June 12

 

Live in the sunshine

Swim in the sea

Drink the wild air of your imagination

 

- Ralph Waldo Emmerson



May 28

Today is the beginning of a week and it's already Tuesday. Tuesdays mean zumba and a good nights sleep and subsequently, I love Tuesdays.

 

* * *

 

When we went to Ellensburg this last weekend, I didn't make note of our wine tasting endeavor. Mostly this was a worthy thing to bring up because Thrall & Dodge Winery has the littlest tasting room in Washington - about 97 square feet of pretty paneling and good wine!

May 20

Prettiest house on the block. One day I will have wisteria growing from the eves, pink flowers in the garden,  and a green door.

May 19

Yay for lazy weekends! In light of having had a string of wonderful weekends of the traveling variety, it was nice to have a home stay. Laundry got done, things got cleaned, runs were taken, good food was eaten - and a walk around Green Lake was had. All restful and good. I am very grateful.

May 16

 

The sky gets away with being dramatic far better than humans do. This week, it hasn't decided what it wants - so it throws tantrums of rain, and then sweetens up, before it collapses in fits of drizzle again. But it is beautiful. And overwhelming. Wonderfully so.

 

And I found anthuriums today - furled little trumpets, and wings spread - I didn't know they even grew here. They so remind me of home and a garden full of mango trees, and giant spotted leaves, and these in red and pink.

 

 

May 15

 

 

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one."   

- C.S. Lewis

Sarah (in the blue) and I (in the pink) strolled today. For six years we have found depth and beauty and understanding and challenges and empathy in each others stories. Wonderful things do come of the willingness to speak, balanced by the desire to listen - I pray I continue to get better at these as the years go on. Because, really, getting to share life is a wild blessing.

April 21

 

The original plan was Guemes Island (for to spend some time with the lovely Nelly)...but then,of course, it bucketed. It was gray and oh-so-wet when we woke up...and I cannot deny that it was a little bit pleasant to lay in my bed for ten minutes and listen to the rain beating against the windows. Is Lynden rain different? 

 

So we stayed in our pijamas and had coffee and scones with the family. As soon as those little mini scones came out of the oven I felt very affirmed in my choice.

 

Being that the North West is the way it is, it cleared up and got beautiful. So after a wonderful lunch of Russian Dumplings in Bellingham, we had a chilly walk by the water, before packing back to our Emerald City.

 

 

(Picture from Peter's blog!)

 

 

* * *

 

Walking

 

 

To walk is by a thought to go;

To move in spirit to and fro;

To mind the good we see;

To taste the sweet;

Observing all the things we meet

How choice and rich they be.

To note the beauty of the day,

And golden fields of corn survey;

Admire each pretty flow’r

With its sweet smell;

To praise their Maker, and to tell

The marks of his great pow’r.

To fly abroad like active bees,

Among the hedges and the trees,

To cull the dew that lies

On ev’ry blade,

From ev’ry blossom; till we lade

Our minds, as they their thighs.

Observe those rich and glorious things,

The rivers, meadows, woods, and springs,

The fructifying sun;

To note from far

The rising of each twinkling star

For us his race to run.

A little child these well perceives,

Who, tumbling in green grass and leaves,

May rich as kings be thought,

But there’s a sight

Which perfect manhood may delight,

To which we shall be brought.

While in those pleasant paths we talk,

’Tis that tow’rds which at last we walk;

For we may by degrees

Wisely proceed

Pleasures of love and praise to heed,

From viewing herbs and trees.

 

 

- Thomas Traherne

 

 

*Click the title to read the rest.

January 20

The sun returned today after a good long sabbatical behind curtains of fog and cloud, and it was a wonderful thing to welcome her back. And really, she was in spectacular form. There is research that speculates that better weather causes better moods, and I am a firm believer in this research as fact. Markus and I walked along the water and sauntered through the Sunday Market and I hemmed and hawed over a pair of whitewashed mirrors...

"for my future house one day, you know?"
"What are you going to do with them now?"
" Oh I don't know...nothing probably, but..."

This kind of behavior gave birth to the show Hoarders.

Other things to be celebrated: The long life of this weekend. Tomorrow we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. with a day off work, a day in bed. And probably a cake. It means today is another day to play without a care.

January 19

We still live in a cloud. But living in a cloud comes with its own stark, cold beauties.