Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: new beginnings

  • Ace of Hearts

    As she flipped over and placed the very last card she realized somehow she had won the game of solitare even though she was still missing the Ace of Hearts.

    Looking into the box, there it was!

    What an unusual outplaying of cards that every other card could be played without that ace. Curious, she did an internet search for the corresponding card in the tarot deck. The Ace of Hearts corresponds to the Ace of Cups and signifies the beginning of a new chapter, a fresh start, particularly in the realm of emotions and relationships.

    “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.
    That will be the beginning.”
    ~ Louis L’Amour

  • Trust the Magic of Beginnings

    And suddenly you know:
    It’s time to start something new and
    trust the magic of beginnings.
    ~ Meister Eckhart

    Today is the first day of 2024.

    Yesterday afternoon I went into a different area on my bike ride. I was only lost between 8.88 miles and 12.22 miles….

    Suddenly I knew I had gotten turned around and did not know which way to go. I stopped and asked directions back to the main road. The man and woman were out in their driveway because they were checking on a Gopher Tortoise that was on their driveway. They were relieved to know it was just sleeping in the sunshine on the warm pavement. It has been somewhat cool here. In fact, it is 49 degrees right now.

    “Is this the direction to Rampart Boulevard?” I asked.

    The man pointed. “At the stop sign, make a right. Your next right will be Rampart,” he assured me.

    I rode in that direction but when I got to the stop sign I knew right where I was, and I was somewhere I did not want to be — on a busy road with no shoulder.

    So many people are right where they do not want to be. Dear Michigan friends here in Florida are very sick with violent intestinal symptoms (either flu or food poisoning); some dharma friends in North Carolina are sick with Covid when he was to be leading a New Years retreat; Stacey and Doug are sick in Tennessee with the respiratory bug that kept Jackson home from daycare all last week.

    Part of the challenge was/is a long canal that ran between where I was and where I wanted to be. One gift in the adventure was my successful riding 15 miles just a few days earlier. It had been many, many years since I rode 15 miles, but yesterday I knew it was possible so I was persistent. Assessing my options at that stop sign, I decided to move ahead I needed to begin by retracting my steps. Even after finding a patch of shade where I could see Google Maps on my phone, I still took a few wrong turns and had to back track several times.

    What a relief when I finally saw a memorable patio heater along the side of the road, left there for trash pickup. I absolutely knew I was back on the road that would take me home!(My phone was only on 7% power when I arrived home.)

    My first hawk sighting here in Punta Gorda was a Red-shouldered Hawk in the neighbor’s yard. Over the next week or so I had several different sightings (one flying with live catch in its talons), a pair sitting side-by-side on the power line right along the sidewalk, a single also sitting facing me on another power line. I was not able to get photos for identification on any of those, but at the exact moment I was enjoying that feeling of relief knowing I was going the right way I saw another hawk. This time I was able to get a fairly decent photo. My beloved Florida birding guide (Hart – such a great name!) identified this one as a Cooper’s Hawk with my photo.


    From Animal Speak, by Ted Andrews:

      Part of the Role for the individual beside whom hawk flies is that of Guardian of the Earth Mother. These are individuals who will possess an astute awareness of the concept of the interconnectedness of all things, and will have an inner reverence for all life.

      These are the souls that are involved in making the world a better place, whether locally or globally. They will be protectors of the Earth Mother and tread softly upon her, encouraging and educating others to do the same.

      Often, they are either found initiating or actively involved in environmental causes, where their keen perception and insight will serve their chosen cause well. Yet it is their day to day existence and fundamental philosophy/foundation of action and belief, that distinguishes these individuals as true champions of Mother Earth as they seek to live in harmony with the ~Ina Maka~ and all that She births, provides, nurtures and sustains.

    The ending of the opening quotation by Meister Eckhart begins with trust. Then it mentions magic. Finding the way home after realizing I was lost took a lot of beginnings.

    And suddenly you know.

    It’s time to start something new.

    “Trust the magic of beginnings” is a great mantra for 2024….

  • Fingers on Fur

    Preparations are underway to head to Smyrna tomorrow. We never say or think we are leaving Pine Island after enjoying “the season” here—we are going to see the grandkids!

    Recently my brother-in-law experienced the death of the woman he had cared for the past five years. He was committed to her. They married in November, so he could insure her wishes could be carried out. She wanted to stay in her home, and she did. I sent him a snapshot of the empty cupboard here on Bounty Lane saying, “Reminding both of us an empty space sits in the field of Infinite Possibilities.”

    Last week I rode my bike to the auto repair shop near here where a resident cat I like to visit lives. His name is Sonny.



    When I came through the door, helmet on my head, Sonny was up on the counter being petted by a customer while the owner of the shop did the paperwork. Sonny made eye contact with me and I said to him, in my high-pitched kitty-loving voice, “Yes, you’re the one I came to see.”

    Sonny shot down off that counter, right out from from under the customer’s hands, and ran over to me. The customer said to the shop owner, “Well, he obviously knows her!”

    It was my first visit this season and I had such a feeling of nostalgia wondering why I had waited so long to do something I love so much. I wrote this poem. Many of you will relate.

    Meow Musings

    Don’t get your dander up
    Sonny’s just a pussy
    not at all a push-over
    even rather fussy

    He fancies petting
    and so do I
    rubbing him the right way
    produces a sigh

    It’s not all pretense
    this is genuine love
    any time kitty time
    is a cut above

    Feline fancier
    that I am
    that cat got me
    out of a jam

    Sour mood, bad food
    whatever ails you
    fingers on fur
    chases the blues

    Debra Basham 3/24/2018

    Amidst it all, we must make time (we will never find time) to do the things that bless our hearts and minds. I will go to meditation today while John goes to play music. He is at shuffleboard this morning. Everything will get done.

    And Deep Spring Center’s Thought for Today:
    “Try as hard as you will, you cannot hold the world from changing. You cannot hold other people or yourself from changing. To try to do that with yourself so as to please another is unloving to yourself, asking yourself not to be true to yourself and your experience. It’s also an unloving to another because it gives them a false hope that you are as they may try to make you to be. The greatest gift you can give is the willingness to have enough love and respect for another not to live your life around their fear.”