just along for the ride...

Illustration by Richard Scary

A couple of times now I have wanted to write some things down. The first being at a nearby zoo-like thingy where they keep a few animals in cages for the publics' passing fancy of visiting such places. We were visiting some lemurs, some of the typical variety with strip-ed tales, and one solid little fellow who was sitting right next to the mesh that surrounded him, peering into the eyes of anyone who would come down to his level. I knew right off that this little guy posessed an upper level of intelligence. Wherever he came from, he was probably the brains of the group; & now all his buddies, left behind in the wild, are probably wandering in circles. So, anyway, I said something brilliant like, "That guy looks super smart." I don't know. When you walk up to animals behind bars, you are supposed to comment. At first I didn't notice that Hannah took an interest in what I said, but moments later, she was over there giving that little guy instructions on how to break out of there. All the other monkeys were oblivious, but no doubt he'll let them tag along when he makes his escape. My Hannah always knows what to do. Clearly, she's the brains of the group. Now this last bit is completely unrelated. It happens to be the next thing I thought of jotting down after the zoo incident; that's the only relation. I just saw some words in a book that seemed to fit exactly my family standards, my life goals, my plan of attack, so I adopted them to myself in the order in which they were diplayed. And now I will share them here with you, unchanged, because I liked them just the way they were. It's called copyright infringement. Kind of reminds me of those other monkeys waiting for that one guy to open the latch. That's a scary thought. You know what, why risk it? I think I'll just keep it to myself. You really can learn a great deal about yourself from reading books, though, perusing other people's words about life. Sometimes you make connections, & it's like, 'Ya, me too!' You might be a follower, but for that brief moment you will feel really awesome, like you thought up that thought all on your own. It's totally worth it.

 

 

tomorrowland...

Sadly, i do not know the artist

When I get old, I'm going to tie a scarf around my head, and dress, and live, and dream as if i live in a tiny storybook cottage in the wood. This is what's lovely about getting old. You can wear soft colors, and aprons, and long skirts. You can dress yourself like a little doll and be a child all over again. Once upon a time there was an old lady who liked to stop by for free samples now and again. I love blessing her with free coffee. I think she thanked me for my smile once. One day, my boss decided to make free sample cups more accessible (customers used to have to ask). So when this lady came to me seeking a cup, i reluctantly told her that she didn't need to ask anymore, but i asked her if she would, please, still get my attention and say hello when she comes in... and she does, every time. I don't think she speaks much English and we don't say much...just hello. Once she told me about a trip to California to see her grandkids. She doesn't wear a scarf on her head, but she looks like she would, if she were in her home country, perhaps (which i would guess to be Poland). She looks like she deserves a little cottage in the woods, a cottage with a chimney, and a son who chops firewood, and grandchildren all around. Something about the scarf made me think of her; and don't ask me where the scarf came from, it was just pretend.

 

the sad swing switch...

Illustration by Dorothy Lathrop

 

Sunday, we moved our rope swing out to the garden tree. It now has a lovely wooden seat & you can see the pond while you swing & be near our resident cat bird & see the sunflowers in the garden (as soon as we plant some). You can sit and view the orchard, and the lovely berries, and you don't have to worry about dust from the random car that passes by. That being said, there are some who were quite attached to the old swing in it's old location & it was a painful thing to see someone sawing away at that old rope way up in the treetops. So there was a secret memorial which consisted of a ring of daisies in the sandy spot where little feet used to drag the ground at the base of the old swing tree. Either that or a few stray tears just happened to produce that ring of flowers, I'm not sure, because they just appeared there. Either way, there was sadness involved. There was a certain someone who disappeared into the woods while the whole switcheroo took place, someone who looks a lot like the anenome-picking mermaid in this picture; but she emerged from the wood, eventually, and it just-so-happens she was quite happy with this new sit-down swing, remembering how much it reminds her of the old old swing which preceded the rope swing. That wooden seat broke in two when the kids accidentally maliciously piled all the cousins along with themselves onto the swing together, all at once, for a very short ride. My sweet little family; we're all so very nostalgic and rambunctious. I think we will try to hang another rope swing in front at some point, if we haven't all lost our nerve and someone is still brave enough to climb up there and hang it. I mean, we already have the bald spot in the grass, there might as well be a swing there to go with it. Who says we can't have a rope swing and a sit-down swing. I always thought the rope swing was too skinny anyway. Who can sit on that wee little knot? Not I? All's well that ends well, I suppose, but as long as we're having memorials, this can be mine.

 

whatever you wish for you keep...

Illustration by Mary Blair

Not long ago I posted a blog with the title 'i'm keeping them all'. It was a blog about words. All my blogs are about blogs, you know.... blogs, words, thoughts, feelings, pictures, and etc... All these things go so well together, and they are conglomerately my happy place. I don't really know what to do with them, so i just keep picking them up, rearranging them, and setting them back down again...kind of miserly i suppose, but i've started a new little project which might prove to be a bit more instrumental to some purpose, i know not what. I decided that my sweet little blogs are going to put on their Sunday best and matching socks and head out into the world to be noticed by someone. It's going to be a parade of sorts, a parade of lovelies, where you can scroll to your hearts delight. What i really want to do is share all the wonderful images i've collected, but i want to do it properly, so it's going to take a little time for us to get ready (captions & credits & whatnot). For instance, i think if you click on this image above, you will find that it's an illustration by Mary Blair. That is something that everyone should know. Me, myself, i prefer to be unknown, but i'll keep my position here as the mysterious narrator, like Lemony Snicket or Dr. Claw. (Dr. Claw isn't really a narrator, but you only ever get to see the back of his swivel chair and the world outside his windshield, so it makes sense, trust me.) So anyway, i just wanted to share my little plan. I'm excited; and i hope all the world is a lovelier, truer, more honorable place as a result.

 

the sky is included...

Illustration by Jesse Wilcox Smith

So many added blessings in every day, just thrown on top... heaped up, lobbed over, largely unnoticed, but available, plentiful, ready, and waiting for your enjoyment.

 

once upon a misty morning...

Illustration by Katharine Pyle

This is how i feel today. It's true i don't always feel this way. And so i pulled over just to say, as a reminder to me, since i can't always see that every body can't always like every other body. And that really is O.K. I was just feeling very content thinking about the fact that there are people you will get along with in this world and there are other people who you may not get along with. Normally, it's quite painful for me to admit that, because, of course, i want everyone to like me. But the fact is everybody does not like me, and everybody i ever meet in the future is not guaranteed to like me. I'm sure i unwittingly step on other people's toes all the time. But enough about that. Since for some unknown reason this thought occurred to me out of the blue; and for whatever reason i was completely okay with the idea that there are probably a great many people in this world who want nothing to do with me, I thought i better write it down before i forget it. Oh, and i even made it into a snappy little rhyme- not sure why, sometimes that just happens.

Ps. I'm not sure where that title came from, it was the first thing that came to me. I googled it to see if it was a remnant from a nursery rhyme or something, but alas all i could find was "One Misty, Moisty, Morning" (a lovely rhyme by the way). Anyway, if i ever write a book i may start it that way. I like it. If you happen to have heard that phrase before, and you know where it came from, will you please let me know? Thanks.

 

 

end of the line...

Illustration by Roberto Innocenti

March is absolutely missing, I'm completely out of patches, and i'm okay with that. It was a great run. Six whole years of non-stop blogging. And now i guess we'll just settle down into a new routine where we don't care what month it is, not in the least. No more patches, no more excuses. What a relief! Meanwhile, Snow & i are trying to start an etsy shop for vintage finds which i know i'm going to have a very hard time parting with. Also, I've been feeling so nostalgic lately. What's the deal?! Let's see... I started my herb garden; and there's a baby bunny living all by his lonesome under the pile of wood beneath my bathroom window. (Emmeli named him Little Ball Bunny. At first, i thought she was saying little bald bunny. Little Ball Bunny is so much nicer. Nobody likes a bald bunny....kinda defeats the point of being a rabbit.) Our new bees are now nestled in their squatty little hives; we have frogs galore wildly reproducing and populating our pond with tadpoles; and that's pretty much it. I really just wanted to pop in & lay to rest my old ideals. I'm thru with that business once and for all. Really, it changes nothing, other than, hopefully, i'll stop talking about it all the time. The End. (I just wanted to say that. This is not the end.) i mean... it's the end of excuses. It is not the end of the blog. Ok. Gotta go now.

 

back to nature...

Illustration by Robert Lawson

After my last blog, I thought it best to keep this simple, so I'll try to find the simplest route to get you to the place where Ferdinand the bull is actually a dog, and his name is not Ferdinand, but Owen. Or, I can keep it really really simple, and you can just take my word for it. We do have a picture of Owen picking a dandelion, if that helps. Just email me and i'll send you proof. So anyway, he's adorable. He's 4 years old now, and I still call him puppy, because he is so very much so. He loves life; he's a simple dog who comes when you say come; he loves his master; and he sits when you ask him (or, at least, he very much wants to sit, but he'll often choose to shake hands instead). Oops, i forgot to mention that, of course, like most dogs, he loves the outdoors. And now, we're finally coming around to what i wanted to tell you, though i'm not sure how to describe it. Besides the fact that yesterday i read something that pretty much told me that my writing style is pure jargon, which is causing me to thoroughly analyze everything i want to say, this is a thing which is just difficult to explain. Owen has developed a certain fondness for a fern in the living room. He likes to bury his head in the foliage and simply hang out like that. It's some sort of symbiotic relationship which we don't quite understand. Seeing him like that reminded me of the dandelion picture, and i realized, this dog simply loves nature. No doubt, as he's standing there with his little leaf hat, he's dreaming of far away places where he can act like the natives and not be told to sit. I love my puppy. He's the sweetest puppy ever and super duper sophisticated. I know that everything he does makes perfect sense somehow, and i'm willing to accept, that in this area, apparently i'm just not capable of reasoning it out.

 

i'm still here...

Illustration by Libico Maraja

Sometimes i think i got too much attention as a child (bc i was the youngest), then i think maybe i didn't get enough (bc both of my parents worked). Not sure which is true, but the fact is, somehow i feel like i need people to notice me all the time. Really, it's much more complicated than that, because i don't just want people to notice me, i want everyone to like me. Ordinarily, I just sort it out by retreating to my inner lair and trying to think happy thoughts that have nothing to do with myself. Is this normal!? And should i be ignoring my kids to prepare them for the real world? That is an excellent question. The world is a busy place and people just don't have time to be noticing people all the time. Life is very complex. I wonder how people manage it all. I'm going to break away now and say something sensational. Life is like a cup of coffee... it's only pleasant if you add milk and honey, and that's all i have to say about that.

 

 

sharing is caring...

Illustration by Judith Kerr

So, i want to start off by saying, that if you receive this email, it's because you are one of my top ten favorite people of and for all time. There are lots of people who I really really do like a lot, who do not receive it, because I'm still debating with myself about whether or not I think they would care to read my silly rants. I recently discovered why I like writing so much. It's because you can ERASE! I can't tell you how many times I say things out loud only to think, later, how the thing definitely could have been worded better. But that is getting off topic. I was going to go on to say, (now that we're here and I can be myself), that I must have checked my email 50 times yesterday to see if anyone responded to an album I posted. I'm just throwing that out there. It's part of my personality, I guess. We all have one (a personality). If you are wondering about yours, there are tests you can take that will explain to you why you do such things, but they're awkward; I wouldn't recommend it. I think this is why I gave up Facebook. If I posted stuff every day, there'd be no end to checking back for responses. The thing about this online communication is that response time is so delayed! Who can stand it?! Anyway, now that the urge to keep checking back has worn off, I'm feeling brave, so I just wanted to stop by here and admit my nutiness.

sneakpeek...

Illustration by Mary Blair

I'll probably go back and change this image later, because I'm kinda funny like that, but for now, I like this little splash of color. My brain is stuck in a whorl of Walt Disney tinged by Tim Burton. I wish I had something to tell you, but my only thoughts are of things of no consequence... little tea party embellishments and frills, velour top hats, and whiskers. These are the things that make the woods woody, but they are not to be spoken of. For, like the magic of many things, they ninja vanish the instant they are discovered. They have to be noticed peripherally and if you per chance wish to photograph them, it must be in a fog or with a shaded lense, which is exactly what I intend to do. I caught wind of a gathering, and I will most certainly be there as an observer. If I find anything worth mentioning, I'll be back here to report my findings. As of now, all I know is that there will be tea and crumpets, plum jam, a couple of tweedles, and a massive, manly, march hare. Also, sweet, sweet Petunia...I mean Alice now has a proper petticoat; and I would not doubt it if all the buds on the trees burst forth to shade the event. I think they know something is up. All the birds are talking about it as well. If only there were violets in the wood. I do dearly love violets, but I think they are hiding. In the meantime, if we are all very patient, I think things will happen as they should without any further assistance. Sometimes, I confess, when I see these things stirring, I want to pitch in a little something, but I have to be very sneaky about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to give the impression that these things are done on a whim. No doubt they take very careful planning, but by whom? That is the question. I am perfectly suited for this particular variety of stealth, though. In fact, if I could not be so stealthy now & then what would I do? Remember what Bambi's mom said... "Bambi. Quick! The thicket!" Thickets are where I belong; and that's where I'll be if you need me... waiting and watching like a little dormouse, sneaking a morsel of crumpet and plum jam.

 

ready, set, go...

Illustration by Milo Winter

Highlights of my day: A flat white with hazelnut & whipped cream (I'm being serious, it's worth mentioning); a trip to REI with Ben to get pants & ski poles (it's always fun to spend money that you don't have), & an afternoon playing Minecraft with Em. I know that all sounds pretty unexciting, but it was so awesome to spend the day doing nothing noteworthy; and playing Minecraft when you're doing nothing makes you feel so productive. The coffee really was amazing and I hope to repeat the whole process tomorrow. First...church, then...out for coffee, then...frag swap in place of REI, and then...back to me casa to squander more time building with blocks, digging, chopping, cooking, and feeding my glitchy dog, Lazarus, some rotten zombie flesh. I know that sounds really disgusting. I can't help it. The fact is, that's what he eats. So, anyway, I just want to finish by saying that I've wanted to blog pretty much every day, for the past few days, so that's a good sign. Now that I'm here, I just can't remember what I wanted to talk about. So, I'll be off then, but I really feel this may be the start of something. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the bluebird out my window. There were five, actually, but I got a picture of one. He was so cute, and beautiful too. I love bluebirds and they love me. I know, because they're always poking around outside my windows. K. That's quite enough for today. You have to ease into these things, you know. Bye for now.

Ps. for clarification... A frag swap is an event where aquarium people mostly swap fragments of coral for cash. It is not strictly a barter system.

 

when blogs go missing...

Illustration by Libico Maraja

So, this is my second third fourth fifth attempt at blogging this blog. The first was accidentally deleted. Then, after writing it again, I hated it, but left it here to be revisited at a later date, and so on and so forth, until here we are at it again. I was actually pretty happy with #4 until, unfortunately, it too was deleted. There were several attempts made which contained a great many words which were set forth to explain a thing which I will not attempt to explain again. It's simply too difficult to put in so much persuasive feeling the fifth time around! You are probably wondering, then why even mention it?! Right? Well, there are just some things in life which have to be resurrected, especially when they are the only blog you started in January. And since my original blog was about missing digits, this lovely picture suits my new purpose quite well, which is to illustrate a person attempting to force her way through an impassable door, a person who is likely chasing after a white rabbit. So, now that i've decided to leave off of my retrospective fretting about missing digits and be done with it, i just want to say, that this original blog had something to do with working for zero dollars. It's quite fitting, actually, that this blog should amount to nothing, and I didn't even plan that! Now, if i could only think of a proper ending to this fiasco...but i can't. The whole thing is just awkward.