A Thousand Words or More

If a picture is worth a thousand words,
then this picture of my glorious lilac filled backyard is worth a million!
I love a sunny day full with lilacs.

With Gratitude

This morning, on the eve of my 52 birthday, I woke with a feeling of heaviness.  At first I thought it was sorrow and then I thought it was from feeling nostalgic.  But after sitting with it for the morning, I was able to sort it out and discovered that it wasn’t heaviness from feeling sad or wistful but an incredible emotional surge that would come for all the things in my life I’m grateful for.
Now, while it’s true there is a bit of nostalgia tied up in there somewhere, I am not busy looking back.  I am looking forward.  Based on where I am at this moment, grateful for my life, my relative good health, my relationship with my husband who I am deeply in love with, our kids, our friends and family, my work, my play, for trees and grass and birdsong and sunshine and rain even, for all those and those things that I love and love to do, I am looking forward to more of the same.
I am blessed.  Deeply and truly blessed.  And so while there were tears, I didn’t shed them out of sorrow or nostalgia but rather I shed them in thanks, moving happily forward to this birthday and God willing, many more, with unfathomable gratitude.   

 

Calm Before the Storm

Hello! and …
Well!, it’s been a while!  By my last entry, quite a while, in fact  Surprisingly the time has slipped away a great deal more quickly than I realized but, life takes you in other directions sometimes and you just have to follow the detour signs. So, I’m back on course, and ready to continue to see what I see, all the while sharing with you the sights and sounds.
Looking forward to it.
Glad to be back.

It hasn’t rained like it should this spring … things are dry and slow to come.  The earth is cracked in my gardens and I’m concerned for some of the things that should be growing a great deal better than they are.  I’m usually out in them before this, digging away at things, but all I’ve done thus far is cut away the dead wood. It’s suppose to rain today. I want a good, full-on downpour to make things happy.  I hope I get one! 
   But if I don’t, is it cheating if you do a rain dance, and then put the sprinkler on?

My Kitchen: The Heart of My Home

Took these photos of my kitchen the other day…..Began with a pic of the lilacs I’d picked for the sill, but then became a tiny mini montage.  I love cooking and working in this room.  It holds such peace and busy-ness all at the same time.  It is the heart of my home always open, waiting for other hearts to enter.

Beautiful Nonetheless

When my husband came in from a tour around the gardens yesterday,

he brought this in with him…….

Not your traditional bouquet, but still beautiful nonetheless.

The Earth is Full

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_gilding_the_earth_is_full.html

Regarding the above video link…

As terrifying as this prospect is, I have been hoping for it: The world can’t continue to sustain in the manner and direction it’s been progressing!  We need this crisis in the biggest way to shake our cages and drive us to action.  In spite of it, I am hopeful.  I believe that, like no other time in history, we have the right balance of intelligence and creativity and communication and that we will be able to come together to manifest a newer, better vision for ourselves.  We are on the precipice of something terrifying, that’s true, but also of something tremendously marvelous for ourselves and our world.  I welcome the challenges this crisis will bring because I believe that in the end, it will bring respect and honour for one another, our planet and the recognition that life is of incredible value.

 I’d also like to add that even though I wish we could move into this better vision without a crisis, I think we as a species need it and for two reasons: to get our absolute and undivided attention and also in the aftermath to keep ourselves forever vigilant and mindful of our future decisions and actions.   Having something catastrophic as a reminder may help to keep us in check in the future.  That, at least, is my hope.

Something I’m Grateful For: Surprises

Was looking back through some of the photos I took this month, and came across this of the roses my husband gave to me for Valentine’s Day.  What made it a surprise was that they came an entire week before Valentine’s.  Therein is where the romance lies.