Art

I've always loved art. Paintings, music, photographs, although I could never get the hands to do what I wanted on canvas. Give me flowers, plantings, trees, soil, and mulch, and I create. Getting my hands in the soil, smelling the fresh earth, moist, loose and I regress to my childhood. My mom shares the love of the soil. She must've showed me her secrets. How wet the soil should be, how much food it'll need, and the colors. The palettes of mother earth, I revel in them.
I share my gardens of sage greens, waving strands of lavender, their stalks of sweet perfume waving in the light breeze. The deep purples and bright greens of the butterfly bush, beckoning the butterflies and bees to come forth. The soft creams of the mums with their deep forest green leaves, waiting til the perfect autumn cool to show their beauty. The deep yellows of sunflowers stretching to the heavens, calling forth the golden yellow goldfinches with their seeds. My coreopsis, a light lavender flower, ever blooming, growing tall near the sea oats grass, lazily swaying in summer winds. I anxiously await the summer rains to soak the soil with their nourishment, allowing the flowers to stand tall with blossoms beckoning back to old, summer days. My palette is brown, sweet, and soft, and my shovels await my work.

Why I fell in love with you

You call me in to your office. You're listening to a new song. It must be special, so I sit and listen to it with you. It's a sweet love song, from a father to a daughter. As the words unfold, I notice that you turn your face away. You start swallowing hard. I notice you wipe an eye. The song sings of a father, leaving a message on his voicemail, in case you call, asking you to hurry home. You get up, and leave, facing away from me. When you return, you sit, quietly, just listening. We sit there in the quiet when the song is done. Your tender face turns to me and says, " tear jerker" then you place your face in your hands, missing the little girl that was, the beautiful, smart woman she's become. I can only hug you, and fall more in love with you at that moment. You are so strong, my rock when I'm weak, and for a brief moment, you show me that you miss her and the little girl she was. Breathe itself, couldn't stop me from loving you more than I do at this moment. Thank you for sharing your life and your love with me.

Exciting new adventures

My oldest daughter finally bit the bullet and opened her own business this past week. How does one describe the pride one feels when the children you've born reach for their dreams? She's always been a dreamer, a creator, an artist. How I wish I could see in my mind's eye what she sees, but I do have the privilege of viewing them to my heart's content, and I'm still amazed at the beauty in it all. Breathtaking beauty. It amazes me that one can see an object that we've all driven by day after day, and just ignored. She'll look at it, look at how the light hits it, see the angles of it, watch the backdrops of it, and then frame it in her head for the perfect shot. Then with pride, she'll send it to me, and I'll just sit there, mouth agape, in pure awe at the creativity of it all. Something that would take an amateur like me hours to frame, seems to come to her instantaneously, and then it's another capture, for us lucky enough to know her, to admire.

How does one describe the pride? Well, this one just smiles, and she knows.

I love mornings

I love the early morning hours. The relaxed feel of just admiring mother earth's beauty. I crave listening to the birds, singing love calls to their mates. The bluebirds flying down from the tree in my front yard, to snatch up a feast for the young they've bore in the bird house out back. The bright yellow of the goldfinches on the feeder near the mailbox.
I stand near the newly planted garden near the front of our house, admiring how we've nurtured lettuces, radishes, herbs, and yes, even flowers, to bring their beauty for all to see. The chives in the pot, with dew on the tips of each small plant, taking in the sun and moisture to produce. The jasmine we planted near the side porch, bearing flower buds, teasing us in wait for it's sweet smells for summer.
The peace in the morning, when most are still asleep, while mother nature spoils us with her beauty. I love mornings.

My youngest daughter and I talked today.

She doesn't live with me, which has grated on me for years. Bad divorce, etc, you know the routine. Anyways, she asked me if I remember a ring. Yanno mom, the one with two hearts. I said yea. She said it had red and blue on it. For some reason, she can't seem to go a day without wearing it now. She said she feels naked without it. Wow, my heart just soared like an eagle. Something so, little, and it means something to her, that she doesn't want to go a day without it. I wish I could do so much more for my beautiful kids, because I just don't know if they know how very much they do for me, every day.

So this is what I live for

I LOVE when termites swarm. I'm so totally weird, but to me, helping someone out with their termite issues, just makes me giddy. People don't realize how very destructive these little devils are, which I guess makes my job a challenge as well as rewarding.

I miss Upstate NY

Or more what it represented. My parents separated when I was 13. My mom, though, never skipped a beat. She worked some ungodly hours, but always found time to do everything with us. I was heavily involved with our high school band. I know, nerd, right. But it was a great outlet me for the not so athletic type. I was always the last to get picked, if you know what I mean. Anyways, being from a military family ( both my parents, uncle and 2nd cousin was in the Marines) if seemed seamless for me to join a marching band. We worked some god awful hours, but thankfully we were close to my school. My mom, though, never failed to be there for all our shows, and eventually, since she was so beautiful, did our makeup for us. I can't think of the words to thank my mom for us being there. I wish I could do the same for my kids ( but that is a whole 'nother post)
My mom also used to take us to Syracuse University to watch the basketball games. We were addicted from the first time we entered the Carrier Dome, to see the Syracuse Orangemen play. I have to say, for a girl, I still love watching them play. She took us religiously, to see them play. I think back now, I know she didn't really have the money, but somehow she found a way to take us.
She also got us SO hooked on skiing, which in NY is a good thing. Since it's snowing most of the year there. So, I exaggerate, but it did snow a lot. Too much, but what else do you do there? Even when she was dog tired from working the graveyard shift, she dragged us to the slopes to ski. What a trooper she was. See, I told you I had an awesome family!