Must Wear Pants

Sunrise 6:36 AM Eugene, OR

This was one of the nicest sunrises I have experienced in a while. At first I thought maybe we wouldn’t be able to film this one as one of the participants didn’t want to wear any pants. But he was easily convinced, and we proceeded as planned.

Such a lovely place. For those city dwellers among us who might not recognize it, that is lichen hanging from all the trees. Not only is it amazing to see in such abundance, the lichen is also an indicator of air quality. As it is unable to grow in the least bit of pollution, you can imagine how pure the air is here.

Not to mention – quiet.

Many thanks to my hosts for a wonderful week.

Leap Day! 2012

6:02 PM, San Francisco



Inspired by the LEAP in Leap Day, I am temporarily hopping over the media bottleneck that is now the month of February and present the sunset observance for Leap Day 2012. Nothing special as the day went, especially compared with last Leap Day (sunrise and sunset) in 2008, but neither did it go completely unnoticed.
Enjoy!

On a Hill in North Beach at Sunset

5:56 PM. San Francisco

One of the few occasions that Sally and I had observed the sunset together was in 2008 in front of the Sushi restaurant in the Sunset District. Today was another non-event, but this time in North Beach. It was right about dinnertime again this time, too. So as soon as we finished ringing the sun down, we launched ourselves in the other direction going UP the hill in search of something to eat.

Early birds catch the first hole

7:09 AM. Litchfield Park, AZ

In his 21 years on this earth, besides the normal bumps and bruises one collects on the way to adulthood, my asthmatic, accident prone nephew has punctured his liver, broken both of his legs (not at the same time), fractured his arm and suffered a serious concussion. One of his more recent escapades was to attempt a stuntman kind of trick with his younger brother. He directed his brother to drive the car straight at him, thinking he would simply fling himself onto the hood and roll over the top of the car- “just like in the movies”. When it didn’t quite work out the way he had planned, he admitted that it wasn’t one of the brightest things he had ever attempted.

So when he invited me to attend his graduation of his second year in The Eden Energy Medicine (EEM) Certification Program in Arizona, I was thrilled. My sister has been a follower of Donna Eden and practitioner of this form of healing for many years and is a well-respected healer and busy instructor. That my nephew is both interested and committed to learning and practicing something that is positive and beneficial to both his own well being and that of others is a great relief to me. I am also very proud of him. He graduated with 100 other students (mostly women) at the Wigwam Motel, Spa and golf resort. It has never ceased to amaze me that there are over 420 golf courses in the desert of Arizona. No matter that it’s a very dry place, it’s easier to turn it green than to make the sun shine.

"In Our Name"

5:37 PM Herbst Theatre. San Francisco



There have not been too many times over the past few years when the sun has set during a concert or performance. It's interesting that two of them have occurred during pieces about war. This is an excerpt from "In Our Name", Annea Lockwood's haunting and powerful setting of poems by prisoners from Guantanimo. Thomas Buckner, Theodore Mook and Annea Lockwood performed the piece at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. The excerpt on the video is from the following poem by Judah Al Dossari, entitled “Death Poem”:

Take my blood
Take my death shroud and
The remnants of my body.
Take photographs of my corpse at the grave, lonely

Send them to the world,
To the judges and
To the people of conscience,
Send them to the principled men and the fair-minded

And let them bear the guilty burden, before the world,
Of this innocent soul.
Let them bear the burden, before their children and before history,
Of this wasted, sinless soul,
Of this soul which has suffered at the hand of the “protectors of peace.”

Sitting there listening brought to mind the performance of Benjamin Brittan’s “War Requiem”on August 2, 2008. The sun set during the early part of the piece where they were playing the chimes in the orchestra.

Malcolm's Grave

5:28PM San Francisco



Malcolm was most comfortable if he could be “nearby”. Within a few feet but not too close. This being the case, he figured in a lot of the sunrises and sunsets we watched from home during the first year of this project.

He was a fierce little cat and had few friends. And though we were few, we were completely devoted. Most people who knew him, however, were afraid of him because he attacked swiftly and without warning or noticeable provocation.

Malcolm died the week before Halloween last year and will be remembered by all who knew him and is deeply missed by those of us who loved him.

PS Those drums in the distance are part of this Chinese New Year of the Water Dragon celebrations

Tasty Bells Sunset Snack

5:18PM Oakland, CA



Soon after beginning the dailybell2008 project, my Godson Kazimir was born, and we have spent as many Fridays together as possible since then. He now has a baby sister who is just about the same age as Kazimir was when he first started to join us for the bell ringing. (In his case, it was a more oral than aural experience).

Now as his sister carries on the oral bell tradition, Kazimir has become more interested in the videotaping than the bell ringing while Krys and I comfortably observe the passing of the day together. (FYI: That's the new and improved mosh pit in the background).

Berkeley Garden Sunset

5:13PM


This place may look familiar from among the last round of daily videos in 2008. Time has not passed unnoticed however. The prayer flags have come and gone and come again. The garden is more wild and varied. The tree is taller, as is Jenny's nephew who is now in the middle of Kindergarten. Welcome back!

First Weekly Post of 2012

Sunrise/Sunset
January 7, 2012




I began this project in 2008 at the beginning of a Leap Year. Since we are here again at another Leap Year, I wanted to do something special to commemorate the anniversary as well as the occasion of our realignment of Earth time with Universal time. It’s amazing how short a period it takes for us to become out of whack, requiring an additional entire day to adjust our tidy and slightly lagging timekeeping methods with the actual planetary movement.

Anyway, I continue to observe and invite others to join the sunrise and sunset each day. I still like ringing the bells and carry a few in my purse and lug a big one around in the back of my car. It’s become a part of my life and a few children I know who have grown up with the tradition think nothing of it when the sunsets to come over and ring the bell in my car or to grab a bell in the house and ring along.

Believe it or not, some people have actually said they missed the updates and little bits of documentation they received as part of the first year. So to both commemorate the beginning of year 5 and to share glimpses of my observances, I am going to document one of the sunrises or sunsets each week this year and post them to the blog. If you have any media or comments you would like to post, please post what you can directly and send whatever you can’t to me, and I will do it for you.

Happy 2012!

Happy 2012!

MIDNIGHT- January 1, 2012
Ocean Beach in San Francisco, CA.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year from Ocean Beach in San Francisco, CA. This is the beginning of another leap year! It's also the beginning of the 5th year of daily sunrise and sunset observances that begin with dailybell2008. Please join us in spreading and sharing the awareness of these 2 brief moments that connects 100% of us everyday.