Sunday, March 28, 2010

...3.28.10...

good friends of ours have a son who is graduating this year.
this took me back friday night, to my son's graduation.
three years ago.
never mind three years ago.
what about twenty-one years ago when he was born.
where does this time go.
i was looking back through an album i made for him.
an album that people signed at his open house.
i'm not going to lie...tears rolled down my cheeks.
i have added several "stories" in this album. life lessons if you will.
for him to look back on when the time was right. when he needs to take it in.
one of the "life lessons" is this
i guess i needed to take this in too.
very good words to breathe in. and as i sat out on the deck this morning.
with my cup of coffee, with the coolness of 34 degrees nipping
at my feet covered only with crocs. sitting still in my rocking chair.
breathing in the sound of the car on our old country dead end road.
breathing in the sound of the happy robins,
red wing black birds and the lone cardinal.
i think how wonderful it is that i can just sit here, in stillness.
i will not apologize for spending way to
much time in this simple act of
observing and breathing in my surrounds.
breathing in the memories of the past twenty-one years of him.
breathing in the proud moments of watching her grown into a beautiful young women.
breathing in the moments of an eleven year old who delights me with his wide-eyed innocence.
breathing in the man who has been my best friend for more than twenty-five years.
breathing in the fact that the only thing that matters at this moment is
family, friends and memories.
not all the crap going on the big world.
family, friends and memories.
the sound of the amazon rainforest
playing in the background and blue laying on my lap as i type this.
that is what i am breathing in...
and because i am lucky...
i am not holding my breath...
i am letting
it
out
also.
welcome to coffee hour.
welcome to this Sunday morning.
just BE.
robin.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

...shadowing...

As you sit on the hillside,
or lie prone under the trees of the forest,
or sprawl wet-legged by a mountain stream,
the great door,
that does not look like a door,
opens.
~Stephen Graham

today is
light + objects = shadows
over at HEY HARRIET
join us won't you?
just BE.
robin.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Sunday, March 21, 2010

...3.21.10...

yesterday
snow and deer.
today
big fluffy robe,
back deck,
sunshine,
coffee
and the ferns.
march in michigan.
welcome to coffee hour.
welcome to this Sunday morning.
just BE.
robin.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

...march...

expect nothing...
that way
you
won't
ever
be
disappointed.
light + objects = shadows
we are playing over at
HEY HARRIET
our time of sun
and warm temps
has had a temporary set back
it is, after all, march.
there is a dusting of
snow on the ground
and the whirl of the wood stove,
which has only run at night-
beneath my feet.
one day at a time.
spring is drawing
nearer.
just BE.
robin.

Monday, March 15, 2010

...every now and then...

today...
when it couldn't be more appreciated...
a package came.
it came in the most thoughtful
packaging one could imagine...
a delicate spring floral pouch
housing the most amazing
bracelets i've seen.
each bead and charm
hand picked...
" one of the most special things about making these particular bracelets
was having someone special in mind to make them for... "
"one is a really cute hand (which you can see in one of the photos) with a spiral in it...
because you are an occupational therapist and a photographer...
when i saw this charm it just screamed out at me to choose this...
the hand of a healer and an artist..."
"one is a bird, one is a flower and one is a leaf...
your photography so inspires me for so many reasons...
and we are both connected to one another through our photography
and through so much of what we both love to photograph..."
the words of the artist to me.
the artist, my friend...joanne
because of the world of blogging
we have become friends.
we share a connection...
we haven't met face to face...but we don't have to
we just know each other.
that, to me, is the coolest thing EVER.
she is a talented photographer and mixed media artist
the words escape me on how
blessed i feel to have this
amazing woman
in
my
life.
she is just starting in this space
please stop by and visit her.
before you go to sleep at night,
or whenever you have
a few quiet moments,
summon up one
of the most treasured people
in your life
and mentally express
your thanks to them.
summon up two,
and stage an imaginary dialogue
of beautiful souls.
what better preparation for restful,
contented,
slumbers?
every now and then...
all is good with the world.
good-night.
just BE.
robin.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

...3.14.10...


If
you've
never been thrilled
to the very edges of your soul
by a flower in spring bloom,
maybe your soul
has
never
been
in
bloom.
~Audra Foveo
the snow of last weekend
is completely gone.
just as outside
we will soon
be changing or
winter coat
for
our spring one.
the old is replaced by the new.
it is the circle of life.
welcome to coffee hour.
welcome to this Sunday morning.
just BE.
robin.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

...moments...

the miser who hoards his wealth
but neglects the more important
values of life
is a figure rightly disdained
in folklore and literature.
trying to hold on to the moment
is similarly desperate.
instead appreciate the unfolding wealth
of life as it presents itself to your experience.
the moment passes;
beauty fades;
life follows its eternal cycle of
birth, death and rebirth.
let precious moments pass into memory,
without regret.
and don't spend your life in the memory- vault
fondling the accumulated riches
you've stored there-
search out and welcome fresh moments
instead of reliving stale ones.
1,001 ways to live in the moment
today is a day of
light.
a day of
objects.
a day of
shadows.
you will find more at
enjoying picking out your fresh moment today.
just BE.
robin.

Friday, March 12, 2010

...the smell of rain...

flowers from our good friends the washingtons
The Smell of Rain
A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the Doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon of March 10,1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24 weeks pregnant, to Danae Lu Blessing.
At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. I don't think she's going to make it, he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10 percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one." Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Danae would likely face if she survived. She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on. "No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away.
Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the thinnest thread, Diana slipped in and out of sleep, growing more and more determined that their tiny daughter would live, and live to be a healthy, happy young girl. But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire details of their daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much less healthy, knew he must confront his wife with the inevitable. David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making funeral arrangements. Diana remembers, 'I felt so bad for him because he was doing everything, trying to include me in what was going on, but I just wouldn't listen, I couldn't listen. I said, "No, that is not going to happen, no way! I don't care what the doctors say; Danae is not going to die! One day she will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!"
As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life hour after hour, with the help of every medical machine and marvel her miniature body could endure. But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Danae's under-developed nervous system was essentially raw, the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Danae struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl. There was never a moment when Danae suddenly grew stronger.
But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there. At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later-though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero. Danae went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.
Today, five years later, Danae is a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She shows no signs, what so ever, of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she is everything a little girl can be and more-but that happy ending is far from the end of her story.
One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ballpark where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As always, Danae was chattering non-stop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, Danae asked, "Do you smell that?" Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain." Danae closed her eyes and again asked,"Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet, it smells like rain. Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest." Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to play with the other children.
Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Danae on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.
spring.
healing rain.
just BE.
robin.

Monday, March 8, 2010

...michigan melting...

these are the faces of
sun
and
warm
temperatures...
even if...it's only for today.
just BE.
robin.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

...3.7.10...

kiel's 21st birthday...
enjoyed dinner and movie night together

It was one of those March days
when the sun shines
hot and the wind blows cold:
when it is summer in the light,
and winter in the shade.
~Charles Dickens
the country road
is brown...
no longer
white.
there is
green emerging
around the house.
the sky
takes on a
different blue.
i
see
color
again.
spring is
finding it's
way.
one
day
at
a
time.
welcome to coffee hour.
welcome to this Sunday morning.
just BE.
robin.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

...play...

i pray you...
your play needs no excuse.
never excuse.
~william shakespeare
"play is the exultation of the possible"
martin buber
love that!!
no excuses today.
never excuses when
i have my camera.
we have been blessed
with sunshine all week!!
it has been simply divine.
light + objects = shadows
head to HEY HARRIET
no excuses!!
just BE.
robin.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

...i'm so over it...

nah-na na-nah,
nah-na na-nah...
hey, hey, hey
good-bye...
parting
is
such
sweet
sorrow.
looking forward
to another
day of melting
tomorrow.
just BE.
robin.