Words in the Week: Happy New Year!

What better way to get back to my little space on the web, than to begin again with a quote.  Happy 2015!

Small Stone #43

A field of snow and my brain says it's December,
                          not spring.

Physical therapist says, "Bend your knee, just a little bit more,
                                                                                     a little bit more...
Relax.

See knee, we aren't doing anything bad here."

In my notebook: Calm

Spring snow and ice has contained much of my time to our house.  I had to take a drive just to get out of town, just so I could see beyond the houses that make up my skyline.  I drove out towards Sheep Mountain on Hwy 230. My sister and I used to take the same route when we were going to school at the University of Wyoming so we could escape life and have a few hours with good music and beautiful surroundings. 

The evening was cloudy with evidence of another spring storm on its way.  The unrest in the sky matched my mood, but I was surprised at how calm I began to feel just as I left town and the view of the plains and the mountains opened up.  Those “university days” drives my sister and I would take were years away, but the familiar feel of escape and freedom, if only for a quick drive, were easily found.

I drove just over 20 miles out of town and stopped at a little lake surrounded by cottonwoods.  The water in the lake, the stones around the shore line, the trees still lifeless from winter all seemed gray.  I related with thoughts of upcoming knee surgery, recovery, along with other stressors in life.

But there were hints of green below the pale grass that covered the plains, and the surrounding mountains held on to the last snow storm and stood out against the dark sky. 

Calm- was the word I thought of as I drove back home.  Nothing more than calm…

Small Stone #42

Oh, Snow.

      60 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday,
      and today you ride in on the Wind.

I just pulled out my sandals,
my skirt.

Oh, Snow.
  
      You are cold when it comes to change.

Small Stone #41

There are many ways to find the glass half full-

                          through my husband's eyes,

                          the bumper sticker that reads "It gets better."

Thank you!

I want to say thank you to all the people who have sent me well wishes, thoughts, and prayers since I tore my ACL at the end of March.  Your support is very much appreciated and I feel as though you are all a part of my posse!  Thank you!

 

 

 

In my notebook: Longing for green

In March I long for green.  Other places must see the color already out in nature.  In Wyoming there is more snow, more gray, the grass still brown.

I wait to see green, even imagine its presence, for as brief of a time that the color exists in the West's arid climate, sometimes the imagination is as close as one can get to such a color.

Small Stone #38

Isn't it amazing
                  how the sun can shine,
                                              even in the midst of a snow storm?

I certainly think it is.

Foto Friday: Snowshoeing in the woods

My family and I had a very special visit from my aunt.  Snowshoeing in the falling snow was a perfect activity for us.  I believe my daughter was in pure bliss, a bed of snow to lie down upon.  I'm ready to get back out into the snow, the quiet; and so glad we could share an afternoon with her.

Finds in the Week: Logs at Sunset

 

At one of my favorite places to walk I was captured by the view of logs piled up in the lumber yard.  They looked as though they were waiting- for what? 

As I continued to walk the sky began to change colors and I loved the look of the contrast of wood that was once trees now laid horizontal, when so often I would instead see the logs as trees and pointed vertical towards the sky.

Perspective, perspective.

Small Stone #37

What of raw materials?
        We all have our own.
Minutes, seconds.
         Fleeting thoughts captured on flash paper,
                                                                   in the heart.

Longing for Color

On winter days when bare trees stand out stark against the gray skyline and temperatures are in the negatives, I long for coral colored sand, a deep blue sky, and bare feet.  I think of a tent in the desert where we sleep with a constant influx of open air and how the smoke from the campfire remains in our clothes for days.

In this photo my kids play at our camp site on our trip to Lake Powell, UT.

Small Stone #36

This year:

      Meaningful distractions,
                         not chaotic conscious.

Small Stone #35

Old place, new place
Why stay in when there is much to see?


Winter of the body
Why close your eyes to the world around you?


It's a metaphor and a question,
to be answered within a search.

Small Stone #34

Christmas music plays and she reads out loud while I make lunch.
There is peace among the simple things we do.

In my notebook...

I wrote this after having spent a couple of days hunting with my husband close to Laramie Peak.  We hiked for miles and, on more than one occasion, I was able to gaze upon the panoramic views surrounding us.  It's just a small portion of our time out.

The land we move across is so different than other stretches of the western plains.  Rocks and boulders create the hills we move across.  Miles of golden grass stretch out in all four directions and a person can see all the way to Elk Mountain; a slight shift in view over to the Seminoe Mountains; 100 miles or more away.  I thought I could be looking down a map.  Only a map cannot compensate for the way the sun casts shadows and makes one hill much more prevalent or a stretch of a depression in the landscape that much more distinct.

Small Stone #33

Snow to the Earth,
       flurries of words to grasp
       if only they would
       gather in my hand.

When I see this photo I think of freedom, that which comes from a soul that finds no hindrances.  The phrase, "To be a kid again", comes to mind, and I've said it plenty with a longing to run and play until the sun goes down.  To be a kid with no bills to worry about, no responsibilities other than growing and what to play next.  I'm glad my kids can find this freedom, because there are those in this world who don't get to grow up in this environment.

Small Stone #32

Homemade lanterns in the park
for celebration of St. Martins day.
My son holds his out like a star
and sings the German songs so well.
His little voice I find among the others,
and the tradition of the story
wanders along the trail as we do.

I would like to follow this road all day long.  In my mind I am right there gathering in all I see, especially the sky.  The sky has much to say.