Going With the Flow

{Spoiler alert: There’s a movie at the end.}

The first step of an adventure…

The first step of an adventure

combines peril with pause
and a push…

And a push

Your heart pounds a bit
like the waves rolling in

The waves rolling in

You must remember to breathe.

Remember to breathe

Lean in, use your legs
and don’t mind the spectators
sitting like the rocks that they are
wishing they had your verve and your nerve.

7-praying-for-strength

Pray for strength and strong rope.

5-pushing-waves

Hope your ballast means balance

Whirlpools

Wish on the whirlpools
and wait for the waves…

And plunge into the waves
Push! Kick! Jump!
Off you go!

The clouds part

Clouds part.
Sun comes out.

You’re now on your way.

Add some friends.

Pick up some buddies,
Take turns being guide.

Set your course

Set your course
See the sights

Salute the seaweed and mermaids below.

See seaweed    More seaweed

 Enjoy sailing

Engage your reflection
in fun conversation

Who knows what she sees from her side.

Enjoy being afloat

Enjoy being afloat.
Race the clouds.
Race the whales.
Raise your sails, in spirit at least.

Go ashore

Ahoy there!
There’s land.
An uncharted island.

Let's go explore.

Let’s go explore.
Stow your boat.

Say farewell

Say farewell to the shells
who began to get seasick
and are glad to land back on the sand.

So long for now

So long for now.

16-bye-bye

It’s time for adventure on land
(after Old Driftwood tells me a story).

See you next time!

I’ll send a postcard!


P.S. Here’s a glimpse of our ocean adventure in motion.

The Narcissus Needed to Know This

[Please enjoy our second video story and photos!]

I walked down to the meadow on Saint Patrick’s Day to visit my friend, Mr. Gnome. The daffodil sisters were shouting with their hyacinth smell for me to come over. They had something to say.

I stood on a log to get closer. The eldest leaned down. I peered into her face, and inhaled as big as I could.

“Oh my gosh, you smell divine!”

I heard them whisper

“Why, thank you,” she said, on behalf of the whole clump of girls. And they giggled and waved with delight.

“The slugs have been bugging us,” the eldest told me. “Their breath is so bad. Can you help?”

“I’m not at all sure,” I replied. “What can I do? They live here, too.”

“Just look at these holes in our petals!” she cried.

“You may look bedraggled,” I said, “But that’s what comes from a full season of growth. You’re living your life. You’re feeding the slugs. You’re perfuming the air with your heavenly notes. You’re lovely narcissus!”

Then I added, “You’ve made this meadow a sight to behold. I’m beholden to you and your crew.

“And I know for a fact, you’ve blessed and impressed more than me, the slugs and the bees. We’re so lucky you live here. I don’t know what to do, but let’s ask Mr. Gnome.”

I knew with his spidey-sense ears that he’d heard the whole conversation.

Mr. Gnome simply whispered, “I’ll have a talk with the slugs.”

We met in the garden

P.S. If you missed the last story, it had a video, too.

Hoisting our own sunshine on a non-sun Sunday in Seattle

hoisting-sun-hz

Some days in Seattle, especially Sundays,
it’s necessary to make your own.
Sun, that is.

hoisting-sun-mimosa-pms14-0848

We have these Pantone color-matching cards that make the perfect,
and we mean perfect, sunshine colors.
Mimosa makes sense for PMS 14-0848,
like Sunday brunch at the beach.

hoisting-mimosa-pantone14-0848
The mechanics are a bit like flying a kite,
string required, of course.
A bit of wind helps, but not too much.

hoisting-sun-mimosaYou wait for just the right breeze, the right lift,
and you hoist your sunshine into the sky.
And bask in the glow.
Good for the soul.
SPF 2 is plenty.

Message in a bottle on a beach in West Seattle

whats-this-bottleon a sunless day in West Seattle
we saw an empty bottle on the beach

wrote-a-notealways wanted to send a message in a bottle,
I thought, feeling extra adventurous in my fabulous oyster-shell hat.
so I wrote one.
and rolled up a second blank one saying “write your own”
for whoever finds it next.
one should carry extra pencils for occasions such as this.
sealed-it-intucked it in, stoppered tight

sitting-with-it-sealed-a-minuteand sat there a moment, with my message
that momentarily would travel into the world
like a wish to come true

into-the-surfmessage bottles are a bit cumbersome to drag to the sea
without any handles

sending-msg-in-a-bottlehere we are, moments before it embarked…

msg-in-a-bottle-in-surfbon voyage, my message in a bottle

2-msgs-in-a-bottlewho might find it?

In awe of the textures of New Years Day in the forest

simply random snapshots of New Years Day in the woods of Lincoln Park…
tree-communing-NewYearsDay2013communing with trees

stairs-to-newyears

composting autumn on the 138th step

stairs-closeup

in-awe-of-algae-texturesawed by so many layers of life in these woods

awesome-olympicsa posterized view over Puget Sound

Building a Sand Snowman in West Seattle

mittens-sandman-posterizedIf it doesn’t snow at the beach, can you still meet a snowman?

building-a-sandmanIf you find the right ingredients, like low tide, a crab leg for a nose,
seaweed hair, driftwood and sea-grass arm,s and pebble eyes…

mittens-posterizedAnd magic mittens that make sand into snow, sort of…

mittens-sea-posterized

And the final magic?
Sunday sunshine .