Sperlygirl

sources of inspiration...

it's been gray and rainy here all day - the kind of day where you just hole up inside and avoid going out if you can. looks like we can expect this weather for the next few days too. i was trying to come up with some inspiration today...what inspires me? kai's laugh, j's friendship, listening to the tide roll in on the beach, a good cafe, catching up with a treasured friend, finding mail in my box, my camera, new art supplies, a good run, travel...
so what inspires you these days? we'd love to hear your list...

unfold...

this butterfly was hovering near our compost pile. she stopped her flight momentarily to catch her breath on this branch. i was hoping to catch her wings outstretched and open but didn't make my move quick enough - but i love how she looks as if she is stretching herself upward towards the sun. i was talking with dear friends tonight and we were relaying stories of our lives. i reflected that in my wildest dreams, i never would have dreamed up the life i live - and yet in order to get here, become who i am now - i had to endure and survive moments of great sadness or pure joy (as do we all)- they were necessary circumstances for my own wings to be able to unfold.

a blur...

i have said it before - how fast time seems to fly these days - and having a little one only make it seem to fly faster. mondays blur into thursdays and i find myself thinking, "wait a minute, what happened to tuesday and wednesday?" i blink and kai seems to have grown another inch, learned a new word, strung together another sentence, or displayed a new skill. most days i feel like i can take in stride but every now and then i feel like i glance sideways and all that surrounds me is a blur.

a little breather...

walking through the vineyard at a friends home, i stumbled across this rusted old chair along side the grape vines. it made me imagine someone spending time there, tending the vines and watching all the teeny changes each new leaf brings. sometimes i wish there were a chair just on the outside of the bustle of the 'real world' where i could just sit and take a breather - to just observe a bit.

rain at my window...

there was this house, when i was young, off the beaten path of a dear friend's neighborhood - way back in the woods. i don't recall how he found it - but he took me there.  her name was morning and the house was teeny - one maybe two rooms - with a metal bathtub in the backyard. she left a hammock up and a note pinned to her door welcoming visitors. we spent many afternoons there - never with the intent to go there in order to get away with teenage antics - but only simply to swing in her hammock, drink from her well, watch the creek in her backyard - dream big dreams for our futures, and leave poems on her door. i never met morning - but her space, hidden amidst the few remaining woods where i grew up - stays with me still. tonight i opened the windows to listen to the rain -- and the memories of afternoons spent at morning's house sprang to my thoughts. so often i find such peace in beautiful natural surroundings - it is magical.

**the sign at morning's house said "welcome to nowhere" - but it sure felt like somewhere special to me.**

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their own freshness into you...
while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." ~John Muir

grazie mille, amore...

thank you, mi amore, for your little presence in this world, being your mama has opened my eyes, my world, my heart and stretched me in so many unexpected ways. i treasure every belly laugh you offer, every creature you bring to me hugging and telling me 'so cute', every goodnight bear hug and big kiss, every 'so happy to see you' that you whisper into my ear, and every big smile with a mouth full of orange. i have learned (and am still learning) to muster patience at your need for independence, to take a deep breath myself on those occasions where you need to 'take a breath' and sit on the simmer down step, and to allow you the space you require to grow into your own little man. thank you for leading me on my own mama journey. ti amo, little boy.

how does the garden grow...

there is something so real about preparing a garden, nurturing it with water and careful attention, and watching it take hold and pulsate with life. there is something so wonderfully real about the feel of dirt under your finger nails, the sweet smell of the earth as you dig into the soil, and watching the tiny tendrils of new peas as they cling onto a little support and stretch toward the sunshine. there is so much love growing in our little garden. happy love thursday!

onward and upward...

a whirlwind - seriously, that's how i feel time is passing and has been this year. i feel like time is a giant train that just whizzed by me and left me standing there disheveled and awestruck. it's made for a lot more chaotic feelings in my life lately - like i am constantly trying to come up for air. maybe it's in the stars this year - these feelings of being on the outside looking in, the roller coaster of emotions, the sensation of treading water to stay afloat. i am aware of all of it - and am amazed by it as well. i don't feel as if i am trying to control situations or hang on to things - rather, just trying to find some solid footing to catch my breath. perhaps this railing will lend its support.

catching our breath...

we catch our breath today after a lovely weekend on the island of elba. the waters were so crystal blue there, it was all i could do not to jump right into them. today has been about sleeping in, working in the garden, walking down to pick-up some things at the market, a leisurely stop for a cappuccino and to catch up with the folks at the bar (cafe) we frequent, all the while soaking up time with "nana" and "bumpa" while they visit.

a link of love...

a link of love - a grandpa and his grandson - walking hand in hand taking in the world, swapping stories, sharing laughs, and seeing the world through each other's eyes. happy love thursday!