Thinking of You

Summer afternoon,
Sidewalk chalk in happy shades --
This wish is for you.

...me.

Still Here

I've been far from the keyboard lately, up to my neck in the busy-ness that is summer here at Tumbledown.

There have been big blissful grandbug moments and hot sunny days plucked from a Calvin-and-Hobbes strip. And, of course, I'm still trying to digest my recent Trip of a Lifetime, put my impressions in order, make wonderful magickal sense of it all.

It's butterfly season, too, and all is in full swing here. Stacks of caterpillar-filled plastic beer cups line my kitchen countertops right now -- a MUCH better season this year than in the recent past. My days start and end with milkweed as I try to save the world one monarch butterfly at a time. It's not much in the grand scheme of things, I know, but I like to think I'm making a difference somehow.

Plus, the Renaissance Festival is just a few short weeks away. So much to do and prepare for, set up and consider! I see it in my head and feel both anxious and eager.

So much on my plate right now. And then there's YOU-- in my thoughts every day.

The last time I wrote was a while ago, wasn't it? A whole month has passed without a post.... I was in a mood then. And after pressing the 'publish' button I backed away from the keyboard and had a hard time returning to it.

Sorry....

As you know, the post was all about 'losing friends and negatively influencing people,' and I was feeling somewhat unloved....

But as one awesome Facebook friend would later put it, "...if some people come and go, be grateful for those who will always stay!" So I know now that my focus was in the wrong place, on the wrong people. There are folks here who are devoted, constant, steadfast, willing to take my bad with my good (bless you!; I'm so grateful that you're here that I want to go there and give you a big hug), and they're the ones I should be focusing on.

Wonderful people.

Like you.

I heart you, my friend; I hope you know that.... And plan to hear from me again soon, OK? Because lots has happened. And I have lots to tell you.

Love,
...me.

It's August Eve and Magick Abounds

I'm stalked by sparkles today! Amazing things are everywhere and all I have to do is open my eyes. Check out this little bit of Who Knew?? that I encountered just stepping out the front door to collect my mail:

Did you have any idea that strawberry leaves weep dewdrops at dawn?? I didn't!

And then right next to the strawberries was THIS -- the special geranium that originated with my maternal grandmother -- all abloom. My mom started this one for me from a single slip. And see? Each blossom unfurls like tiny fairy bride bouquets of roses.

And then there was this beautiful fellow who was visiting my garden milkweed as I was retrieving the day's mail. :)

And if all that wasn't enough, there was a delightful letter from a friend waiting in the mailbox for me! So I dropped everything, sat down on the warm front step, and leisurely read to my heart's content while the afternoon sun shone down on my head and insects buzzed in the garden around me.

A dipped-in-wonderful-gold (and I mean 'wonderful' as in 'full of wonder') day and I'd hardly even stepped away from my sketchbook. All I had to do was open my eyes.

But then when I went back inside again, there was THIS:

Bless it's heart and cue the happydance! -- one of my coddled and pampered monarch caterpillars went into chrysalis mode when I wasn't looking.

Awesomesauce.

...

Summer Snow

It's here -- cottonwood season. Minnesota's 'summer winter.' :)

Wednesday Already!

Really? Wednesday?

Must make Time slow down somehow....

Must focus! Must pay attention to The Now.

Must take time to appreciate the roses before they're done blooming.

Must stop, look, see...!

Must appreciate the Jurassic hostas before they begin to look slug-nibbled. Must enjoy the feathery meadowsweet before it gets too leggy. Must appreciate the pristine milkweed patch before its leaves are picked for caterpillars. Must watch for Bad Bunny dining on the daisies.

Pay attention, pay attention...!

Listen to the cottonwood trees applauding in the breeze, the shouts of children splashing at the pool, the trill of a wren in the mulberry tree, the drone of a bee in the lobelia. Hear that distant lawnmower? Smell that mown grass?

Must remember that my days are full of little important things and my head is full of big important thoughts and they exist on separate planes and I'm rarely on the former and almost always on the latter and that isn't smart.

Because those thoughts aren't going anywhere.

Everything else, however, is already Halfway There.
...

Meadowsweet and Imagi(c)nation

So far today is all about the fragrant meadowsweet abloom in my front garden.

And it's about the sunshine, and the scent of mown grass, and cottonwood seeds riding the summer breeze like feathers from a burst pillow. And billowy clouds that one could ride the sky in like a houseboat in one's imagination. (Complete with cottony furniture, too, of course.)

But it could also be about setting up the hammock and grabbing a lifechanging chapter book from childhood for a welcome reread. (For me it was Little Women or Anne of Green Gables or Black Beauty or fill-in-a-whole-BUNCH-of-blanks. You?)

It might also be about making a pot of sun tea. And peanutbuttering a sandwich for a personal picnic in the garden.

And maybe it will be about penning a story, solving a mystery, planting magic beans, inventing a recipe.

Or writing a letter to a faraway friend. Or styling a fort out of old branches and ropes of climbing woodbine. Or a host of other imaginative adventures.

Because it's Friday. And it's summer. And my inner schoolchild is urging, "C'mon, let's GO!"
...

A Toast

Here's to you, my friend!

Are your ears buzzing? Can you tell I'm thinking about you?

In my head we're clinking cold bottles of Cheerwine together in a toast to summer, out front on the warm concrete step where the fragrant milkweed is blooming all around us and new butterflies are cavorting in circles over our heads.

"How was your weekend?" "Great! How was yours?" "Awesome!"

And for a bit Time will stop. The sun will warm us and make us smile. :) (<-- see?) And we'll consider the new week that begins now for us both and ponder its amazing possibilities....

After this little visit I'll get back to work again in my studio, but I will keep you fondly in my thoughts.

And whatever it is that you get back to, take joy in it! (Please? For me?)

And the next time we meet, bring a little something for Show-and-Tell. :)
...

Summer's Here!

First Fruits of the Season

The peas are fattening, the mulberries are ripening -- it's the second week of summer and already I feel as though it's nearly over!

I've yet to set up the hammock in a shady spot and haul out a comic book or two for some summer vacation reading. I still have to tie the cushions on the patio chairs, and throw the faded cloth over the bistro table. I must set the jar of sun tea out to strengthen in the heat of the front step. I need to bring down the iced tea glasses -- the ones with the ripe-cherries-and-checkerboard pattern -- from their top shelf. I must remember to clip a daylily and stick it in the Coke-bottle vase for the center of the table.... And for heaven's sake! What am I saving all those brand-new bottles of Bubble Stuff for?? I must get the Grandbug over here so the two of us can spill it all over ourselves in our attempts to create the world's biggest backyard bubble, one that will bring Glinda the Good Witch here to Tumbledown!

Holy cow, I'm a little behind on all the play....

So here's this week's mantra, everyone: Summer doesn't wait, but housework does. Let's leave it and enjoy the sun!
...