anticipation

for me, this autumn brings more than just an anticipation of harvesting and crisp weather and holidays and falling leaves and first frost. i leave for asia next week and will be gone until february...

i feel the anticipation of that big unknown clenched inside me. nervous excitement. somehow that seems to make the known even dearer to me this season. pressing fallen leaves, sweaters worn all day long, hugging my brother, apple picking, misty mornings, leaf piles, sleeping outdoors, big mugs of hot tea...

spring skin

through my camera lens...

spring
is so wonderful and perfect.



i always have this toss up with spring and autumn as to which one is my favorite season. it seems whenever one is happening, i always think, now this is my favorite season, but then the other one comes along, and i think, no, this is my favorite.
and although i think i've decided on autumn as my absolute favorite, spring is a close second, and today, especially, is a day to win anyone over. it's a balmy 59 degrees this morning, with a slight breeze, sending the smell of new lilac buds my way.
sun streams onto the porch where i'm sitting.



i woke up early this morning to help gell and spray my brother's hair into a mohawk for "Decades Day" at his school (he decided on the 80s, with his purple skinny jeans, a small, tight t-shirt, miss-match converse all stars, chain necklace, and mohawk). since i don't have work or class until tonight, i got to slip back in bed for a while longer, and then meander downstairs hours after he left for school. i have the house to myself this morning, and it was grapes and toasted almonds for breakfast (in my opinion, grapes basically make the world go round). i'm out on the front porch now. i've spread a blanket on the chipped bue-paint floor, and a compilation of homework, journaling and collaging materials, grape stems, and paints are my company. an art picnic all to myself!


the beginnings of a journal entry...

on another note, i soaked some deliciously dark black beans last night, and am now trying to decide what to make with them. black bean soup? tangerine and black bean salad? black bean chili? or, i could even make black bean brownies!
any other yummy black bean recipe ideas?

International Women's Day!

so, this coming monday the 8th is international women's day!

how shall we celebrate?

slushy people-watching

#1 must-have for today: sigur ros

listen and enjoy.

so, unlike many, we didn't lose our power in last nights big rain and wind storm. lots of houses in town did, but not us! mostly i'm thankful although i have to admit that a part of me feels left out of the excitement. no flashlights, candles, and creeping darkness. i have to get the excitement second-hand from my sister (her whole university lost power!)...
i did have to drive in the storm last night after class. it was a very long 30 minutes of heavy rain and hydroplaning. yikes! when i got home, i lit candles in my room anyway, and huddled under my blankets to listen to the wind and rain. safe and sound. this morning my computer is happily plugged in, and i have all the water i need. i am so fortunate.

i did see the affects of the storm on my morning walk. one of my favorite pass-times is galumphing in and around the cemetary that lies behind my house. this morning was quite the tromp. broken branches and whole trees littered the ankle-deep snow and slush. it was beautifully bright and clean, though, and i was reminded of spring by the birds and the constant drip-dripping of melting snow and ice...

* * *

* * *

true confession: i spy on my neighbors.

not in a creepy way, but i have such a nice, overhead view from my room's window, and sometimes when i'm sitting on my bed i can't help but glance out. the duplex next door is home to the two most adorable kids. today they were shoveling mud puddles and slush in their driveway. a huge shovel in hand, the one went after a puddle prepared to conquer. he would plant the shovel in front of him and as if it were a shopping cart, push the water forward and back, mearly sloshing more snow into the puddle. and that's what makes him happy! i know i just love the satisfactory splash of stepping into a pile of slushy, sloshy melted snow. even the word *slush* has such a satisfying quality to it, don't you think?

i want to allot more time for people-watching in my life. after feeding myself well on literature for the past week, with: anne tyler's a patchwork planet, j.d. salinger's 9 short stories, and a spattering of o'henry, i realize how important and intriguing people's idiosyncrasies are, and i want to be someone who can captured them in writing and art...

drip drip drip

exploring the sky through a thorn branch


Lorsque on ne s'efforce pas d' exprimer l' inexprimable, alors rien ne se perd et l' inexprimable est contenu inexprimablement dans ce qui est exprime. * -L. Wittgenstein

*When one does not force himself to express the inexpressible, nothing is lost and the inexpressible is contained inexpressibly in that which is expressed.

testing the water

sharing.

i want to do more of it. i love when others share with me, and i'm hoping that this will be a way for me to share bits of myself.