a foggy beach day.

I rather prefer beach days with
a little wind
and mild temperatures
and a foggy dome over the sea
and not too many beach goers around

to sit curled on a blanket
reading
journalling
watching the clouds
making me think of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.

And then they're always much better with silly friends and photo shoots and Mystic Pizza and margaritas.

still blissed out

We arrived early. We hugged. We gushed about the goings-on of each other's lives that we haven't caught up on in months.I just love Steph.



We watched Brandi. She was amazing. But you already knew that.



Then we thought we'd wander over to the merch table to see if we could spot her signing CDs, without waiting in the miles-long line.



Turns out, we positioned ourselves in just the right spot off to the side of the table to find ourselves standing SIX FEET from her as she looked right at us and smiled. We were mesmerized. (Okay, okay--we were dorkily star struck. But can you blame us?)



Back to our seats we went so as not to miss a single second of Ray Lamontagne. He was mind-blowingly, fantastically, soulfully astounding, per usual (this was my 4th time seeing him--I'm considering becoming a groupie . . . ha!).



I blogged about a performance once here, but I think every time I see him he gets better and more . . soul stirring. Yes, that's it. I sat with my hand clasped over my heart for the entirety of the performance and just soaked him all up.



It's the morning after and I'm still blissed out. He just came on my Pandora station and I might have jumped up and started singing, recalling last night.

I'm thinking of getting in my car right now and following him to his next tour stop? Maybe some day. I miss him already.

**I had my camera battery all charged up and ready to go, and then forgot it at home. I brought the camera, yes, but with no battery. Luckily, I had my mom's little Canon PowerShot with me to snap these photos. I was so ready to try out my 75-300mm lens and really see him, too. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to go to another show soon :)

reasons to be happy.

• It's 6am and there's not a cloud in the blue blue sky and the sun is already poking out over the treetops.

• It's also supposed to get to 80 degrees today. 

• And I only have to work a HALF day.

• In 14 hours, I'll be seeing Ray Lamontagne in concert (again) and be reunited with Steph.

• I just ordered Sarah Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, and cannot wait for it to get here.

As I'm looking back over photos from the weekend and feeling summer creeping in, I can already tell:

yes, today's going to be a good day.

a day of sun

Finally, after seven days straight of clouds and gloom and not a single bout of sunshine for more than 30 seconds, the sun came out. And so we grabbed our cameras and sunglasses and bolted for the outdoors to soak it all up.

Lauren and I jumped in the car for a spontaneous photo drive and ended up at these exempt railroad tracks at the edge of town. Our schedules were busy and the bugs were flying and we only had about 45 minutes to play, but play we did.

Sunshine + old friends + photography silliness = a happy Saturday afternoon.


(Take note: The very next morning the gloom rolled back in and hid our precious sun. Hmph.)

forming habits

phone photography

I don't always have my camera with me, but my phone is usually glued to my side. Since I got a "smart phone," I've had some fun experimenting with different phone apps and filters. If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably seen some of these photos before.

What a difference, photographing the world through a tiny phone, but still trying to capture the same moments...

my first sprout!

I feel like a proud mama :)

(I might be talking to them every day in encouragement.....they need positive vibes!)

a foray into the earth.

"Gardens can be sanctuaries of the soul, if they bring us back into contact with the earth. When we are fully grounded, we become aware of the values which shape our lives."
~The Soul Garden, Donald Norfolk

On Saturday, I planted my seeds.

I researched flowers and vegetables and herbs and decided on a select few that spoke to me.

Lavender, lemon balm, mint, cosmos, poppies, black eyed susans, sage, chamomile, echinacea.

I journeyed to the garden shop and carefully selected my seeds, those little life-envelopes, so unassuming there on the shelf. I brought them home (along with some 50 cent pansy 6-packs, of course), read and re-read the instructions on the packets, and then got down to it.

I kept on my long, billowy, white skirt, feeling dreaming and determined and unafraid of the dark brown dirt inevitably gravitating towards it. I planted myself outside beneath the bright white crabapple tree upon a stool, the bucket of soil before me. And I sowed. I filled the containers and sprinkled the seeds covered them lightly and watered them gently, whispering encouragement all the while. I set them outside beneath the cover of a stone wall and made a little prayer for them to grow, grow, quickly and spiritedly.

And then the next day, it poured buckets and the sun didn't shine once and sadly, I forgot all about those poor little seedlings (and my very-rolled-down car windows, too).

Now, they're sitting in the basement beneath gro-lights as the elements rage outside and I see no immediate hope of them seeing dear sunlight anytime soon. It's supposed to rain for the next four days straight. But they're warm and cozied by fake sunlight and, while slightly battered, I have faith they'll make it.

For I have a dream of fostering their growth and transplanting them to my own little plot of garden and watching them rise up out of the earth and cast about their sweet, sweet company. I want to sit beside clumps of lavender and and lemon balm and breathe them in and grow right along with them.

For I think this growing part is what I like best.

creating a new habit--a gratitude journal

Lying in solitude in the moments before sleep, filling my mind with gratitude and love,
expanding these energies and patterns into more and more nooks of my life,
unconscious of their immense power and strength I am inviting in.

Why yes.

blogging frustrations

I was just about to post a very brilliant post.

It felt authentic and true and everything I've been meaning for the post to say and then,

I unplugged my computer without turning it off * and lost the entire Notepad document** in which I had typed these words-from-the-heart.

Gone, just like that. Notepad offers no "recovery" tool.

I almost cried. For I haven't felt the urge to blog in weeks and have been tossing around these ideas for posts in my head and in my journal and I finally sit down for 30 minutes and the words just tumble and flow effortlessly out of my mind and onto the screen and then

they're gone.

I've tried sitting again and conjuring the images and energies and words again but to no avail. They will not come out again, but just inspire frustration and tears.

But perhaps they're still stewing, and still need time to grow.

I think I'd like to get them out soon, and take this blog by storm.....




*My laptop battery has decided to peter out (that, or the charger doesn't charge--one or the other) so my computer shuts down with the merest wiggle of the charger cable, so when I want to move my computer to a different room, I need to shut the whole thing down and unplug it and start it back up again once I'm plugged in where I want to be and well--I get lazy and just yank the cord out without shutting anything down and start it up again and it's still good as new (my Firefox window restores all the tabs).  So, lesson learned.

**I like to type out my posts stream-of-consciousness-style in a Notepad document, and then copy and paste it into my Blogger window. It always feels so much better that way.

synchronicities

Oh, the sychronicities presenting themselves to me.....

Sitting in the library, curled up in a comfy chair, journalling through my lunch break. I look up, and find myself smack in front of a nonfiction section of faeries and nature myths and folklore. One catches my eye: Women Who Run with the Wolves. I take it home with me that day. Two days later: perusing Goddess Guidebook archives from 2004. Leonie links to the latest book she's reading: Women Who Run with the Wolves. Mhmm.

Surfing Park Seed, researching and studying which seeds I'd like to order and sow and grow into flowers and herbs and vegetables. A daylily catches my eye, named Stella de Oro (just like my Stella). Later that day, Googling hardy flowers for zone 5, in a category all its own: the Stella de Oro daylily. Then, the next day, wandering the greenhouse's annual plant sale down the street from my house, and finding rows upon rows of daylilies. As the remembrance of the sweet Stella flower floods my mind, I look down to the first plant I see: the Stella de Oro. Star of Gold.

My mind can't catch up! It's all so magical, and so much.

But it's lovely, and it's comforting, and I think it's just what I've been asking for.

Wondering what the Universe will send me next.....

a mid week break

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to skip out on work at daycare and instead babysit for sweet little Clara next door. 

One child instead of eight? Ability to put her in the car and drive off to visit friends? A 2 1/2-hour nap session all to myself, in silence? 

I couldn't say no. Needless to say, it was a delightful day. It was a nice little break in my week (although I think I might get bored of it every day!)

And c'mon--look at that face.