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and the giveaway winners are:
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.")
"for whatever we lose
(like a you or a me),
it's always our self
that we find in the sea."
- e.e. cummings
amy and katherine dragged me all around providence. my feet hurt and i was weary. still we walked. i dreamed of taking off my boots and collapsing on the couch. yet still we walked.
only kidding. (well, my feet did hurt by the end. cobblestones are not trails, you know.)
providence is a very walkable city. and a very beautiful one. i thought i'd share a few glimpses of the city itself.
i have so been enjoying all the comments on the giveaway post where people share their favorite thing(s) about fall. love it. thank you for sharing.
i actually can't think of anything i don't love about this season, but one of my favorites is long walks with the pup - crisp air, leaves crunching underfoot, glorious glorious color, and the bright (but now cool) sunshine.
i loved providence. not quite as much as i love portland, of course, but i did love it. i was very drawn to the colorful doors and homes. as we wandered along, i imagined myself living there while attending risd for photography. i could see myself wandering the cobblestone streets, camera in hand and weimy in tow, capturing image after image. doesn't that sound fun?! maybe someday. in the meantime, i shall certainly enjoy visiting.
the day after the wedding, i slipped out for a walk along the cape cod canal. i wanted some photos of the bourne bridge. when i started walking, it was almost "golden hour". when i returned, it was dark. i got my photos of the bridge, but the main reason i was gone so long was due to the bird you see here. (i was told its name, but have since forgotten it.)
i saw the bird perched on the pole and could not get over the colors: the warm color of the bird, the orange beak, the warm color of the wood as it absorbed the golden light, the rust, the blue sky. after snapping some photos, i decided that it would be perfect if i could get a shot of the same scene as the bird flew away.
except that bird would not move. it sat. and sat. and sat. every so often, it would lift its wings as if it were going to fly away, but then it would drop them again. i walked closer. and closer. and closer. nothing. the bird sat.
i decided that it needed some encouragement. i waved my arms. i picked up some leaves and threw them up in the air. i did a silly dance. i waved my arms again like i was throwing something at the bird. (note that i was also trying not to be too noticeable to the other canal walkers in case they thought i was terrorizing an innocent bird.) i walked closer. and closer. and closer. still nothing. the bird just sat.
by this time, i was at the pole, looking up at the bird. i decided that i would pretend to climb the telephone pole; surely that would work. as i tried to figure out how to pretend to do this (while still looking up), i saw a huge squirt of white shoot out the back side of the bird and land on the ground in front of me.
i left the scene immediately.
bird: 1, girl: 0.
(when i returned, i did learn that these birds won't move for anything. i felt much better.)
if you know me, you know that i am a fan of snail mail. (no, it is not dead.) anyway, i was finally motivated enough to make photo cards (i like to have them on hand, especially since cards from me are generally always belated), so i thought i'd do a giveaway.
i'm raffling off a random sampling of 3 cards. if you'd like to win (and who doesn't need cards), leave a comment letting me know your favorite thing about fall.
i'll draw 2-3 names on friday evening.
"This
Union you want
With the earth and sky,
This union we all need with love,
A golden wing from God's heart just
Touched the ground,
Now
Step upon it
With your brave sun-vows
And help our eyes
To
Dance!"
- Hafiz, This Union
i thought the be present retreat would be fun (i do like painting and yoga and photography). what i did not realize is that it would be incredible, magical, and life-changing. do you know how everything can be the same and yet be completely different? that is how i feel right now. outwardly, nothing has changed. inwardly, i will never be the same again. my heart is so full it is bursting - and i have 24 amazing and inspiring women to thank for that.
when i look back over the years, i can easily recognize the few decisions that turned my footsteps towards my best life. choosing to study abroad was one. following my heart (to the job in california where i dreamed of living) instead of my head (to the job on the east coast that i had already accepted) for my first job was another. bringing atlas home was yet another. trying reiki was yet another. i know that in a few years, i will look back on the decision to attend the retreat as yet another.
so to all of you who were there - thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being so beautifully wonderfully truthfully openly YOU. you are loved more than you know. may the light that is within each of you illuminate the world.
it's wednesday. and my weimaraner is home with me. all is well.
i keep a 4x6 print of this photo on my frig. whenever i travel, i take the photo, stick it in one of the books i'm bringing along, and use it as my travel bookmark. it's my way of taking my beloved puppy with me, no matter where i go. (he is on my cell phone wall paper, and in my heart, so i suppose i don't really need the photo too. but oh, how i love that crooked lip.)
there is much to do at work. i am not feeling 100%. there is stuff lying around waiting to be unpacked. i am still rather emotional from the retreat. every so often, i stop what i am doing and hug and pet atlas and tell him how happy i am to have him home again. that small action grounds me every time. everything falls away and i remember again that i have everything i need - right in that moment. such is the benefit of having a piece of your heart walking around outside of your body.
