President Richard Nixon was a part of my army brat life when he visited Hawaii on his way to China for a pivotal strategic trip. Dad took this photo at a military parade on February 20, 1972. He was a Command Sargent Major whose job entailed facilitating VIP’s. I was in a unique position to view history in the making because of my dad’s position. Nixon’s goal for this trip was to improve relations with communist China.
Remembrance lights illuminating my neighborhood has become a tradition.
Who am I? I ask that question of myself. I answer. An inspired human being beyond belief. That is who I am and how I feel.
The music softly plays in the background as I ponder my own humanness. It grows in strength. Hearing the crescendo of the musical instruments raises me up to a new high that surely I could not do by myself.
A man chooses to walk out in a dangerous area of the North shore of Oahu.
I live in a bubble at times. We all do. It’s human nature. Reflecting about my time in Hawaii makes me feel free in my spirit and safe. I love tropical climates. I am sure the fact I lived here for several years attributes to these feelings. In the above photo, I enjoyed viewing this man who seemed to feel free getting close to the waves. Water is peaceful even when we know it’s dangerous…
Stumbling along in this life is not what we were intended to do. We have purpose. When given the opportunity , I can feel music in my body and dance the night away.
I have done that . Those nights of dancing can be so much fun. I am in control and enjoy myself in the rhythm. Music can control the mind. I wonder how much fun this surfer was experiencing on his longboard as he allowed the waves to control him as he surfed the direction the ocean was taking him.
Our mental state can take over our physical state. For example, if we hurt ( brain talking to us) we may take a pill to help this brain state. My chronic pain was so much better in the warm climate .
Enjoying Hawaii is always a spiritual uplifting experience for me. Hawaii is a benchmark for me getting in touch with my spiritual self.
We human persons are more than the sum of our parts. We have spirits that have the ability to think , feel, and can make conscious decisions. Respecting each other’s life decisions may mean we need to climb out of our bubble once in awhile. I know I do. Do you? Living in pain chronically makes me think on spiritual ideals as this post conveys. So much crisis and turmoil fill up our world these days. Sometimes removing our bubble can bring clarity.
Credit: google and the others pictures were taken solely by Alesiablogs
I wish I had a tractor 2 weeks ago when I decided to drag my family out to the old Jenkins Cemetery in Caldwell county, Kentucky. Many of you may not know, but my most popular post was on finding a haunted cemetery. It has been a top 10 google search especially during halloween. Go check it out: The Haunting .
However, if you want to come on this adventure just keep reading.
Occasionally I look at my stat page on Word Press and see what I have written that has the most views (spoiler alert at end). I wonder is it the writer that you come to visit or my subject matter? Since I write a majority of the time about my experiences, I find that the writing and myself is one and the same. You see it is in my words that I am finding myself.
I often question is it good to use my life as a subject matter on my blog.
When I Word Press my life story, I wonder out loud, “I hope this helps someone out there.” I figure what the heck. It is helping me to just write it. It also becomes apparent that my world is colliding with someone else that it would never have had a chance to before. Who would have ever thought I would have a conversation with another blogger who strips for a living. That was eye-opening!
How about the interaction I have had with Chris who amazes me everyday with his bike excursions around the globe. He is raising money for cancer research. I also have ran into the 15-year-old blogger who has more sense than half the grown ups I know!
Recently I read a blog from a lady right here in my home town Seattle. She is a photographer and inspires me.
I realize you are sitting at your own desk and recognize my blog because you have read me before. You are the blogger living in a small town in Canada, Australia, or perhaps somewhere in Japan.
We connect.
We inspire.
We found each other through invisible wires that absolutely make no sense to me, but here we are.
Today my stats were measured and this is what I learned. Most of my views over the year were my archives. I was amazed by this stat because it was close to 3500 views. It spoke to me because more than likely you went to my archives because you read something current I had written and you found me interesting enough to pull up my other stories. Thank you.
My second most popular stat showed you wanted to know who I am. You went to my “About Alesia” page and viewed what I had to say. I realized today that I need to make it more current. I will get to working on that.
My third biggest stat views was from an adventure I took entitled, “The Haunting.” Over a thousand views of that alone shocked me. Gee. All I did was go to one of the most haunted cemeteries in the United States and report about my findings! I guess there are a lot of morbid people out in the blogosphere.
My fourth largest viewed page was titled “MEN!” Oh my God, that was scary. I know nothing about men except they have a penis and typically can’t seem to see too far past it. (Just a little joke. Do not get your panties in a wad fellas).
My fifth most popular post(s) deal with my son with autism. This makes sense. My son inspires me more than words can tell.
Luke has autism, but it does not define him. He is pure joy!
Other posts that came in close sixth place were my photography and inspirational posts. That made me smile.So there you have it. Do I really know you? That is totally a loaded question. I know you might be sitting in your home looking at your I pad and reading my post in India. Or you might be looking at your I phone on a break from your job in England. Quite possibly you are hiding from your abusive parent dreaming about a different life and come across my blog. Maybe you are a 40-year-old woman in rural Kentucky laughing at something I wrote. And just maybe you needed that laugh because you sure are not getting enough of it in your own home.
Who ever you are, I am glad you are around and I do look forward to having you come back. Stats are fun to look at, but your comments are much more entertaining because it is there that I really get to know you. Please leave a comment. I want to know you.
Writing Tip: Be comfortable blogger while you writing.
Your blogger and her family thinking in the rain about my next blog post!
God knows I get kind of weirded out when I am about to fly somewhere even if it is for vacation. Shit-why did 9/11 have to happen as it has weirded me out with flying ever since?
So this whole vacation thing has me thinking about my will. Who am I going to give my blog to? Who would care for it in my absence? You blogger comrades know exactly what I am talking about. We love our blogs! I think….hum
So I decided to write in my will a little something to all of you. So while in my absence you all must refer to this page as needed. NOW I have not left yet for vacation, but when I do keep these words in safekeeping for me. Remember too I love y’all! God HELP me–I can’t stand being suspended in the air to get to my vacation spot, but there is no choice in the matter so here it goes:
I ALESIA BLOGS of the state of WASHINGTON & county of KING being weak in body but of sound and perfect mind (this may or may not be true), memory, reason, and understanding now calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it’s appointed of God for all flesh once to die do make ordain and declare this my last will and testament and desire it to be received by all as such first my body to the Earth (how will that happen if I die in a plane crash? ) from whence it was taken my soul to God who gave it. Touching my worldly estate wherewith it has pleased God to bless me with in this life I will and positively order that it be dealt with and disposed in the manner following and herein after mentioned by those to whom I shall commit its future management….
OK..I know this is really ridiculous. But I will miss you guys while I am gone….By the way –future management will be SUSPENDED while I am in the plane..Sometimes we just need to go silent and this will be one of those times……..
As part of a series of self-guided tours that I have presented in the past, today’s feature is New York City’s Bryant Park. In a trip taken to New York, I ventured out on a walk to acquaint myself with the parks throughout Manhattan. Bryant Park became one of my favorite stops. It is a pleasant urban refuge in the middle of a wildly hectic town. Located breathtakingly in the heart of some of New York City’s greatest architecture makes this park a must see. Nearby is the Beaux-Arts facade of the New York Public Library.
Bryant’s grounds are photogenic with three terraces with the west end’s Fountain Terrace perhaps being the most unique of the three. This part of the park houses a chess area, small library, food kiosks, and a fun french game called Petanque. Another area is the promenades which are reminiscent of Paris and the Jardin des Tuileries. The area has rows of shaded trees that give it a spectacular look.
The gardens in Bryant Park house over 200 plants, 100,000 daffodils, and 20,000 seasonal bulbs. This is a gardener’s paradise! For those interested in just resting on the grounds, there is the wonderful green lawn. This area is for those who coming for respite will sit, read, or just pull out a blanket and bask in the sun for hours on the lawn. What is so incredible is that every winter this lawn is taken up and turned into a skating rink. You could say there is a little something for everyone here!
In its infancy this park was a Potter’s Field for General George Washington during the Revolutionary War period that lasted until about 1823. It was soon turned into a Victorian green’s ward in 1847 and later was the site for the 1853 World’s Fair. The beginning of Bryant Park was when the park was named after a poet by the name of William Cullen Bryant. As time went on and no upkeep, the park became an eyesore, but then the citizens decided to restore it. From generous donations the park became the world’s busiest public space. This is an amazing attribute to say the least. Please enjoy my photos and by all means stop by Bryant Park next time you are in town. As a side note the park has free wireless for you bloggers out there!
Walls are a part of our lives in one way or another. There are the walls of your home and then there are the invisible walls people put up to close off the world. Both have the same distinction to protect a person from intruders.
When I was 14 years old, there was an enclosed tunnel made out of cement that I had to walk through everyday to get to school. The typical teenage writing was on it’s walls with some girl writing her undying love for some guy. It was a mystery to me that someone would want to be writing about love on a cold, damp wild wall. Yet here I was captured each day by its graffiti. There was no way to walk around it. It was the only way to school.
Reminded by my conscience that writing on a wall is destroying someone’s property, I never engaged in this activity. I did not want to wrangle with words that someone else would read anyway. It seemed pointless and leads to someone reading useless crap. Yet I wanted to write something, but not empty chatter as was the case with 90% of what was written on those stone walls.
One particular day I stopped as I was exiting the tunnel and said to the walls, “Give me 14 more years and I will show you something!” I then turned away from that tunnel to never walk through it again. It was my last day of junior high school.
As I have aged my childhood now holds some sacred truths. I learned that writing is good even if it is graffiti. Here I was a lonely girl holding on so long ago to those walls. They became a part of me without even understanding their impact. Every 14 years in fact I have taken stock of what I could show those walls.
Local newspaper clipping from my teenage years playing softball. Childhood memories are so important to who we become later in life.
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