retinal perspectives

i wonder

at water's edge
i walk
humbled
by once ordinary trees
arrayed in all their splendor

in their reflection
even more beauty

i look down
wondering
what i will see
in my own reflection

imagine me and you

i've been giving atlas a break from the camera these days, so i don't really have any recent (in the past month or two) photos to draw from for weimaraner wednesday. however, we were at the library one evening and someone wanted to love on him. i had my camera in my hand at my side - i was taking photos of the fall colors - so i turned it toward atlas (i hoped) and snapped the shutter a few times. i am rather fond of this shot.

the pup is just home from a dental cleaning - and in his usual confuzzled post-anesthesia state of being - so he is requiring my constant attention. when i can get him to lie down for a few seconds, i give him reiki while petting him, and sing my latest atlas song.

imagine me and you,
and you and me.
imagine how much i love you,
my grey puppy.
the only dog for me is you,
and you for me.
so happy together.

painting, painting, painting

this painting was done during the be present retreat - when we spent a day painting with kelly rae. so much fun. i have a second girl, but this one is my favorite.

that was then. today, my "studio" (also known as my spare room filled with supplies from the ghosts of hobbies past) is a mess. at some point, i need to figure out a way to keep everything out in the open so that i can see it - while having it look tolerable (in other words, not spread out all over the floor so that there is nowhere to walk) in the process.

at any rate, i am attempting to finish a painting in honor of to write love on her arms day (this friday). i had something else in mind when i started, but the painting had other ideas. (as a side note, you would think that we would have the same idea since i am the one who is painting - but clearly i was mistaken.) we shall see how it turns out.

if you want to join in, two very talented artists created some fun tattoos in honor of the event. alas, i do not have a printer, but i do have a sharpie.

a lovely scene

these leaves remind me of hearts.
as if the trees are wearing their hearts on their sleeves (er, branches),
and offering their love to all the world.

it felt love

"How
Did the rose
Ever open its heart

And give to the world
All its
Beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light
Against its
Being,

Otherwise,
We all remain

Too

Frightened."

- Hafiz

is it just me

or does this look like granola?

(i am making my way through a counter full of cans of soup, so i recognize that my mind might be a tad preoccupied with food.)

oh! totally random - but i stumbled across a blog post titled god twitters creation yesterday. i think it is my favorite blog post ever. i read it at least ten times and i am still giggling. "@adam @eve: EPIC FAIL at #noteating apples". seriously. still giggling.

my four-legged caretaker

about a month after i got atlas, i had surgery. my mom came to stay for a long weekend so that i could actually rest afterwards. the morning after the surgery, she put a leash on atlas and headed out the door with him for his morning walk. i was lying on the couch at the time. (well, he was on the couch too, until she called him to the door.)

a few minutes later, the door opened and a wide-eyed weimy came racing towards me. he sniffed me all over, then hopped back on the couch and settled in. apparently he would not go for a walk. he kept turning around and trying to get back home to check on me.

and that's pretty much how it went. atlas never went for a real walk with my mom. he would walk only as far as he needed in order to go to the bathroom, or he would pee on a tree right by the door. otherwise, he was wherever i was, as close as he could get. that was where he needed to be.

after all our years together, that still holds true (possibly even more so now). i am sick now; i am oh-so-sleepy and don't have a lot of energy for walking. my neighbor would gladly walk him. i have a friend who loves him and has a dog-walking business. but i don't even try. he has a job to do, and no one can distract him from it.

he is my darling doggy, so i would love him no matter what, but he sure is easy to love.

no. 18

my response to the eighteenth challenge from the four

to interpret the phrase:
"curious, beautiful, wondersome"

the great pumpkin

i noticed that pumpkin was listed as a fall favorite quite often. it is one of my favorite things about fall too - which is made partially evident by the fact that i am currently subsisting almost entirely on pumpkin raisin cookies (well, and soup, but lots of cookies).

ahhhh, pumpkin. how do i love thee? let me count the ways.

• pumpkin raisin cookies
• pumpkin bread (without chocolate chips - i do not understand why bakers insist on combining pumpkin and chocolate)
• pumpkin cream cheese bars
• pumpkin seeds
• pumpkin soup
• pumpkin pancakes
• my sister's pumpkin sausage pasta
• the colors: orange, white, green and yellow, yellow and white
• jack-o-lanterns
• charlie brown and the great pumpkin
• cinderella's pumpkin-turned-carriage
• pumpkins on doorsteps

really, i just love pumpkin. in all its forms.

happy halloween

and the giveaway winners are:

• chrissy of cul*ti*vate
• jen of 8junebugs
• margie of soeurs du jour

congrats, ladies! i hope you enjoy the cards. (jen and margie, i'll need your mailing addresses.)

happy halloween from atlas and me!

(the photos are atlas' way of saying, "for the love of <insert deity of your choice>, please don't encourage her photo-taking. all a man has in this world is his dignity - and i'm slowly losing mine.")