Daffodils

I was walking with a dear friend one day when she said, "Look! The first daFODDles (trying to type it the way she pronounced it) are starting to emerge." I gave her a puzzled look as I had no idea what she was talking about. I soon realised that she was, in her playful little way, referring to the many bundles of daffodils beginning to bloom in the park. So cute.
I saw daffodils in full bloom today for the first time this year. It made my soul smile.

Patience

Thank you so much to the three wonderful people who welcomed me with their lovely messages on my blog. I so look forward to reading more about you in your blogs as time goes by. It's becoming quite an addictive thing...reading blogs! (What a funny word...blog.)
Today I had one of those "crap! I wish I had my camera with me!" kind of moments. I was hiking my little mountain when I saw two ravens sitting together in a leafless, gnarly old oak tree on the side of the cliff. It was quite a haunting scene, yet so beautiful to watch them take care of each other, preening and such. I waited until they flew off and carried on up the mountain. Once I was near the top, they reappeared. I watched them silently glide through the soft tops of the evergreen trees, on their way to someplace else. It's always when you don't have your camera that you see the most amazing things. It must be some law of the universe. I am going a little stir crazy, as I had to send my camera off for repairs and haven't seen it for almost two months. It's amazing how much you miss something when it is taken from you. All I want to do is take pictures! I guess it's a lesson in patience. And perhaps some things are just meant to be enjoyed in the moment, without the distraction of trying to get a good shot.
So, I'm sharing some of my older pictures until I can go exploring again. I discovered this fuzzy little bee last spring sleeping on a chive blossom. I think he must have gotten a little drunk on nectar...he stayed there for quite a while before he clumsily went on his way. They are so incredibly cute...especially when their legs are covered in balls of pollen. How they ever get off the ground is beyond my level of comprehension. The world is full of wonders.

A Few Things About Me

I'm struggling with what to write in this blog. How much of myself do I put out into this technological abyss? Will anyone read it? Will anyone find it remotely interesting? Who am I really talking to? And how deep do I want to go? I guess I will find my own way as I continue...just keep taking one step at a time, I suppose. I thought I might start with a list of a few abstract things about me. An ice breaker so to speak:
1. If I could have any job, I would love to be a children's book illustrator. (too bad I can't draw a stick man to save my life!)
2. I am a quiet person who craves solitude something fierce. Don't get me wrong...one of the things I value most in life are the deep connections I cultivate with my family and small circle of friends.
3. I've done a loop and a barrel roll in a small airplane. ( I was not the pilot, thank god)
4. I love living in small cozy spaces...and colour on the walls is a definite must.
5. I share my little space with a fuzzy little litter- trained lop bunny named Taro. (a taro root looks sort of like a baked potato...with his colourings, he looks a bit like a baked potato)
6. I absolutely love to poke my macro lens into familiar spaces, only to fall into jaw-dropping wonderment at the new world presented to my eyes. It's really like being a child again.
7. When I was little, I bit my tongue so hard, I had to get stitches...so glad I don't remember that particular trauma.
8. My favourite movie is Amelie. I secretly wish I could be a french woman. But I also love the unique and beautiful way it was filmed.
9. Eight years ago, I packed up my life and moved to Victoria, not knowing a soul in this city. Within one month I felt more at home here than I ever did in my home town.
10. Call me strange, but I much prefer rainy foggy stormy days to sunny ones.

~behold the turtle.
He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out.

~James Bryant Conant

A Secret Spot

I found these two cuddled up together in a special garden. Doesn't it look like they are kissing? They are flirting with each other.
I discovered a new secret spot today. I hike up a mountain every morning...it is my head-clearing, try-to-be-in-the-moment meditation time. I usually stick to the same paths, but I went off the beaten track today and found a wonderful little grassy space under a small oak tree on a little ledge, nestled in a grove of larger oaks. I will take some pictures and share when it gets warm and dry enough to put a blanket down and linger there for a while.

A Quiet Space

I'm sticking with the green theme again today. Must be spring fever. I express myself better through my photos, rather than words, so I have a feeling this blog will become more of a photo journal than anything else. I love the idea of having a space in which to create a visual collection of the things that make up my inner and outer world. I find it fascinating how we all experience the world differently...we all see things a little different. No two people will ever have the same perspective. Wouldn't it be amazing to enter someone else's mind and see the world through their eyes for just one day? I have always wanted to see the world through my dad's eyes. He is an artist...a painter. He sees such detail in something as simple as a tree. He sees colour in the bark of a tree that most of us never consider. We see a brown trunk with green leaves. He sees all kinds of different colours in that trunk. If he can see such detail in a tree, what does the rest of the world look like to him? Or to any other person? I can only imagine.

New Green

I love the colour of new green...baby green. It appears everywhere in nature this time of year. I feel somewhat green myself, opening up to this new form of self expression. I have kept in hiding, reading other wonderful and inspiring blogs, never imagining I would feel this inner nudge to create a space of my own. It's a bit scary, but I am taking part in this new adventure as a way to observe my growth and unfolding. And as a way to share and connect with other like minded soul sisters.

~And the day came when the risk to remain tight
in a bud was more painful than the risk it took
to blossom.

~Anais Nin