April Fool!
I have a penchant for corniness…it comes from my dad—the one with a gazillion stories, riddles, mind puzzles and corny jokes.
Lizards do it. Squirrels do it. Even baby lemurs do it. So, I am, too…taking a flying leap, that is.
The Not-So-New Kid on the Block || The Art of Being You
by Les McCarthy in Blogs
Years ago—eons it seems—I spent my afternoons tutoring elementary school kids.
I have to admit, upfront, I’m not a “Star Wars” worshipper. I have seen three of the films (sometime between junior prom and my first child) but now that it’s Star Wars DXVII (or whatever), it’s just another movie at The Clyde for me to see—or not.
November…that time of year when the colors blend together, looking like a child’s dish of paint water—gray with swirls of gold and plum. It’s the month when Mom Nature puts her finishing touches on the landscape before tucking everything in for the winter.
My Lab, Moby, had a series of seizures and, 24 hours after thinking all things apples and pumpkins, I was saying good-bye to my wonderful friend who was just shy of 15 years. What is the saying? What a difference a day makes? So true. And being on an island that is so dog-friendly and dog-loving and dog-robust, I felt compelled to write a little something about dear old Mobes.
This past week I did something I’ve never done before—I threw a bowl. Not across the room or anything like that—but on a potter’s wheel. From a lowly lump of clay I made a bowl.
Visions of cotton candy had been swirling in my head for two weeks when I realized the reason—the Whidbey Island County Fair was coming to town. I found my fascination odd, as I have to admit I’m not a “fair” gal, yet I couldn’t get it out of my mind, and I couldn’t wait to go!
As of last week, I am a full-fledged islander with one year of island living under my proverbial belt. I’ve learned a lot, but the Northwest—and especially island life—remain somewhat new to me. It’s just different here!
I am a rambler. Oh, not the automobile that my grandparents had that they drove every other Sunday, if the moon was full or the sun was high…the car that still had that “new car smell” 15 years after it rolled into their garage for the first time, back in the early ’60s.
Every once in a while I am transported to another place and time. No, it’s not magic nor am I being beamed up by aliens—it’s just a blast to the past via a whiff of something in the air.
Nothing beats 24 hours in a hot car with ones you love, driving through seemingly endless cornfields in the Midwest and mooing at the 4,287 cows that dot the landscape between Denver and Chicago.
Unless you’re somewhere else.
In a few days Cupid’s arrows will shoot through the air and countless hopeful/hopeless romantics will have their day. I love Valentine’s Day. I don’t know if it stems from my extreme fondness of all things pink and red, or my love of everything shiny, glittery or lacy, or that I just love that people have “an excuse” to express their adoration.
HAPPY NEW YEAR…2015! No other three little words bear such potential and promise as HAPPY NEW YEAR! Well, none other than…Seize the Day! Go For It! You Look Mahvelous! I’m So Sorry. Let’s Get Married! I Love You…
As we slide on into the holiday season, remember these words from William Arthur Ward, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
Every once in a while, in every one’s life, a little rain must fall. Or, if you live in the NW, a LOT of rain must fall. And, I, for one, am prepared; this former Girl Scout has a handle on it.
Each of us has our own gift, that thing we are good at without too much effort: baking the perfect pie, writing the perfect song, painting the perfect picture. You get the idea.
BY LES McCARTHY September 24, 2014 “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” — Pablo Picasso. I am a sucker for quotes. They wake me up. They make me think, encourage me to do and to see things I normally would not. “Beauty is in the eye of the […]
Welcome!
This one word brings warmth to my heart and nourishment to my soul. It’s sweet, lovely, calming and brings with it acceptance and a verbal embrace. What a powerful word!
Tom Lindsay blowing bubbles at sunset (Photo by David Welton)