I am grateful for ...

And here I go again starting another blog with "long overdue" ... just life I guess, it is all about priorities, and quiet time in front of the laptop while semi-conscious and creative are ... well ... not No1 on the list, how sad sometimes, however it is high on that list.

Without too much more delay ..

This week I am showing the many faces of Mt Taranaki, this majestic giant that lies in my backyard is so fascinating to me.

(Mt Taranaki from the street I live on)

I love it's history, not just the Maori legend, but the actual history of it forming. The true appreciation for land formations and the earths activities deep below our feet can hugely be accredited to my Geography teacher, he ignited an interest to the point of taking a failing student and converting me to a higher grade top results learner. Those kind of teachers don't come around every day!

(Mt Taranaki crater from my Heliview trip)

Not only is this the worlds most symmetrical cone volcano it is also unique in that at least 5 of it's major eruptions has been cause from cone collapse.

(Cloud cap on Mt Taranaki)

Puke Ariki, our local museum, has this little graphical video of the timeline, I so enjoy watching it, it shows this eruption, animated smoke ... quite sweet and so none threatening :-) unlike the reality I am sure, then in a cloud of animated dust it's gone, and so this short animated video goes.

(Spring beauty that is Mt Taranaki)

What makes our majestic giant even more extraordinary is that very few volcanoes have undergone more than 1 cone collapse.

(The day the wind blew a blanket of cloud right over Mt Taranaki ... wind speed approx 120km/hr)

I realise that maybe not everyone has such an interest in history or geography so without rambling on too much more (because I can, I am trying to give you the brief summary and not the Heidi version) let me get to where I am heading with this grateful posting ...

(The Majestic Giant can be seen from miles away)

See our Majestic Giant that is Mt Taranaki standing so perfectly symmetrical, so tall, so strong, so proud. He makes he presence known, felt and seen from far! But this mountain has fallen time and time again ... each time rising back, picking itself up and now standing taller than ever. There are no guarantee's he will not fall again, but that does not stop him from from being what he is today!

(Sunset on Mt Taranaki)

I have always maintained that people can learn so much from nature, close friends will know all about my little quirky "lessons from the wild" ... and Mt Taranaki sure has a beautiful lesson for us all. Sometimes we get knocked down, feel defeated and sink to the bottom ... but we can not only get up, and stand tall, but stand taller! Light the fire with in yourself that drives the passion in your soul.

(My favourite pic ... the most spectacular sunset I have ever seen, not every day you get to see a purple volcano!)

I AM GRATEFUL FOR ... ME :-)
I may have been knocked down, defeated and kissed the bottom, but I stand here and I stand taller!

(another random Mt Taranaki fact: it was the setting for the movie The Last Samurai

I am grateful for .... green eggs and ham

This blog is inspired by a couple of things, it started with a blog a friend of mine wrote about her daughter called gifted girl about raising a child that is just different, somewhat out of the box. Same friend popped over on Saturday and bought me some eggs her chooks had laid ... mmm ... fresh eggs :-) and there were a couple of "Easter eggs" among them, for those who don't know eggs don't just come in egg colour ... don't worry it was news to me too. So all this had my gears in my head turning.

I have been called unconventional, quirky, nuts and crazy enough times to know I think somewhat differently from others, I wish people would understand I am ok with that :-) I like that I am able to see things differently, and that I think pink flying elephants is perfectly acceptable. And I even love that at the age of 34 I like to believe in fairy magic, and when we see the sunrise I can marvel with my children how the unicorns have coloured the sky (and apart of me can see it). It makes the world a beautiful place to be in. Why would I want to be the same, oh how boring life would be. I most certainly would hate to be trained to think and exist in a box.

So before you are hard on someone who doesn't fit inside the box maybe you should rather envy the view from outside the box.

Why not be the green Easter egg among the plain eggs! I am so very grateful I can look at things differently ... I am grateful for green eggs and ham!!

"I am lucky to be what I am!Thank goodness I’m not just a clam or a ham Or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam! I am what I am! That’s a great thing to be! If I say so myself," - Dr Seuss