"The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself." — Henry Miller

Mazes! Gnomes! Lavender!

If only Austraila were closer - I'd spend a LOT of time HERE:

http://ashcombemaze.com.au/

They have a hedge maze (with a hidden gnome!), a rose maze, a lavender maze, gardens...sigh...

Then, I'd have to go HERE as well - this sounds even MORE up my alley:

http://www.enchantedmaze.com.au/enchantedmazes

Enchanted mazes? The Amazing Lolly Shop? Fantasy Gardens? COME ON!!!!!!!

Life's a bowl of cherries-or sometimes just a handful

"Life is just a bowl of cherries
Don't take it serious
Life's too mysterious
Life is just a bowl of cherries,
So live and laugh at it all."

Creepy Philly Photos

I forgot to post these from the Philly trip - aren't they freaky?

She looks at her reflection in the mirror, glass dusty and tarnished with disuse. She notices a girl on the other side, forlorn, transparent.There are fingerprints all along the edges and she begins to wonder: am I trying to get in or is she trying to get out? Before she can ask, the girl on the other side catches her eye, gives a wink and a sly smile and is gone...

Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished, which is gratitude.
~Mary Oliver

First on the gratitude list this morning? MY OH MY do I make good coffee. I honestly do. Buying Bustelo instead of the cheaper espresso helps (yes, I do lean towards thirfty, much to my dismay, but I'm learning to spend more when it's meaningful and appropriate, i.e. whenever I want) but wow! for some reason, this current cup stands out as scrumdidiliumptious... and here it is in all its glory

I find it odd that every time I look at the clock in the evening, the
time is 10:08 (my birthdate) ... does that mean something? Can I make
up a meaning for it? Or someone out there, if you care to - tell me
what to think about it

;-)

Also, on a side note: call me strange (hee - too late) but I love the
way the 42nd St stop on the 6 train smells - like a woodburning
fireplace or oven - from the market above?? It's quite yummy, even in
the swelter of summertime.

Caterpillar Days

"Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost, drink in the sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every handclasp. Do not fear being misunderstood and do not waste a minute thinking about your enemies. Try to fix firmly in your mind what you would like to do; and then, without veering off direction, you will move straight to the goal. Keep your mind on the great and splendid things you would like to do, and then, as the days go gliding away, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing upon the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desire, just as the coral insect takes from the running tide the element it needs. Picture in your mind the able, earnest and useful person you desire to be, and the thought you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual....Thought is supreme. Preserve a right mental attitude-the attitude of courage, frankness and good cheer. To think rightly is to create. All things come through desire and every sincere prayer is answered. We become like that on which our hearts are fixed. Whenever you go out of doors, carry your chin in and the crown of your head high.

We are gods in the chrysalis."

~Elbert Hubbard

"And then you break through
And dry before my eyes
Take me with you, where you hide tonight
Did you feel the beat in a fetal curl
Could you be original caterpillar girl
Crawling up the vine, splitting your spine
Flowing through the motion, leave a shell behind...
The birds, like me, want you now
We want you now
Caterpillar come out..."

~Lou Barlow

Touchstone Word for the Week? Simplify.

Sometimes I go about pitying myself, and all the time I am being carried on great winds across the sky.
~ Chippewa, translated by Robert Bly

My niece is THE COOLEST!!!

and she's so much like me...

Ugh, What a Week...

I'm beyond exhausted, drained, all those things - drama at work, sadness for Dear Veronica, some highs & now a good Saturday planned: Mermaid Parade time!! Then a Brooklyn Cyclones vs. Staten Island Yankees game, hot dogs, a beer, Coney Island, beachy breezes and hopefully, onto a better next week. Okay, last time I went to the Mermaid Parade, I took about 200 pics - let's see if I exercise some restraint tomorrow. Now that I do believe I've figured out the Bloggie to Facebook thingamajig, I'm going home, to rest, read, eat kale, meditation time, then to SLEEP!!!


I do believe - by the way - this to be a terribly written post, but I'm really very tired and annoyed so I'm just trying to determine if the Facebook thing is figured out and then I WANT TO LEAVE MY OFFICE!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!

Big hugs all week to my teacup friend...

Testing Testing

I'm just seeing if how to update Bloggie then share on Facebook... did I do it? Let's see...

Someone is having fun with the Red Giant Plastic Bullet app on her iPhone - it makes the mundane magical! This is just a plant in my office, the actual photo is quite dull - but shake a fairy wand at it and BRRNNGG!!! Ta da!

"Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions." ~Albert Einstein

The view from my bench ...

I'm quite ambitious for my office garden - at the Botanical Garden this weekend, I got a wee bit swept up in all the bountiful Mother Natureness around me so I stopped by their garden shop and bought lavender, rosemary, basil, and mint for my herbiness and most excitingly, borage, nasturtiums, and marigolds - for - ta da! - EDIBLE FLOWERS!!!

The first time I had flowers on a salad, I was probably 12 or 13 years old and visiting family in Carmel, California and Aunt Beth put petals on top of the salad and I thought that was THE most magical thing you could have ever done to greens except maybe some sort of edible glitter bacon bits. And every once in a blue moon, I see a package of them at a gourmet deli but I thought I'd grow some myself and have a fairy-elven-magical type salad this summer - I'll come up with a formal, more poetic name once I get these growing.

About a month ago, I had started two little pots with seedlings and I watered and I protected and I hoped, but nothing happened. So, I figured the seeds were no longer viable, the soil was dead - something. And I gave up. But so as not to waste the soil, I just plopped it in this other plant and packed it down. Well look what's going on!

They are growing! It's a green thumb miracle! For some reason, however small a thing this is, it made me feel happy to see it when I came in to work yesterday and made me think of one of my favorite quotes:

“Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow.'”

Moonstone Beach

I don't even remember how I came across this blog http://pixiecampbell.typepad.com/ (most likely from someone else's blog) but as I was scrolling through some of her posts, I see that the author went to Cambria in California for Mother's Day and posted this photo of Moonstone Beach which I know very well. It's right down the cliff from my family's favorite restaurant The Sea Chest and we've gone walking here so many times, gathering driftwood, stones, taking in a glass of wine while waiting to get in the restaurant, or watching the sunset. I love rocks and pebbles to the point that I'm greedy and want them all when they are beautiful & smooth & multicolored like these - so you can guess by the picture that I could spend hours sitting there, just looking and hunting and gathering and then squirrelling them away - indeed, here is a photo of me doing just that the last time I was there in 2008!!

It's only the escargot and the calamari steak from the Sea Chest above me that beckons me away from my spot...but anyway, I loved her photo because up close, that what you see - the stones are all tiny and jewel-like, polished perfectly smooth, bits of jade and jasper like she says but also you find agates and moonstones...and in just over a month's time, I'll be back there so this made me feel wistful because I wouldn't mind being there now but for now, it's an image of something good to look forward to.

Whenever, wherever, and with whoever you sense fear, close your eyes, breathe deeply into your heart, exhale some authentic prayers, and then imagine a million tiny drunk giddy angels dirty dancing with your cells.
~Sera Beak