the blue muse

Some days, it’s hard to find something to smile about.

This guy always does the trick.

::

Sending much love and light to those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

and lots of love, hope, and light to all of us in the path of this storm.

Stay safe.

xo

I’ve been waiting since September for those few days when summer stops by to visit before handing the baton off to winter.

Yesterday it was 80 and gorgeous, and today promises to be almost as nice. After that, all bets are off, with temps in the 40s and 50s predicted for the next 10 days, at least.

The bees have all come back out for a few frantic sips of pollen, the birds are especially busy, and yesterday I found three different rose bushes with a single bloom on each.

Mother Nature takes what she can when she can get it. Flowers waste no time in fulfilling their destiny. No small talk about the weather from those fragile blooms, just steadily marching forward in the hopes of having just enough time to set seed.

But, big storms are predicted for the coming days. Nasty, dangerous storms. Nothing too extreme for my area, heavy rains and possibly flooding, but in other places, hurricanes and blizzards and more, oh my.

Looking out my window just now, this morning, it seems almost impossible.

This day is a gift of gifts, a last hurrah, a garden party.

I’m bringing the quilt and the lemonade.

::

Wishing you a weekend filled with fair weather. Stay safe out there!

So many thing in this life to let go of. So many things in this life to cling to.

It’s such a long process to sort them all out. Mostly, possessions are easy. What we need, what we love, what has meaning. The rest is just stuff. Stuff that gets in our way and will swallow us whole if we let it.

Emotions are harder. Goals are tough. Dreams are excruciating. People are impossible.

And yet, we do it. We survive. We thrive. We look around us and marvel at the beauty of life. We enjoy the view even as it changes. We feel small and helpless, and then large and on top of the world, in the single span of one day. We breathe it all in, and we cough it back out.

We hang on to this rollercoaster ride of a life, gasping for air and letting out screams and laughing like crazy. We bump against each other and realize that we’re all in the same amusement park. Some of us prefer the ferris wheel to the haunted house, and some of us just like to stroll around, nibbling on cotton candy.

There are nights filled with fireworks, and other nights filled with whispering moons.

Innocence and wisdom are all part of the same tree.

Each year brings deeper roots and fresh buds. New growth and fresh scars. A new chance to fly, floating gently down to earth or being carried away on a strong, cold wind.

And there’s always that barker, drawing us in once again.

Offering a seat on the merry-go-round.

Just listen to that music.

It was a weekend filled with
love and laughter,
reunions and silliness,
wine and chili,
parents and children,
autumn colors and
the best rainbow, ever.

Of course, I only brought my phone as camera.
Of course, we only saw the rainbow
because we took a route we’ve never taken before,
not the way we always go home
after wine tasting, but rather,
a dirt road (clearly less traveled),
and there it was:

Somewhere.

Right smack dab in the middle of nowhere.

No pot of gold necessary.

::

Wishing you a week filled with rainbows.

::

and everything in between

::

Wishing you a Friday filled with beauty

It’s that time of year to settle in, snuggle up, batten down the hatches. The birds are loving my garden just now, mainly because I have yet to cut anything down, so there are plenty of seedheads for them to snack on.

I’ve been working hard inside, a new kitchen floor, fresh paint, washing windows and putting up storms.

Very soon it will be time to get ready for our two November shows, and then the year will simply fly until Christmas. I’d like to say I will find a way to make it not be so, but I know it will.

The children are coming to visit this weekend. There will be golf and wine tasting and snuggling up by the fire. And apple crisp.

I look outside my window and wonder where the days have gone this fall, it got cold very early and between being sick and being busy, so little time has been spent outside.

I need to bundle up and venture out, soak up some of those last rays of sun.

Even so, we have yet to have a hard frost, and I can never bring myself to cut down the garden before then, but I know it is just a matter of time.

The tall grasses are still green, though fully tasseled. They are shorter this year than usual, thanks to the drought.

And still, I miss the geese.

Soon, I will be missing my garden and dreaming of Spring.

But then, of course, there will be glittering snow and cozy fires, and lots and lots of reading.

A hibernation of the body, perhaps, but not the mind.

And I sit here with life at my side.

Can you hear the silence?

::

dance.

::

Wishing you a Friday filled with music.

light. dark.

and ten million shades in between.

just like life.

these days, i find myself drawn to both ends of the spectrum.

it’s all beautiful. all of it.

even the chill of the darkest shadow.

the light shows best when darkness stands beside it,

making that glow all the more precious.

light. dark.

and back again.