Sailing Away

This is a place I like to go when the days are warm, and the sun sparkles reflecting off the ocean practically surround me. It is a bluff, covered with long grasses and wildflowers. It sticks out quite far, so if you look down on either side, you see ocean. And when you look out, it is almost as if you are on the bow of a massive ship, headed straight toward the majestic Olympic mountains, still covered in a frosty blanket of snow. I sit on my imaginary ship, and dream to be on this beauty that sails across my line of vision. Where is it going? Where did it come from? The people on this boat must feel so free. Are they just island hopping for the day, or are they on a more worldly quest?

I can taste freedom in this moment. My work is done. The recital went so incredibly well. And now I am finally able to settle into summer mode. Two wonderful months to sink into a slower pace and come back to myself. Tomorrow, I am going back to the place that is most nurturing to my soul. I will spend 4 days soaking up the sunshine, wandering the beaches, and connecting with some very special people.

I wish you all a wonderful week. I wish you warm dreamy days where your only requirement is to put on a pair of flip flops and wander out to share a lemon gelato with someone special. May you find the time to look up at the white puffy clouds and see wondrous creatures evolving, then disappearing in front of your eyes. May you take a quiet afternoon all to yourself and escape inside a good novel as you munch on seasonal berries and spit watermelon seeds. May you jump through sprinklers and make colorful chalk drawings on the sidewalk with a beloved child. May you build towering sandcastles and watch them dissolve in the incoming tide.

Maybe you are lucky enough to go sailing away on a boat such as this. If not, you can always come aboard the bow of my giant ship, and dream away the afternoon. There is plenty of room for all.

Much love to you...see you soon!
xo

Knots

This picture pretty much sums up what my body looks like inside right now. I'm in knots.

I live a very simple, low stress life. Until the last week of June rolls around. This coming Saturday, it's piano recital time. *cringe*

It's funny. Parents tell me all the time what they go through as they sit on the edge of their seat, watching their little ones perform. They tell me how anxious they get, worried that their child is going to miss that one note, or worse, break down completely. They watch their little fingers tremble and they almost feel their child's nervousness as though it were their own. They feel this way for the short duration of the performance, and once the piece is over, they melt back into their seat and enjoy the rest of the recital, feeling elated, proud, and RELIEVED.

I wish I had it that good.
I feel this way throughout the entire recital! I feel like an anxious parent to each and every one of these kids. I know where all of their little vulnerable spots are in their pieces. I know how hard they have worked to prepare for this day. I know how terrified they are, and how brave they are to get up there and play despite their fears. And when each one of them plays, and does well, I feel as though my heart could burst open, I am so proud of them.

I love some of these kids almost as though they were my own. I have watched many of them grow up and become gifted musicians. Some of them were 4 or 5 when they started, and are now well into their teen years. And with every passing year, I watch them come into their own.

Taylor stands out the most. He was 5 when he started. When he got up to perform for the first time, he was so small that the grand piano he was playing on looked as though it was going to swallow him whole. The odds were stacked against him. The bench was too far away from the piano, and the music had to be placed higher up than on his piano at home. So here he is, sitting on the very edge of the bench, his feet about two feet off the floor, and he's reaching as far as he can to see his music. I thought he was going to fall off the bench. He looked so small and vulnerable up there as he played.

The next year, he was a little bigger, but his music fell off the piano mid-way through his performance. He carried on as though nothing happened. Now, he is 13, going on 19. He has a quiet nature about him, but he is so confident. In all these years with him, I have never heard him say he was nervous or afraid. He just takes things in stride with an inner calmness, and a smile that would melt your heart.

I feel so fortunate to have these long lasting connections. All 51 of them... and not one bad apple in the group. Ok, there is one little firecracker, but she is just as tender underneath it all as the rest of them. *wink*
So, even though my stress levels are skyrocketing this week, I am also feeling grateful. And proud. And privileged that I get to play a small part in the becoming of these beautiful souls. They have added so much richness to my life.

It makes all of this anxiety so very worth it in the whole scheme of things.

Solstice

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy summer solstice weekend! (Ok, I'm a day late, so I thought, why not extend the celebration of the coming summer for the whole weekend?)

We haven't been getting a whole lot of sunshine lately in this corner of the world, so I thought I might find it in the flowers instead.


And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet
and the winds long to play with your hair.
~Kahlil Gibran


I can feel its warm approach....can you?
Did you make any wishes last night?

Circles

Round, like a circle in a spiral like a wheel within a wheel.
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel.
Like a snowball down a mountain or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that's turning running rings around the moon.

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space.

Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.

~The Windmills of Your Mind


Just say these beautiful words out loud and tell me it doesn't make you want to spread your arms like wings and twirl!

Colour Wheel

I spy with my little eye, something that is....


Red ~ Alizarin Crimson...Vermillion...domed ladybug wings...sour cherry jelly beans...fire trucks and train engines...candy apples and cinnamon hearts...tart and tangy pomegranate seeds...an abandoned tricycle...London telephone booths...bull's eye...chili pepper...a child's wintery cheeks.

Orange ~ Tangerine Dream...Fire Dance...peach sorbet...apricot sunsets: vast stretching hopeful skies...Witch Hazel blossoms in October...toothy jack-o-lantern smiles...gerbera daisies in a sunny corner...cracked terra cotta pots...golden saffron.

Yellow ~ Cadmium Lemon...Goldenrod...sunkissed....full moons and comet tails...lemon ice...monarch butterflies...baby chick fuzz...buttery corn on the cob...a bumble bee...rain coats and gumboots...#2 pencils...post it notes and smiley faces.

Green ~ Pistachio...Ming Jade...emerald ponds...pixie moss...swirly spiral sweet pea vines...lime popsicles...bean sprouts...sea glass...undersea kelp forests...hills soft enough to roll down...a lucky charm...spring leaf.

Blue ~ Phthalo...Cobalt...Cornflower...icy moon drops...crackled robin's egg...a mood...worn in, lived in denim ...anemones... layered sea, mountain, sky... 'once in a blue moon'...iceberg...

Indigo ~ Midsummer Night...stormy seas...mysterious eggplant...ominous thunder clouds hovering over a plain of golden wheat...starfish and sea urchins...nostalgic lilacs...beta fish in a dessert glass...lavender fields...grape jelly.

Violet ~ Egyptian Violet...romance...crushed berries...the last dreamy hour before nightfall: the sky an open canvas for painting dreams...passion plums...grapes ripening on the vine...magnolia blossoms...love's first blush.


In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love.
~ Marc Chagall