I realized I'm not blogging much. First it was all the emotional upheaval of a divorce, then it was the working all the time thing and finally I just blame Facebook. Which is easy to do but the truth is I have a litany of excuses about why I'm not writing or blogging lately. A blog post isn't very interesting without pictures right? The list goes on, but the simple fact is that it's just another choice in a myriad of choices about how to use time.

I compose words and pictures in my head almost constantly. Falling asleep I will actually see body paint designs and sometimes the garden plants calling to me. I'm hard wired to create it seems. So with or without photos, with or without my lovely litany of excuses, with or without any ounce of creativity I am determined to get back to it.

Some of the things I want to remember this week...that will surely slip away from me;
     ~Found a garter snake under the black plastic I was using as weed kill in the garden. He let me pick him up and stayed close when I put him down. I finally found one of his little holes in the dirt and set him loose near it so he could go hide...which he promptly did. We made a stack of rocks around his home to encourage him to hang out. Snakes are welcome in my garden.

    ~Flew high on a trapeze! Yes I did. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once and I still can't believe I completed a mid-air transfer. Terrifying I tell you. Stepping off that platform was a lot like leaving my job. "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this" I keep telling myself. Then; "oh my god, what am I thinking?" and then just trying to remember to breath.

    ~More body paint for our book project....one step closer with every stroke of the brush. Another step off the seemingly safe platform of comfort. Which doesn't really exist at all except in my mind.

    ~Met the instigator behind the revival of storytelling here in Jonesborough and the spark that set into motion what would become the National Storytelling Festival (if I believed in ghosts, I would think my Mum had something to do with this one) Jimmy Neil Smith while shooting photos of the very-wise and funny author Patti Digh.

    ~ Being the caretaker for Suma, our orange tabby who managed to sneak out of the house and get into a cat fight (far as we can tell anyway) whose wound abscessed then tore open before I could even get him to a vet. Which is good because I'm actively keeping it drained, cleansed and medicated each day and he is doing really well. We've got a good understanding of each other or my face would have been torn off by now. I swear he knows exactly what I'm saying to him. He's cried a couple of times but not acted aggressive one time, even when I am pressing on it to help drainage. I love that cat!

We started cleaning out the neglected garden today and I have this feeling of complete and utter satisfaction even though things are still messy. Keith is the best partner for this kind of thing (yes honey, I forgave the tearing out of basil and watercress this time) because he actually cares about the results, cares about learning what each plant needs and is in total awe every time something does well (which tends to happen out there a lot) and grows quickly!

I feel a sense of being in the right place, at the right time and all is well.  Even with the normal bumps and fits that life brings... All. Is. Well.  We are looking to the future but building in the here and now. This little acre, this little garden, the basil and rosemary, the weeds and mess, our cute downtown studio in an old building...it is ours as much as anything can belong to a mortal.

Tonight we rest, tomorrow we plant. I'm not sure if there will be pictures to share....we may be too busy doing.

    ~