beauty all around

on land...or at sea...the fruits of this season are not to be missed!

an ocean of excuses...

i am late to one single impression's glorious prompt for this week, but i could not pass it by. sweetest in the gale's offering 'ocean' swam in my mind all weekend & i had no computer access but i did have pen & paper. living by the ocean & seeing its beauty in all seasons is one of the greatest blessings in my life...i have worked through so many of my life's puzzles looking out to sea. i have let it carry my worries away on its currents. i have swum for joy in its waves. i have let the music of its tide put me to sleep. i am in awe of its power~ to churn up & to calm down. it is one of the most powerful ways in which God speaks to my heart. it has been my solace in this season of grief & as i let the prompt carry me, i found once again great comfort.{ocean}

an empty void stretched out before me
the abyss of your absence
& in my solitude i cried
an ocean of tears
their current flowed from the heart
of love
their release filled up the valley
of loss
& on their gentle, lapping waves i sailed
cutting through the sun-dappled shine
into the safe harbor
of your armsplease visit OSI for more beautiful poetry

windswept

in the beginning of may D. & i celebrated our anniversary with a perfect get-a-way to a nearby island...a place accessible only by ferry with a wind-swept wildness to it that both enticed me & unnerved me...my dreamer self kept saying "you would love to live here" & my practical self (the one that keeps tabs on home maintenance & pays bills) kept saying "no you wouldn't!"...no matter, that didn't stop me from leaving my actual stress & worry behind as the mainland faded out of sight...my cares floated away...into the wake of the boat, looking light a trail of rose petals until all that was left was the moment...on the island we settled into the rhythm of the tides...hiking, climbing, snoozing, floating...around every corner was something to refresh...& just how was i so certain that this was the perfect get-a-way?? at the end of the journey i was just as excited to return home!

another word...

**updated**...& yet another word...cure! please follow this link for an explanation & then keep going on the links to steven's video (also in my sidebar under 'light a candle')...please visit often between now & 30 april.
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following on the heals of last week's "one word" prompt at one single impression is "word" offered by jeeves of silence is poetic (love the name of her blog!!). i find the other word that is often foremost in my mind right along with "gratitude" is "love." i am surrounded by it...whether it be God's love expressed in more ways than i can imagine (He is so wooing me with His delightful spring right now)...or the love of my precious family~~ & these are just the tip of my iceberg of love!!love

woven in the words

traveling miles

or inches

enveloped actions

catching my heartstrings

speaking to the center

of life's delight

bidden or not

love is here

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speaking love on this fine spring day here in NC...2 guys very dear to my heart just went out to sea...calm waters & the hope of fish bites for them...the hope of some kind of tasty fresh-catch seafood dinner for me! (actually, for all of us!)...no pressure, guys!i am keeping watch on the deck with a fresh cup of coffee, enjoying the still, salty air & joyful birdsong. the hounds have found a sunbeam for snoozing.life is indeed good!

beach glass

walking along the sand
bag in my hand
with thoughts to clean
my storm-pounded beach
as best i can.
i started my walk
wind in my hair
sun on my back
eyes drawn to pieces of this and that,bottles and cans purged from the sea
i would retrieve
as i walked along my soul was quieted
lulled by the rhyming waves
my worries took flight in the wind
i began to see beyond
that which did not belong
drawn to the intricacies of shell
colors of water and sand
cockeyed looks of seabirds standing by
and the majestic pelican's graceful glide
with him i felt my spirit fly.

i still gathered the sea's

unwanted debris

but my mind had shifted in thought

to the acres of diamonds

right under my feet.

this 'n that

weather

spring & winter are currently battling it out in our area for domination (i hope spring wins...very soon!!). i take great comfort in today's equinox & the sun's return to my hemisphere (sorry, brad...you can have it back in 6 months!). this past week we have had high temperatures that are as unpredictable as a teenager's moods (sorry, boys!)...one day the high is 50F/10C, the next day it is 75F/24C.

therapy

when you get a text message at 10:30am on a thursday from your surfer-friend that reads "surf city pier in 30 minutes" if you can, you go...we could & we did!! & then we came home totally rejuvenated. best PE class evah!!internet fasting (as in no internet before 5pm during lent)...yeah, i've taken it in the solar plexus with this one. i have fallen into the cycle of using an entire pack of post-it notes each day to scribble all the online things i must accomplish after 5pm. then i find that at 5pm i am either running errands or preparing dinner, so the internet actual access is later. then i am tired. i can't read the day's post-it notes. & i start to fall asleep in front of my keyboard, telling myself i will take care of stuff tomorrow. all in all it has been a serious reorientation of time management coupled with an improvement in prioritizing. at lent's half way point i can honestly tell you that i miss the computer time more than i miss the chocolate!...but i will gladly enjoy both in due time :-)serendipity

mid week we were on our 5th or so day of constant cloud cover & it was one of the days that winter had an edge over spring for sure. at dusk it was windy but the rain had stopped & in my cabin fevered state, i grabbed my coat & headed out for a walk. as i rounded the bend of our street, through a clearing in the trees i could see the most incredible line of pink-orange sunset just along the horizon. the rest of the world retained its rainy-day grey, but against this, that sunset, no matter how tiny, was just amazing! & so worth bundling up & being cold.tonight

after a week of unbelievable busy-ness, i am posting this & then heading off to cuddle with D. & watch an italian flick. summer language classes are creeping up on me rather quickly & it is time to get back into my foreign film-watching groove...buon week-end a tutti!!!!

a watered down version of sunday...

a quiet morning in the sun, one that was touched with only the gentlest of southerly breezes (a welcome respite from last week's incessant, howling winds), lent itself to daydreaming...a hound at my feet & a cup of coffee in my hand (italian, the good stuff!) this day without a single notation on the to-do calendar...it could be a day of a million things or a day of nothing. rare & precious.my reverie was soon happily interrupted by the jangling of boat keys & a request...our junior meteorologist is also a superb boat captain & he wanted to know if his momma wanted to take a ride. sure did!!!...so with camera in hand we spent the morning exploring a tidal creek...a place so quiet & still, teeming with life...even an alligator stopped to say "hi"...the scent of autumn on the wind (if you could bottle that smell, you could cure the world!)...poor Big Bro had to work through the morning at the bakery, but i did send him solace in the form of a text message...did he want to surf after work? yes, in fact, he did!kyle is ripping up the eastern seaboard with prime rides for surfers. & the beach offered another indulgent moment for lolly-gaggers like me (hey, there's that word again!)...is there anything so luxurious as warm sand under your feet?? had i been any more relaxed yesterday, someone could have mistaken me for a beached jellyfish! now it is monday in all its back-into-the-swing-of-things glory...may you have a wonderful week!!

false advertising...

when your day looks like this...& this...but the forecast looks like this...it almost seems like false advertising, don'tcha think??? of course, not-so-little man (note to self: must find new nickname) is all over this upcoming weather event. he is salivating at the prospect of weekend storm tracking. me...not so much.(weather graphics courtesy of this site)

i've already laid down the law...anything approaching a cat 2 hurricane & we're outta here! barring intensification & a lack of power, i am guessing that i will blog ms. hanna. time will tell...prayers are definitely in order! for now, it's back to school work & later this afternoon...time to begin hurricane prep work, which goes something like this...

it's that time when you start to peruse your evacuation "to do" list (i created it the first season we were here & i am so glad because i know i would forget something in the middle of a crisis).


you look around your yard & deck, wondering when to bring things inside (i do mean *everything* for if it is left outside, it could become a projectile).


you start the back-&-forth scenario in your head: take the boat out, no wait, take the boat out, no wait.


you go over evacuation routes in your head (which way do i go??).


you go to the store for water & batteries, the stockpile of which will get you through an entire year without a hurricane.


you lovingly pat your generator when you pass by.


you set weather underground as your boot-up page (our family's weather forecasting preference online since 1998). or you simply summon Little Man to the computer to cruise through his 50 or so weather prediction internet sites.


EVERYONE asks Little Man what the lastest updates are saying!


& you pray...that it goes gently out to sea, harming no one in its travels.


my hurricane season prayer...Psalm 107:29:"He hushed the storm to a gentle breeze, and the billows of the sea were stilled."

critters (yes, again)...

...on the end of a fishing line (not kidding!)...
"eye" see you!...
in my sink...
on our dock...

in our cast net (what is this thing???)...
on our beach...
in my face...

on our posts...
in our yard...
in our cooler...
on Big Bro's thumb (his "green thumb"...haha!)...
in our trees (yes, that is a bald eagle)... (no critters were harmed in the photographing of this post...excepting the shrimp, which we later ate!)