MOMENTS



A lesson from a white egret about staying with difficulty. Despite gusts, this bird continues to work with the wind. August 2015.


Light shines through maples leaves in Adena Brook ravine. Columbus, OH

Image credit: Dan Trittschuh










Hummingbirds visit over 1000 flowers every day. Looks like they sit after sipping.

Image credit: Sue Metzger, from her backyard probably. Columbus, OH








My husband made and gave this journal to me after my son continued on. This photograph shows what I write just weeks after his passing. This message continues to help me today.


What a treat to see this sunflower wake up this morning. From our garden.
July 4, 2013







Holy Fibonacci! This sunflower in our garden is 6 feet tall. Notice the Fibonacci spiral? June 23, 2013












I know how Nemo feels!


I drop daughter Erin and grandson Dylan off at the airport after their visit (at the time we live in different cities.) I return and find Dylan's toy Nemo under the table. 
June 18, 2013.








 Bath peace. March 2013.





No, this isn't Dorothy's Oz. It's the sky above our neighborhood (Denton, Texas). Mammatus clouds signal the big storm has passed.


Image credit: Brent Hirak, photographer. May 20, 2013










Grandbaby Dylan sleeps. He reminds me of a baby Buddha.

Image credit: Erin Purdy. December 18, 2012










I ask 3-5-year-olds, "If you could pick your own name what would it be?"

Maggie says, I'd call myself Let Her Shine."

September 14, 2012. Image: Maggie talks to a trouble doll."





I make clay, superpower necklaces with 3 to 6-year-old children. They're hits! I get a belly kiss, marriage proposal, and an invitation to move in. 
September 13, 2012













Sweet love Juliet! Being almost 2, she wants whatever anyone else has and screams until she wins. Sister Tess (8 years old) says with lightness and understanding beyond her years, "She just wants attention, distract her." 


It works! We grab hugs when she isn't expecting them.


August 26, 2012









Friendship wonder. Mailing a fragrance memory. Peonies. Dear friend Betty snips and mails me flowers from her garden in Michigan.


Image: May 29, 2012











A good companion. While in chemotherapy and not feeling well, I take a walk. A butterfly flies with me for almost the entire walk. 


October 4, 2011




We are interconnected. A preparation sketch for a mandala drawing drawn by monks visiting the Crow Asian Museum (Dallas, TX). 

August 19, 2011.






After a visit to the Modern Wing of the Chicago Art Institute and sharing photos, I wonder who this is.


"Oh. That's me?" 


My hair was just beginning to grow back after chemotherapy.

Image credit: Terry Barrett. July 2, 2011.











Openness. Looking skyward often. 


Image credit: Cindy Pitt. March 19, 2011








Knitting anyone? My dear friend Andi says, "Let's take our threads and knit a little, putting more together than life takes apart."


January 24, 2011.








No matter what someone else tells me, only I can do my work. Margaret reminds me:


"If you and Dad always tell me to think for myself, then why are you always telling me what to do?"

Image credit: Margaret, 7 years young, to her mom. September 3, 2010





Kittycat calm. Nesta sleeps in the shadows of the setting sun.


Image credit: Susan Michael Barrett. 





My first surf lesson. Exhilarating.


Afterward daughter Erin and I sit on the beach. 


Image credit: John Purdy @2000