~sun rising~

i am sitting here watching the sun rise behind the huge evergreen tree, possibly a very mature cedar, that grows above the low, lichen covered roof of the house behind us.
a welcome sunbeam has found its way into the room...

that is my view to the back, out the front all i can see is a small part of another lichen covered roof and beyond that clear, blue sky.

i love our little house, its not old, only about 35 years old~in fact when i was tiny i remember this land was nothing but fields with a big barn up the hill from us.

this was taken the day we moved in~some of you may remember my writing about it~the flowerbeds overgrown and uncared for, the interior just as bad and very smelly, you can see the open windows here...the back looked worse...

in fact its not even a house, its officially a bungalow~i love the history of the bungalow, wikipedia tells us that...

'The term is first found in English from 1696, where it was used to describe "bungales or hovells" in India for English sailors of the East India Company, which do not sound very grand lodgings. Later it became used for the spacious homes or official lodgings of officials of the British Raj, and was so known in Britain and later America, where it initially had high status and exotic connotations, and began to be used in the late 19th century for large country or suburban houses built in an Arts and Crafts...style'

we have turned our little, unloved place into a home~we still have not finished decorating and laying new floors or the garden, other things keep occupying our time and money, but we will get there by the end of this year...we have plans to paint all the exterior doors a nice bright red and construct a wildlife pond in the back.

~***~

as i have sat here and written this the blue sky and the warmth of the sun through the wiindow has been replaced by a sky of varying shades of grey and a faint chill~today has turned into a day for reading, thinking and journalling...

~things~

'Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends.... Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts'

~Henry David Thoreau~


i have been thinking about materialism and consumerism a lot lately, here's what the oxford english dictionary has to say about both...


consumerism

• noun 1 the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers. 2 the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of goods.

materialism

• noun 1 a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values. 2 Philosophy the doctrine that nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications.


i like to think i am neither of these things, not really.
oh yes there are things i would love to have...

from fairysteps who sell the most wonderful things to make you smile :)

but i think there is a difference; you can love something and have the feeling of it being nice to own, but it remains a feeling~then there is that crazy lifestyle where people buy, buy, buy when its not needed.

why buy just more and more of things you already own and don't really need?

i don't see how someone can reach deep within and find peace when they are so 'consumed'