a letter

Thank You.
Thank You.

Thank You.

This! Just this.

Someone Who Can Kiss God

Come to my house late at night--
Do not be shy
Hafiz will be barefoot and dancing.

I will be
In such a grand and generous mood!

Come to my door at any hour,
Even if your eyes
Are frightened by my light.
My heart and arms are open
And need no rest--
They will always welcome you.

Come in, my dear,
From that harsh world
That has rained elements of stone
Upon your tender face.

Every soul
Should receive a toast from us
For bravery!

Bring all the bottles of wine you own
To this divine table--the earth
We share.

If your cellar is empty,
This whole Universe
Could drink forever
From mine!

Let's dine tonight with exquisite music.
I might even hire angels
To play--just for you.

Look!
Hidden beneath your feet
Is a Luminous Stage
Where we are meant to rehearse
Our Eternal Dance!

And what is the price of my Divine Instructions?
What could I ask of you?

All I could ever want
Is that
You have the priceless company
Of Someone
Who can Kiss God,

That you have the priceless gift
Of becoming a servant to the Friend!

Come to my window, dear world--
Why ever be shy?

Look inside my playful Verse,
For Hafiz is Barefoot and Dancing
And in such a Grand and Generous--
In such a Fantastic Mood.



~-~
Hafiz (1320-1389 Beloved Persian Poet),
from I Heard God Laughing

gratitude: all filled up

You'd think that since I write daily for OLM, that writing here wouldn't be difficult, wouldn't you? Especially because I'm a Mama that loves to get inside her own head for at least a little while every day.

This morning (pre babes waking) I am grateful for the thoughts and ideas and happiness that are filling me up!

We've had adventures away from home the last two days, and have a park date with friends planned for tomorrow, and have a date on Saturday with Grandma and African Drums...
So today is all about home and the things I've been pondering.

My head is filled with ideas of sugar cookies - heart-shaped cookies with pink frosting and redhots
and walking with the babies up to the neighborhood craft store for some plaster of paris and red ribbons and several sheets of felt (I have a few ideas brewing)....
I'm thinking of when I asked Maddie a couple of days ago how she would choose the three of us to spend time together... she said "Play downstairs!" so I'm thinking we'll get to play with lots of interesting things and clean up the playroom today....
I'm thinking that my house is pretty clean, and won't take much to get it in ship-shape...

My head and heart are tapping and stomping and ready and happy and so eager for this day...

for this day.
For this now.
For this ordinary life that we can live and appreciate and celebrate as if it's extraordinary.

...For this life that we shall live and love and celebrate as if it is extraordinary.

smiles

raindrops and puddles

seeing my daughter riding horsey on her daddy's back around the house, hollering "red light... green light!"

sodden dandelions
discovering my almost forgotten bleeding heart

raindrops on clover

a blossoming vine

rich, wet earth

tiny tiny tiny leaves of lichen

hearing and seeing my three loves raise a wild ruckus in the backyard

lilacs, still.
and then even more rain
seeing Little Son be thrilled that he earned the SuperGem

seeing the Monet-like view of lilacs out the dripping kitchen window
making chocolate pudding while singing "raindrops on windows and whiskers on kittens...."

settling into a soft seat to watch and help Trev spend his day reading and playing games.


Delicious.

the book

My father in law (Bill... I have two) gave me a book for Christmas.


It's called The Gardener's Journal - An Old-Fashioned Keepbook.

And it is as romantic as the name implies.

It's a garden journal with Victorian quotes and pictures.
It has pages for Our Garden History, winter, spring, summer and fall notes, and beautifully decorated graphing squares - pages and pages of them.

I can't tell you how much I love this book.

Yesterday I knew though it was cold outside, I wanted to work on the Butterfly/Faery Garden.

So I grabbed my garden books - some mundane, and some magickal - and a glass of tea and sat in the sun with my journal.

How lovely it was!
I contemplated what needed to be moved from and into the faery garden, watched the birds flit about, noted the greening of the grass, watched my daughter play.

I made my first entry into that journal.

And because of it - working in the faery garden - I was nose to earth.
I found yarrow plants that were no more than an inch wide. I discovered lemon balm (lemon balm is coming up everywhere, now... but I don't mind, it's one of my Favorite Things). I found echinacea that just needed to be dusted off a bit in order to be seen - so tiny also, was it.

I took out some of the over-grown peppermint, and moved it to where it'd be welcome and happy - to the rose garden. Right where the mint needed to go (as there is no catnip there, and this particular rose is often plaqued with aphids) I found clover in that exact spot. Clover was on my list of new things to bring in for the butterflies. Imagine that.

So the rocks are lying to the north where they belong -resituated, standing tall with the yarrow.
Rocks to shelter the butterflies, to encourage them to rest in the sun, and for the fey to play their games of hide-and-seek.
To the west are the shasta daisies, betony (lamb's ear) and a large abilone shell that soon shall hold water, inviting the butterflies and fairies to splash as they will.
To the south is a bit of tall red-hot poker and cinquefoil, and the toad-stool Inn. To the east grows the peppermint, echinacea, lemon balm, and clover.

It the center of the garden is part of an old tree stump. It's been the center of this small garden for a few years. On it sits a fading faery with a skirt full of birdseed.

The garden is finished. At least for now.

And upon my pages are sketches of Who Lives Where, and notes and notes of what makes the fey and butterflies smile.

It's a fine beginning.

light

today i got to play a little in the Light.
and it was enough.

16 degrees

dang.
But there's snow.

added pretties

So I went into the livingroom, and spied an empty box of candy canes -- that I just bought yesterday.
What?! An entire box, already?
But not to worry.
About two feet off the ground I saw this.
With a little extra prettiness, too, I see.

15 Days

a morning spent with a bosom friend

15 Days of Happiness: Contentment

I'm laying at one end of the couch with my nose a few inches away from my book, Eric sits at the other with his resting on his lap.
The Tree lights are twinkling.
My feet are tucked into a blanket on my husband's lap.
Maddie walks back and forth with pinecones, feeding some to Annabelle.
The roasting turkey warms the oven and the house.
All is well.
Blissful.

He loves me!

My husband has this really loving relationship with Ullr, the Snow God.
Actually He's the God of Thunder, I think, but he's also in charge of Snow.
Last year he placed this upon my fridge, and we had snow whenever he refreshed and renewed his plea.
I've been complaining and grumbling for a couple of weeks - "I want to change your sign."
"What?!?"
"I want it to say "Snow In My Yard." As snow in NeverLand [waves hand over her head] has no direct benefit upon my psyche.
"Well, that would be okay with me - if it snows in our yard, then we'll be getting a few feet in the mountains (where he skis).
"Yes." I say.
Today I looked up, and here's the gift my Prince had given to me.He's working his magic.
Thanks Rico.

15 days: Play

Today I found much happiness in watching the children play with our Enchanted Winter scene, something we created with our own hands.

15 days: burlap

So I had been thinking "burlap" for the pirate blocks bag.
With a cotton lining to help hold it stable?

Then yesterday I visited this fabulousness. I almost cried (over the pears and birds).
Needless to say I decided right then and there that burlap was definitely The Thing.

After a trip to the fabric shop for said medium - where I also purchased a brand new pair of Fiskars thankyouverymuch - I raced home and settled in for a long day with the sewing maching.

The burlap looks beautiful with the map print for the pirate bag.

Next I knew that I had to have a bag. Burlap and linen.
I already even knew it's Function.
When we went to the nature park with friends the other day, I carried around the Adventure Pack (our giant backpack that we drag to the park, friends' house, etc). Because we always take the Adventure Pack. It has pencils, and paper, first aid kit, colored pencils, scissors, magnifying glasses, etc.

But I didn't need it that day for a few-minute Wander. And I didn't particularly want to carry it -it can be awkward during photos- but I did. Because I wanted the scissors.
Aaaah. Thank goodness for such small little magical moments.
Because now I have this.
A doubled linen lining. With an extra thick pocket for scissors. With a little v shape to keep them just so. Behind the scissors is a pocket for pencils. And there is a little one for my camera batteries. And another one just right for keys. And another large one just right for a medium sized notebook.
The main section will fit my laptop. Or a set of colored pencils and a sketch pad. Or a beautiful "how to" watercolor book.

It has an extra long strap that of course fits me perfectly. Over one shoulder, so the bag rests low on my hip (or in the back).Perfect for Steps From Home. Perfect for short walks in the neighborhood. Perfect for nature trails.

Trevelyn has one of his own. He was interested. For keeping leaves. Beautiful found stones. Treasures. And a magnifying glass.

I'm so in love with my Goodliness that is burlap, linen, and buttons.

15 Days: Piles of Goodness

15 days: color

Gift List

Let me just tell you how excited I am that we're making almost all of our gifts this year!
Well, aside from my children's gifts. Though I will where I can.

And let me tell you something else... all that crafting we've been doing? I haven't bought anything!! I think the only thing I had to buy was velcro strips for the plant presses (and I'll have to buy the plastic rings to secure them) and a large bottle of craft glue. Mine was a little one, and almost gone. That's it! Everything else we've had.
Ha!
Makes me feel justified in collecting things, let me tell you. (Not in a packrat, never-throw-anything-away way, but in a "Ooh, look at this pretty silver paint. And it's on sale for 59cents! That might come in handy someday...." sort of way. Let me just say again... Ha!

Doing handmade this year is not about the money, as we all know that often times we can buy it for far cheaper than we can make it, so when you already have the supplies, it sure cuts down on the angst.
It's about crafting. Making things with my bare hands and bare heart and bare spirit.
It's about being in that zone... where the ideas come faster than you can make the dream happen. It's about those famous, lovely, flowing Juices.

The energy is zipping and zapping in our house right now.
It seems that everything is "Step outside your regular self and let ingenuity and creativity be your guide."
Who could complain about that?

15 days: shiny and muddy

Has it been 15 days yet?
Just wondering.

This morning, first thing.... well, first thing after the sun came up.... I found happiness in a dish filled with our remnants of the last few days.
Buttons, pompons, glitter, lace, threads, glitter, shiny stars, and more glitter.
I loved it.
I didn't take a picture, because I know that I can never photograph glitter well. It always just looks like random bits.
It loses its magic, I suppose.

A few hours later I saw this little bit of sweet.And I sighed in a wistful sort of way.
And I thought "Not too much more of that for a while."And it was enough.

15 days

Happiness is found sittin' at the kitchen table stitching mittens while the babes are heard giggling at a movie in the next room.

15 days: rock and roll

U2's Rattle and Hum
Good Morning VietNam
Doors, Best Of
Jimi H.'s Band of Gypsies
and Bob Marley.... just to keep us from spinning and dancin' high off the earth.

playin' loud and proud.
rock on.

15 days: friends

And their Fabulousness.