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HOME

This is not my home. It is just a home. Maybe somebody lives there. Maybe it is vacant. But it reminds me of what I imagine when I think of what a home is. A shelter from the storms of life, maybe with a great view, a place where people get together and share life. A place to read a book, get dressed, eat, cook a meal, stare into space, laugh with a friend, and to feel safe.
Today I visited the home of a friend. It was like being in a tree house. From the room where we shared a cup of tea and homemade bread, I could see the tops of trees and rooftops. I enjoyed laughter with her sweet son. I walked in the gardens as she picked avocados and persimmons for me to take home. It was visit that was short and sweet, but it felt like home should feel. 
Home should feel like gratitude.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Ij3rV_ZS4

Last Minute Halloween Costume

What do you do when you have to come up with a quick no-sew costume? Well, having very little money these days, I headed to the $ store to see just what I could come up with for under $10. It was fun, and I actually had conversations with fellow shoppers. One who thanked me for inspiring her! 

In the back of the $ Store is a large bin of clothing. From there, I got a large brown linen shirt and a yellow vest. Then I found some large fleece gloves and 3 elements for the halo- sparkly leaf garland, leaves, and a pre-made candle ring. So far, six dollars. There is a Michael's next door and I wanted some straw (a small bundle was $6.- on sale! ), so I headed for the artificial flowers and found this perfect sized bunch and brought it to the cashier for a price check. I was truly happy when it rang up for one penny! I didn't even have to use my 40% off coupon! Ha!

 I added a pair of moccasins, a flowy brown skirt and tights, and I will fix my face like a scarecrow, and voila! -harvest fairy scarecrow! 

So far, $6.01.

Well, when it was time to get ready,

 I gave up on the scarecrow part because I didn't want a smudgy make-up face, and because the straw kept coming out of the baggy shirt.

So, I ended up using the halo on my head, the sparkly garland as a belt, and added terra- cotta colored tights and a pair of purple shoes. I used the leaves to attach to the belt, button holes, and on my shoes.It actually came out OK for something so last minute and for so little money.

Birthday Girl

Today is my wonderful sister's sixtieth birthday. Six decades on planet Earth. I am only one of many who are so glad she was born! From the beginning of my life, Rosie was there to comfort, guide, encourage, and love me.  In this photo, taken in 1954, my sister's arms surround me-holding me securely and with a confidence most three-year olds don't possess. I am the very lucky little baby.

That confident little three year old grew into a remarkable woman. Not just for her accomplishments, but for the wonderful human being she is. Rosie's patients in Alaska will have stories of their own. Her husband and children and grandchildren also have their story. In fact, everyone fortunate enough to know Rosie will smile at the mention of her name.
But this is my story, and today I honor Rosemary on her 60th birthday with this tribute.

                                 Rosie and her husband Wayne on their son Ben's wedding day                                   

                                                  A song always in her heart
                                                  A smile always on her face
                                        A warm embrace at the ready
                                                  A willingness to listen to anyone
                                        A joy that comes from deep inside
                                                  Rosie is rosy and we are rosier too
                                        Because she was born on this day!


                             Happy birthday, sweet sister! I will celebrate you all day.  

  
  

The Wind

"Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame!" -William Butler Yeats
 

10-26-2011

Palm was dancing in the wind today 
Fronds bent by invisible force.
Moving gracefully, effortlessly, sadly.
Wind chimes tinkling like thoughts
Stirring up loose debris
Scattering, uprooting, and giving flight.

Inspired Art

To see a world in a grain of sand, and heaven in a wild flower; to hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour–is inspiration.’

— William Blake

I had a working interview today and only a half hour to win over children, teachers, and a possible employer. So yesterday, I went for a walk. I was looking for something to inspire an art project for children I had never met and knew nothing about. The bark of this tree was all over the dirt path and I knew that the children would at least find painting on bark, using bark as a painting tool, and making prints from bark at the very least to be something different, and at most  might prove to be a good sensory experience.

So I found some unused chopsticks and some painter's tape, and created painting tools. I also gathered some small limes that had fallen from a tree in the backyard and tried rolling them around in paint in a plastic shoe box. I gathered the handmade tools, some paint and a long roll of paper and found the perfect basket to carry all the materials.

When I got to the school for the interview, chatting with the children was easy. Two and three year olds are mostly a friendly lot, and curious, and interested in everything. I asked them to help me roll out the paper and tape it to the table. Then they sat down and I passed out the golf ball sized limes for them to smell. We put the paper in the shoebox and then chose a few colors of paint to squirt onto the paper. Each child had a turn to drop in their lime and move the box around to create a paintng. I was happy to see the level of engagement and the questions and comments from children just learning to speak! We moved on to the nature brushes and explored the different strokes and marks the paint made on paper. We tried mixing colors. One child made several shades of pink and showed me each variation in hue. Another began painting her hand and made a print on the paper and on the bark. The half hour went by quickly. I was amazed that I still had time to read a book and sing a few songs.

So, whether or not I get the job, I had a joyful experience creating art with a handful of toddlers.

Maybe someday when they are grown, and walking in the woods, they will remember that they once painted with paintbrushes made from leaves and bark, and pine needles. Or maybe they will be grown ups and show their own children how a piece of fallen bark inspires creativity. Some experiences stay in our memory and we wonder how we know things. I am hoping the children who painted with me today will know that bark makes a perfectly good canvas, and that rolling limes make swirling streaks of color.

Clouds

" May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds." -Edward Abbey

I liked the way the clouds softened the edges of the trees and highlighted the leaves on the branches.  Clouds do that sometimes. Bright sunny days feel edgy at times. I feel like I have to do something when the sun is out. Cloudy days allow me to ease into my day. This photo was taken near dusk after a particularly edgy day. Kind of gave me hope that there might be a spectacular sunset. 


 

Wishing

I like to make a wish when I look at the sky. Shooting stars are best for wishes, but bright stars work well too. I have never kept track of my wishes or made a note of which ones have come true, but I distinctly remember a time in my life when I had been feeling homesick for Maine. Circumstances made the journey back a necessity and not a real choice. When I told a friend, his response was "Be careful what you wish for!"

So, does making a wish mean that it will come true? I guess it depends how much is actually invested in the wish! How much self-fulfilled prophecy is involved in a wish? Is a wish really an unspoken goal?  I know I will always wish I were smarter or prettier, or richer, or healthier, or funnier, or kinder, but I also wish I could make other people's wishes come true. People on the verge of big changes or at low places need their wishes and prayers to come true -at least occasionally. My wish is that all your most important wishes come true.    

Friends

"Oh, the comfort-the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts, nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together: knowing that a faithfull hand will take and sift them-keep what is worth keeping-and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. "
-Often attributed to George Eliot or Dinah Mulock Craik

In Ireland with one of my dearest  friends  

Sea Thoughts

Sea foam like lace

Blue everywhere in many hues

Small penny rocks

Perfectly round.

Sun's heat brings a smile

to the young child and to old me.

Waves crashing drown out city sound.

The Willow

"I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines."-  Henry David Thoreau,  1817 - 1862  

In my backyard there is an ancient willow. Its branches are like a huge aging dancer-still somewhat graceful, but sad somehow and fragile. I have a line around its trunk that stretches to a smaller maple. Clothes hang on the line and blow in the breeze. During the hurricane in August, a few branches broke off, but the tree stayed defiant, eager to prove its tenacity, shedding the dead branches like a snake shedding skin. 
The willow has a large hole at the top-created one summer day by a freak hail storm. The branch that came down was large enough to require a chainsaw to cut it down so it could be removed. The moon often fits perfectly in that space.      

Perfectionism

"Faultily, faultless, icily regular, splendidly null. dead perfectionism, no more."                                             -Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)      



"The intellect of man is forced to choose-perfection of the life or of the work, and if it take the second, it must refuse a heavenly mansion, raging in the dark."
-William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

I had an interesting debate with a friend about perfectionism. Her opinion in a nutshell is that doing imperfect work is not work worth doing. As for me, I love the process of creating. I don't require " oohs and aaahs" when my friends see my creations. But it got me thinking about what perfectionism is. I would much prefer that my life as a whole was at the very least perfectly satisfying, even if it was not perfect. My work will always need improvement, and hopefully as i grow, I will see improvement. But for now, I will embrace the process and be pleasantly surprised when something perfectly wonderful emerges.

Orts

orts [ɔːts]

pl n

(sometimes singular) Archaic or dialect scraps or leavings

[of Germanic origin; related to Dutch oorete, from oor- remaining + ete food]

 

 Each day, I discover some little leftover scrap of information or story or overlooked beauty. Today, as I think about the word ort, I wonder about the things I have overlooked today.  Clues, details, gazes, and mysteries.