Summer Solstice

The time the sun moves into Cancer, is the all-out celebration of the sun, of long days and warm evenings and of life out-of-doors. This is the time of the "longest day." when we, in contrast to the Winter Solstice, honor the light and focus on outward activity with picnics, fireworks and other festivities. This is the ancient time of celebration of outward joy in the fullness of life, and the richness of our blessings. -Danaan Parry

Listening to Divine Love from Vision - The Music of Hildegard von Bingen as I remember this past week. No need to remind me that summer is here in full force. On one of my early morning walks as I tried to beat the heat, I observed the glint of gold on dragonflies by the lake as fuzzy ducklings paddled quickly to keep up with their mother. Two little birds perched on a tall reed which bent in an arc from their weight. They blended in with their background, the green algae around the edge of the water. A painter sat in the shade of a large tree trying to capture the beauty of the morning lake with the snow capped mountains in the background. Ah, if I'd only brought my camera. Summer is here in all its glory.

Busy

It's been an incredibly busy week with orders to process and new projects in the works. I'm also trying to get caught up before next weekend when we head out-of-town again for a Nephew's wedding in Omaha and a visit to Carl's family in Michigan. So I've sort of put my photo printing project on hold for the time being. I feel hopeful though, since the new print cartridge seemed to work. In the future, I'll have to change the ink cartridge before the printer actually gives the "empty message."

A Rose

I stopped by my friend Vicki's house today to photograph her roses. This one in particular was a surprise. Not only was it a beautiful rose, but a vessel for holding water. We had a rainstorm last night and if you look closely, you can see the water standing inside the petals. I love nature's surprises.

Freedom

A couple days ago I put the top down in my lil' baby car to run early morning errands. As the wind blew through my hair and warm Colorado sunshine beat down on me, I received a rush of memories of my first spring here in Colorado and the incredible freedom I felt at having had the courage to make my move here in 2000 -- all alone and scared to death, but I did it! What a rush!! And then I remembered a couple summers ago when my friend Irene was with me driving down from Mount Evens into Evergreen. She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and said, "Let's just keep driving on forever!" In that moment I knew she understood. Cars have always been like that for me -- my freedom. As a teenager, I could escape my family and just drive wherever I wanted and no one had to know where I went. The tunes on my radio were all I needed for company. I've always loved road trips too, even by myself. There's something about being in a car and I feel free as a bird!

That same morning, I walked in a park in the suburbs that I hadn't visited since winter when it was a huge open field of brown with a small lake and a path around it. This time it had been transformed into beautiful spring meadow with blue and yellow wild flowers. The lake was almost hidden with tall rushes and trees. It was filled with water birds and ducks. A white egret stood by the shore fishing. As I walked I got a whiff of pine needles in the underbrush that took me back to my summers as a teenager and freedom at my summer camp in the woods. And just then, synchronistically, my music player played Suzanne by Leonard Cohen, a song I learned from a friend at camp when I was 14 and spent hours learning to sing and play it on my guitar. I was flooded with memories and feelings from my life.

What a gift this day had been. A reminder of all the experiences that have brought me to this place where I am today and gratitude for the freedom I have to live in this beautiful place and this incredible life!

Nothing

Back in the studio life is routine again. Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians from the album Shooting Rubber Bands at the Stars, sing Nothing on my music player. She sings, "Are you in a bad mood?" Of course my answer is "no, not exactly" but when she continues "there's nothing I hate more than nothing. I think, "that's it!" Feels like a whole lot of "nothing" is happening right now. My days are pretty much the same and that's okay. But not exciting. So, this week I give myself the challenge to design something new -- do something different. Maybe even step outside the box. Hum - I wonder what that will be?

Peonies in my Garden

We returned home this week and were greeted with the tallest weeds and biggest plants ever seen in our garden to date. Do I work in my studio or work in my garden? Every day it's a struggle. Mostly in the mornings when it's coolest, my garden wins. I almost missed my Peonies on the terraced hill. They were hidden behind three-feet high plants. What a shame when they are so short-lived. Due to an unusally wet spring, we are enjoying green and lush growth. I'll delight in these moments in my spring garden as the hot dry summer is not far away!