JUST PUBLISHED!

GABY'S PENANCE In 1911 after her unspeakable sin, the penance and

the torment she inherited governed her entire life. But did it have to be forever?

Gaby's Penance, iUniverse 2006, ISBN 0-595-39487-6

Learn more about Gaby and how to order:

www.alinelesage.com

A Woman's View On the Spirit of the Heart as Moon Disk by Kojiju Merely to know the Flawless Moon dwells pure in the human heart is to find the Darkness of the night vanished under the clearing skies. Poppies, Port Angeles WA Aline Lesage ©2004 Kojiju was the daughter of the director of the Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine in Kyoto. During her long life she served first in the retinue of an empress and later an emperor; in 1179, (at about the age of 58) she became a Buddhist nun. She was also an active member of the poetic revival which took place at the end of the twelfth century. Her poem reflects the Buddhist teaching that enlightenment is innate: not something to be looked for outside ourselves, but always already present, waiting to be seen at any moment. (Courtesy Jude Rozhon)

Today's Quote

Northwest Cherry Blossoms

Aline Lesage ©2003

Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself, and know that everything in this life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

'An Orgy of Consumption' The unspeakable is happening. After being wooed, stimulated, and encouraged in every possible manner to accumulate goods until they gradually, ineluctably clutter our homes, our basements, and finally our garages, the next bright idea is what? Consider moving some of it on, perhaps? Wrong! According to a recent article in The New York Times, a new fad urges us to hire a professional organizer specializing in ‘designer garages’. After we have over purchased, over spent and over accumulated mounds (often unused, if not useless) of consumer paraphernalia, now we are encouraged to further pay in order to get them organized! As expected, this new brand of service doesn’t come cheap: think between $8,000 and $12,000! But take heart, for this upscale service guarantees your ability to cram (and find) in your garage: pantry, lawn and garden supplies, sporting equipment, tools, weight bench, and yes, even your SUV! A deal, indeed! This new fad of organizing our clutter with sophistication is apparently based on our growing obsession for orderliness. I have to question this newly identified human ‘need’. Has it not, like many others, been simply created to appear indispensable to the mass when in fact, this ‘obsession’ may apply to a mere selected few? And read this: according to a survey by the Ikea furniture company reported by the National Association of Professional Organizers Website, 31 percent of respondents stated they got more satisfaction from cleaning a closet than from having sex! So I have to wonder: could humans be undergoing some morphing process where matter, ultimately, will take over mind completely, including their sex life? Again according to The New York Times, Peter Walsh, a psychologist who earned the job of celebrity organizer as host of the cable television program ‘Clean Sweep’, has expanded his focus from treating the symptoms of clutter to pondering its causes. ‘There is an orgy of consumption going on in this country’, says Mr. Walsh. In his book to be released later this year about the psychology of clutter, the author (sadly) acknowledges that ‘he is a lonely voice calling for a new era of American asceticism.’ It has long been proven that less is better and that ‘Small is beautiful’. Albeit wise, these challenging concepts may not have have made it into mainstream American thinking however. Well, at least not yet. Mr. Walsh concludes: ‘This is the Supersize-Me society. So it’s going to take a while.’ Designer garage, anyone?

One Writer's Love...

North Thompson River, British Columbia

Aline Lesage ©2003

I have no time now for anything but trying to love other people. That is a full-time job. To fill my writing with that will take everything I have. Anne Rice

Bravo, PBS!

Migrant Worker Huts, Okanogan, WA Aline Lesage ©2003

It’s a common saying: you can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you come from. Considering the research tools now available, exploring one’s roots is no longer an unusually challenging feat. For many Americans of European descent who choose to initiate a search for their ancestry, the ambition to build a family tree is, in fact, a doable feat (for the beginner, the records at Ellis Island remain a well-documented and trustworthy source). All it requires is a healthy measure of patience along with a willingness to connect with a number of organizations, internet sites and/or distant family members having already gathered parts of the information. For many, as it turns out, assembling their family tree has become an entertaining and usually rewarding experience. But for many, many more, it is not so. In a series entitled African American Lives, the first of two parts which was aired on PBS last Wednesday night, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the masterly teller of this different story. With compassion, humour and superior skill, Mr. Gates leads us to an enlightening experience. Surely these tales of economic migrations, harrowing family separations and discontinuity are only too familiar, yet here they acquire an existential dimension not usually found in history books. In this impressive documentary, the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones and Whoopi Goldberg become models to demonstrate that a search of any African American’s ancestry is, at best, a startling, if not heroic endeavor. Thanks to the advancement of genetic sciences and genealogy however, this might be about to change. In the first episode of African American Lives, the stories of nine contemporary African Americans are traced to the nineteenth century, before emancipation. With the second episode to be aired next Wednesday, the excitement grows as it offers the promise of revelations that, for nine people at least, could bridge the crucial and appalling gap between two continents. It’s a sad enough truth that the ancestors of most African Americans never freely choose to immigrate to America. But, as this PBS series aptly demonstrates, their contemporaries are now being offered a small consolation. Finally, they may be given the extraordinary tools to learn, specifically, where it all happened, how it happened, and who they are.

Quote for today

Cape Kiwanda, Oregon

David A. Hamilton ©2005

'You only hurt yourself when you're not expanding and growing. Many people can't stand the thought of aging, but it's the crystallized thought patterns and inflexible mind-sets that age people before their time.

You can break through and challenge your crystallized patterns and mind-sets. That's what evolution and the expansion of love are really about.'

Sara Paddison, The Hidden Power of the Heart

Simplify!

Olympic Peninsula, WA

Aline Lesage © 2005

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without.

Henry David Thoreau

The poet's wise exhortation eluded me for a long time until circumstances showed me the way to, clearly, a healthier lifestyle. When I adopted (or began adopting) Thoreau's soul saving principle a few years ago however, I didn’t realize (duh) this was not a ‘one time deal’, that in fact I was setting in motion a process that would require my constant, undivided, and ruthless attention.

Thus it's with no small measure of aggravation that, whatever brand of minimalist I claim to have become, my ‘old ways’ and the relentless pressure of the capitalist machine constantly threaten to creep back in, overtake my pocketbook and, more sadly, myself. My effort, I now see, is surprisingly complex and boasts countless ramifications. It’s like deciding to go to war: one must plan for incredible resources (albeit of another kind) and formidable energy.

I’m happy to report that on the living-with-less front, I can now go for awhile quite without concern. I’m better able to limit my sinful strays and go to sleep at night, mostly satisfied I’m not depleting more than my reasonable share of the precious planet’s and of my own resources, those very ones with wise pondering Presidents pasted over them.

Yet one of my utterly disturbing, though perhaps inevitable incidents did occur recently. While purchasing my chosen item (indispensable, of course) in a shop, I proceeded to pull out an unofficially self-outlawed credit card, only to realize the piece of plastic in my wallet was not the precise one I wished to use that day! For there is another one of course, conveniently stashed away at home and accessible for precisely those ‘unexpected needs’ — read slips. As you may or may not see, my multiple plastic items are the issue at stake here.

This latest experience is only too benign but oh, how it speaks! Such contradiction on the way to my simplified and blissful life! But then should I really be so harsh on myself? Can one expect to so easily undo what fifty years of materialistic addiction so successfully achieved? I must find consolation in the fact these episodes are merely reminders that in order to honour Thoreau’s admonition, I must consistently tend to my simple garden, never assuming its perfect, simple quality will bloom from wishful thinking alone.

My ambitions of Simplicity require dedication, courage, and a bottomless dose of heartless disdain for the world of consumerism I’m proclaiming to be anathema. Choosing to live with less is hard, very hard. Ask anyone who has ever attempted to lose weight.

But this stubborn Irish is not about to give up. Live my war on plastic!

Lake Osoyoos, Okanogan Valley, WA ©Aline Lesage 2005 Feliz año nuevo! Small surprises in unexpected places. As it happens on this New Year’s Day 2006, I traveled to a remote town east of our Great Cascades, only to find that almost every restaurant was closed for business. Willing to help, our hotel attendant suggested a local Mexican restaurant, which she believed might be open. It had been a long day on the road and had every choice been available, I must acknowledge I probably would not have considered this. Given the circumstances however, I was willing to forego my reluctance: at this point in fact, both my husband and I would have tried anything for the promise of a warm meal! It rained hard on Main Street and I remember running down the sidewalk, anxious for a dry place. When we arrived at Rancho Chico’s, every table (save one, as if we might be expected) was occupied with cheerful families and groups of all ages, all enjoying what was obviously an outing and restaurant of their choosing. Arms open, the manager greeted us with a broad smile and exclaimed, ‘Feliz año nuevo, amigos!’ to which I replied with my own wish of ‘Bonne année!’. If anything, this was an inviting prelude and I thought, maybe this won’t be such a terrible experience, after all! Needless to say, I was quickly forced to abandon my unsisterly attitude du jour about ethnic food in a foreign place. Among others, my husband’s ‘shrimp cocktail’ turned nothing less than memorable, my Mexican stir fry an outstanding and satisfying meal with our tasty, just-so-tangy Margaritas pleasantly adding to the experience. And with his enthusiastic seasonal greetings later, the manager even served us a sampling of their ‘Mexican cheesecake’! What more can one expect, I ask? Not to mention its reasonable prices, this establishment provided the friendliest atmosphere I have seen in a long time. I wholeheartedly acknowledge the business community’s well-deserved holiday at this time of year. On the other hand, I certainly wish to salute those — this hard working and caring Hispanic community in particular — who know the value and benefits of dependable service, genuine cordiality, and heartfelt dedication. Rancho Chico Family Restaurant 22 N. Main Street Omak, WA

Go Away, Rain!

July Splendor@Crystal Lake, WA Copyright Aline Lesage 2005

This is my silent, positive thought for the day. The photo was snapped in a place and season I'm trying really hard to recall today. You might get to see more of these. I may claim to be a writer, but on a bland, gray, and doubtful day such as this, the classic 'picture and those thousand words' alternative speaks to me, indeed. Think Spring!