The document summarizes several inspiring moments from the author's life, including experiencing live music performances at Dazzle Jazz Club in Denver that filled her with joy and strengthened friendships. It also describes feeling happiness and appreciation for local foods while visiting a farmers market, and finding solace in nature while sitting with trees and observing wildlife like bears and deer. The author hopes to share the beauty of life's rich blessings through recounting these positive experiences.

1. SPARKS OF INSPIRATION:
Blessings from my Rich Life
By Patricia(Jayne)Cook
cover photo borrowed from Raven Jayne
my beautiful 15 year old daughter
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2. Bunky Echo-Hawk and
DAZZLE
We all have magical places
Andrea Menard
Most of mine are in the woods
One is Not, Not even remotely Close
It is in the Heart of the 303
Denver,CO
Dazzle Jazz Club
Some of my best moments
occurred in this quaint club.
The deep red of the walls
the small intimate tables clothed in purple.
Plates filled with cheesy treats.
The inspiring voice of Andrea Menard
filled my entire being in an unforgettable bliss.
I Laughed with Bunky Echo-Hawk
after he waged war on another blank canvas.
Sharing bad jokes and beautiful stories.
In the heart of the City.

3. On Other Nights At Dazzle
The maple sweet smell of chew, and cocktails crinkled my nose,
I savored the taste of Colorado Porter,
I fell in Love with my husband again
The first time was in the woods.
My dear friend Mandy Harvey’s embraces
and sultry voice still linger in my mind
The strength of her life an inspiration to me,
She never boosts or even lets on that she is deaf
When she sings
I almost hate to disclose that about her
I asked her to be my daughter Auna’s godmother
at Dazzle on a night she was singing
I forget all the pain from the outside world
As I fade into the voices of my favorite musicians
All the magic of the world floats in my mind
As the rich friendships of my life in the Magic of
Dazzle
INSPIRE ME.

4. Farmer’s Market Bliss
Ode to a Watermelon
I joyously snapped the shot
A moment worth the capture,
As farmer Austin held the Sugar Baby Watermelon
so tenderly
Reading Pablo Neruda’s poem Ode To Watermelon,
From A Book I gifted this amazing friend
Who gets up early
Picking ripened harvests
Celebrating the bounty that Abbondaza Farm
offers in the sweet summer months,
When Saturdays can linger on
In a wonderful blissful celebration
The sweet sun touches
the experience with smiles
Cold market days and we still go
Speaking our own Ode’s for Watermelons,
Onions, Ripe Red Cherry tomatoes
In Sweet and Joyous Love for Local Foods.

5. Heading into Nature
A Journey with Thistle

6. Thistle came from the mountains
Her mama was an herbalist
Naming Thistle for the healing properties of the Thistle plant with their rough
exterior and silky smooth insides good for so many ailments.
Mama must have known that Thistle was going to have to be tough on the outside.
A Woman who would challenge the world in many ways.
Not a tree hugger or a hippie,
She is misunderstood for her love of the earth
She eats meat, wears leather, knows great beers, and always walks with purpose.
She picks hardened people to spend her time with
Her father calls them broken,
She thinks they are truly Brave Souls after all they have been through.
So often she feels broken herself.
Lately Thistle finds solitude more comforting as she sits by favorites trees,
Telling them her stories of sadness, loss and pain.
Trees listen without judgement, and do not gossip, well at least not to other people.
The most twisted ones with the faces of ancient wisdom draw Thistle in the most.
Their experiences of taking in human breath giving life to people as they exhale
oxygen, and breathe in the carbon dioxide of our breath
They seem to express their own stories of interaction with human life.
It is with awe, and respect that Thistle sits among the trees.
She wishes that people were as understanding as the forest.
Thistle has been through things that would harden anyone
Injuries that do not leave visible scars
Broken bones,
Seizures,
Deaths that come at Unexpected Times,
Those scars touch the heart,
She wants to leave those painful events beneath a tree,
Letting the Earth soak up some of the sorrow
A red-tailed hawk announces his presence in the air with an ear-piercing shrill
Maybe he expresses what she can’t in the way he speaks
His voice calls her back to the present,
Knowing soon she must return to the dull groan of town.
Although she lingers for as long as she can with the trees
A swift deer passes by and a small red fox stands and stares at her.
These blessings make returning to town easier.

7. Thistle’s Ode To Bears
(with a great big Thank you to Pablo Neruda)
Thistle thoughts wander to the bear
Perhaps to Escape
All of Life’s Painful occurrences
And to feel a sense of wonder in the world.
She imagines Bears waking up and hunting
around for fresh spring Osha Root
The pungent smell of the Earth
Tickling their noses
digging for the roots
that cleanse their winter tummies
A fact she picked up once from a Rainbow Brother
Who had spent many years in the woods
Observing nature
Or at least that is where she thinks she heard this
Bear Fact
Osha Root is one of Thistle’s favorite herbs
On more than one occasion it saved her life
A nasty spider bite left her with a scar
In the shape of a bear claw
Cured by the healing properties
of Osha Root
Sometimes know as Bear Root
The pungent smell of the herb
was often present growing up
When colds hit
The house
So sometimes the earthly deep
smell could bring up
memories of times much simpler
Before Thistle knew What pain was
And the Trees were right outside the door
and down the way
A spring bear was eating
Osha Root
Preparing for Summer
When he would feast on sweet raspberries
By the Stream

8. Thank you for enjoying my journey into
the blessed moments of my life.
I could’ve brought you into the dark and
painful moments
but I do not wish to shock and
I love the beauty of the good moments to
much not to pass them on
Many Blessings to you all
In all the rich blessings
of this human experience.