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Cricket’s Thoughts

Cricket's Thoughts

Bring On The Rain!

bee loving the rain
Love seeing the rain breathe life into the world around me!

bee getting ready to land
He’s thinking about landing!

bee hovering over the bloom
Oh yeah! Fresh bloom just waiting for him!

confused bee
Hmmmm… No bloom yet?

bee taking a break
Even busy bees take a break now and then! (smiles)

Yeah, go ahead and bring on the rain!

Cricket Walker

Cricket's Thoughts

The Original French Press

Most folks know that I have a serious addiction errrr… love for coffee, especially good coffee. A discussion over at the V7N led me on a search for a Chambord (The Original French Press) by Bodum.

It was supposed to be as simple as heading over to a nearby Target, pick up the coffee maker, then come home and enjoy the best cup of coffee I have ever had. Life just has a way of taking a few extra turns, and I have a habit of overcomplicating things now and then.

Yup! I admit it, so hush!

Target was all out of the exact model (8 cups) that I wanted (which took about 45 minutes and two store associates to verify) and I was not about to start working my way through every Target around San Antonio, but my all time favorite store (World Market) jumped in and saved the day. They had one just sitting there waiting for me to plunk down my $39 bucks so I could find out if this thing is as good as everyone says.

That was when I realized my coffee grinder had no settings to choose a coarser grind and I didn’t trust my insticts on this one, so back to Target I went, in search of the perfect coffee grinder, which of course led to me deciding to try a new coffee and a new sugar free coffee syrup and so on and so on . . .

The Original French Press

Was it worth it? Oh heck yeah!

I have a feeling this is how coffee is made in heaven. 🙂

Cricket Walker

Cricket's Thoughts

Hamming It Up

Yup! She is back and hamming it up for the camera!
She is back from summer vacation and hamming it up for the camera!

Skater Shoes
A quick run out to the river and she is sure to ditch her shoes . . .

Splashing in the river
and play in the water . . .

Pure Texas Girl
Gosh, it is so good to have her back home again!

Cricket Walker

Cricket's Thoughts

Fairy Tale Dreams

sun going down

Watching the sun go down on fairy tale dreams,
the warm breeze caressing my face and drying my tears,
bringing blessed acceptance and closure to what is,
and what is not to be . . .

Cricket Walker

Cricket's Thoughts

From The Outside In

alone

Walking through the neighborhood
Seeing the homes with well kept yards
Dogs barking, children playing and laughing
Curiously detached yet hearing people talking
Staring at the couples holding hands
Witnessing all this without emotion
For you are not part of it, you are alone,
watching the world, from the outside in

Welcoming the numbness for now
You begin to run, blurring away their faces
Focus on the sound, just the sound
The sound of your feet hitting the sidewalk
Breathe in, breathe out
Listen to your heart pounding
Don’t think, just keep running
Keep running til it all goes away

Lungs heaving, you dare not stop
You dare not allow the feelings to come
For this time they will utterly destroy you

Raising your face to the sky, begging for peace
Gently the breeze reaches out and caresses your face
Tearing away the only thread left holding you together
For the breeze carries thoughts, feeling, and passion.

The tears come slowly at first
Building to gut wrenching sobs
Your mind screaming at your foolish dreams
Berating you for putting your heart out there
You knew better than to hope
To hope for even a moment . . .

For you are not part of it, you are alone,
watching the world, from the outside in.

Cricket Walker

Cricket's Thoughts

But For The Grace of God

park bench

It isn’t often that I get involved in the political discussions within the online community that I run. Today though, one of the conversations set off a strong feeling of anger inside of me. It took everything I had not to ask people what in the hell was wrong with them.

They were ranting about homeless people, telling the stories we have all heard before, about some homeless guy scamming them out of a few bucks and how the homeless don’t really want to work.

I finally responded, but with my heart, not anger . . .

———————————

It was a stunningly beautiful morning in downtown San Antonio, the kind of day that hopes and dreams seem to be within reach and life just feels good.

Casually strolling through the park, drinking my coffee, and waiting for the stores to begin opening, I passed by a lady sitting on a bench without much thought.

Her belongings surrounding her, likely all she had left in the world.

I think maybe homeless people have become nearly invisible to many. I think they had become so to me. I had simply stopped seeing them.

Something made me look back . . .

The look in her eyes nearly dropped me to my knees, the look of utter despair. She wasn’t looking at anyone; she was not asking for help. It was clear that she had simply given up.

She did not have a single hope left . . .

As I continued to walk, her face haunted my thoughts.

There but for the grace of God go I . . .

I had turned around and walked back to her before realizing I had taken a single step. I handed her a few bills, telling her I knew it wasn’t much, but maybe it would help today.

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and thanked me quietly.

I have looked for her several times since, wondering what happened to her, if she found hope, where she has gone.

Don’t tell me the stories of the panhandlers refusing to work.

Don’t tell me about the guy you gave twenty bucks to and he walked into a bar and drank it up. I don’t want to hear it. I truly don’t care because I believe they are the exception.

The fact is, there are people out there just like you and I, but for whatever reason they lost hope. Women, children and families struggling just to find a place that will allow them to use a restroom today, and we just look away . . .

I don’t claim to know the answer, but I do know this . . .

There but for the grace of God go I.

———————————

A few minutes later, I followed up with this response to the conversation . . .

———————————

For what it is worth, San Antonio is taking a stand to make a difference in our community. The place is appropriately called “Haven For Hope”. They will be going beyond providing a safe place to sleep. They will be transitioning people back to independence. It will be open by fall.

Treating the root causes of homelessness with a wide array of social services in a single and central location resulted in a 60% success rate (defined as a year of totally self-sufficient living). Campuses in San Diego, Miami, Phoenix and St. Louis were among some of the operations reviewed and analyzed to develop a set of operational best practices. Critical campus services include education, job training, day care, substance abuse treatment, medical care, identification recovery, case management, animal care services, hygiene, etc. www.havenforhope.org

 

Cricket Walker