Great Expectations

English Homework, January 2022

My son is a senior in high school. Thanks to his assigned reading in English, I am re-visiting "Great Expectations." We had a good laugh over whether I am the "angel in the house" or the "madwoman in the attic."  Like most of us, I guess it depends on the day. Grateful for quality time with my guy, no matter what form it comes in. And now for a Haiku...

Great Expectations

for your love and life to come

whatever your path

Forgotten Places

Weathered Barn, Fall 2021
Magnolia, Texas

Forgotten places

can hold forgotten treasure

or so I've been told

Wondrous

Chapel Window, January 2022
Chapelwood UMC, Houston

 

O glorious day,

you release a rainbow stream

we wade in and dance

The Gift

Texture, January 2022

Texture over time

is the gift of enduring

winter wind and rain

The Truest

Vines on the Fence, January 2022

Let us cling to you

finding the truest life by

abiding in love

 

Walk with Me

Walk with me,

venture into life's largeness

come out of hiding

admire small beauties

trace the reaching branches

get swept up with crimson leaves 

step into stillness - you belong here.

Afternoon Walk, January 2022

I See It

Tradescantia Fluminensis, (Varigated Green Wandering Jew)
January 2022

You are flourishing,

vibrant with tumbles and curls

trust me, I see it

Beauty

Camilla, January 2022

 

Beauty by porch light

drenched in January's rain

and the scent of peace

Keys

Keys, January 2022

A pile of old keys from a family member's home has found a brief resting spot on our back porch. I can't help but consider all the doors that were opened because of these keys. Doors that are forgotten or lost - but at the right time, these keys granted access into all sorts of places. 

As they say, "old keys won't open new doors." 

I consider all the the keys that have passed through my hands over the years - into post boxes, houses, offices, apartments, cars, diaries...The keys that were my own and those that were entrusted to me by family and neighbors and employers. 

There are keys of other kinds too. Keys that open doors of understanding, healing, healthy relationships and possibility. Those can be hard to come by - hard to find, earn and keep. 

What keys do I hold now? What keys am I hoping to find or forge?  What new doors stand before me?

In Every Season

Hens and Chicks (Echeveria) January 2022

 

You give us a place

to grow - to rest - to rejoice

in every season

Greetings

Anthurium Blooms, January 2022

 

You shine with greeting

extending your heart shaped hands

this mid-winter day

Come in from the cold

Cold Snap, January 2022

Come in from the cold

leave the porch for the warm hearth

you are welcome here

Yesterday we brought the plants in from the cold. It's too cold for most of them to spend the next few days out on the porch. As I sat with my hot tea early in the morning, and looked at all the plants I've been given by friends and family - the plants that made it through the hottest days of summer and my sporadic watering. I'm grateful for the life that surrounds me. I'm grateful for the ways that I too, have been brought in from the cold and into a place of warmth.

Borrowing Brightness

Queen Butterfly, January 2022
Corpus Christi, Texas

 

Borrowing brightness 
from another garden kept
with the greatest love 

* The photo is from my Mother's garden. She was kind enough to share it. 

Thoughts

Egrets on the Line, January 2022

Thoughts like perching birds

come in for a landing on

lines strung long ago

Fully Alive

Bamboo, January 2021

Golden green beauty

aglow with afternoon sun

and fully alive

Beginnings

Earliest Work in Pottery, January 2021
circa late 1970's

 Humble beginnings...early efforts, we all have them. Revisiting our beginnings reminds us of where we once were and who we once were. Even though we may have become accomplished or mastered a skill, it's good to remember how it was when we first started. It's good to recognize progress, whatever shape it takes. 

When I look at my early attempts in pottery, I remember myself as a little girl who sat on the stool pulled up to the work table - excited and focused. I recall working with my small hands to soften the clay, and see what it might become before class was over. I remember trying to choose the prettiest glaze and hoping my creation didn't crack in the kiln. I wanted to make "real art" like my teacher - and I wanted to make something all my own. 

Learning to make simple pottery pieces was one of many beginnings - and remembering just one, has released a stream of others. I've made humble beginnings of many kinds and so have you - let's give thanks for early efforts and for those who helped us to make them. 

Sunset

College Station Sunset, January 2022

 

Beautiful sunsets

are made more beautiful when

I am next to you

Blue

Corpus Christi Bay, January 2022

Blue sea and blue sky

reflect one another in

graceful symmetry 

Pleasure

Back Patio, January 2022

 

The day's great pleasure -

joining every leaf and branch

to reach the blue sky

Delight

Long Tailed Skipper, January 2022

May every corner of my heart be filled with delight.

Epiphany's Gift

Christmas Cactus on Blue Stool, January 2022

 

Epiphany's gift -

wintry hearts burst open for 

Love's great arrival

Evening Prayer

Evening Prayer, January 2022

         

O Lord hear our prayers for all those who will spend this night in a hospital.

...for patients who long for healing and relief from pain and illness.

...for nurses and doctors who access, treat, dispense, and comfort.

...for loved ones who wait and hope for good news.

Grant to each one wisdom, rest, mercy, and your steady presence. Amen.

    

    

Welcome

Tea by the Window, January 2022

 

Welcome Sabbath rest

welcome cinnamon tea and

unhurried daydreams

Sunnier Days

Remembering 

a morning walk

on a sunnier day

when blue, green, violet, gold, peach, and red  

 

offered their vibrant blessings.

 

Resplendence

In the coming year,

what colors and patterns

might appear in the weaving

of our resplendent days?

Batik Fabric, January 2022

* They are not all going to be resplendent, shining days, but I love the word. Each day of life is a gift and each day holds something good that we don't earn, make, manufacture or fabricate for ourselves. May we have eyes to see the colors and patterns that appear and appreciate the resplendence of the light and goodness that comes our way.  

 

Enough

Through the Branches, January 2021

Today it's enough

to see you in soft focus

and trace your outline 

The Midnight Library

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, January 2022

            "Between life and death there is a library,
            and within that library, the shelves go on forever.
            Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived.
            To see how things would be if you had made other choices…
            Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”
            --Matt Haig


I have always been drawn to people and characters who seem to have "come into their own." Persons who have become true to who they were made to be. It's fascinating to know a person over a long period of time and see them transform as they make and follow their life's path. I'm not talking about an "improved" person or a "better" person, because, after all we are still human. I'm thinking of words like unshakable, centered, unapologetic...and I admire those who embark on this kind of journey - and stay with it.

Matt Haig writes about this journey in a real and beautiful way - it's one of several aspects of The Midnight Library that make it a phenomenal read at the beginning of a new year.