Exploring

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Wednesday, I…

awoke with the sun, to cuddles and the purring of cats.

ate every strawberry I picked.

set my abs and butt on fire with Cassey Ho. Silly and fun, she kills me every time!

mowed and fertilized, and plunged my hands into earthy compost.

heard the first steady hum of bees on blossoming lavender.

got bouquets, cards, and well wishes from friends and loved ones.

walked with the hubster, love of my life.

ate dinner to the Bee Gees, Hall & Oates, and Fleetwood Mac, and sang my heart out!

realized, in a weepy moment of gratitude, that the greatest gift I’ve recently received is that I am finally surrounded by MY people. I’ve shed the drama queens and gossips, the self-absorbed, the unkind, the ones who lack the common courtesy to call or email. My people are kind, caring, fascinating, fun, and super duper smart. We get each other. We love each other. We share all we have and all that we are.

A pretty terrific way to celebrate forty-three orbits around the sun!

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More miniatures at the Mount Hood Model Engineers Open House. Egads, soo cool! Within walking distance from our house, we’ve been itching to go for years and finally remembered on the right day and at the right time. Good golly was it fantastic. My hat is off to the kindly gentlemen of all ages, eager to share what they know and show off some super cool HO Scale Model trains. Thank you so much!

Susan, they DO scenery!

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How handsome is my favorite tennis player? After three years of letting the rackets gather dust in the basement, he’s back at it (I am, too – birds of a feather). It’s been fun and a little bit strange, our bodies sore in places out of practice. Kind of nice, too. I watched him last night, something I had never done, save when I am on the opposite side of the net. There was much glorious sunshine and a match well played. And though he did not win, he was clearly content, smiling, hustling, doing and being his best.

A lovely morning at the Saint John’s bridge with Lori because, gasp, she had never been. Blasphemy! I think she had an okay time. Maybe.

When I was a kid, I had an obsession with miniatures, a desire to hold the world in the palm of my hand. I wrote stories about miniatures gone missing. I collected miniatures and built a house to hold them. I wanted to be a Borrowerto discover tiny places, to somehow manage to hop on Mister Roger’s Trolley and LIVE in the town. So, what a delight it was when I discovered my camera could render the world into my childhood dreams. Oh, happy day!

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Still having fun with the Willamette Week Street photography. This week, my photos start with the guy in the glasses and denim jacket. Hello Ray! And the week before? I took all but the young woman in the sunglasses and hat. So much fun!

Holy cats!

Pictured at top has got to be among the top five best bathroom wall decorations of all time (though it is much brighter in person). If you do not know where it is, I am not going to tell you (save in North Portland), not because I am one to keep secrets like that, but because my delight upon first laying eyes on it was so spectacular and mirthful that I would rather you not expect it in hopes that you experience the same moment of wonder.

And Paris, bundled tightly post bath. My little sausage. “Let me out!”

Out snapping the peonies. Sadly, the season is winding down. And how about that last shot? Some sort of bee-mimic. We shared a magical, I see you, moment, inches apart and eye to eye. Wish I could have captured that one!

Mock orange: this tiny sprig scents the entire bathroom.

Out under the clerodendrum, eyes skyward and fingers plunged and twining the grass.

A sunset walk, eager for more of these, that soft hour of quiet, the revealing of different mysteries.

Happy Memorial Day, grateful for this great land that is America!

Have a listen to how I am feeling…

This scene, Oak Island on Sauvie Island and not an island at all, just the grandest stand of ancient oaks surrounded by a waist high carpet of green, sent my heart agallop. This neck of the woods always borders on the sublime, immense and filled with every possible wonder. A leafy raw azure, the rustle of brush, and my hand skimming the grass.

Out with my friend Laura and her dog Chipper. No pet of my acquaintance more thoroughly lives up to his name. Smiling, leaping, bounding, tongue lolling, and tail wagging, I felt constantly buoyed by his lively presence. Not that I needed it! At every turn, I filled with such delight at my place on this patch of damp earth. Bird song and Laura who knew every single call! Oriole! Spotted Towhee! Savannah Sparrow! Bewick’s Wren! Black Headed Grosbeak!

All was lovely, bright and happy as new pennies and this fairy house. Momentarily empty, her occupants surely observing us from the brush.

One stupendous view after another, Sturgeon Lake and Mount Saint Helens.

And this pastoral scene, repeated again and again, a myriad of cows moseying and baying and regarding us with equal curiosity. A fine morning it was. Thank you Laura and Chipper for inviting me along!

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