for now

I have suddenly decided to embark on a blogging hiatus of an unknown length of time. New adventures, unforeseen shifts, change in focus — life is like that, isn't it? An ebb and flow of season, a constant turning toward and away from the sun.

My heartfelt thanks to you for reading, commenting and following my often silly ramblings. I hope to see you all in cyberspace, or in person, if I'm so lucky.

Kindly,
Jenny

Why I Wake Early

Hello, sun in my face.

Hello, you who made the morning

and spread it over the fields

and into the faces of the tulips

and the nodding morning glories,

and into the windows of, even, the

miserable and the crotchety –

best preacher that ever was,

dear star, that just happens

to be where you are in the universe

to keep us from ever-darkness,

to ease us with warm touching,

to hold us in the great hands of light –

good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day

in happiness, in kindness.

~ Mary Oliver 

how to love this world

Two days ago I made vegetable curry for the first time ever. It was tasty and my whole family liked it. Honestly, I had never used coconut milk in a recipe before. I know that may be shocking but I'm a girl who lived my entire senior year in college eating almost exclusively Doritos and Minute Rice . . . soooo . . .

Yesterday we welcomed the first day of Spring.

Today is National Poetry Day and the sun is shining. Also today — Izzy relaxed on the couch with her tongue sticking out in that incredibly adorable way animals sometimes do.

Tomorrow is Friday and nobody can be uncheered on a Friday.

Yes, I'd say there is much to celebrate this windy week in March.


~
 

Spring

by Mary Oliver

Somewhere
    a black bear
      has just risen from sleep
         and is staring

down the mountain.
    All night
      in the brisk and shallow restlessness
         of early spring

I think of her,
    her four black fists
      flicking the gravel,
         her tongue

like a red fire
    touching the grass,
      the cold water.
         There is only one question:

how to love this world.
    I think of her
      rising
         like a black and leafy ledge

to sharpen her claws against
    the silence
      of the trees.
         Whatever else

my life is
    with its poems
      and its music
         and its glass cities,

it is also this dazzling darkness
    coming
      down the mountain,
         breathing and tasting;

all day I think of her—
    her white teeth,
      her wordlessness,
         her perfect love. 


"Spring" by Mary Oliver, from New and Selected Poems. © Beacon Press, 1992. 

A Poem for Thanksgiving

In honor of Thanksgiving I'm sharing this poem by Mary Oliver. A printed copy of this poem has been riding on my refrigerator door for several years now. 

My days are all full of visiting and turkey talk and menu planning, with small bits of design work and carpooling thrown in the mix. If I don't make it back before Thursday to wish you the happiest of Thanksgiving days, know I am thinking of you all and listing my blog friends among all of life's gifts. I am so thankful that I decided to stick my toes in the blogging waters and that you are all here, walking the shoreline with me. Thank you for reading, writing, dropping me notes, and being by my side.

~

There are a lot of words meaning thanks.

Some you can only whisper.

Others you can only sing.

The peewee whistles instead.

The snake turns in circles,

The beaver slaps his tail

on the surface of the pond.

The deer in the pinewoods stamps his hoof.

Goldfinches shine as they float through the air.

A person, sometimes, will hum a little Mahler.

Or put arms around old oak tree.

Or take out lovely pencil and notebook to find a few

touching, kissing words.


- Mary Oliver

Fave!

If you've been reading my blog for very long you probably know that I love this line from poet Mary Oliver.

Last night (while surfing the web at midnight instead of sleeping like a sane person) I found this woman's art and I knew three things . . .

1. I am in love with her work (who says love at first sight doesn't exist!?)
2. I must buy this
3. I wanted you guys to see it too

So here it is. You can find her Etsy shop here.

I have a newsletter design to get done this morning but then I'm planning to do a photo session with all my new birthday presents and show them off. So, plan on checking back my friends!