Mindful Day 7 - Silence

Today I went for a long hike in the mountains nearby. I went up the Homestead Trail and connected to the Hopalong Cassidy Trail and the Gabby Hayes loop. (Don't you love the names?) When you first start up there are lots of people and dogs and people talking but gradually as people spread out or turn back or take a different trail you end up pretty much on your own. And once you drop back over the first set of hills the thing I find most surprising is... the silence. What a treat to not hear cars, trucks, sirens, and all the other nosies that we don't even know we are hearing.  So I started to name what I could hear -  my boots on the gravelly path, the rustle of my sleeve against my jacket, the touch of my walking pole each time it came down, the wheeze in my breathing, my heart beating  (on the uphill pulls), once the cry of a bird, the rattle of stones along the edge of the path, the sigh of  slight breeze. And the silence - which feels like it is vibrating around me.  What a treat - taking the time to just stand and feel it around me.

Mindful Day 6 Look Up

I took a walk up the hill behind us yesterday, It's a great walk, nice steady uphill climb past some beautiful homes and in the near distance the golf course, low mountains, interesting desert landscaping, blue, blue sky. And as I reach the top of the hill, sitting in the middle of a scrubby vacant lot, is this beat up yellow bench, psoitioned for a wonderful view of the mountains to the west. I try to imagine who has put the bench here - a nearby neighbor, a workman, someone buying the lot, someone who just likes the view from this spot? A small mystery to start the day. And a good reminder to turn around, sit down and look up!

Mindful - Day 5 Look Down

We went for a walking tour today through an older area of Palm Desert and saw many wonderful old homes where an assortment of celebrities have lived. You don't see a lot of details because of the walls and landscaping but the guide had great stories about the people who had lived in them at various times and you got to look up at the mountains, around at the trees and flowers and down at the pavement. One area really caught my eye because of the great pattern and range of grey tones.
So today I found joy in everything around me but most especially in what was at my feet!

Mindful - Day 4 Salvation Mountain

Today's response to the Mary Oliver poem, Mindful, came during a road trip we took today to see Salvation Mountain, out east of the Salton Sea in the desert of southern California. Salvation MOuntain was created by one man, Leonard Knight. Salvation Mountain is Leonard's tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message: "God Is Love." I was taken by many of the sweet details in his artwork - when someone creates, over 30 years, a monumental 50 foot tall, 200 foot wide mountain of painted adobe art you don't expect to see such small details as well. I was taken by his focus, determination and sense of purpose. One of my favorite details are the blue birds of happiness (as I think of them) that cover many of the surfaces of the truck (and tires!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am going to try and respond each day to this moving poem by Mary Oliver as my daily practice for 2017.

Mindful –

Every Day I see and hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. It is what I was born for – to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world – to instruct myself over and over in joy, and acclamation. Nor am I talking about the exceptional, the fearful, the dreadful, the very extravagant- but of the ordinary, the common, the very drab, the daily presentations. Oh good scholar, I day to myself, how can you help but grow wise with such teachings as these- the untrimmable light of the world, the oceans shine, the prayers that are made out of grass?

Mindful Day 3 - At the car wash

I love going through the car wash especially those that have the swinging, sudsy worms that swish over your car! I can't capture the changing  patterns on the windshield from the water, soap and worms fast enough. In Mary Oliver's poem, Mindful,  she writes of finding joy even in the ordinary stuff of each day. I found it in the car wash.

2017, A New Year, A New Attempt at Keeping My Blog Going!

Mindful 2017

I am going to try and respond each day to this moving poem by Mary Oliver as my daily practice for 2017.

Mindful –

Every Day I see and hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. It is what I was born for – to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world – to instruct myself over and over in joy, and acclamation. Nor am I talking about the exceptional, the fearful, the dreadful, the very extravagant- but of the ordinary, the common, the very drab, the daily presentations. Oh good scholar, I day to myself, how can you help but grow wise with such teachings as these- the untrimmable light of the world, the oceans shine, the prayers that are made out of grass?

January 1

Sitting in the flickering sunshine under the oleander tree here in Palm Desert,  I hear the hummingbird buzzing mightily directly over my head – such a big sound from such a small bird. To believe that the year could start with the sight/sound of a hummingbird is not something I would ever have thought possible.

January 2

One of the things I most like to do while we are in Palm Desert is to hike and there is a trail that goes up to about 500 feet through the desert scrub to a lighted cross that overlooks the city. Because there has been so much drought here even the desert vegetation is suffering. But on my way up the trail today I see what looks like an extremely dead bush… Until I get very close and I see small red flowers beginning to emerge. Happy New Year. Happy new life for this bush.

Proud to be a BERNINA Ambassador

It has been a long time since I have posted on my blog. Longer then I thought! I am planning to get back to a more frequent posting in 2016. It has been a productive year - lots of exhibitions, lots of new work and new directions. I will start sharing all of that very soon. For today I want to share that I am part of the BERNINA Ambassador program. BERNINA makes my wonderful sewing machine and I just came back from a 3 day training session with their staff and many other ambassadors. I learned so much about new products and have ideas for using them in upcoming work. Stay tuned.

For today let me share this -

http://www.bernina.com/en-US/Home-United-States