, scientists have found a “lost continent” whose remains are thought to exist in the depths of the Indian Ocean.

Sailing the Seven Seas
Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark
The light of love that shines so bright
Seven Seas of  Blue

• The Atlantic Ocean --  is the second largest ocean in the world. The equator subdivides it into the North Atlantic ocean and South Atlantic Ocean. There are 52 different nations that have shorelines along this ocean. This includes nations in Africa, Europe, North America and South America.The word ’Atlantic’ originates from the Greek mythology meaning Sea of Atlas. Islands in the Atlantic are mostly of volcanic origin. Greenland is the largest island in the world and is located in the Atlantic Ocean.The Atlantic has relatively few islands, with the greatest concentration found in the Caribbean region.  The Bermuda Triangle lies between the Cities of Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Fort Lauderdale.

Never Ending 
Endless Ocean of Love
Gaze upon the starlit dew