Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Morning Glory

just as the
morning
of her life
was
opening
into day,
the young and lovely
spirit
passed from
earth and
grief away.
february 11, 1889
aged 11 years, 8 months 28 days.
the inscription above was on the gravestone of a young girl who died over a century ago. the grave is in a country cemetery in osceola county. my mom does this sampler on old antique quilt in her memory. nellie johnson, with no family to tend her grave - she has wild flowers growing around her to remember her.
if you whisper their name...they will not be forgotten.
just as the morning...
we
will
say their name.
they will
be remembered
Hattie, Arden, Agnes, Carl, Shirley, Herman, Inez, Cliff, Cora, Merle, Derek, Josh, Ronnie,Kay, Hubble...
say their names now.
they deserve to be remembered.


Tuesday, January 27, 2009

too late to be creative...

Had basketball games until 9:45 tonight...not in a creative mood at the moment...so i am just going to share my two other offspring with you. The oldest is Kiel (kyle) and youngest is Matthew. They are nine years apart. Matthew adores his big brother and Kiel is very good to his little buddy. Kiel is away at his second year of college and Matthew is in 5th grade. Each of my kids are individuals and independent thinkers. I am blessed to have a hand in raising them.

signing off...
as a
grateful
mom!!
robin


Monday, January 26, 2009

Frost

the morning frost
stood up
on the branches
like
goosebumps
up and down
your
spine
when being gently
caressed by someone
you love.


despite the cold, despite the snow...
i love the early morning
while the sun is coming up
it is silent
your breath
surrounds your face in a cloudy mist
the cool air pierces your lungs
with each breath
you take
it makes
this season
worth it
the
gray branches of the trees
become
radiant once more
against the
colors of the sky.
i will be
okay with
winter
as long as
i can
experience moments like
this.

and just BE.
robin

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Sarah Smiles


sarah songs....sarah with a H

Sarah Smile Sara(h) Sara(h)

for your later years...Sara(h)

sarah...just

BE

love you,

mom

"SUN"day

Today I get to take pictures of the weather.
The sun is behind the icicle.



The weather is windy and bitterly cold.
and yet...I am inspired to go out into this frozen tundra,
this earthly canvas of possibilities...
to create...
one...
still...
frame.







here's to idle moments
of observing
a breeze
with
undivided attention
Awe-Manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder

just BE.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

today named...i am i said

Today...I got to...do my daughter's hair for SNOWFEST.
She went to her friends house for dinner, getting dressed, pictures and off to the dance. I will post pictures of the hair and the dress after I get some!!! She is my sweetheart!!!

Today is Neil Diamond's Birthday...here are some of my favorite songs of Mr. Diamonds...
i grew up listening to his albums...and i love him still!!!

It's National Compliment day...sometimes hard to give...and more often than not...hard to receive them. Why is that? Why do we think we are not good enough to receive a compliment?

"Write a piece that involves compliments. Try focusing on using one letter for alliteration."

Sarah~Your beautiful smile simply shines, as shards of sunshine, and soothes my soul.

here's to the feeling of
receiving
a
genuine compliment.
just BE

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Cat appreciation Day

Today named... Void of color.
As indicated in my picture below.

Write a list of questions a cat might have. Awe-Manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder
*I can see that you are looking at me...but why?
*I asked for the expensive brand of kitty food...what's this?
*Do you mind if I cough up a hairball?
*Does this kitty litter smell to you?
*Seriously?
*How many times do I have to chase that stupid toy mouse?
*Can you make your eyes BIG like this?
*I can see the bird...how come I can't get to it?
*Is there something wrong with sleeping 23 0f 24 hours a day?
*Remember that time when Sylvester was freaked out by the giant kangaroo mouse?



Today was also
Celebration of Life Day.
Life is a celebration of yourself and others...until further notice...celebrate EVERYTHING!!

just BE.





Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Energy

Today is named Energy
Today I get to go to work and make a difference in people's lives.

Today is also National Granola Day!! Yeah!! I eat them everyday with yogart!!

"From a character of a frugal artist write in detail about one of these topics: your garden, your next art project, the sky, area rugs." -Awe-Manac: Daily Dose of Wonder
I want to write about my garden. I use to have MANY photos of my garden in Reed City and my garden here...however...hubby, after checking twice, that he saved my photos before he "waxed" the computer out, lost them!!! My wonderful pictures were not saved!!! Always, always, always do a back up. The pictures you see are from my scrapbooks...and they don't do my gardens justice. But...that's all water under the bridge...
poppies, four o'clocks, cosmos, black-eyed susans


my garden
therapeutic: working the soil with my bare hands melts my worries and anxieties away.
mesmorizing: I can just sit for extended periods of time by my garden and be completely still and content.
home to butterflies: little winged creatures of sunshine.
made up of bulbs from my great-gramma Compton and my beloved gramma Byers: they live on.
keeper of my secrets: my happiness and my sorrow.
unorganized-wild chaos-not perfect-no set patterns-no rules: my heaven on earth.
Here's to the moments when you realize the simple things are wonderful
and enough.

what would you write about today?
just BE.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

...crisp....

I purchased some new books in the beginning of this month...
I've read The Secret Live of Bees-Sue Monk Kidd
I've read The Wednesday Letters-Jason F. Wright
I'm reading Life is a Verb-Patti Digh
also reading...Big Russ & Me-Tim Russert
...all since the beginning of January. All VERY good books. I highly recommend them.

But where I was going with all of this...I also have cracked open yet another book. One that is going to inspire me to think more brilliantly, laugh more often and ignite my creative passion...and simply create a lot more "awe" into my daily life.

The book The Awe-Manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder by Jill Badonsky!!!!!

The word in the title above is CRISP. I am to name today. I named today crisp...as indicated in my picture of the morning sun peeking through the pines.


Next I am to "write as if there were a little door you could go through into a safe life area of happiness." "what does the door look like?" "what does it feel like to go through the door?" -The Awe-Manac A Daily Dose of Wonder
door.
to my happiness.
do I dare open it...or should I remain still...keep it shut?
hand on the knob.
take a breath.
it's open.
possibilities.
inside.
warmth, sunshine.
a soft breeze gently blowing my hair around my face.
there is acceptance.
behind my door.
I smile.
BE.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

reflection continued...

just experimenting...while i have a love for taking pictures...there are very few pictures of me. sometimes that's a good thing...but i don't want my family to be sad one day because they don't have photos of me. so this year...i believe... i will change that...whether it's a photo by my hand and eye or by theirs. Hope that doesn't sound self-centered...but i am important too...and worth remembering...through one still frame...one word...or two
just BE.

Reflection

Main Entry: re·flec·tion
Pronunciation: \ri-ˈflek-shən\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, alteration of reflexion, from Late Latin reflexion-, reflexio act of bending back, from Latin reflectere
Date: 14th century

1: an instance of reflecting ; especially : the return of light or sound waves from a surface
2: the production of an image by or as if by a mirror


This image is captured from a mirror on an east wall, hitting a mirror on a north wall..catching the image of a quilt on a south wall.
I absolutely love old mirrors...the peely paint, the warbled like, almost always, imperfect surface of the mirror...
my collection, so far...is nearly fifty. which means...i have a lot of reflective light in this house. they touch me...
my kids roll their eyes whenever i bring a new one home...
my daughter, especially, says...when i catch her "checking" her reflection...
"well there are so many mirrors...you make me look"...
i hope that is what she remembers about growing up, here, in the house of mirrors...
her mom made her look...at herself.
an instance of reflecting.
the return of light.
her beautiful light from within...
just BE
a light.


Thursday, January 15, 2009

Greensburg Kentucky

today is -22 degrees. i choose to reflect back on this lovely spot from last year...


the green river...early morning...
of Greensburg Kentucky.





I am happy and warm with the memory of this moment in time. One with the river, one with the crane, one with my mom, who stood beside me, breathing the moment in as well.

just BE...today...wrapped in a warm happy memory.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

the calm before the cold...

i went for a walk this morning...its was cold but still...
no wind...

snow flakes..gently falling, the sweet sound of the chickadee...the flutter of the morning doves wings as my footsteps cause them to take flight.
i will stop and capture the views... that will go on not noticed if the time is not taken...


and listen to the babbling brook that still flows even when over taken by winter's cold grip...

and have my breath taken away when gazing at the majestic tree...revealing it's naked silhouette. It's lines..so lovely, so vulnerable, so steadfast to this winter.
silence gives us the impetus for awareness and creativity. sometimes our minds need to be
emptied...before
our
spirits can be filled.
just BE.


Friday, January 9, 2009

Single digits...

here is 9 degrees, in the moon lite in northern michigan


makes me appreciate my warm fire, wool socks and my blanket.
I hope that your week was well!! Hubby went back to work this week after being off since Oct. Papa God is, as always, Good!!
Gandie survived her surgery...licking her stitches like crazy.
Uhh...incase you missed it...Gandie is our newest addition...a female cat. Who else would lick their stitches...Yuck!!
I am sending you all dandelion wisps on a soft gentle breeze thoughts...
Just BE...
~robin

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Ah...SUNSHINE!!! We have not seen much sunshine since the snow season began. Probably half a dozen times or so. Definitely NOT enough!! The sunshine warms your heart and soothes the soul.


The sun shining in the bathroom window. I took the picture looking into the mirror, catching the recflection back outside...
Blessings~ Robin

Monday, January 5, 2009

Remember I introduced you to Blue... well this is our newest addition...she too is a stray...

(that's it...we are done taking in Strays!!! Don't even think about driving your animal past our house!!)

unlike Blue...

we knew right away she was female...
she would like to have relations with Blue...and if you've never been around a female cat who wants male relations...it's not a pretty sound!!! Rather annoying at best!!
She goes in to be rid of her female parts on Wednesday...none-to-soon!!
Poor Blue just looks at us as if to say, in his British voice...Another Cat? Really? And if so...why her?
I know that he will love her once she has calmed that nagging down!!
She is a very good cat. After obviously being in the great outdoors for a while...she is loving being inside. She slepts in the oddest places...and sometimes...just in the middle of the floor.
I'm sorry, I failed to mention her name...
It's Gandolf.
Before the kids and hubby knew her sex...they
decided because of the gray and white...
she was like Gandolf from the Lord of the Rings.
She now goes by Gandie.
GANDOLF when I can't stand her whining anymore.
I will let you know how it goes after Wednesday.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

"We all live under the same sky..
but we don't all have the same
horizon."

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Self

I wish that I had writing skills...sadly I don't...but what I do have is a passion for things that are written well and I can find them and keep in my possession until I feel compelled to share them. I am sorry...this is a bit long...but worth the time to read...especially with a brand new year ahead of us.
Happy New Year!!!
Robin

The following is a commencement address to the graduating class at Villanova University by author Anna Quindlen. It came to me in an email newsletter and I was so moved by its message that I'm passing it on to everyone I possibly can - It's so very appropriate. particularly as we begin a new year.
"It's a great honor for me to be the third member of my family to receive an honorary doctorate from this great university. It's an honor to follow my great-Uncle Jim, who was a gifted physician, and my Uncle Jack, who is a remarkable businessman. Both of them could have told you something important about their professions, about medicine or commerce. I have no specialized field of interest or expertise, which puts me at a disadvantage, talking to you today. I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know.
"Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first. Don't ever forget what a friend once wrote Senator Paul Tsongas when the senator decided not to run for re-election because he'd been diagnosed with cancer: 'No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time in the office.' Don't ever forget the words my father sent me on a postcard last year: 'If you win the rat race, you're still a rat.'"Or what John Lennon wrote before he was gunned down in his driveway of The Dakota: 'Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.
"You walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul. People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is a cold comfort on a winter night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've gotten back the test results and they're not so good.
"Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried to never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh.
"I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cutout. But I call them on the phone, and meet them for lunch. I show up. I listen.I try to laugh."
I would be rotten, or at best mediocre at my job, if those other things were not true. You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are."So here's what I wanted to tell you today: get a life. A real life, not manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast?
"Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in which you stop and watch how a red tailed hawk circles over the water gap, or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger."
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who Love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. "Each time you look at your diploma, remember that you are still a student, learning how to best treasure your connection to others. "Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. Kiss your Mom. Hug your Dad. Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted.

"Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beers and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister.All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good, too, then doing well will never be enough."It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes.It is so easy to take for granted the color of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of living. I learned to live many years ago.
"Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my druthers, it would never have been changed at all.And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all.
I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and to try to give some of it back because I believed in it completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned.
By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field, the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the backyard with the sun on your face.
"Learn to be Happy :-)"And think of life as a terminal illness because if you do you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived. Well, you can learn all those things, out there, if you get a real life, a full life, a professional life,yes, but another life, too, a life of love and laughs and a connection to other human beings. Just keep your eyes and ears open.
"Here you could learn in the classroom. There the classroom is everywhere. The exam comes at the very end. No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time at the office.
"I found one of my best teachers on the boardwalk at Coney Island maybe 15years ago. It was December, and I was doing a story about how the homeless survive in the winter months. He and I sat on the edge of the wooden supports, dangling our feet over the side, and he told me about his schedule, panhandling the boulevard when the summer crowds were gone,sleeping in a church when the temperature went to freezing, hiding from the police amidst the Tilt or Whirl or some other seasonal ride."He told me that most of the time he stayed on the boardwalk, facing the water, just the way we were sitting now even when it got cold and he had to wear his newspapers after he read them. "And I asked him why. Why didn't he go to one of the shelters? Why didn't he check himself into the hospital for a detox? And he just stared out at the ocean and said, 'Look at the view,young lady. Look at the view."

And every day, in some little way, I try to do what he said. I try to look at the view. And that's the last thing I have to tell you today, words of wisdom from a man with not a dime in his pocket, no place to go, nowhere to be.

"Look at the view. You'll never be disappointed."