Inspired

Persisting

 

There are so many symbols of rebirth in the spring…the eggs, the Christian story of rebirth and resurrection, the Passover celebration, not to mention the arrival of all the fuzzy little lambs, fluffy chicks, sweet ducklings and prolific bunnies.

My personal favourite icon of rebirth and renewal is the bright and sturdy daffodil.  They persist.  They shine.  Year after year they’re one of the first to poke their way through the still frosty earth, seemingly determined to be here.  They’re not fragile or delicate or even that tender. They’re bright and cheerful and we can count on them to show up…every year…without fail.

 

 

I admire that quality…of persisting and showing up; it’s getting up in the morning when we’re so tired we think we simply can’t do it all over again, it’s patience with a small child who’s afraid of the dark and can’t sleep, it’s the compassion to simply be there for a friend and it’s the love it takes to stand up for ourselves. It’s the determination to overcome life’s challenges. It’s many different things…it’s gentle yet fierce, it’s kind yet bold but it all comes down to persisting.

Persisting, to know our truth and shine.  Every day, every moment we have the opportunity to take a new breath, to birth ourselves anew, to show up.

Right now there are fields of daffodils around me everywhere I look.  The bulbs were planted almost a hundred years ago and still they show up, just as they have every spring.  It’s just what they do...and showing up is just what we do too in our everyday acts of bravery…we show up, live life and shine.

 

 

(The Saanich Peninsula, where I live, is home to the largest daffodil growing area in Canada and the second largest growing area in North America.  The first daffodils were planted here in 1915).

 

Changes

 

It’s been a long time (for me!) since I’ve changed my blog design and I’ve been itching to change it for awhile now.  I started designing something while I was away but the wireless connections were usually less than stellar so I ended up just playing with the design aspect without uploading anything to Typepad. This ended up being a good thing as I was able to spend some time reading about design and playing around with different ideas. 

This particular design is all about the white or negative space, which is really appealing to me these days.  I seem to be leaning towards the spare and uncluttered aesthetic in my life right now.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a studio space in my new home, which will continue to cramp my style for awhile but this spring/summer we’ll be building a separate studio outside the house…a smallish one…and I’m soooo looking forward to it.

I have no idea what the plant in the photograph above, is called (the “flower” is about a foot long") but I took the picture while stumbling through the mountainous jungles of Panama in La Amistad International Park, which straddles the border with Costa Rica.

I was on a hike that turned out to be an endurance marathon for this out-of-shape person of eternal optimism!  Other than the fact that this is a stunningly beautiful and mostly untouched area, all I can say about my experience in the cloud forests is…Oh my God…I thought I was dying!  I stopped long enough to take the picture and then with legs shaking, stumbled to catch up with the group (because we all know what happens to the weakest one in the pack!)

It was actually a great experience for me as I realized how much I’m really physically capable of if push comes to shove.  I’m also realizing now that I’m home, that the warmth of Mexico and Panama were really good for mobility and ease of movement.  Since returning to the damper and much cooler weather of the west coast, it feels as though my muscles are really struggling to move easily again.

(If I look like a drowned rat who’s hiked straight up one side of a mountain, then straight down the other side only to fall in the river while fording it numerous times…well, that’s because that’s exactly what I’d done by the time this picture was taken. The things we do for fun!).  I was going for the pathetic look here.

Thanks for stopping by and the sweetest of blessings to each and every one of you!

Prickly Beauty

I found this giant thistle sitting small and insignificant beside a huge painted canvas at an art show this weekend.  The paintings were wonderful and the artist, very talented but it was this thistle that drew me.

Being of Scottish ancestory, I was brought up with the emblem of the thistle front and centre.  My mother and grandmother always wore thistle brooches on their coats and jackets and I had a gigantic (at least 5" across) thistle brooh to pin my fly plaid below my shoulder.  When you're five years old, the whole collection of highland dance parafanalia...kilt, fly plaid, sporran, lace ruffles and velvet jacket...was a little overwhelming and putting it all on was not something I looked forward to!

I recently discovered just why the thistle is such a popular symbol for Scotland.  It became the national emblem after the Battle of Largs in 1263, when it's said that a Norse attack force decided on a stealthy night attack; however their leader stepped on a thistle and his yell alerted the Scots, thus saving Scotland!  I'm not sure if it's true but it's a good story!

Summer is drawing to a close and I think it's safe to say that the long, hot, dog days are over...at least here in my neck of the woods! It's been a good summer and I've enjoyed it all...major changes, upheavals and all.  As with the thistle, there have been "prickly" times that didn't always feel comfortable but the process has led me to enjoy the moments as they come.  I'm aware that the thorns are there but I don't have to grab hold of them!

In the end, that's all we really have...a lifetime of moments and I won't squander those. With each year that passes, they're becoming far too precious.

Play well and be kind to one another.

May

Just as my sheep herding dog

pushes her soft wet nose

against my leg

and nudges me towards her food bowl,

May nudges me,

gently but surely,

towards new life

unfolding.

With gentle warmth

and laden boughs,

May enfolds me

as I rest my weary head

against her scented bark.

On soft and silky breezes,

May whispers 

"Wake up dear one.

Open your eyes. 

We have a short time together,

you and I.

Sit with me now

and breathe me in,

as we watch

the unfurling of my soul.

I will tell you stories

of Mays gone by

and of Mays yet to come,

as you awaken

to the stirring

of your own

hearts

desire.

I've been having fun with textures and overlays on my photographs recently.  If you have a photo manipulation program and enjoy experimenting, check out the free textures at this Flickr pool.

The Eagle Has Landed...and hatched!

Last week under the watchful eye of a mother eagle (and the rest of the world), three eagle eggs hatched in a nest in Sidney, on Vancouver Island.  A web cam was placed close to the nest far in advance the event and the world watched eagerly as the chicks hatched over a period of almost a week.

Hancock Wildlife Foundation  (click on this link to view the webcam)

I thought you might enjoy this "eagle eye view" of the chicks as they grow up.  Their mother is usually with them but she often flies off in search of food.  It's a live web cam so if the picture is black it's not malfunctioning...the sun has just set in Sidney!

It's interesting to watch her feed them (she was just ripping apart a star fish a few minutes ago) and they'll grow quickly at the rate they're wolfing it down!  The nest is just a few miles from my home.

(The Hancock Foundation has another webcam located a few miles north of Sidney on Hornby Island.  The eggs in this nest haven't hatched yet.)

Minimalism

Meet the beautiful Fawn Lily that grows wild in our forests on the pacific coast.  She's dainty and delicate, loves the shade and is also known as Trout Lily, Dog's Tooth Violet and Adders Tongue in other parts of North America.  Yesterday, while we were trying to decide just where to situate a house on our new land, I noticed that they're in bloom .  They won't survive the clearing and digging when building begins, so I'm going to rescue as many as I can before the chaos begins.  They may not all survive but I'd love to save as many as I can.

We move at the end of April and most of our belongings will be put in storage for the duration.  We'll be living with my daughter Meghan and her family for 2 months or so  and then...we don't know yet, but it won't be traveling as we had previously thought.  By the time we arrived home from Mexico and living out of suitcases for two months, we knew we wanted...needed...to stay in one place for awhile.

The packing is well underway as is the process of "mentally" leaving and separating from this place that has been our home now for eight years. (the longest either of us has ever lived anywhere!) Although we've loved living here and the home has so many wonderful memories of good times with family and friends, I'm more than ready to leave and start the next chapter in our lives.  I'm excited to be packing up all this "stuff" and feel lighter already!

I'm thinking I could easily become a minimalist, but I'm not sure it would last!

April's Narrative

April

I am here to bring you hope; 

for sunshine,

for warmth.

for renewal,

for new beginnings. 

Allow me to awaken your barren inner reaches. 

Allow my raindrops to slide over your body and fall to your feet. 

Allow me to nurture and nourish your footsteps as they walk now in new directions. 

Allow me to shower you with hope, with love and with promises of joy unfolding.   

Trust that you would not be asked to blossom if it were not so. 

Trust that your unfolding will bring beauty to all who behold you.

Do you not see your own truth?

It blossoms now before you

in elegant perfection.

Kate Iredale

I invite you to stand outside in the spring rain, with arms outstretched and let April wash you with her assurance of new beginnings.  Open to it.  Feel it.  Accept it.  I did it today and it felt great!