“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence. “Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance. “Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence. “Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.” – Yoko Ono Autumn colors are starting to make a statement, but summer temperatures are making it tougher to fully transition. But some super fun finds made…
Category: nature
Seek and Be
“If you seek peace… be still. If you seek wisdom… …be silent. If you seek love… …be yourself.” – Becca Lee A lovely sentiment… …and a lovely morning in the Botanical Garden.
Beauty and Simplicity
“It’s amazing how beautiful the simplest things in this world can be.” This was my caption that accompanied this photo on my Facebook and Instagram pages one day last week. And the very next day, this was the message in my fortune cookie. Hmmm. So there’s a message in there for me somewhere.
Finding Balance and Sense
“What’s the line between acknowledging the turmoil in the world and depriving yourself of joy? There’s a sweet spot somewhere that balances seeing harsh truths about our world, facing that with equanimity, trying to change it, and also being a joyful person. I’m trying to find that place because self-flagellation helps no one. I see…
On Rainbows, Hearts and Funky Faces
“I’m not a mess but a deeply feeling person in a messy world. I explain that now, when someone asks me why I cry so often, I say, ‘For the same reason I laugh so often — because I’m paying attention.’ I tell them that we can choose to be perfect and admired or to…
A Special Eclipse
So…I know I’m weird, but I wasn’t caught up in the eclipse hubbub before today. I’d seen the t-shirts, articles, Facebook posts, etc., but I hadn’t given it much thought and didn’t really care to. I hadn’t even bothered to purchase the glasses just in case. But today I finally caught the bug. There was…
Who Would Have Guessed?
“Everything has changed and yet, I am more me than I’ve ever been.” – Iaia Thomas It’s going on three weeks now since my kids moved to other states and started their new life adventures as adults. Prior to their leaving the nest, I was anxious and more than a little sad with anticipation. I…
Wednesday Wisdom
“Magic happens when you do not give up, even though you want to. The universe always falls in love with a stubborn heart.”
Joy
“The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy.” – Henry Ward Beecher Pope Farm Conservancy in Wisconsin. My happy place.
Oregon Adventure – Part I
“…and I think to myself what a wonderful world.” – Bob Thiele In two weeks, I’ve slept in three time zones, seen mountains, rivers, desert, volcanoes, ocean, fields of lava, and painted hills. Truth be told, I’m having a tough time condensing it into a blog post. I’ve decided to split it up, but I’m…
Oregon Adventure, Part II
And the reflections on our Oregon Adventure continue. Smith Rock State Park Welcome to the birthplace of American sport climbing — and apparently one of my greatest fears. Yes, we trekked to the top of this thing. This gives you an idea of where we started. And here’s where we ended up. Suffice it to…
Octavia
This was the most unusual cloud formation I’ve ever seen. (An “anvil” cloud, as a dear friend taught me.) I watched it billow and balloon as I made the drive to see something even more unusual. Meet Octavia. I first saw her on Friday night at the Botanical Garden during a visit with my oldest,…
Note to Self
“Note to self: No matter what, hang on to that part of you that gasps at a beautiful sunset or gets super excited about a new notebook or a freshly baked cupcake or a dog you just met on the street. Allow yourself to be regularly startled and humbled by joy.” – Nanea Hoffman, Sweatpants & Coffee Pretty sure there are…
A Good Look Around
“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” – Marc Riboud, French photographer Isn’t that the truth? I’ve been a visual and creative girl since day one, but never did I observe, absorb, and experience my surroundings the way I do now having picked up a camera. Seeing and thinking as a…
Is that what I think it is?
Ohhhh…..Black-eyed Susans…. ….Purple Coneflowers… …I Spy cloud-gazing (I see a heart here. You?)… …streaming water fountains… …seas of fresh strawberries… …it’s starting to look a lot like SUMMER around here!!! Bring. It. On.
Enough
“‘Enough’ is a feast. — Buddhist proverb I just realized how long it’s been since I pulled together a gratitude list. I’ve had a lot of big, obvious things that top the list — Drew’s grad school graduation and internship offer, Tanner’s grad school acceptance, both kids living back at home for a little while, time…
Garden of Glass at Night
For the first time since Christmas, I have my family together. We spent our first full evening at the Botanical Garden with Tanner’s girlfriend and my Little Sister for the Garden of Glass at Night. Before checking out the glass, however, we wandered around the Garden grounds as the sun went down. I’d somehow forgotten…
Garden of Glass
Took today off and headed to the Botanical Garden for its newest exhibit. The bulk of the pieces were in the Climatron greenhouse, which was awesome because there were times that it was tough to tell what was glass and what was real. It was all gorgeous. As was the rest of the garden, per…
Rest Day
“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” – Ram Dass I don’t know when or how this came to be, but Mondays are rest days for me. The “Sabbath” of my exercise schedule, if you will — which means no running, no biking, nothing. Normally I end up at home doing laundry or catching…
Little Surprises
I’m gonna be honest. Sometimes I wish I could be a fast and serious runner. The early-corral-assignment, knows-all-of-her-PRs-by-heart, badass type of runner. But the longer I do it, the more I realize that it’s just not in the cards for me. I’m slow. Running doesn’t come naturally for me. Plus, the only thing shorter than my stride…
What Was That?
So life has been weird lately. Depending upon how you look at it, I’m either entering a new phase of life or leaving an old one. My kids are building their resumes, planning careers, and I will likely have an empty house by the end of the summer. I’ve never had a childless house in…
Do-Overs!
“The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.” – Bern Williams, author A work trip up north gave me a second chance at Spring…and I felt so, so lucky and hopeful. As if one spring isn’t cause enough for gratitude, I got to experience it twice this year. It…
A Few Wishes
Last week brought a work road trip and glimpses of what I’m calling a superbloom of yellow along the way. It brought reminders of how we’re supposed to care for our fellow human beings. And it brought gorgeous skies after days of rains that were seemingly without end. My wish for this next week? Bravery…
hey there, friends 