It takes courage

to grow up

and become

who you really are.

~e.e. cummings

I love these crazy shoes and I just can't quit wearing them. I'm not usually a shoe gal. Around my neighborhood waders and flip flops are more the norm...but,,, these soft sneakers I can just slide into. As I walk around the Bay color seems to pop out at every step, making everything seem magical!Even though most of the worlds colts foot has bloomed and gone away, I am still lucky to have pockets of color along the rocky shore.Everything just seems more brilliant and beautiful when the sun is shining.Even old boat propellers have great texture and amazing color...what fun I'm having walking in my magic shoes......

Every once in a while,

a girl has to

indulge herself.

~ Sarah Jessica Parker

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What the caterpillar calls

the end of the world,

the master calls

a butterfly.

~Richard Bach

Worms are aware that size matters.

It's worm's weekend out and time to visit Mr. Inchworm. Time to visit Ms. Bookworm.

For all my neighbors who see M & I taking pictures of worms check out this:

This is for a really fun Flickr group called Worms-eye view Sunday:
www.flickr.com/groups/worms-eye_view/

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"The air up there in the clouds

is very pure and fine,

bracing and delicious.

And why shouldn't it be?

It is the same the angels breathe."

~ Mark Twain

There are so many birds where I live. This is the special time of year when the permanent residents and the migrators alike come together to reap the bounty of minnows and bugs that reside at the waters edge. The birds that most captivate me during these early spring weeks are the ones that I can-not easily observe. They fly by at lightning speed using impossible angles to evade both myself and my lens. Upward they spiral seeming bent for heaven.

My soul is in the sky.

~ William Shakespeare

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We try to grab pieces of our lives

as they speed past us.

Photographs freeze those pieces

and help us remember

how we were.

~ G. McSweeney

I really liked the quote because life does seem to go so fast. Taking a photo makes me slow down and think about what I'm looking at, even now with digital cameras I really try to look carefully before I press the button...sometimes I miss the shot but capture the memory and maybe that is what's most important!

You don't take a photograph.

You ask,

quietly,

to borrow it.

~Author Unknown

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If you are seeking creative ideas,

go out walking.

Angels whisper to a woman

when she goes for a walk.

~R. Immon I love to walk not necessarily for the exercise but to slow down the pace of my world. Some days it's like a moving meditation on the long walk to the mailbox. I try to count how many different birds I hear and learn their sounds which differ throughout the day. I can never stop looking at sunlight and the games it plays reflecting on the water.

Walking improves my concentration, quiets my breathing and lets me concentrate on the beauty of nature down to the simplest things.

But most of all I love walking with M. When we find our rhythm and match our strides everything becomes clear and the joy of simple pleasures shared unfolds step by step....

In every walk with nature

one receives far more

than he seeks.

~John Muir

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Your wings already exist.

All you have to do is fly.

~Unknown

I love this time of day, it feels magical. As a stillness starts to fall over the bay, most of the birds have gone home to roost, but there are still a few wayward geese that are traveling high on the wind currents trying to get home..... the boats are all moored up safely and the neighborhood is quieting. The colors on the bay after the sun sets hold mystery over the night to come. I feel at peace and happy to have spent another beautiful day shared with M.....

Nothing happens unless we dream ~ Carl Sandburg

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**We are all worms,**

but I do believe I am

a glowworm.

~Winston Churchill

Worms ... what the heck is this about?

Worms-eye view (Sundays)....well if you aren't familiar with the web site flickr you are in for a treat, it has been a great inspiration to me, I have had so many people make kind comments on my photography and I have been able to travel the world by looking at other photographers work...my own photos have gotten better by studying great photos and the associated commentary....over all it has been a great experience being part of this website...and back to worms eye view...well what do you think a worm would see....

I have to tell you worms are not my favorite thing and it was hard to come up with a concept for this project...but my husband to the rescue in true boy fashion he had all kinds of great ideas of how a worm see the world....hmmmm, should I worry about this?

Finding a worm in your apple

is not so bad as finding only

half a worm.

~unknown

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Once an artist gets it in his mind

that it's a blooming adventure,

then, and only then,

everything falls into place

and starts to work.

~ J. Blodgett

This morning the sunlight is streaming into my studio windows. It's been way too long since I've taken the time to get out my paints and have some fun. So, today, with no project in mind, I'm going to get out my favorite paper and treat myself to just playing with color!

Adventure isn't hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life.

~ John Amatt

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What is the use of a house

if you haven't got

a tolerable planet

to put it on?

~ Thoreau

It's not my choice to get political. I'm not really an activist or a radical. Sometimes life forces one toward a certain direction. If You follow my blog, you know I'm an explorer. One of my greatest joys is the exploration of my immediate environment. I can't wait for the spring thaw to walk the wooded beaches and discover hidden treasures.

On a short walk, there it is in the water. It's only a piece of ancient rusted metal, but I see the letter H in the water. I plot my new ploy to find all of the letters of the alphabet, and I am happy. Further down, I spy an old Minnow bucket. I can hear it's story, and see the big one that got away on the day that it was lost. Then, to my delight and trepidation, I see that we have a beaver in the neighborhood again this year. The trepidation comes with slight amusement. Two years ago, M spent $90 and planted a glorious big yellow willow on the beach. That night, Mr. Beaver had the time of his life enjoying every bite of it. We left the stump, and it is becoming a bush. Thinking only good thoughts, I see a cache of plastic bottles. Saddened by the site, I can't help but marvel how the wind and waves have sorted them into a collection. Then I discover the ultimate Irony. A tire thrown into the lake many years ago by some uncaring jerk, has at least had the dignity to form it's own collection of garbage. No matter how hard we try to make a mess, nature works against us to turn our junk into something harmonious and beautiful.

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Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!

Live the life you've imagined.

As you simplify your life,

the laws of the universe will be simpler.

~ Henry David Thoreau

Now all of the waiting of winter is over. Everything is suddenly busy and moving fast.

It's tax time and cleaning time and appointment time. I wonder now about finding time to simply wonder. If You're like me and you love your family and taking photos and drawing and art and food and swimming and kayaking, and well,,,, life, then you know there's that special time for each one of these things.

For me, this means I have to focus on the things that really feed my soul. I have chosen to make my world a little smaller, so that it can be a world that keeps me safe and makes me happy. It just takes some small changes like watching less TV, listening to more music, reading, and trying to find happy things that offer some balance to all of the bad things that are on the news or in the minds of cynical people.

I recently thought of Thoreau, and his tiny little cabin on Walden pond. Years ago I decided to make it a pilgrimage. When I arrived I tried to see the giant world in the woods that he had relished in 1845. I was so disappointed. I saw that the actual pond was small, and that the area was so developed, which has been an ongoing battle in Massachusetts for the last 150 years. Now that I am older and more experienced, I choose to believe that given the chance, Henry David could live there again. Even though there are condos and fast food joints in the background, He would still marvel at the savage battle of the red and black ants, the rustling of the leaves in the trees, and the vigorous renewal of spring. The wondrous things that filled his world have not changed.

I certainly don't choose to be a hermit, nor did Thoreau. On the other hand, he clearly understood what I now know. There is a time to narrow and soften your focus to see your own world and clearly understand it. It's my choice to get back to the place where there is time for everything.