Life on the Bay: January 2011

A bird doesn't sing

because it has an answer,

it sings because

it has a song.

~ Maya Angelou

On one of the coldest, greyest days of winter, You can be surprised. M& I were out for a ride and were almost back home when I spotted something in a Bush by our house. There they were, a large flock of big fat Robins flying in and out of a Firethorn bush. I had read that they will sometimes do this and actually get drunk if the berries are fermented, and that is exactly what we had going on here. They were flying erratically and wildly gulping down the Berries. Some of them blended against the brick house in the background and reminded me of a Japanese silk painting while other were intent to strip the bush clean. Their bellies were engorged with the feast and they soon forgot that I was there. To me, it's amazing enough to spot a Robin in January but what fun watching them feast. In a couple of months, I will see them building their nests.

I can't wait for Spring.

Time is swift, it races by; Opportunities are born and die... Still you wait and will not try...A bird with wings who dares not rise and fly.

~ A.A. Milne

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Art is the window to man's soul.

Without it,

he would never be able to see beyond

his immediate world;

nor could the world see the man within.

~ Lady Bird Johnson

I'm so lucky to have this beautiful studio space in my home. I'm going to spend some time there because today is the first day of an online art class I'm taking with Misty Mawn. She is one of my Muses. Actually, I would call her my "art hero" because her ability to inspire so many people to do art is beautiful in itself. M & I spent Sunday making this snow sculpture instead of going to the gym. M is amazing. He was able to layout free-hand the entire piece which extends about 100 feet in front of our house. I think the work is only going to be seen by Aliens or Airplanes. I love following another favorite artist that works in all natural materials and was the inspiration for this snow painting. She is an artist named Whitney Krueger . Check out her work. She always makes me feel like I was transported to a very special place on Earth.....Well,,,,I gotta go it's starting to Snow.

hmmm.... what can we create now?

Go out and play in the snow today.

All the windows of my heart

I open to the day.

~ J. Whittier

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Have you ever watched a rose

as it fades away;

the color becomes deeper

as the petals dry.

That's how my love for you deepens

as the days go by.
~Unknown

Our little garden by the creek that flows into the bay holds treasures if you take the time to look. I love how even in the bitter cold the rose bush holds onto some of the late blossoms so you can dream about spring.....

Nature has undoubtedly mastered the art of winter gardening and even the most experienced gardener can learn from the unrestrained beauty around them.
~ Vincent A. Simeone

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Those who wish

to sing....

always

find a Song.

~ Swedish Proverb

It is a cold grey day on the edge of the bay,,,, finding something to sing about must be hard for the poor birds that winter over here. But, I just have to look around my home and something always brings a smile to my face. Stay warm everyone and put some food in your bird feeders today!

Use the talents you possess,

for the woods would be a very silent place

if no birds sang except for the best.
~ Henry Van Dyke

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You are never too old

to set another goal

or to dream

a new dream.
~ C. S. Lewis

It's beginning to really feel like the holidays have ended. My little guy Weasley has put away his Christmas outfit

and the cookies on the counter have been replaced with fruits and vegetables.

I still have my lights up and pretty things on the table and I'm not going to give it up just yet. There is a lot of debate about when one takes down their Christmas decorations but religion and politics will have to wait until the end of the month to see my lights come down.

We are better throughout the year

for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.
~Laura Ingalls Wilder

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Change

is the law

of life.

~ J.F.K.

I was tempted to call the day moody.

Then I got scared that the entire new year would be moody so I chose to call it wild, exciting, and ever-changing. The sky was either beautiful blue or menacing black-gray. The wind blew in hard from the southwest and the ice began to crack. M & I took a drive to the peninsula to see the results as the bay was opening fast. The ice was crushed and heaving on the North shore of the bay.

In places it looked like you had thrown a million sheets of plate glass down and then crushed them against one another. The Lakeshore was blown clean down to the sand and was a virtual desert. If it was warmer you could imagine being in the Sahara in a sandstorm. The weather was changing so quickly that the view in the rear-view mirror was a whole different day than what we saw out front. When we got back home, the iceboats jumped into a pool of sunshine, only to be devoured moments later by a huge storm wall that ran perfectly parallel to the Shoreline. Well,,,,, my camera is ready and I'm back. I hope 2011 is wild, exciting, and ever-changing!