spring in the unmanicured yard

the afterbirth left at my door

the profusion of soft, butter-yellow

the mystery twig of 3 years

 that finally revealed its identity.

Be softly reborn.

 

Reveal your inner beauty,

right where you are. 

Your time has arrived.

52 Photos Project~ in locomotion on the north sea

private train to the German hallig (island) of 

Nordstrandischmoor

no cash is exchanged for the ride over the sea.

you pay the driver with liquor.

view of the tiny tracks from the alfresco seating.

you have arrived.

the main attraction.

there is 1 small restaurant. northern German cuisine.

take it or leave it.

there is a movie theater.

there is a school.

 for all 3 students.

with a human population of 27,

there are more sheep on Nordstrandischmoor than people.

For Bella~ locomotion

Carry Me Onward

mangrove tunnel

kayaking in mangrove

so many wildlife sightings, of late

busy, busy, busy with flowers

finding the beauty in the tangle

Where to even begin? Here in the middle of May, my year has been very full. Aside from my busier-than-ever full time job, I have spent the lion's share of my time facilitating the first run of my online course about finding and honoring 3 levels of home. The months of preparation and the actual 8 weeks of the course lifted my soul above the fray in ways I can barely describe. All the participants were magnificent. Since the end, I am changed and contemplative. I am empty and full. I sit in silence a lot.

I am at home with myself like I have never been before. But growth is eternal, so new ways and ideas of home are evolving daily. Nature has always played an important role in the quality of my life and the balance of my psyche, yet suddenly the importance has accelerated. I am keeping a nature journal again and its pages are filling up rapidly. It has become the map to carry me onward. 

In the midst of all this, I went on a whirlwind trip to Florida to swim with the wild manatees (I did, indeed, stroke one full length under water), kayak among mangroves and play with abandon with my beloved cousin. And my Mother was dismissed from oncology care. She is now in the long-term care of the wonderful people from hospice. We are fully into the next phase of her journey with cancer and it is now all about comfort and love. Tears of sorrow and tears of healing are flowing. Hope and acute gratitude rule each day.

A part of me wants to stop everything and just sit under a tree with tea and the cacophony of birds. I need to digest and integrate these past monumental months. I will have to do this in snippets because heart-felt duty and rivers of ideas keep coming on. There is another online course begging for life in my brain and more magazine issues have been requested.  My Mother takes priority now, but there is magic moving in from the periphery, as well.

I am letting the birds and the flowers and the foxes carry me onward.

motherly advice

at last, because it hasn't been at first, we must learn to mother ourselves.

The Parrot Tulip

 

flowers are the breath of my soul.

bird watching

There has been and still is so much going on.

But I have no words to tell you.

They just won't come.

All I can do is wait.

Until they do.

Meanwhile, I'm bird watching...

Herons

Red Tail Hawks

Falcons

 Eagles/MN

52 Photos Project~let the sun shine in

Vitamin D, blue skies and apple blossoms.

Bliss of a heavenly degree.

~For Bella~

The Call

Have you felt it? Heard it in your head? Are you in the process of ignoring it or have you the courage to submit to the call? The call, you see, is this~ we are meant to come together to help each other and serve each other as a means to save this planet from ruin. And to save our very own souls.

Service to this planet and service to humanity is the end all and be all of our existence. It is becoming critical that we set aside the self-absorption, the inertia, the texting while driving and walking and pushing a grocery cart through the aisles. (Look up, I say. You're missing the real happenings of the world!) The time is coming and in many ways is actually here, when we will need each other more than we thought we ever would. For everything. 

But to be available to each other for help and understanding, to reverse our ill affects on Mother Earth, we must first get our own shit together. Get. Our. Own. Shit. Together. If you're in the process, keep going. If you have yet to start, get on it. You know what you have to do. Feed yourself better. Stop over caffeinating. Move your body. Turn off the computer and go to bed. Treat yourself with respect. Miraculous help appears when you decide to treat yourself like you matter.

We each have a talent, an ability, a something that will be an important puzzle piece to the whole~ a whole that is needed to keep this world glued together. Be kind to yourself and get ready. Your service will be put on call. Share it when the opportunity lands at your feet. Your effort will be more important than you know. And I guarantee you, reciprocity will come.

All of our efforts combined will save us from the cumulative affects of our previous, unthinking ways. Together is the way to reverse our fortunes and live on this planet wholly. Serve your own needs, then serve the needs of others. Find the people and causes you resonate with and come together to make a difference.

The call is going out. The time is now. Your heart will lead the way.

52 Photos Project~the beauty outside my door

The cherry blossoms came 5 weeks early this year.

And then the temperatures dropped.

It was too cold for the bees.

Bees make the difference in so many things we eat.

Without them, we are lost.

Like the cherry crop that will be less than it's ever been,

come July.

Of beauty and the bee~ for Bella

Rebirth

spring beauty, risen again

And just like that, the message came. It was 11pm, an ungodly late hour for me. But laundry had been forgotten and down to the basement I went. Turn on the light, open the door and whoosh, there he was.

The little brown bat.

Flying in circles, flying in circles, deftly missing me in his passing.

If you know me at all, you know there is no panic in the presence of a bat. My only immediate concern was to open the doors and point the way out. He kept flying in circles. Flying in circles.

Until he flew into the little cubby-room to the south and stayed. I retrieved the laundry, wished him well and closed the door. He found his way in, he'd have to find his way out.

But the bat, the unmistakable bat, is the Native American symbol for rebirth. Preceded by the Shaman's death~ the extensive letting go of the outmoded life, where the initiate would dig themselves a grave and spend the night in the ground, surviving their deepest fears. I could not deny that it had been just me and him at night below ground. So, what else is there to do but open to the ways of rebirth?

I admit, there have been moments of cathartic release since the bat flew into my life. And there was the red squirrel, also little, freshly run over as I drove down the road. I saw it in death-throe convulsions and plucked it off the tar to die in my hands. The little red angers within me bleeding out through the squirrel and laid to rest on the side of the road. Get back in the car. Keep going.

Do not resist the rebirth. Keep going.

There are shudders in the premature grave. New breath brings new life and the rising will come.

The rising will come.

The little brown bat has said so.

The Unexpected

Canada geese in a cow pasture

Tundra swans stopping over at the swamps

Crushed beaver on the side of the road

In the bustle of my days, amid the angst over illness and the demands of the job, I am making room for the unexpected to arrive. Whether it arrives in the field or the other side of my door, I have decided to welcome it with a wide open heart. Miracles are calling my name.

It began, again, with the whisper to carry my camera where ever I go. I had forgotten in the tumult of the bustle. So, when the notion to suddenly drive to the swamps took hold, I was ready.

The reward was swift.

Hundreds of Canada geese honked and wallowed in the cow puddles overflowing with spring rain. I pulled over, camera in hand, and let their raucous chorus vibrate my soul. Then, further on, the jackpot. The unexpected of very large proportion. A pool at the swamps with small, floating icebergs that turned into tundra swans as I approached. There were more than 100. It was a life-list moment.

The moment expanded when 2 women of serious birding pedigree pulled up and walked over to me with their high-powered, tripod scope. They insisted I get a better view. Instantly, I was floating on the cold-water surface counting feathers on the napes of gracefully bent necks.

And there beavers, 5 alive, swimming here and there with last year's swamp grass in their mouths. The crushed one on the side of the road, the one who didn't make the dash from pool to pool, allowed for another unexpected surprise of my first up close view of the spectacular, handy-man's tail and webbed mammal feet.

I am making room for the unexpected to arrive.

I am keeping things cleaner at home. (One never knows when opportunity and love might come to call.) I am lipstick and cash on the way out the door. I am camera and tea in my handbag. I am mornings in silence, listening for the miracle nudge. I am arms wide spread like the wings of a swan, welcoming and ready for flight.

52 Photos Project~what makes me laugh

Lambs make me laugh. 

For Bella!

Techni~Color Bloom

I am completely immersed in my Home Edition course,

to the unfortunate neglect of this space.

I am being changed in ways I cannot yet articulate,

but the changes are good and needful.

 Fresh.

Long overdue.

Right on time.

And through the navigation of this course

my soul is indeed finding its techni-color bloom.

KONY 2012. Watch this. Do something.

Firsts on the Second

March 2nd~

It began with the first sighting of a redwing blackbird for the year. The first robin came swooshing over the road in front of my car. Then, the first high-altitude Canada geese came soaring through, one ragged V at a time.

There is early movement in the bird nation. Things are looking up.

After work, the tank running low and the prices running high, warranted a stop at the Indian Reservation (the Rez). It's my usual stop with it's twenty-five-cents-cheaper-per-gallon appeal. I'm greeted with not one, but two calls of "darling" by the young attendant in a greasy grey hoodie. His dog, a chopped-tail boxer with tiger-like stripes runs from car to car extending greetings of his own. Forty should do it, thank you. And the pump starts spewing.

The man in the car on the other side of the spare island, window down like mine, looks at me and says hey do I know you? No, you don't. Why are you smiling? I like to smile. That's real nice. Hey, do you wanna make love to me? No, not today. (Still smiling.) With that, the pump clicks off and the greasy grey hoodie takes the cash through my window, calling me "honey" and waving good bye.

The forecast of firsts on the second says, it's going to be a good spring.

And So The Soul Does Bloom

I have worked on this little pocket of a dream every day since sometime in November. The process has been a joy and a saving grace. I have listened within, I have enlisted help. I have notebooks of long-hand writing and amateur videos packed with good-to-know things.  There is order and there is non-order, there is space for flow and serendipity. There are friends joining me~ some new, some not~ each bringing distinct wisdom to the collective whole, each on a journey to find the deeper meaning of home.

We will explore breath and posture, nourishment, color as a life-changing tool, the gift of flowers and floral design, alternative use for space in the home, poetry, small space and organic gardening, the wonders of top-shelf tea, cleansing the home with feng shui and the healing power of trees. We will share our secrets for balance of body, dwelling and earth. We will befriend and support our companions on this journey to home.

Please join us, if it interests you. There is so much to learn and to share. The journey begins online this Saturday, February 25th and continues through April 5th. An in-person gathering of Souls In Bloom will commence on March 24th in Buffalo, NY for any that can attend. 

Registration is open through February 24th.

For the full description go Here.

52 Photos Project~what i've been photographing

Botanicals and me~ washed in colors after dark.

Blue bonsai

Green glass

The Buffalo Botanical Gardens

For Bella

Of Tuning Forks and Souls In Bloom

I ask you, who doesn't need a brain balancing and relief from stress? Come join us for The Soul In Bloom~ Home Edition online course and retreat, and Janice Meier~ friend, homeopathic healer and magician with rainbow colored tuning forks~ will help improve the function of your brain while steeping you in the stunning sounds of tuning fork vibration. Janice will be center stage with her loaded apron and magical forks the morning of the retreat on Saturday, March 24th here in Buffalo, NY. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that Janice can right some serious wrongs with her knowledge and instinctual gifts for healing the body. And she has a passion for healing with sound.

If you've never had the privilege of being immersed in pure sound and feeling your cells vibrate anew, come join us. It will be an experience you won't forget.

The online course begins February 25th and runs through April 5th. The 1 day retreat, with Janice and her forks, David and his encyclopedic knowledge of organic gardening and tea tasting with Bellocq, is March 24th.

To learn more, go HERE.

To sign up for the course and the retreat,
 or just the course, go HERE.

You can register right up until Friday, February 24th at Noon, eastern time.

Questions? the soul in bloom at gmail dot com

52 Photos Project~red/heart

{Red velvet cupcake from my Mother.}

There is no such thing as the day after Valentine's Day for me.

Because the purpose of every day is to love.

Even if I am able to love just a little on some days,

it counts as a day well spent.

For Bella

she is a student of the body

{photos courtesy of christine}

This is Christine Claire Reed. She is a way-shower and a woman of courage. She is a student of the body. She is dancer and yogini. She is new entrepreneur. She is Blisschick and Girl On Fire. She is my friend.

Christine is very busy these days creating a haven of truth and bliss for the women of Erie, Pennsylvania. She has opened a studio for adoration of the mind and body in  the form of dance, movement and interpretive yoga. Yet, in her busy life, she is making time to join me in The Soul In Bloom~ Home Edition, both as an online instructor and a participant in the 1 day retreat in Buffalo, NY. Christine will be assisting those of us on this journey-to-home to be more mindful and aware of our bodies. She is going to teach us of posture and breath; 2 things we rarely give thought to, but greatly affect the quality of our days.

Come join us for 6 weeks beginning February 25th. Come learn from Christine's astute attention to the needs of the body. Come meet her at the retreat on March 24th. She'll be the one with wisdom in her eyes and a pink tutu around her hips.

To learn more, go HERE.

To register, go HERE. There are only 13 days left to sign up to join us on the journey to home!

of bluebirds and five dollars

You can't convince me it isn't great to live next door to the country. A brief jaunt beyond the limits of Mayberry and heart-stopping charm can be found on the side of the road.

Like handmade bluebird houses for five dollars. Seriously, five dollars. With pencil marks of the craftsman still visible for lining up the hinges of the front panel. It swings open, you see, for easy cleaning. Throw in the marketing genius of the hand-lettered sign and rusted radio flyer wagon for display, and you'll have me digging to the bottom of my purse for that five.

But the cup with the green lid and the good-sized rock inside? The cash register? I couldn't get it open to save my life. So, I had to dig out a little white bag from that same purse to put the five dollars in, and stuff the bag down into the wagon. I put the cup with the rock in it on top, for good measure. I hope when the wagon was pulled in for the night the bag was still there.

The bluebird house isn't even for me. I bought it for some one else. And if you think you need one, too, I'll be happy to drive back beyond the limits of town and pick up more heart-stopping charm.

I wonder, if they'd sell me the sign.

52 Photos Project~the love letter

When my Mother first began her cancer treatment

3 1/2 years ago, I wrote her a love letter.

She has carried a copy of this letter

in her purse every day since.

For Bella and her Valentine edition of

52 Photos Project~ the love letter.

I brought pink tulips, Beloved, to distract you. To ease the cold and tingles of the clear, poison drip. I brought them, Beloved, for myself as well. To stare at during moments when biting the side of my tongue would not be enough to stave off tears. I brought pink tulips to remind us of spring and rebirth and hope and love. To remind us that, amid the painful needle sticks, the beeping, the constant motion outside your cubicle, the full house of patients enduring their own poisonous drips, there is great beauty waiting to be embraced. Within and without.

Cancer is a funny thing, isn't it Beloved? What threatens to tear us apart is also the gorilla glue that makes our hearts inseparable. What makes a body weak gives strength not seen before. Cancer offers up courage and comedy. It reduces walls to rubble. It offers the soul redemption. Its dark pathway shimmers with opportunities for light. It's a funny thing. It's a blessing. Yes. A blessing.

3 weeks from now, Beloved, the tulips will be red. They, too, will remind us of strength and beauty within and without. 7 years and 3 weeks from now, the tulips I bring will be yellow. They will remind us of the light on the path, the love on the path that led us out of darkness.

of nourishment and the soul in bloom

the lovely Kasia Blue

We stat at my kitchen table, the lovely Kasia and me, and we chatted about food. Not about how much we love cheese (that conversation could last for days), but about what to eat and what not to. I am still in the process of figuring out how to eat for my overall betterment and Kasia has had answers for me when no one else I knew did. My better decisions with food have come from things she has taught me. Her medicinal chemist's brain and her way of getting to the point turned the tables for me last year. I make better choices (pay no attention to the chocolate cake in my fridge) and feel better because of them.

So, it was a needful choice that I asked Kasia to join me in my online course to help in honoring the body as our first home. Good food = a happier life, she says. And she's right. We made a video of our kitchen table chat and yet again, I learned more about making smart choices. The video is part of week 1 of the course.

This is why I am creating a course about honoring the home~ because, I, more than most need to find my way there. In the process of pulling the ideas and activities and the brilliant minds of my instructors together, I am learning volumes of what it is to be at peace with myself and settle into my home(s) at last. This evolving creation is among the greatest gifts I have given myself. 

I would be honored to share it with you. Come learn with me. Ask Kasia questions about the chemical reactions happening inside your body and understand how food is a sacred component of a happier life. Come meet her at the 1 day retreat. Come join the down-to-earth community forming for the 6 week journey to home.

What~ The Soul In Bloom~ home edition: online course and retreat.

When~ February 25th, 2012 through April 5th, 2012, with a 1 day retreat March 24th in Buffalo, NY.

Why~ To honor the 3 levels of HOME: body as1st home, dwelling as 2nd, earth as 3rd.

How much~ Only $65 for the online portion, and $95 if you'd like to join the retreat, as well.

To read all about it go HERE.

To sign up go HERE.

in its deepest essence

perhaps everything that frightens us is,

in its deepest essence, 

something helpless that wants our love.

rainer maria rilke

for debi

the colors of snow

it was only 6" at best.

a mere dusting in this winter without winter.

but it muffled the world and sparkled at my feet

and laid down the canvas for new life.