Magazine Famous

 

Those are my star studs! 

Etsy asked if I would send them to the magazine for a gift guide feature they were working on with Health Magazine. I was thrilled to be picked and they did a great job photographing them. Thanks Etsy and Health Magazine!

Grave Digger Shack

On the edge of an old city graveyard rests a dilapidated shack that was used to store the grave digger's  implements. Every fall the ginkgo tree to the right turns a vibrant shade of yellow that is so beautiful next to the blue of the shack. I made it to this place too late to photograph the loveliness as you can see all the leaves have fallen to the sidewalk in front of the shack. It is sad for me to see the eaves are in need of repair and I hope that will happen. The Gothic arch window dresses up the simpleness of the shack and really endears me to it. I hate to see old places like these being torn down and I hope that is not where this little place is headed.

I heart macro

                 I love macro photography. Here are a few shots I took recently around my yard.

                                                    Nature is so beautiful, isn't it?

                                       There are nettles everywhere,
                              But smooth green grasses are more common still;
                                  The blue of heaven is larger than the cloud

                                                            ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Take it with you

"You can't take it with you when you go"  they say.      

  I think I can.

I will fill my soul to the brim with the love and beauty of this world. With the good memories as well as the bittersweet. I will fill my soul to the brim. It will be heavy with joy when I leave this world and I will take it with me when I go.

Kites

I had the most wonderful dream the other night. I was walking down a dirt road. To my right was a field of green with wooden folding chairs and people dressed in old time clothes seated in them. In front of them was a black preacher preaching in an animated, glorious way. To the left of me was another luscious field of green with children in white billowing dresses playing and laughing. The sun broke free of the clouds just ahead of me and I looked toward it to see two white kites floating side by side, back-lit by the sun. They floated ever so slowly towards the sun and I could not see any strings tethering them to the earth.  An amazing feeling washed over me in the moment I saw the kites. A feeling that everything is going to be okay.  I knew I needed to remember their beauty when I awoke. It was a vivid dream and something about it brings me peace when I think about it.

Grief has made a home in my heart for you. A tiny nest in each chamber where it will always slumber. Every once in a while it will awaken and remind me of your death in time but right now it has crash landed and made a mess of me that will take some time to heal. You were my father and I was your youngest daughter. A coal miner's daughter. Memories of you are frequent in this grief and have made me realize that while you didn't say it out loud you did love me the best way you knew how and I loved you the best way I knew how. It wasn't perfect but it is what it is.