We Did It.

That's right, we put a lid on 2012. Wrapped it up with a tidy bow and sent it on its way. Some people came and some went. There were new things and things that stayed the same. I love the promise of the new year, when it's fresh, sparkling, and yet-to-be opened. Let's see what happens!

My Ideal Self?

do you notice how much lower the sun is from start to finish? this was a long hike at first estimated to be about an hour but stretched long into the fall of afternoon. 

Moments of Beauty

I don't know if you know the story of our butterfly bush. Liz gave it to me a number of years ago after having popped it out of the ground with her big metal pole. She said it would be fine even though it consisted of two scrawny sticks with one big scraggly root. My dad helped me plant it on a hilly bank next to the house, even though he was pretty doubtful that it would ever amount to anything. 

I guess the first year not much happened, but by the second year it grew to a few feet tall. We started to get honeybees and butterflies now and then.

During the past few years it has gotten huge, growing in an arc of branches over a span of about six feet towards the house, and in hundreds of other crazy directions. It's about nine feet tall now and fifteen feet across, all from that spindly little stalk. 

Last year the butterflies were aplenty, and we even got the gift of two hummingbirds. We felt super special about that. I have tried hanging out under it but it's not that fun and kind of poky. 

 This year, I have seen more of the blue butterflies in the area than I have the monarchs, which I have seen few of so far. I get lost in their wings. I can't think of how I could possible come up with anything more beautiful in my mind, and am glad I don't have to. I just get to have this gift. 

I Took A Trip To The Woods

always look up

tiki landscape

i love you bokeh, thank you

in a battle between moss and buckeye husks, who would win? the buckeyes have some weaponry but the moss is very, very patient

silver dollars in the sun

will somebody get this moss a haircut already?

Happy Friday!

Who doesn't love a good Friday anyway?

To quote one young son on his twenty-first birthday,

"It's all smooth sailing from here!"

108/366 Like It Says On My Road ID, Now Is The Time!

So far this month has been crazy, full of people falling ill and people falling out of trees. I'm pretty freaked out. What if I don't get the chance to work on my bucket list, or even to make a bucket list? I have started to worry about the house burning down when we are at work. I have figured out that our young lady L will not always be little, although it makes me very happy to see her effortless wonder and joy. She reminds me to be silly. ...that it is ok to run around the house like a madwoman with a baby blanket around your shoulders like a cape ... that sometimes you are supposed to name tadpoles Lily, Rose, and Lily Rose. At bedtime she still wants a story and a snuggle, and when she falls asleep holding my hand it makes me want to cry with sweetness. 

I didn't mean for this post to be about the kid, but that's where it ended up. I guess I am taking from this the the idea of paying attention to what is in front of you, every day, even the smallest things. Maybe especially the smallest things. 

picture borrowed from the plum village website

89/366 This Just Happened

 If I Am Blind I Cannot See

Oh Treasure

Thank You For Sharing

And Then You Shared Again!

I Cannot Speak If My Eyes Are Closed

71/366 This Just Happened

 good evening

do you see the ladies dancing?

 i think i see them!

I Can't Believe I Have This Life

50/366 winter wheat, and sky

kinda strange, isn't spring lovely?

i asked for moments of beauty

guess i just need to pay attention?

20/365 Happy Friday!

via aesthetic outburst

Excited for the weekend, hoping for snow! Also in regards to cowbell, can't get this song out of my head...SBTRKT - Hold On (Live on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge)

8/365 Big Sky, Little Horse

This horse could have cared less what I was doing, 

which made me nostalgic for the cows down the road from our house that will 

run after you in a herd-formation. 

6/365 Forced, But Appreciated

Grocery Store To Feature Spring, Despite Time of Year

5/365

On picture day the classroom was swelling with high expectations and lots of hair combing, at least twice to make sure. When it was her turn she moved slowly around the green screen until she was standing in front of the bright lights and the photographer, who looked like her teenaged brother in a tie that clipped on, but she would not have known that. She could feel the sweat in her underarms and on her nose, even though probably no one else could see it. The guy told her to stand with her left hand on her hip in an attempt to look casual for this year’s spring pictures, in which everyone would be looking painfully casual. 

4/365

Even though I am never ready winter has come, without bells or whistles 

but instead ice and a bit of snow and a glorious twelve degrees this morning, 

which makes me jealous of the thirty degrees that Nacogdoches is all proud of.  

3/365

Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century. 

- Dame Edna Everage

2/365

Dear Morning, thank you for the promise you hold for today.

I'm still working on this concept. It's only been two days, give me a break!  

We took a trip to a city.

welcome to my museum!

there were circles

doug fir

what more can i say?

got me all nostalgic for danzig

i love your smile

nimble-fairy paused just for a moment

 words of advice, anyone, anyone? 

everything is just perfect.