The Path We All Must Walk

Pelican Bluffs is a recent acquisition of Mendocino Land Trust (an organization that purchases land for preservation and public use). The shoals there look a bit like a waterlogged cemetery.
A nearby park bench read: For all at last returns to the sea. The ever flowing stream of time, the beginning and the end.
This cycle we call life is filled with unknowing.
What is around the next bend?
Will it be something beautiful?
Amusing?
Dramatic?
A reminder that we all must expire?
The very place I stood will eventually crumble into the sea.
But until then I believe I am gently prodded by God to notice new growth.
To notice what others are working hard to save for us.
To walk the path all pilgrims must take: The Path of Life.

Photos © Sondra Sula.

Take a walk with me by reading my daily devotional book, Meditations on Mendocino by Sondra Sula. Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions.

If you’d prefer a daily river walk, Reflections on the Fox River and Beyond by Sondra Sula, might just be the book for you.

Accepting Autumn

I went to Redwoods Monastery in Whitethorn, California at the brink of autumn instead of spring as I had done last year.
The drive up Route 1 from Fort Bragg to Leggett was the same: glorious.
I was again greeted with fresh flowers in my room.
But the fields were no longer bursting with wildflowers.
They were mown and dry, yet beautiful in their own right.
Skeletons of last year’s leaves were exposed.
Shed wild turkey feathers presented themselves at every turn.
Leaves were changing; trees were dropping fruit.
Because the ground was dry, I could venture into places I hadn’t been before.
Yet some things were the same:
the structures themselves.
We are all changing, all growing older, all finding new parts of us exposed we thought were hidden. Old wounds. Flaws. Our deepest selves.
Spring is beautiful — yes — but perhaps we are ready for fall.

Photos © Sondra Sula.

Take a walk with me by reading my daily devotional book, Meditations on Mendocino by Sondra Sula. Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions.

If you’d prefer a daily river walk, Reflections on the Fox River and Beyond by Sondra Sula, might just be the book for you.

Oil Change Walk – Urban Perspective

It is 8 a.m. and I’m at the auto shop. One thing I love about my small town is that, after hugging the mechanic who will change my car’s oil, I can just wander around aimlessly taking photographs. And I know I’ll find something good: like this permanent tic-tac-toe on the sidewalk.

Or the: No Longer A Bus Stop! sign. Apparently the property owners got tired of groups of people standing on their lawn for hours.

An old metal trailer for “haulin’ stuff” sits on the street, its rusted pink body bringing to mind creepy carnivals selling questionable cotton candy. Don’t misunderstand, I’ll eagerly ride the crankiest Tilt-A-Whirl and eat blue spun sugar without giving it a second thought. Why? Fun and deliciousness.

I come to a narrow walkway between houses. I like tiny spaces. Instead of seeming constrictive, they make me feel safe.

I look down to see a banana-yellow fire hydrant with a coral cap. I enjoy its jaunty air and am thankful for its usefulness.

When I turn the corner, I am greeted by a magnificent house/boat. The wheel covers on the trailer, which is keeping the boat afloat, have melted into the street. Though I can see the ocean from where I stand, I’m unsure if the boat will ever make its way there again.

A bit further up the street is a blue door that reads: PRIVATE. Perhaps the people from the No Longer A Bus Stop! crowd have tried to enter there.

I step off a red curb. I’m fascinated by its brilliant color against the errant emerald grass that squeezes through the asphalt and concrete cracks. Life always finds a way.

I’ve made it to Portuguese Hall. I reminisce about my childhood time spent in or near New Bedford, Massachusetts, where most of my relatives lived, some still do. It used to have the largest Portuguese population in the U.S. I remember eating my fair share of chouriço—a Portuguese sausage.

I’m now on a loop back to the auto repair shop. My cell hasn’t rung yet, but my body senses how much time I have left before they’ll call. I wind around a large fence protecting a lumber yard that covers a curved city block. A bird at my feet flies up to perch above me and sings a short song. I feel uplifted.

I pass an old warehouse painted pale pink with a chipped blue cement entrance. I’m entranced by deterioration, perhaps because it’s happening to all of us. I find it beautiful.

Parked in front of the building is a truck. I’m oohing and ahhing over the rusted patina of the drum and the squiggly rubber lines oozing from a metal strap. Art is everywhere.

I am now about to cross the Skunk Train tracks. The little tourist train can’t go far due to a tunnel collapse back in 2013, which is still too expensive to fix, but it does what it can. Don’t we all?

Just a block away from the shop, my phone rings. Yaris’s oil is shiny and new, just waiting to slide through the engine. I wave goodbye to a droopy-flagged mailbox, now ready for the day ahead.

Photos © Sondra Sula.

If you like these blogs, you’ll most likely enjoy my latest daily devotional book, Meditations on Mendocino by Sondra Sula. Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions.

If you haven’t read Reflections on the Fox River and Beyond by Sondra Sula, another daily devotional, you may like that, as well.