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.”
The reciter is eight years old. I have not seen her in a few years, but I was traveling for work and was able to meet up with her mom and dad and her for a lovely dinner and conversation. I was expecting a hug (received multiples ❤️) but I didn’t expect her mom to help her learn this lovely poem to recite for me. Sweet sweet sweet moments.
Power in people. So much, it takes my breath away at how time spent with real presence (yeah, I mean no devices, no extras, real conversation) is not the norm these days, but I cherish it when it happens.
And now, away from that dinner together, I see the red tables, the trees swaying with a much desired AR breeze after a day of rain, the stacked rocks on a tree branch that became a topic of conversation. I see Mirren drawing blue ants crawling up a colorful tree while we waited for dinner. I see her parents’ bright smiles and I know their lives are hectic, too…but they made time for me that night. I don’t know when I’ll see them again, but the memory of them is with me now. And I am grateful.
Many people enter our lives here and there through the years, and it’s so good to be able to connect the dots as time goes by. Reuniting with friends is a beautiful gift.
Other gifts this week: spending time with each of my grandchildren. Seeing the unique talents and presence each of them brings to the world: laughter, paintings, stories, signs.
I have some new art to display thanks to them, and a few toys that are still scattered, reminding me of this full and joyful life.
Also—traveling safely to and from the curvy swerve-y roads to Fayetteville, AR and back. The scenery is lovely, but those roads…mercy. I thought of friends who I won’t see again in this life as I passed through their old hometowns and stomping grounds. Even though they’ve gone, a presence lingers and sends that important message: live now.
I met some new people this week and that, too, was gift. Lots of conversations and connections and ways to be hopeful in the days to come.
As I write this, my 8 pm alarm is ringing—my sign to stop and pray for my children. ❤️
I’ll end with them tonight. I spent some precious time today talking with them around my den table—one in person and one virtually. Once again, busy people finding time. A lot to celebrate in that. 🌟
Go celebrate your life this week. Offer someone your presence. ❤️
I’m in a different routine this particular Sunday, so my greeting to you is coming earlier than usual. As I was journaling early this morning, I started thinking about surprises…and that will be the focus of this list today. 🧚🏼♀️
When was your last real surprise? Did it rely on someone else’s actions, or was it more internal…a real knowing of sorts?
The natural world is filled with surprises…
A bird’s intricate nest
The hole that the honeybees return to each year
The iris about to burst out of their bud-rooms
Not surprises to them, of course. They know what they’re doing 😉…but sometimes we are caught by surprise when we dedicate time to look, to watch, to savor.
Sometimes the surprise isn’t of the natural world…it is that simple amazement when things line up for us:
the random text
the unexpected note of appreciation
The lives we live unfolding in chaos or flurry or wonderment (or all)
Sometimes I say Well, I guess I’m doing this now and that can apply to the salad that falls from its precarious angle in the refrigerator to a messy heap onto the floor,
or to the prolific (for me) amount of large canvases lined up in my hallway awaiting a new art show,
or like yesterday when I hit “submit” on a computer keyboard and a rush of deer walked out in unison and I knew, I knew they, too, were witnesses to the good in life.
Sometimes surprises are not as obvious as a crowd of deer coming to greet us, but they are there…simple decisions that turn out to be moments of wonder and simple joy:
This day I’m not celebrating the same way as I have some bigger Easters in the past, and the gift and surprise of the holiness in that is its own surprise:
A long burning candle is lit for all of us today, and as I see it throughout the day I’ll utter these simple words and hope they land for whoever is reading this:
I know Sundays are really thought of as the beginning of a new week, but I often think of them as the opposite…closing the door on a few days and getting ready for what is next…a winding down day of sorts.
I hope you’ve found some reasons to celebrate over the past few days. I surely have.
My daughter celebrated a birthday …
My son and I spent a full day together …
Art I created is hanging on a beautiful museum gallery’s wall in Shreveport until May 8 …
There were walks in solitude and in the company of others …
There were wildflowers and children picking flowers and trees bursting into bloom …
There were sweet conversations and affirmations …
There was love.
That’s a lot.
Before I write here again, I’ll be celebrating a birthday. The numbers on the outside get bigger, but inside they really don’t seem to…and I’m grateful.
I wish you the abundance of good I’ve seen this week and the realization that it matters that we acknowledge it.
We are closing out the last days of January (already!) dear readers…what used to seem the longest month to me doesn’t seem so long anymore. I hope it was a good one for you and that February brings new gifts for us to behold. ❤️🧚🏼♀️🌟
Next week will bring us a fun date—2/2/22–to witness. Not sure how I’ll honor that yet, but maybe you have ideas? Not only do we have all the 2s, but a couple weeks later, we will see a 2/22/22 and it will land on a Tuesday, so we really should do something. ☺️☺️ Things to look forward to…#1 on my list tonight.
#2: The Maya Angelou quarter has been released in the USA. I have asked family and friends and students to be on the lookout for this piece of history…something happy to look for as we make our way along. I hope if you find one in your change, you’ll post here and let me know where you received it. It’s such a wholesome and easy way to be part of the world right now.
#3: Third on my list but first in my heart tonight: snail mail from a granddaughter. She lives in the same town, so it was a surprise to open the mailbox this week and see her careful young writing and open the gift of her art inside. Plus someone (likely her mommy) took part in this sweet surprise by dictating the spelling of addresses, locating a love stamp (❤️), making sure this sweet mail made it to the mailbox. All the ways we receive love and all the people who help make it happen. 📬
#4 Red wagons and the children who ride in them. Ones I love and all the children who get pulled by others into the light of day…into the beauty of nature. And yeah a plug to Radio Flyer Co. for making products that stand the test of time.
#5a: Chianti. Weekend sips. 🍷 And 5b: No work on weekends. It’s a rule I try harder to adhere to these days. 🧚🏼♀️ Highly recommend.
#6: Things stored and retrieved. Years ago in my former life as an elementary teacher, my students created a group paper quilt with various scraps of fabric from my textile stash. For some good reason, that piece of art did come home when I retired. I found it recently and today it came out of storage and will be shared with college students as we read a short story by Alice Walker called “Everyday Use” and then it will find its new place on my office wall. Some things we are meant to keep, and later we learn why. 🌟
#7: Continuing the quilt theme, one I started for myself many years ago is finally getting its binding. It was 70 degrees today, but we are expecting 40s in the coming week, so this is a good time to snuggle under something soft and handmade. Threads and needles and tiny stitches and once again realizing the time for certain things does indeed come when we are patient with ourselves. 🧵 🪡
Have a good week, dear reader. Take care of yourself in this current world. Look for beauty when you can, and know that your time here means something. You don’t have to understand it today. Days are coming when we get to look back and say Ahh. That’s why. 🌟
This past week, I celebrated the National Day on Writing with a couple of classes of college writers. That decision gives me way more than five good things for this post, so here we go:
Young adults exploring the natural world —some sitting and noticing, some standing, some taking advantage of the playground swings in the nearby park we visited, some sketching. All deeply engaged in the moments.
In answer to my question of what was the best part of writing outside, one student’s answer, “Peace…it’s just so quiet.” Yes.
Other words: “We all walked out of those front doors together, all of us —with all our differences— and we became united…and we were free.” Wow.
We are writing sonnets now, and the work we do is influenced by that short time apart from the daily classroom. We draw from the solo classroom of attention. I hope they’ll return there as often as they can. I really think they will. 🌟
The simplicity of teaching and learning…some things really are like poet Mary Oliver told us:
June already, dear readers! Time is flying fast to me these days. How about you?
This week I’m once again reflecting on five good things from the past week. I hope you’ll do the same. Look for the small decisions, small moments, small victories along with me.
For the past few years, I’ve participated in a daily art challenge called ICAD (index card a day). Its host and creator Tammy Garcia offers a lot of inspiration over at her blog Daisy Yellow. Look her site up for cool ideas and ways to participate:
While I’m choosing to keep my cards private this year, I am participating in a solo way. Actually, it’s hard to post cards and interact with so many other artists when working on a goal of less social media use, so while I will miss it, my personal goals win this season. ✅
Three little granddaughters are sleeping over at my house tonight, and while they started out together, currently each is slumbering peacefully in different rooms/areas. But sleep. Yes, yes, yes to blessed childhood sleep. And adult sleep on the horizon. ✅
I laughed when I looked at my to-do list a little while ago. I must have extremely high expectations of myself to think I’d accomplish much at all today besides playing, cooking, and talking. It’s ok. I’m learning most of my recent “to-dos” can be postponed a day or two with no big problem. That’s good. ✅
I started teaching a new class of college students this past week, and on the first day they participated in an icebreaker activity that resulted in some stories being told that were really moving. I’m reminded once again of the power of our stories. We are writing those stories, and that is a gift. ✅
I think my last thing to list is a culmination of a lot of small things from my journal that I want to remember: saw some California cousins who always inspire me (and don’t we all need people to motivate us?!), killed a poisonous snake in my front yard (not my fave moment, but I’m damn proud that I still have whatever it is that could make that happen), sat and stared at wild roses growing in my backyard, cooked fresh squash and zucchini, held some babies, sang some off key songs. ✅
Good night, dear readers. Here’s to always at least five moments worth remembering not only on Fridays, but every day. ❤️
🧚🏼♀️Pink plastic flamingos on the back porch bringing cheer on a rainy Friday morning…I’ll post a pic in my stories here for those of you who need a “walk into the weekend” uplift. 🦩 (Thanks to a recent birthday giver who funded this silly extravagance that I wish I’d bought long ago)
🧚🏼♀️Knowing it is important to surround ourselves with things that bring a smile. Maybe it’s flowers or candles or art. Maybe a plant? Find your thing. Put it where you can see it. 🌟
🧚🏼♀️The way the green looks greener on rainy days and how a gathering of yellow wildflowers out the back window welcome the day like drops of sunlight among the weeds and rain.
🧚🏼♀️ My eldest grandchild knelt beside me late yesterday and we drew what we saw out that window. She created a beautiful wildflower, nothing like the ones in front of us, yet so beautiful. She cut it from the journal we were working in and told her daddy I want to put this on my wall in my room. I want all my art around me. To already know something that important 🙌🏼
🧚🏼♀️Poetry. This one came from a dear friend via snail mail recently. I think she would approve of its sharing here:
Gifts —priceless ones, daily
I’m listing quite early (for me) this week. That, too, is something of a bonus to add to the weekly five. Taking care of things that matter to me. ❤️
Enjoy your day, dear readers. Look for the color where you can.
Hello, dear readers. The calendar flipped to November since the last time I wrote. It is one of my favorite months of the year. It’s a respite time, a time to catch our breath before the flurry of the holidays. A show of color on the trees. A time for reflection. The earth getting ready for a wintery sleep.
We are now in time change land, and usually the return to Standard Time makes me feel re-set, but like many things this year, something still feels off. Maybe that’s why at 8pm I was ready for bed and slept hard for several hours. Yes, I realize it’s not really Friday, but it’s still dark outside and most of the world around my tiny universe is still in dreamland, so I’ll push this post through “as if” it isn’t actually Saturday. ☺️
Saturdays. They make my top five this week.
Generally, I get to Skype with my daughter and talk with my sister on Saturdays, so it’s an easy pick. Their presence in my world, even from far far away, always blesses me.
Journals.
I have filled several this year, and I am centered by the process and discipline of writing every day. After this post, the next thing on my list is writing my pages with cup of coffee in hand. Likely several cups. Ha. A lot gets settled and sorted through that writing time, and I am grateful.
Small talk.
I mean the words from my grandchildren. 🥰 I’ll see them today, and they will fill me up with their commentary on the world. Their turns of phrases. Their I love you moments and their running dialogue with each other and their toys and the world. I’ll listen and engage and be reminded of what it means to be aware of the power in the moments.
Democracy.
It’s a big one on my list this week, this year, this lifetime. Regardless of whether folks agree or disagree with my choice of candidates or political party preference, as an American I enjoy freedom to vote — and a system is in place that makes sure my vote and every vote is counted.
I am grateful for those who are on the front lines working to defend that process. I am grateful for the people, like me, who stood in long lines to early vote. I had special conversations with strangers in those lines. It was obvious we were not all voting the same way, but we treated each other the way I envision America at her best. So I know it is possible. I won’t be discouraged when I have seen civility and decency with my own eyes.
I am grateful for the people who voted by mail. For the ones who walked a long way to mail a ballot. For others who drove folks to and from polling places or post offices. For new voters who figured it out and decided they would keep learning to be better voters every future time. For the ballot. I am grateful for choice.
Several of my students registered to vote (and showed up to vote) this season. I bow to them here. Sometimes when we think our voice doesn’t matter, we discover that there is power in the process.
Tomorrow.
I’m grateful for the thought of it. I am always aware I may not see it, but I look forward to the sun waking me up each day, the slant of light that appears through the bedroom window. Slow wakings without alarms. Possibilities. The season that brings us Thanksgiving, the preparations (in progress of course) for Christmas.
After all, we build better tomorrows by what we do today. So, what will you do today? This week? This season? Will you build a bridge toward understanding and love? Smile beneath the mask I hope you are wearing in public? Look for the light in every human being? Make a move to improve one little thing? I hope so.
Have a good week. Improve your corner of the world. Know you are part of its power. 🌟
Today I’m doing a quick flip back…a look through my journal from the past week. Let my eyes land on five random moments and let them live happily here. Memories of goodness from the previous week.
Oddly, I am writing this entry super early in the day. Not so oddly, my schedule is always a bit off in August. I started teaching part time this week. The back to work time generally spins routines around a bit.
This week, it was a literal spin with the unwelcome visitor Vertigo showing up. We all say of course by now. Another #2020 eye roll. Thankfully, I have a set of exercises for that, so it passed quickly and I made it through the day with no problems. Count every good as a win, my friends. And, when we feel good, let’s remember to be grateful, too. Noted. I am planning to do quite a few little things today…things that I couldn’t do if the room was spinning. So, I am grateful.✅
I sat outside a lot this summer, and I hope to continue that practice for as long as I can. Waiting quietly in nature solves a lot of problems and opens our eyes to new possibilities. Sometimes I write outside, or knit, or make art. Mostly, I sit and watch. Time well spent. ✅
The pumpkin seeds I planted last month have taken off, and I learned their lesson: they open their beautiful blooms early in the day. If you wait too long, they are still pretty, but different. I guess I never realized all the adjustments nature makes minute by minute. ✅
My niece left a mailbox surprise this week: zinnia seeds for a future day! So kind…and as I look out toward my happy flower patch this season, I think I will cut a bouquet to celebrate that on this Friday, there is still plenty of beauty around…both in the thoughtfulness of others and in the joy to come. ✅
Finally, I started a new part time job this week. I am a teacher in the adult education program in my town, and I help students work toward their ESL or HSE certificates. As always, meeting my students and learning about them has started this season off well. They showed up in masks, but the masks did not conceal their determination and grit. They have goals. They are ready to work. I am ready to help them. ✅
Have a terrific weekend, dear readers. Find a moment or more to get outside and find the healing in nature. Surprise someone. Pick a flower. Plant a seed. Help someone learn. Live in grateful wonder. ❤️
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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