totems

more soaring gulls + gorgeous skies & another week of Indian Summer here in Nova Scotia

A small hawk or falcon in our garden yesterday & a bald eagle flying over - my crows alerted me.

a practice

more ocean clouds

consider everything an experiment

rule No.4 - Sister Corita's rules of art

and I do mean every thing, not just art making. Conversations, interactions, activities ... if we only thought of daily life as just a practice ... it's all one big learning, growing experiment

Find a place you trust and then try trusting it for a while

rule No.1

oh my, hhmmmmm ... OK ... I think I'm gonna like that rule

everything

I will give you everything
that you've ever wanted

Skydiggers

Nearly 2 years later ... I've been given every little thing + lots, lots more
things I'd forgotten I wanted, things I didn't realize I needed, things I couldn't live without

the song that kinda sums up our fateful meeting

from another great Canadian band

always dreaming

evening clouds over the harbour

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.
And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of it's dream.

Paul Coelho

I always forget to tell my heart that.
I'm always dreaming. I can't stop.

Michael Stipe & Chris Martin - a song for hurricane Katrina relief

snug

sunset over the harbour

Howling wind, rain and very mild temperatures this early morning. Melting, dripping, racing water. The branches sway and the clouds all rush though the brightening sky outside my office window. Bubbles and scent, soft boiled eggs and toast, a fire glowing, purring cats and snoozing dogs. We're all snug and cozy in this old brick house this brand new Tuesday morning.

worry is rust upon the blade

Henry Ward Hughes

beautiful poison

does this cloud look to you like a lean and greying cowboy ...

forever
- 23 days
________
an eternity

Ever has it been known that love knows not
it's own depth until the hour of separation

Kahil Gibran

Yesterday as the cowboy and the beautiful brown hound climbed into their vehicle and pulled away from the curb in front of this old brick house I felt sick to my stomach. The big ache had begun. How on earth will I survive 23 days without him and the brown velvet Bess ?

The cowboy with his big, huge smile and eyes that twinkle at me when he laughs, and he laughs a lot. With arms that fold around me and hold me tighter than I've ever wanted. The man with the tall moustache and boyish silver bangs that flop down over his forehead. A man so handsome my knees are permanently weakened. A man so kind and sweet, so funny and so deliciously complicated that I can't breath properly anymore.

Thank goodness I have 13 archived phone messages. I'll talk to him again Wednesday, tomorrow. He doesn't have a cell phone - of course he doesn't. Why didn't I say call me collect from a phone booth ? Will I ? Can I ? survive 24 hrs without hearing his voice - his real, live voice ?

I would wish to sleep for 23 days like a Snow White awakened upon his return, finally, with the sweetest kiss. But Hey ! Alas ! ... I have a million, billion things that I want to get done, that I must get done. The teak topped desk is yelling at me. If only I could take the cowboy and all my swirling, racing thoughts about him and us and put them gently in a cupboard in this old brick house, tucked away - even for a few hours so that I might be able to think again in a clear, straight and productive manner. Deepest sigh.

I have been beautifully poisoned ...




last night's walk - Winnie Dixon, Piper Belle & me

keep on dreamin'

up in the sky, clouds floating by this old brick house

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake

Henry David Thoreau

That's how I've been feeling. Lately. Awake in my dreams. So many things are clicking into place. I'm just goin' keep on dreamin' as big and as wide as I can. I believe it's best to never, ever put limits on your dreaming. I'm also feeling tremendously grateful for all that I have.

And yes I did survive Day 2 of First Aid, and yes it was a breeze (compared to Day 1) my partner in crime and familiar face, sweet kind Ray (and I) took turns wrappin' and slinging various pretend wounds, broken limbs and such. Next course on my list to acquire for my EA qualifications is Non-Violence Crisis Intervention which should be offered sometime in November.

Off to the soothing lands of bubbles, a very long walk with my best gal Missy D and then some mad Teak Toppin' it today.

oh my ... the sky

the sky last night outside my office window

Clouds come floating into my life,
no longer to carry rain or usher a storm,
but to add colour to my sunset sky.

Rabindranath Tagore

Bubbles and darkness ... the moon is softened by clouds this early morning and the stars are all hiding. We plan to get an early start to this brand new day and Miss D and I will stroll around this little village under the streetlights.

hope

5pm clouds - standing on the street in front of 29 Black Street

It's a big day today.

It's election day in the US and the choice (it seems to me) between totally frightening, and pretty darn progressive ... but hey that's just my opinion ... I am a flaming liberal ... socialist even, and I'm Canadian but I know that the whole world will be watching along with me. Watching and hoping and praying that a big change is coming. That a woman's health will always matter, that wars will end and troops will come home, that polar bears lives and pristine natural habitats will be saved and protected for future generations, that health care and education will be every child's right, and that you can and will sit down and begin a dialogue with your enemies ... that people will believe again that anything is possible.
Big, crazy, hopeful global dreams of change.

I may be sleeping on the sofa tonight in front of the television - on this historic day.

watch this (can't find it now - it was an early morning video post on the barackobama.com blog the music playing in the background Brooklyn based The National -video below) it gave me goose bumps, it made tears well up in my eyes ...
tears of collective hope.




Oh, and November 4th is also my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday Sandra.

a quiet morning

4pm puffs of orange racing across the sky out my studio window

This is going to be one of my rare quiet mornings. Nothing too exciting to post about and thankfully nothing tragic, worrying or warranting obsessive fretting happening in my life at this particular moment. This week was, has been, one of those weeks where things tick along, stuff falls into place, things get done and this is one of those mornings when I will take my coffee back to the nest, see if I can coax a dog or two to join me and I'll lie there and scheme about which of the myriad of projects or to-dos that I could do, will I do or should I do (terribly relaxing). It feels like I have practically the entire weekend (design) work free. I have a couple of little things, my birthday party invitation to design and print and address ready for the mail on Monday (5 invitations - it's a small party), an ad to design for Harry's gift & home decor store Holiday open house, should spend a few hours staring into the crystal egg awaiting miraculous creative inspiration as it's time, yet again, to try and knock myself off with another (mo' different) sentiments photo frame collection for customer No. uno. So ... there's quite a bit of free time in there and I suspect that the laundry room tool-supply-stuff cabinet beckons.

I may even peel away those remaining shreds of wallpaper, still clinging (since 1997 -I jest, sort of) from the upper walls of the teeny tiny half bath, in preparation for what will surely be a big ol' decoupage project. Could be decoupaged pages from a 1950's encyclopedia, or maps (I do love maps) or pages from the book Cabinet of Natural Curiosities which I purchased specifically to paste on some walls in this old house. The half bath might be too teeny tiny and enclosed a space to be covered with these beautiful illustrations of objects from nature (shells and butterflies, snakes and insects). I swear that's half my battle - making up my mind ... too many choices.

Back to the nest, progress report to come. Happy Saturday.

time

happy dogs - Jake & Winnie Dixon rolling in the grass

A usual pit stop at the end of the grassy lane that leads to the back shore beach. I lie down in the grass with them, stare up at the clouds and feel like I'm 9 again. It's one of our favourite stops on our afternoon trek.

Lately I seem to be super aware of time, especially of time passing - time passing too quickly, hours and days seem to be rushing by me. I try scheduling myself by the half hour in an attempt at gaining control of, and slowing down the pace, but to no avail. I think of past days when it seemed I spent hours lolling about doing nothing (which is not at all a bad thing) and now it just feels like life is so full that I can't take it all in - easily or without a schedule. There are so many things to do and not ever enough hours in each day - or so it seems. And I'm not just talking about my infamous to-do list productivity stuff (chores & the lot), I'm also talking about reading the Saturday Globe & Mail, or leisurely going through the big stack of new magazines piling up by my bed. I think I'm mostly talking about the extra curricular (so to speak) activities.

I do know that television is a huge time waster and I have become very judicious and selective about the programs that I tape, and I do tape them. The rare occasion I find myself watching something during it's regular scheduled time slot I'm forever pressing the fast forward button on the remote during commercials. I'm so used to zipping though the commercials and thus cutting my viewing time (not to mention my annoyance time) in half. I actually (in my kinda OCD way) study the television guide at the beginning of each week, checking the Discovery Channel and PBS to see if there are shows that I should not miss, shows that I should tape, shows like Race to Mars, Antiques Road Show, Pacific Abyss & the odd Oprah episode or a movie on HBO which I always think I'll watch on the weekend, on a movie night (?). I've thought long and hard about giving up my TV again, I've actually done it two summers in a row a few years back, disconnecting the cable which renders my TV station-less. I'm not ready to do it again ... not just yet anyway.

Maybe life is really all about refinement. Over the years your tastes change, your needs become different, old habits fall by the way side and new ones begin. I think I'm in a big ol' transition period and this is a time in my life that I'm very aware of the choices that I'm making along that road to refininement ... I'm constantly tweaking and adjusting, the subtle small things, in my already near perfect life.


clouds #2