Spiny love

 

I always felt like cacti are pretty boring to look at (I'm from a place Alaska) but when you take a closer peek into their nooks and crannies their colors are vibrant & thriving. 

They are a beautiful evolution of survival.

Their ability to soak up the goodness of life... water, and not just sustain life  but thrive in it through hard times (drought), 

standing tall

standing majestic

is a sight to see

The desert can be a hard place to live but when you slow down and take a good look around there is so much "life" happening right before our very eyes. 

Lessons from a momma bird

My momma bird story..

.

It all began about 2 months ago while on my daily early morning walk...

For me my walking time is a time to contemplate, to reflect, to think about my goals in life and art.

So here I am at the last stretch of my 2 miles, (love this spot on my journey home) I embark upon huge tree's that arch their way over the sidewalk to intermingle with the tree's on the other side while providing a much needed break from the intensity of the sun we so often experience here in Arizona.

I'm walking along, deep in thought and all of a sudden a BIG black bird comes swooping by my right shoulder and crosses inches from my face. She scarred the DICKENS outta me!

 I always looked around for any signs of a nest but never found one. 

This momma bird has attempted to scare the bijeezes out of me on more than one occasion in fact on our third meet and greet she swooped in behind me and literally whacked me on my shoulder with her massive wing

Needless to say she got me,

she got me good.

 I'm sure all the early morning risers got a good chuckle from the whole shabang!

I wasn't about to let a bird tell me what to do and where to walk so I began walking backwards at that lil stretch of nature just so she knew, that I knew, you know! 

After this whole charades has been playing out over the course of two months this is what I came across this morning.  

This tiny lil black baby bird was exhausted, confused and had no idea how to fly, how to find it's momma, how to even feed him/herself. When I picked him/her up he/she just collapsed into my hands. This baby bird was a lil ways from the spot I always get "a good talkin to" by momma bird so I began walking  towards the huge tree's and spot this perfect lil nest just laying in plain site .

I could hear momma bird in the back ground singing and rejoicing!

 I can only imagine what she was telling her wee one.

Today I think we finally came to terms with each other.

She let me be

A mothers love is

 strong

 fierce

 honest

and tender

I hope to one day experience this love for my wee ones

~Lessons from a momma bird~



Aries

Follow the muses, listening to all they whisper

(Todays horiscope for all you Aries out there)

Desert lives

As I pondered what to write about this tiny yet significant droplet of pure water I felt moved to open one of my favorite books...Women who Run With the Wolves,

 and this is the page it turned to...

37

"Like La Loba, we so often start out in a desert. We feel disenfranchised, alienated, not connected to even a cactus clump. The ancients called the desert a place of divine revelation. But for women, there is much more to it than that.

A desert is a place where life is very condensed. The roots of living things hold on to that last tear of water and the flower hoards its moisture by only appearing in the early morning and late afternoon. Life in the desert is small but brilliant and most of what occurs goes on underground. This is like the lives of many women. The desert is not lush like a forest or jungle. It is very intense and mysterious in its life forms. Many of us have lived desert lives: very small on the surface, and enormous under the ground."

So much beauty in the details...

So much beauty in the details...


I love to keep flowers by my kitchen sink, it always catapults me to a wondrous place in my mind, heart and imagination.
 Today it was this...

 I am feeling so inspired today, waking up to the quiet morning. Just me and the birds, in the wee early morning hours, having the morning light shine through the kitchen sink window and fill the room with love and light. A place where I spend so much time... cleaning not only the dishes but cleaning out the "stuff". Processing, letting go, renewal, new beginnings. It's one of my favorite spaces in the house and I fill it with  things I love, things that move me.

 

To my dear friend Latisha, these sunflowers have such deep and beautiful meaning ,you can read about it  here.  Having these by my kitchen sink I easily "sink" deep into my imagination of her new journey (and mine:)) she is taking in life and am awwww inspired by her beauty and braveness.

Love you friend