surrender

mjd - 2015 - plant skeletons

open to the stillness

between winter and spring,

though the earth 

beneath your feet 

is charged with eager life.

bear witness

to the skeletal remains

of those 

who have burst forth,

lived

weathered storms

and died.

bear witness 

to a seemingly

fragile nature

that is belied 

by great strength 

and 

great tenacity. 

this story

is like your own.

you stand.

between heaven

and earth

you are rooted

and soaring - 

in that balance

in that exquisite place

may you thrive. 

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lovely rustic holding vessels by the ever talented
marsha neal.

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mjd - 2015 - be still/printemps

thawing is happening here,

revealing

tender things.

trusting green shoots

and 

open hearts

that will soon belie

their fragile appearance

with a blossoming

worthy only

of the strong. 

--------------------

mlle printemps made her first appearance yesterday, international women's day. it seems to have given her some forcefulness as she did not tiptoe. with crashing icicles and running rivers of thaw, she made clear that she had waited long enough.

today this little one poked his/her head out to see what kind of progress was being made.  

2015 - chipmunk in residence

spring beckons

pin - mjd - 2014 

spring beckons.

beneath the snow

tendrils of green

seek the warmth of the sun

and the nourishment 

of the earth.

mjd - 2014

like us,

requiring the balance

of that which enlightens

and that which grounds.

revitalized by the stillness

and peace of winter,

yet challenged by its physical nature,

as seekers of light,

we are reawakened 

and ready to stretch.

on spring

while winter most certainly provides challenges to flora and fauna


spring is evidence of a tenacity i admire...


delicate flowers pushing up through snow


facing days that alternate between balmy and frigid... 


instead of less of them rising to open


more follow... 


until the world is in bloom -




be the flower 

RAW 12 - nesting

with grass-filled beaks the birds fly past...


squirrels rustling through leaves, stuffing their mouths before scrambling up the tree... 


finding scraps from their world and from ours, a nest is built... 

entrusting the boughs with their carefully constructed homes...


preparing for the new life that arrives with the spring... 

7:21 p.m. edt

'sitting quietly, doing nothing,

spring comes and the grass grows by itself.'

~ zen proverb

it will come ~

'sitting quietly, doing nothing, 

spring comes and the grass grows by itself.'
~ zen proverb

a sighting of fresh green is all it takes...

no harm in looking forward to spring's newness while being in the present moment, is there?

a nature save ~

sometimes, having lots of project ideas is a good thing... and sometimes, it is not - like when your brain is in overdrive and you cannot settle it down to begin... 


so i went for a walk by the river... and was gifted big time! 'make way for ducklings' was one of my favorite books as a child.... i look for the babies every spring, so when i saw these little fuzzies i was elated -

mama stared me down hard - but i understood and moved along...


also came upon some lily of the valley -

which inspired me to create these... i did best today trying to keep things simple and use what i already had... like a bag with etched copper pieces... lampwork glass by marie at bleuverre... 

return to happiness

'in nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect.

trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways,

and they're still beautiful.'

~ alice walker

then there were the little buds slowly outgrowing their outer shell... lampwork glass by mika at pinocean... 

tiny buds

it's funny, i have a couple of books that i really love... especially the ones on metalworking and smithing... i will carry one around for a while, absorbing what i can but knowing that there are things i am not ready for... it will then get put away... weeks/months later i return to it and find that i understand and can apply things that i couldn't before... it's a nice feeling... not rushing or forcing the learning, but really trying to internalize it all... 


i am having a giveaway if you missed the last post - just leave your name and tell me how your life has changed from blogging... last day to enter is friday - winner will be announced on monday... 


now if only my eyes would stop burning from the oak pollen - it ends up looking like we have  tumbleweeds here in spring!

transitioning into spring

clouds filled with spring rain approaching - their beautiful texture overlaying the bright blue sky behind them...

'earth laughs in flowers.'

e.e.cummings

playful lampwork glass from mika at pinocean contrasted against the pearly sheen and natural look of mica... soft earth and colorful flowers... 

** a note:
my last post received a comment in chinese... 'how cool!' i thought... so em and i ran it through google translator... NOT so cool - it was spam for an adult chat room... i reported the blogger but found the means to be a little lacking... you check off what the 'offense' is - so i had to check spam... there was nowhere for me to mention the adult content... hmmm... 

if ever a week illustrated a proverb -

'march comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.'


last saturday  a huge storm blew up the east coast...

this is a bay, not the ocean

swans trying to find shelter... the ducks, geese and gulls were no where to be seen, they may have flown inland a bit... 

waters coming up my street

high tide

'in the spring, i have counted 136 different kinds of weather in 24 hours.'

~mark twain

philly - not sure what these are for, but they are neat... 

maybe the flower show?

alex getting critiqued at teen art festival...

for his self-portrait assignment he inserted himself into the abbey road album cover...

piggy back rides in the sun ~

enjoy your weekend!

'spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.'

~ doug larson

a trend?

'o, wind, if winter comes,

can spring be far behind?'

~ percy bysshe shelley

this is definitely premature, but i don't feel so badly because i see others creating things with flowers and butterflies and spring-y type colors... 

i started with hammered wire and added fibers and fabric, semi-precious stones and lampwork glass... they began to remind me of twigs, waiting for spring, for flowers and leaves to burst forth... and so i call them 'twig dreams'...

'every great dream begins with a dreamer.

always remember, you have within you 

the strength, the patience and the passion

to reach for the stars and change the world.'

~ harriet tubman