11.28.2009

Prayer in one of its many forms



Thanksgiving break was spent with family in Utah this past week which meant I had a wee respite from the demands of an oftentimes hectic household. I had the opportunity to spend some quality time shooting details one afternoon while we were there and yes, it's true, as the poem suggests, the very act of attention is a form of prayer.





The Summer Day

~Mary Oliver~

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?




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11.20.2009

Sometimes the little things can make me soooo happy




Just a wee sampling of some of my favorite 'little joys':

*the flight of a hot air balloon, especially if it's close enough to the ground that you can actually see it's occupants ... swoon!
*a fox sighting ... oh how I love them!
*big, puffy, white and dramatic clouds against the backdrop of a blue, blue sky
*the arc of a perfect rainbow of sunflare seen through a camera lens
and then some ...
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11.10.2009

New specs for the girly-girl




In an excited blur, Ava comes running out of her classroom a few weeks ago, waving a piece of paper in her hand, like it's the holy grail.

Ava: "Mom! Mom! This paper says I have to go see the eye doctor!"

I take it from her hand and look it over. I notice my heart sinking a bit at the recommendation indicated on the page, but I'm also very conscious of not revealing one ounce of that feeling to her.

Me: "Yes, yes ... you're right. That's what it says alright."

My eyes leave the page only to glance at her sweet little face. Her excitement has given way to a gleeful expression and a huge smile that travels from ear to ear.

Ava: "Isn't that GREAT?!?"

Children have an amazing way of finding the joy, don't they??
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