I am posting the picture I took of the Lunar Eclipse..now, I couldn’t get pictures of the eclipse itself but I took what I could on my camera phone. I turned around and shot this silhouette of me at the back of my house. Seeing this kind of lighting amazed me. Some people go for the obvious..I like to notice the little details in the grand scheme of things! I hope everyone had a great week-end 
Yay! It’s Pinterest Thursday..yeah right, it’s I got nothing but these pics for you if truth be told It’s 100 degrees out here in the grand Mojave Desert and folks, we’re just in pre-heat! Back into my cave I go ’til this goes away end of September or so! Aye, todo lo que converso me sale en verso…that was the Spanish version of, I’m a poet and I know it Enjoy these quotes!
FORCED to FIND MY FAMILY…
I was certain I would never know the love of a mother for myself. God has a wonderful way of completing us when we least expect it and with the most unlikely people. I have been friends with Margaret for 20 years. We met back in Atlanta at a time when I would not allow myself to peek into my damaged,trauma filled past. Margaret came into my life back then with arms opened.
She would look at me with such warmth,enough to begin the process of melting the glacier that was taking over my heart in those days. She knew what I needed emotionally and freely gave it;for the first time in my early 20′s I experienced a mother’s unconditional love and I craved for more.Much like a new-born in dire need at feeding time.
My heart broke when a few years after meeting her our lives changed,sending both of us in different directions temporarily. Like everything else in my life,I embraced the new changes ,still clinging to Margaret even from afar.
A few years ago I reconnected with her and I felt great to have been able to become re-acquainted with another member of my family. Ever since then I have chosen to call her Mamacita because she embodies everything I have ever imagined about having my mother.
Have you been ostracized by your own blood relatives as I have been? We all have choices to make. We can stay bitter in our isolation or the alternative is to open our hearts to the people who God sends into our lives to give us the family we need. I chose to forgive and stay open to what God has for me. People get blessed with good looks,good genes,talents wealth and strong family ties. I was not one of the fortunate who comes from a loving family;this set
me on a course that forced me to search out and find a family of my own. And I have,through my friends.
Fear will hold some of us bound ,keeping us from opening our hearts to those who offer to love us.We all come into this world in dire need of love;yet few of us are brave enough to admit our need to ourselves and to others.
Mamacita,thank you for offering me your cup! It was you who offered a drink from your over flowing vessel;to this dusty,weary,thirsty traveler. Cheers to you and I will forever be thankful that you did! Had you not offered, I would not have had the courage to ask you for a drink!
Te amo…tu hija
-Eva Santiago copyright 2012
In this new place there is no room for bitterness. Bitterness is a dead man’s grave-clothes. I have cast off all my grave-clothes for good. The last vestiges, which hung on to me by a thread, have fallen at my feet and bitterness is eradicated once and for all. From here on out I see ahead only as far as the lamp I carry allows me to. I have caught glimpses of my future. I carry with me postcards , snap shots of it and when I look at those, I smile because I know I’m headed there for sure. Perhaps that is my only certainty in this new place; my assurance of a better future than the current present and that is enough to comfort me and keep me on this path that is taking me there. Every sunset I see differently now. Sunsets now mean that I have overcome another day. This day has passed into tomorrow. The sun setting on today can only mean one thing: That my future draws closer and that is exciting.
Who awaits me in my future?
Eva Santiago © 2012
I lost my mother when I was 2 months old and I have missed her for 42 years. There are times when I just wish she was around/ For instance when I’m having a bad menstrual cycle I say,” These are the times when a grown woman needs her mother.” Seriously though, I still ache for her and I’m posting this poem I wrote to honor her on Mother’s Day. This is an excerpt from my new book, Salsa! The Taste of Life, which is in the publishing process now. ” Feliz dia de las madres !” to all of my Spanish-speaking readers and “Happy Mother’s Day!! ” To all the moms who read me!
You Are With Me
I thought for sure
I’d never get to know you,
all my fears concerning you-
have long since vanished.
As I change my point of view.
I see you in the eyes of my Elena.
I hear you in Esther’s girlish giggles.
I sense you in Joseph’s thoughtfulness.
Your love reaches out to touch me,
through Raquel’s gentleness.
That I never had you,
is losing its importance.
For you’ve been here beside me all along.
When Esther hugs me,
I feel your tenderness.
Through Joseph’s eyes,
you reveal yourself to me.
In my girl’s beauty and poise,
I learn of your loving kindness.
When they twirl effortlessly,
I sense your free-spirited ways.
Raquel, well you know, she bears your name;
She helped me feel you once more
When you came to help me have her
You gave birth to me again.
Eva Santiago © 2012
We are having a funky day in the desert today. A sand storm is blowing our way from Arizona and it makes for ugly skies and super dry skin. I miss the sound of rain
It’s gritty, it’s dry and it sucks.
It gets in your eyes,
and in your hair it flies.
Don’t open your mouth,
here comes all that damn sand from the south.
Eva Santiago © 2012
When I first came out to this desert 12 years ago, I didn’t know what to expect. It was spring when we arrived and the desert was in full bloom bursting with an artist’s palette of hues everywhere. Color speaks to me and the desert was welcoming me! I had never seen purple cactus and they delighted me. I mentioned to my friend,” Do you think someone painted those?” He laughed and shook his head.
I live in an unforgiving terrain that is the Mojave desert. Yet it’s here where I’ve encountered God in His simplicity. Even though the land is harsh and unforgiving, it reminds me that God is gentle and all forgiving. The dryness of this desert is merciless and yet God’s mercies rain down on me daily and they are new every morning and without fail.
The Spirit lead Jesus out into the desert to test Him. Could it be that God calls on certain individuals only, to live in the desert? It takes some one with a different mind-set and make up to dwell out here. Lots of people come to visit, not many stay for long though. I’m convinced it takes a special lowliness to live here. A meekness and humility- the kind like the sparrow has. God watches over the sparrows and he watches over me closely because He knows what it takes for me to make it out here.
Eva Santiago © 2012
JUST ASK AND BELIEVE
I believe in the power of prayer. Do you? I have been praying over the years, for my uncle in whose home I grew up in. Praying for him lead me to forgive him for having failed me like he did during the years when I lived with him. Praying for him helped me see him as 100% human, thereby helping me see him as flawed and frail as me. Praying for him changed me and all I have left of him now are the few good memories of those years. A few years back I found out he had prostate cancer. Well, I kept praying for his healing and even though I never heard any news of him, I persisted in praying for him. Today I was talking to a good friend of mine and she told me she had recently heard that he was now a religious fanatic. Well at first I chuckled and then I remembered that when I found faith in Christ and started walking my faith journey, people said the same thing about me.. So I realized that my uncle has found faith in God and that my many years of praying for him DID indeed pay off!
If you have been praying for someone or some thing, NEVER stop. I tell you the truth, God DOES answer prayer and the petitions of the righteous avail MUCH!
The American Revolution was a revolution of ideas long before it was a revolution of war.
