Evening visitor

Last evening I had a vicious but graceful visitor in my back yard. Not being the bravest of souls I used the zoom on my camera to take photos. With the ability of the praying mantis to turn its head 180 degrees it was able to keep its eyes on me the entire time it was photographed. Its praying spiky arms stretched and reached but I kept a safe distance. Probably just eaten its mate for dinner it was none to concerned with another meal and it was moving slowly and seemed to be unaware of the excitement it was causing in my house. Known for its courage and fearlessness I hope that it will leave a little with me because I need to be braver around a mere bug!!!

Sister week-end

My sister is in town and we are having a creative week-end. She is here teaching workshops on Sat. and Sunday but came into town a couple of days early to spend time with me. It is so nice. We don't see each other that often and I miss her when we are apart. Time spent with her is always good for my creative energy and it always gets flowing in her company. My husband left us to go camping, so we have the house to ourselves! We have gone crazy with the dinning room table, paints, plaster creatures, papers, glues, candy and music are all part of the mix. It is wonderful. I'm creating a little book with a bird theme, it is fun to see the pages change as one adds more images and design. I hope you all have a good week-end and have a has much fun as I plan to have.

Rituals

1. coffee in bed every morning on day off

2. ham and rhyme for Penny (the dog) early in the morning

3. sunday morning farmers market

4. daily face moisturizer

5. marshmallows with campfires

6. candles with bubblebaths

WHAT ARE YOUR RITUALS?

Little black dress

I've been invited to a wedding. Everything was going along fine until I read the fine print of the invitation and it said "Black tie appropriate"- my husband does not even own a suit! I've never been to anything so fancy in my whole life. I've been in a panic about what I will wear. Well yesterday I got off work early went to Nordstroms told them my problem and they fixed me up with the perfect "Little black dress". It has wonderful sheer sleeves so my flabby out of shape arms are perfectly hidden. Never dressing up I'll have to practice walking in the heels I have so that I don't trip and fall. One would think I was the bride the big deal this has become! Although I am looking forward to seeing my husband in a tuxedo, I've not seen him in one since we got married. Which by the way our anniversary was yesterday-15 years!! I will take pictures when the day arrives to document the strange and unusual, Bruce and Lorrie dressing up. Have a nice week-end.

Friendships

IT IS A SWEET THING, FRIENDSHIP, A DEAR BALM, A HAPPY AUSPICIOUS BIRD OF CALM. shelly. For several years now I've gotten together with a group of women and created art, we meet every 6 weeks at different homes. Today was my day to host. Over the course of years I come to count these women as my friends. Getting together we talk not only about art and what we are creating, but we talk about life. I've come to look forward to the events and feel so filled up when the day is over. I realized today sitting at my dinning room table, when we were all quietly working that we were truly friends because nothing needed to be said we were ok with the silence. My life is richer and fuller because of these women and for that I am grateful. I am thankful for friends who understand me when I speak and understand me when I don't.

Autumn warmth

Hot sunny skies, bright turquoise blue, the air is calm, there is no wind. A perfect summer day and yet it is Labor day the end of summer. We've just returned from a walk where I pretended to be an ant. I laid down on the hot pavement and felt the heat rising up through the layers of clothes I had on, it felt good to be warm. I crawled through weeds and brushes taking photos of underneath shots wanting to feel the sun hit my face. It felt good to be one with the earth, the dusty earth smelling old and familiar. The crackle of leaves and grasses sounding like fireworks of autumn. The sun was bright and blinding leaving me feeling my way out of the bushes to the road until my vision cleared. Squirrels and tiny lizards ran across the road, I was not alone. The heat of the day brought everyone out to play. I hope you are all having a fun day playing also.

Summer Story

When the hummingbird

sinks its face

into the trumpet vine

into the funnels

of the blossoms

and the tongue

leaps out

and throbs

I am scorched

to realize once again

how many small, available things

are in this world

that aren't

pieces of gold

or power-------

that nobody owns

or could but even

for a hillside of money-----

that just float

in the world,

or drift over the fields,

or into the gardens,

and into the tents of the vines,

and now here I am

spending my time,

as the saying goes

watching until the watching turns into feeling,

so that I feel I am myself

a small bird with a terrible hunger

with a thin beak probing a dipping

and a heart that races so fast

it is only a heart beat ahead of breaking---

and I am the hunger and assuagement

and also I am the leaves and the blossoms

and, like them, I am full of delight and shaking.

Mary Oliver