Long Hollow

On A Windy Day

A brisk north wind roared through the hollow this morning, whisking cobwebs from the corners of my brain and slapping my face with its cold hands, saying "Wake up! Look around at this glorious morning! Isn't it great to be alive?"

I love the wind.

It has felt like spring the past few days, and I was happy for the change in temperature. Nothing against spring or summer - I love them both dearly - but I'm surprised to find I also love winter and have been missing her.

(Okay, I realize to all of you northerners occasional lows in the 30's doesn't seem like "winter", but if you're in Texas it does!)

Belle was all energy, bounding and jumping and wallowing, and Max could hardly slow to a walk, which meant I had to jog to keep up, and I'm sure that was quite a sight with me all bundled up in my winter coat.

The wind became a cloud artist with the brilliant blue sky its palette, swirling them into different designs. (small stone #30)

I love clouds.

 

 

Today was my first day off in eight days and I relished it by taking the puppies on a longer walk than usual. We didn't surprise any porcupines, and didn't even see any birds to speak of, except for a few doves we flushed.

Max chased some field mice, though (mercifully invisible to me in the tall grass.) I love to watch him, with his ears full forward tilt, hoping stiff-legged forward through the grass, full of hope. 

I headed downtown full of hope myself a few hours later (but ears down) to hand deliver a job application. It's a position that seems a great fit for all of the skills I've gathered along my eclectic work-journey.

I hope they think so, too. Specifically, I hope they think my 20+ years of experience will be equal to the degree and 5 years experience they mentioned in the ad. Gulp. 

Yeah, it's a long shot, but you can't be afraid to go out on the limb. That's where the fruit is, right?

 

(I realize this is not technically a limb, and the fruit is probably poisonous to humans, but I think those little berries, whatever they are, are so pretty, don't you? They give a splash of va-voom to the usual drab green and brown winter. Hope you're finding some va-voom, too!)

(P.S. Thank you all so much for your prayers for my Daddy. He was finally released from the hospital Monday, and from what my mother tells me, is back to his old self...even driving to the grocery store yesterday. yikes. Please continue praying for them! I'm going to try to persuade them to move closer to us so I can be more help.)

(I just realized I've included more parentheses than normal in this post. I'm blaming it on that full moon!)

 

Linking up with Lissa's...

 

Gratitude (and other sweet!s)

 

My dad is still in the hospital following his little stroke earlier this week, but he's stable and should be able to go home tomorrow.

However, considering his health history and his stubborn determination to no longer follow the heart/diabetic healthy diet he's followed for a couple of decades, I doubt this is the last emergency trip to the hospital he's going to take. 

My older son drove down yesterday to check on them. Twenty-seven years ago they were taking care of him (while I worked) and now he's taking care of them (while I work.)

What a beautiful circle.

I appreciate all of your prayers for Daddy, as well as all of the advice and encouragement you sent me after my last post. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do, but you've given me so much to consider when making my decision. Thank you so much, sweet friends!

It's been an up-and-down, exhausting week, but each day still offered plenty of sweet! moments, nonetheless. I hope you're still finding plenty, too! Share them in the comments!

 

Sunday: new wine, fresh from the barrel; the half moon and a sky full of stars guiding you home after an evening of laughter and tears with dear friends; a glimpse of deer and a ringtail in your headlights 

Monday: sleeping in; your son joining you on your morning walk with the puppies and helping you take down your Christmas tree; moonlight on a caliche road and tin roof

Be like the bird that, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings.

~Victor Hugo

Tuesday: a glimpse of a cardinal, first thing in the morning; a hawk soaring through a cloudless azure sky; sore muscles; remembering to pick up your puppy's dog food on your way home from work

Wednesday: a walk in the fog; brick oven roasted veggies; relaxing after work with a glass of wine on a patio overlooking a vineyard; baby steps on your book

Thursday: an invitation to join an online group of women writers; high school students who are courteous and respectful; cell phones so you can keep up with news of your dad's latest mini-stroke even though you're miles away

Friday: news that your dad is stable and hearing his voice via speakerphone; the full moon rising; daydreaming about returning to college

Saturday: a chocolate cake-ball-on-a-stick; a face-to-face moment with a deer on your caliche road, even if you're not able to capture it with your camera; your son making a road trip to see your parents in the hospital; friends asking about your dad; a text from a friend reminding you there's a full moon, because it made her think of you; dramatic clouds swirling around a full moon

Sunday: your husband taking over your dog-feeding duties to give you a little free time before work; singing "How Great Thou Art"; a job tip from a friend; a beautiful surprise visitor in your yard when you get home from church; a gift of song from a dear friend

 

Our surprise visitor, Rico, who lives up the road. Can you believe he's 12? 

 

Choices, Decisions, and Foggy Roads

 

A thick blanket of fog settled on the Hollow every morning earlier this week. Heading out on my walks, I could only see a few steps ahead before the fog obscured the path. 

Isn't that the perfect metaphor for life, that our paths are hidden, clouded by so many unknowns? And yet we know there's still a path, even if we can't see for sure where it is leading us. All that is clear is this moment and perhaps a few seconds beyond, before the future becomes veiled. There's nothing to do but put one foot ahead of the other, keep moving forward, with faith that we'll make good decisions and end up where we're supposed to be.

I've been thinking about choices lately, triggered by my dad being rushed to the hospital again night before last following another mini-stroke. I can't run down there this time to see him or help my mom; I can't afford to take off work.

Tinged with guilt, my mind wants to drift to "what-if"s...

...What if I hadn't dropped out of college? What if I had continued taking college classes when we first moved instead of putting it off until the house was built ten years later, when we were facing tuition x 3 for the kids? What if I had snagged something full-time years ago instead of juggling all those part-time jobs while the kids were in school? 

Would we be so stressed about money now? Would I be retired, able to pursue writing and photography at my leisure as a second career, and run down to help my parents whenever they needed me?

Perhaps. But perhaps not. I mean, really, flirting with remorse over what-ifs is such a waste of time, isn't it?  The path was just as foggy then as it is today. And at least I thought I was making good decisions. I had a plan...the path just didn't go in the direction I thought it would.

And what about my parents? What if they had moved near us as we hoped? What if Daddy would take his medicine and eat the way he's supposed to to control his blood sugar? Other people's decisions often affect us as much as our own.

And now I'm peering into the fog, with more decisions to make. Tom suggested I go back to school full-time. He figures two years should do it. But, as the one who pays the bills, I know how tight we're already stretched. I mean, we're jumping-up-and-down-to-get-our-jeans-on tight.

Maybe you can get a scholarship for being old, a little voice whispers, and I feel a flame of hope flare in my heart that I thought was completely snuffed...the one that dreams of getting a degree. 

But then what? Would I teach? Would I be able to get a job, even with a degree, at my age? Would I have time for my writing and photography, or have to put those on a shelf for awhile?

Decisions, decisions. Will this fog ever lift?

To decide is to walk facing forward with nary a crick in your neck from looking back at the crossroads. 

~Betsy Cañas Garmon

************************************************

P.S. Thanks to Vanessa for reminding me of this prayer by Thomas Merton...

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going

I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. 

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.

 

 

Empty Spaces, Cedar Fever, and a Handful of Stones

There's a big empty space in my living room now. My middle son came home this weekend and helped me pack up the memories and cart the tree downstairs to its place in the storage room. (Daniel also helped Tom cut and carry firewood. We love it when he comes home!)

Usually my rocking chair sits in that empty space the rest of the year, the old wooden one we bought at Sears in my first pregnancy...the one I spent hours in, rocking my babies in the middle of the night. As we do every year, we moved it into my library/office to make room for the tree.

 I'm thinking of keeping it there; I need a place to sit and read, and I love rocking in it, even if I don't have a baby to soothe to sleep. 

Rocking is good for the soul at any age, don't you think? And I didn't rock nearly enough when the chair sat in the living room.

 

 

 

Actually, I feel like I have a big empty space in my head right now, too, thanks to a blossoming case of Cedar Fever... or maybe it's from the antihistimines I'm taking to combat it.

It's mating season for Ashe Junipers, commonly called mountain cedars, and we're surrounded by them; the slightest breeze makes pollen explode from the trees in huge clouds that drift straight to your nose and eyes, making you sneeze and wheeze and want to scratch your eyes out.

Alas, these warm winter days I love makes the pollen even more amorous! 

I blame my antihistimine/Cedar Fever brain fog that I haven't posted this handful of small stones yet...

#19: The sun drops behind the hills, splashing salsa on a blue-corn-tortilla-sky.

# 20: Spending time with old friends helps patch the worn spots on the fabric of your soul.

# 21: Under the moon's eye, even the road whispers.

# 22: Treetops, drizzled with sunlight. 

#22.5 Fresh blooms, budding trees, and the smell of new-mown grass, wrapped in the trill of bird song, a gift of spring in the middle of winter.

 

 

I took the above photo this morning...our typical path right smack dab in the middle of those dang cedars. But as miserable as they make me, and as much as everyone curses them, I love them, if only for the splashes of green they offer when everything else has gone gray and dormant. 

Have you picked up any small stones lately? Please share!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rejection (and other sweet!s)

 

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow."

~ James 1:2-3 

I received another "sorry, you're not the right person for this job" email earlier this week. It was for one that I knew - well, I was pretty sure - I would find interesting and that I would be good at, but I didn't even make it to the interview stage!

I just know if I could interview for these jobs I'd get hired. Is that arrogant of me?

But at least this company had the courtesy to let me know I wasn't chosen. There are so many who don't acknowledge your application one way or another. Rude.

It's an humbling experience to hit so many brick walls. Until recently, I've never been turned down for a position. In fact, I was asked to apply for most of the jobs I've had over the past twenty years. 

I'm not giving up, though. I can't afford to, of course, but I do believe there's a job out there waiting for me, a door that's creaking open even as I type this. Yes, rejections can be a good thing. (I'll keep telling myself that.)

In the meantime, I'm grateful for my part-time jobs at the winery and the school district (but I do hope all of the teachers suffering from the flu get well soon!) I'm grateful for photography gigs and photo sales and jewelry parties and book reviews that put a little more jingle in my pocket.

Besides rejection and little paychecks, I've had a few more sweet! moments this past week... 

 

Tuesday: the first customer of the day at the bistro where you're working is one of your dear friends; your paycheck plus some; witnessing the sacrament of Confirmation for 30 teenagers

 

Wednesday: a wide open day at home to work on your book and your to-do's; playing your drums for the first time in weeks, and having it all come back to you; a Cheshire-Cat moon grinning through the trees with a silvery smile (small stone #17)

Thursday: watching the sun wash over the hollowa sun-warmed car on a cold morning; a day of errands with your baby girl; being reunited with your 26-year-old watch after its battery was replaced; dental insurance; new orthotics; the silhouette of hills against a salmon and blue sunset; a new book to review

Friday: the creativity and passion of high school student-writers; paychecks when bills are due; learning you're not the only one who still has her Christmas tree up; joining others to celebrate the life and passing of a friend

Saturday: waking without an alarm clock to another beautiful sun-filled day; puppies staring at you through a window, waiting patiently for breakfast or a walk; your husband taking you to and from work, so that you can gaze out the window at the beauty of the Texas hill country; iPhones and Instagram; laughing with your son over the silliness of "The Color of Magic" part 2 

“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.”

~ Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

Have you ever had bad luck later reveal itself as good luck? 

My Tree...

...glitters with innocence and paper plate angels. It wears a garland of memories of young love and first Christmases, and droops with the weight of salt dough snowmen, whimsy, friendship, and love.

small stone #18

 

It's time to say goodbye.

I've spent most of the evening tucking red and green back into big cardboard boxes.

 

Maybe it's because I procrastinated decorating for Christmas so long, but I've felt a little melancholy putting it all away.

I'm not quite tired of the snowmen and Santas and angels...and memories.

 

All that's left is the tree.

I decided to leave it until tomorrow evening, when I can take my time and treat each ornament with loving care.

They deserve more than a hasty goodbye!

 

(Am I the only one with a tree still sparkling in the corner of their livingroom?)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sea of Grass

 

 

Surrounded by bare branches so still I could believe they are doodles on a pencil-smudged-gray sky, I stand in a sea of grass that bows down, unmoving, waiting. 

The earth holds its breath. 

 

 

 

Fence posts lean like old men, weathered gray and full of stories. 

  

 

 

 I'm still collecting small stones like the ones above, although I haven't had much time on the computer to share them.

We've had a lot of gray days, can you tell?

 

To warm you up, here's a photo of Belle. She is pure sunshine-joy!

It is impossible for gray skies to seep too deep inside with that wiggly, grinning, leaping puppy around!

 

Linking up with Lissa's...

Surprise! and other sweet!s

 

I can't believe it.

I surprised my friend Darla with a Diva gathering in her honor at my house this past weekend. Ten women who graduated from high school with us piled into my house for a slumber party, one even driving from Louisiana to be here. Many more who couldn't attend still donated money for a Williams-Sonoma gift card.

It feels good to pay her back, even if it was just a drop in the bucket;  she has been a huge cheerleader for my writing and photography for years and has given me so many sweet birthday surprises I can't even count them anymore.

Her husband was in on it, of course, along with about 50 high school girlfriends who have been private-messaging about it for months. Considering that, it is truly amazing she didn't catch on, isn't it? (If she did, she needs to consider a career move to the stage!)

There were tons of tiny sweet!s while they were here, but I'm not going to share them all because...

 

 

 

Hehehe.

That little plate was a hostess gift from of those dear friends, along with the Diva wine coozie above and this cork holder below. Sweet!

 

And now for more sweet!s of the past week...

 

Tuesday: rain tap-dancing on my umbrella; finally completely cleaning out and organizing your old roll top desk after thinking about it for five years; finishing up an editing job for a recent photo shoot; the gratitude of outside puppies who are allowed inside on a stormy day; hanging out at home all day with your baby girl

Wednesday: a second day of rain during a long drought; working in a high school library with a view of the mist-covered hills; watching new episodes of Modern Family with your daughter

 

Thursday: a second day in the high school library but with a view of sunny skies; student dioramas of The Hobbit; plotting a surprise party for a dear friend

Friday: a day of errands with your daughter, even if it's just getting her flu shot, stopping at Chick-Fil-A, and grocery shopping; your daughter's help getting your house ready for guests

Saturday: your baby girl's smile lingering in your heart after you drop her back off at college; laughing in the kitchen with forever friends; pulling off a surprise birthday party for a dear friend; hostess gifts; pineapple martinis and mini-Monte Cristo sandwiches; a husband who will drop what he's doing to take a photo of you and your girlfriends; slumber parties, at any age

 

Sunday: hanging out in your pajamas for hours, yakking with girlfriends; chilling on a rock with your dogs and camera in the middle of the woods on a crisp winter day; writing groups; not getting upset when the edits to your blog post disappear, meaning you'll have to start all over

Monday: a glimpse of the Great Blue Heron just after dawn; working with special needs kids all day; a call from your sister and text from a friend; the fire in the wood-burning stove starting easily 

 

Despite the sweet! moments of my past week, there were some tough ones, too. Our community lost two awesome people in unrelated incidents. I considered both of them friends, but so did almost everyone else around here. I'm really, really going to miss their faces and still have a hard time believing they have passed from this world.

Rest in peace, Mary and Frank.

 

Scattered stones on a Friday morning

Good morning!

I rose way before dawn to work on my children's book because the rest of the day will be crazy busy, and look what I was given as a reward for not hitting the snooze button...

 

A gift wrapped in misty blue, tied up with swirly pink ribbons.

small stone #11

That ended my writing session, of course. I threw on some clothes, grabbed my camera, and headed out for a morning walk with the puppies for the first time in days. 

I hadn't gone far before three deer leaped out of the woods and disappeared on the other side of the road, one after another. No photos - I'm not fast enough. But it triggered this...

Full of grace they leap, white-tail-tutus sailing through the air. Ballerinas of the woods.

small stone #11.2

I walked down to the pond and creek, drawn by the sound of water playing and giggling.

 

I'm sure there's another small stone in there, but it hasn't come to me yet. Hmmm...playing, giggling...

Oh, well. I do have this one from a few days ago I forgot to post...

Raindrops tapdance on my umbrella.

small stone #8

 

 

A dear friend is coming to visit this weekend, and before she gets here I still have a lot of cleaning and shopping to do, as well as help TG get resettled before the new semester begins.

(I'll miss her. There's no way this house would have been even half-ready for visitors without her help! I've been in a spring-cleaning frenzy which is usually counterproductive to actual housecleaning!)

Between visitors, spring-cleaning, and writing, I'm sure it will be a few days before I get a chance to catch up with all of you. I hope you have a beautiful weekend, full of sweet! moments and lovely small stones. Savor each and every one, and if you get time, share them with me!

Happy Friday!

 

Pole Dancing

The little waterfall is flowing again. I heard it this morning when I was feeding the dogs. We've had two solid days of rain, and while I'm grateful for the rain in this time of drought, and for the sound of the waterfall, I was so, so, so happy to watch the sun reach into the hollow this morning and give it a big hug.

There was no time to visit the little waterfall today, though. I had to rush off to work at the middle/high school library. I never mind that - libraries are my favorite places to work - but today was especially wonderful because the morning sun blasted through the huge windows on the east end of the library and I could watch the clouds and the flags playing all day. 

To top it off, back home I heard a choir of frogs singing from the direction of the pond, echoing the song in my heart. (Sunshine does that to me!)

And so my small stone #10 was born...

Creek giggling, frogs singing, and flags dancing at the sight of the sun.

 

(ha! fooled you with the 'pole dancing', didn't I?)

 

The rain inspired small stone #9 yesterday:

Raindrops plopping on rocks and machinery, strumming trees and grasses, tapping caliche and a metal roof. Growing loud, then soft, slow, then fast, following the baton of an unseen Maestro.

Do you have any small stones to share?

Good China, Grown-up Kids, and other sweet!s

 

I fell in love with this china and crystal soon after I fell in love with Tom, back in the days when brides-to-be always registered for beautiful table settings that would probably spend more time in a china cabinet than gracing a table. 

Even though I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually used it, I don't regret asking for it. It makes me smile, just looking at those delicate roses.

And the crystal, with that tinge of pink...sigh. I was never a "pink" kind of girl, until I saw that crystal.

 

Yesterday, I freed the set from the china cabinet in honor of our Christmas-on-Epiphany dinner with the kids. They're grown now, after all, so there's a little less chance of breakage. But why the heck do I have that beautiful china if I'm not going to use it? Breakage be damned! (Besides, they can pay to replace it now!)

I kept the meal simple and relatively healthy, just a ham, a green salad, and a roasted asparagus dish.

I've never made roasted asparagus in my life and just kind of threw it together which is not something I usually do (with any success) but this was a total hit and I'm going to brag while I can!

Oh, so yummy.

And I say the meal was only "relatively" healthy because I spent Saturday baking cookies. Which triggered small stone #5:

 Fingers sticky from rolling dough sprinkled with sugar; the smell of peanut butter and chocolate wafting from the oven; mouth savoring yet another warm cookie. It's still Christmas time. 

 

 

It was a day full of sweet! moments, that's for sure. Here are a few more from the past week...

 

Sunday: Mass with your daughter; a successful Craig's List sale; your niece and nephew stepping up to help your parents when you can't be there; prayers, calls, and texts from your friends when your dad has another stroke 

Monday: calls from friends; catching a performance of Vanilla Ice on TV; skipping in the rain; only suffering a few bruises when your exuberant 60 pound puppy knocks you down on your rocky road; cell phones for staying in touch when your dad's in the hospital 250 miles away; dancing on New Year's Eve, even if it's in your livingroom while watching Ryan Secrest's countdown with your daughter 

Tuesday: stepping into a new year; a productive day, despite sleeping late; black-eyed peas; parents who stick together, forgive each other, and keep laughing no matter what life throws at them; sunshine breaking through gray clouds

Wednesday: playful puppies; hearing from a long-lost blogger friend with assurances that she's okay; a fire in your woodburning stove on a cold day

Thursday: another Craig's List sale; your dad making it through surgery just fine; homemade chicken noodle soup on a cold night; finishing a project you've been working on for months

Friday: husbands who keep the woodpile full and get a fire going before leaving for work; the rain stopping just in time for your walk, especially since you didn't get the snow you hoped for; potential jobs you think you'll enjoy; your dad getting released from the hospital; homemade chili on a cold, rainy night; loud rain after months of drought

 

 

Saturday: your mother-in-law's voice on the other end of the phone line; your mom's voice on the other end of the phone line; friends who share their photography lights with you; making cookies for your family; wrapping Christmas gifts; capturing the moments of a sweet 16 party for someone who you swear was just a baby yesterday; your daughter working as your photography assistant; laughing at SNL for the first time in years

Sunday: sipping coffee on the back deck on a brisk winter morning; the unity that comes from joined prayer; laughing in the church parking lot with longtime friends; celebrating Epiphany and Christmas with your kids and husband; using your good china and crystal; a culinary experiment that is a big hit; playing Santa; watching funny videos with your kids;

Monday: pink mornings; having 2/3 of your kids home together three days in a row (even though one is sick); another Craig's List sale; enough leftovers that you don't have to cook dinner; time to edit photos from your last shoot

 

I hope 2013 is off to a good start for you, full of sweet! moments every day! (And if it's not, open your eyes and your heart a teensy bit wider and I bet you'll discover some shy little sweets just lying there, waiting to be noticed.)

 

Epiphany

Today is Epiphany. Since we couldn't all be together on Christmas, I stole an idea from my friend Jim "Suldog" Sullivan, who waits until Epiphany to exchange gifts with his wife: I gathered my kids and husband together for a special meal and gift exchange. We used the good china and everything! More on that later. I'm headed downstairs now to watch a movie, but wanted to share this post from 2010, because they were words I needed to hear today, and thought you might, too. I love it when my past self encourages my present self.

I'll post my sweets and stones tomorrow.

I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend!

 

Knotted muscle in my neck...can't quite catch my breath...geez, it's only Jan. 4 and I'm already stressing about how to get everything accomplished that I want to do this year! I wish I could resolve to have an extra 6 hours each day - that would help!

But, of course, I can't. None of us can. We just have to stumble along and do the best we can and try not to worry about the minutes we drop along the way. Just keep facing forward, or, as this Japanese proverb reminds us...

 "If you look up, there are no limits."

For me, this means that God will give me the time, strength and whatever other resources I need (money, patience, determination, health...) to do what he needs me to do. And nothing else really matters.

That's so much easier to say than to accept, though.

This morning I rose at 5am...the first time in more than a week I've been up before the sun. Even though I hate that first jolt of the alarm clock and long to jump back under the covers just a little while longer, I love getting so much done before the sun rises. I love walking the critters under a fresh morning sky, watching the world wake up. I feel invigorated...hopeful...ready to embrace the day. I wish morning could last all day!

It helped that we celebrated the Epiphany at Mass yesterday - the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus. The theme...the key word to remember...the word and image I took away from the service was LIGHT.

Light as in guidance...the star that led them to Jesus; light as in understanding...they recognized Jesus was a king, the son of God; light as in revelation...they revealed to us that Jesus came for all people, all nations, all races.

So each day I will focus on that light. His light. I'll imagine it as the fresh morning light, stretching over the world as the sun rises. I'll pray that it shines outward, leading me along the right path and helping me have greater understanding and compassion...I'll pray that it shines inward upon myself, revealing my faults...those areas that I most need to work on. I'll pray that I have his light within me and that others can see it. And then I'll take a deep breath and try not to worry about anything more.

A massage sure sounds nice right now, though...

"If you look up, there are no limits."

 

P.S. from 2012: Would you believe my son gave me a gift certificate for a massage for Christmas? Sigh. Perfect!

Like a Leaf in the Wind...

 

Yellow-green,

wafting like a leaf in the wind to the top of a live oak,

 

 

disappearing but for your white breast,

and savoring,

as I do,

the kiss of winter raindrops upon your face.

Who are you?

small stone #4

(If any of you knows what kind of bird this is, please share! I'm thinking perhaps a female or young golden-cheeked warbler...?)

A New Year and Three Small Stones

 

So here we are on the third day of a new year already. When I last spoke to you, way back in 2012, there were gray skies above as well as inside.

I'm happy to report the sun has broken through in both places at least a few times since then, warming me with its soft light and reminding me it's still there before slipping back behind that gray curtain.

Last night it burst forth at sunset, making the sky look like molten lava and taking my breath away with it as it dropped below the dark hills. (I only had my phone to capture the moment. You can see it on my instagram page here but it really doesn't capture the beauty of it.)

The clouds rolled back in as it disappeared, but tomorrow morning we might wake to a few snowflakes and that will make the gray clouds totally worthwhile! 

My dad is still in the hospital. He had surgery today to insert a stent in his carotid artery, but it turned out the artery wasn't blocked enough to require one. I'm grateful for that, except it's the same conclusion doctors at another hospital came to just a few months ago when he had the arteriogram and the surgery on the other artery.

But, instead of focusing on whether or not these doctors did enough homework before heading into my dad's arteries (!!!!!) I'm just grateful he made it through today's surgery okay. And I'm grateful for my brother who was able to be there with my parents, and for my sister who makes sure I know what's going on despite being so far away. 

 

 

Despite the cold, TG and I have been spring cleaning the past few days, lugging clothes to resale shops and Goodwill. I'm in a fever to get organized and downsize and simplify, so I've also been weeding through piles and drawers of paperwork, and posting odds and ends on Craig's List. (Cha-ching! I've had two buyers!)

I've submitted job applications, worked on my book, finished a photo project I started months ago, and dove headfirst back into Flickr with two photo challenges. Interacting with other photographers motivates me to try new things with my camera. (Besides, I missed my Flickr friends.)

So that my writing doesn't get jealous of the attention I'm giving photography, I've joined the Mindful Writing Challenge on Writing Our Way Home, committing to write a "small stone" every day of January.

A small stone is just a short piece of writing that captures a moment when you are fully focused and engaged with the world around you. Writing stones helps me slow down, pay attention, and stretch my mind to use words creatively. I think I'll try to continue this beyond January.

Here are the three I've written so far:

1. Sun rays sweep gray clouds from the sky, like a straw broom clearing cobwebs from an old windowpane.
2. The flaming sun drops below chocolate hills, blowing rosy goodbye kisses to hovering clouds.
3. Tennis shoes crunch-crunch on caliche. Eight paws tap-tap beside me. Music of my mornings. 

 

 

Did you make a New Year's resolution? I usually don't, except for echoing Michael Franti's song "Hey, hey, hey..."

No matter how life is today, I won't let another moment slip away.

~Michael Franti

That includes another moment to take care of myself (daddy's health issues are a great reminder for that!), support my family and friends, be kind and encouraging, work toward my dreams, follow through on promises, dance, laugh, listen, love, be still...and take a deep breath before getting angry. 

It's been a full, emotional roller-coaster of a year already. I think I've used my whole repertoire!

So...what do you think of 2013 so far?

 

Linking up with Lissa at...