Blood donors top my gratitude list today. On this day over three decades ago, a doctor saved me with her own blood as well as that of so many others…🌟
Honeysuckle along the walking path…🌟
A dear friend texted me this gift for National Poetry Month: it’s the number for Oregon’s Poetry Hotline—call and listen to a new poem each day through the month of April: 503-928-7008 🌟
Children and swing sets 🌟
Busy cardinals in to-fro flight 🌟
Viewing the solar eclipse from my own front yard-memorable and amazing sight 🌟
Coffee in the just right cup 🌟
Bonus:
A short poem from Naomi Nye to send us into the new week: 👠
Another birthday in the books last week, and gratitude for family and friends who honored the day with special moments. 🎂
Granddaughters who are currently enamored with the magician’s code and how one keeps pulling all manner of objects from my ear. The best part is her reaction to my reaction…is there anything more joyful than a child’s laugh? Listen for that in your comings and goings this week. Notice it as the gift it is. 🪄 🎩
Wildflower bouquets. Receiving one and knowing these moments are simply a window of time. Children grow and become busy with so much; when someone offers a wildflower bouquet, I hope you recognize the gift of that. Added bonus: a child who agrees to a picture. That sometimes is fleeting, too. 🌸
Beautiful offering
Funny stories told and shared… 🤭
Daily routines and rituals…and freedom to choose how our days will run in the background of life… 📝
Spring’s gifts of puddles and purple irises this week. 🌧️ 💜
Knowing how to prepare a meal and realizing that, too, is worthy of praise. 🍽️
I hope in this month of April (oh, it’s National Poetry Month…I’ll add one as a bonus 😊 below), you’ll honor the gifts of your life. I hope, like me, you’ll never exhaust the list. The more you notice, the more arrive. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
A Gift
By Czeslaw Milosz
A day so happy. Fog lifted early, I worked in the garden. Hummingbirds were stopping over honeysuckle flowers. There was no thing on earth I wanted to possess. I knew no one worth my envying him. Whatever evil I had suffered, I forgot. To think that once I was the same man did not embarrass me. In my body I felt no pain. When straightening up, I saw the blue sea and sails.
—-
And, as all things are connected it seems, this poem reminds me of a young man who read the poetry of Milosz to me in Prague…and how that moment’s memory has always stayed with me.
Solo goose the last few days…so Mama is likely on her nest just out of sight…
Wisteria appeared in its purple glory, cascading like clusters of grapes among telephone poles and adding a shot of color to still winter shrubs…
Dandelions have come, too, and while some of you likely hate them, Sofia christened them wish sticks and we are happy happy to see we have plenty of chances…
I was able to participate in two granddaughters’ school event this week, and I’m always glad to see happy children, beautiful classrooms, and a whole host of people…ones who come to witness and celebrate handprints and seedlings and book fairs…
Speaking of celebrations, a dear writing friend received good news and will have one of her poems published this summer. When that happens and with her permission, I will post it here. How truly good to see someone following the call to write and earning deserved recognition. Good news lifts us all. May we have more of it…
Blackwing pencils…one came to me from the friend mentioned above and reminded me how the little things really are not little at all…
Well, let’s see. One more thing—-how about some lines from the nature loving poet Mary Oliver to send us paying attention into the new week:
This, from her book Upstream:
“Teach the children…stand them in the stream…rejoice as they learn to love this green space they live in, its sticks and leaves and then the silent, beautiful blossoms. Attention is the beginning of devotion.”
“A grateful person will never be poor. The grateful heart sits at a continuous feast.” —Ancient Wisdom
Nice words to start this week’s post—ones I believe and I hope you do, too.
What feasts did you enjoy this week? It seems that there are always so many to recall:
Children burning energy at the playground…
The public playgrounds/parks available for our use…
Recent show try-ons with little girls jumping up to test run their choices—-shouldn’t we all be doing that? When does that see how it feels to run in them become only memory? I prefer their ways 😉 👟 🏃🏽♀️ …
Making it to the early voting line with a child in tow—and the welcome she received from all around her. Children being out the best in us…and honestly, more of us might show up to vote if we received the welcome she did. 😊
The first red geraniums of the season on my porch …
The markings I put on corners of the fitted sheets so I get it right the first time 😅🤣…if you have battled that hot mess you know 😂😂
…
life. Today I sat in the March sun and stitched a meditation (thank you for teaching the process, Liz Kettle.) I used indigo dyed wool from a years ago workshop in NM. I smiled as the dye still stains fingers after all this time. I was present, calm, focused. 🧵 🪡 ☀️
How autocorrect attempts to correct the word snaggle
It is not snuggle, although I’m thankful for that as well
How one grandchild solemnly said Thank you, Mother Earth after collecting empty bean pods from the ground to use in her play…and how her sisters chimed in, Mother Earth echoing in the world they create here, away from the “other world” so close by
and this leads me to remember the young ones who used God as She and Her and how sooner or later we are all corrected—all along the way—when maybe in fact we really do know and like auto-correct, we sigh and roll our eyes and continue…
How everything does not have to be corrected
And this reminds me of my current textile exploration/practices where mistakes are welcome and the only rule is leave them in
and it makes sense to me
and I celebrate the knowing of all that does not have to be perfect or understood
…
and the moon is full and the jonquils are giving us new iterations daily
And somewhere someone thinks of us as we think of them
and
some among us are suffering and struggling and trying to continue and in that place, those days, we have an opportunity to provide welcome and blessed peace.
I hope you are able to recognize the need before you this week, and offer a simple smile. May you be well. May all be well.
Three years ago the landscape here was much different…18” of snow and frigid days tested these beauties…but they are slowly returning. Patience ✅
A precious grandson arrived during those days, too, and he was celebrated again this weekend. Birthday hugs and “kisses to grow on”✅
And while we expect high 70s this week, we did have a brief flurry on the radar after dark this weekend—little surprises to make us smile ✅
The Lenten book from my sister and some quiet time to read and reflect✅
Needles and threads and returning to stitch practices ✅
Finally, some good words from Joseph Campbell:
“You must have a place to which you can go in your heart, your mind, or your house, almost every day, where you do not owe anyone and where no one owes you – a place that simply allows for the blossoming of something new and promising.”✅
I know it’s not really Sunday or the 21st, but here I am bringing seven good moments from last week, and maybe the day-date isn’t that big of a deal. 😉
Birdfeeders. Aren’t they glorious inventions ? The backyard was busy all week with eager visitors, and it was lovely to sit and watch. I had picked up an extra bag of seed before our little winter event that ended up being mostly sleet, and the birds were grateful. ✅
Parchment paper that one bakes bacon upon. Or slides cookies off of. ✅
Little handwritten notes on their way to people near and far. I know postage is going up again, but I still think finding real mail in one’s box is a lovely gift. Holding out hope more of us make a return to the writing of the letter. ✅
Stillness—I know being at home for several days might sound like punishment for some, but I adjusted to waking to no alarm, checking on the animals, feeding the fire. One of the days—lost track now of which—I read most of the day away. Little luxuries/no regrets. ✅
Speaking of reading… A Book of Luminous Things, edited by Czeslaw Milosz (his introduction and collection of selected poems make this a keeper of a book)…easy and accessible to dip in and out of. If you like poetry, I highly recommend this one.✅
Glass jars of my homemade vegetable soup in the fridge which brought my Aunt Mary to mind…and how she would bring jars of vegetable soup to her sister, and we would all enjoy it so much. Traditions/rituals/the carrying on of good simple acts. ✅
Waterproof boots—because the ice is gone, but rains have arrived. ✅
This year, I hope to continue posting seven small (and big) things from recent days that I’m grateful for, but in addition to that, I’m planning to add a line or quote or verse from some current read.
This week’s choice has been in my stacks for years and includes many rich poems, but today I choose “Return”…maybe because a new year is similar to a re-entry after a vacation. Maybe we have been celebrating. Maybe now we have to come down. Maybe the poem has nothing to do with that. I’ll post it and maybe you’ll give it a read:
Return by Naomi Shihab Nye
Build my home here
On the spot of old time.
I’m sure I have failed you
One thousand ways,
You ancient clock,
You stockpot of moments.
Look how the first thing I do
Upon entering the house
Is remove my watch
It’s in your honor.
Fuel by Naomi Nye
So, poems. Other goodnesses lately:
Chex mix aka “trash” in these parts —delectable, savory, spicy treat.
Homemade pound cake —all the holiday food remnants beckoning for a few more tastes
Jon Batiste —musical genius
Camelias, winterberries, holly—all the winter bloomers
Forecasts for snow—still brings a smile
and those long airport hugs and kisses that have to last awhile—-grateful for daughter time this season.
Be kind to yourself this year, wherever you find yourself on 2024’s map.
I adopted a new artist word for the year: capacity. For me, it means paying attention to all I need and want, and all I hope to (and have to) let go. 🙌🏼🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟✨
A blog reaching out to victims of abuse and others in need, providing insight about abuse, hope for the future, and guidance to see THE LIGHT that lead Secret Angel out of the darkness of her own abusive situation and helped her to not only survive but to overcome.
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