soaking up the sunshine

We've been spending every moment we can outside, hiking, biking, and walking.  If we're not racing to soak up all the sunshine, we're sleeping.  And working a little too. 😁

Yesterday, I put up the second Poetry Walk for National Poetry Month at a park in Overland Park - South Lake Park.  Even though it was raining, the air was crisp and the geese were honking their fluffy butts off.  You can't beat getting paid to take walks at parks and hang out with geese.

Margo and Josie both love bicycling.

Clinton Lake in Lawrence is one of our favorite places to hike.

If I'm not hauling signs, I'm hauling these fluffernutters.

Here is one of the signs for the Poetry Walk.

Library Birdcalls

 My poem, Library Birdcalls, was recently published in The Seattle Star.  Though I no longer work directly with the coworker from this poem, we still email each other all the time with bird news. 

I am eager to get back to hearing the unique birdcalls you can only find in a public library that's full of life.

shelf fungi zen

The pattern for my latest embroidery piece was loosely inspired by shelf fungi, and it was such a relaxing piece to sew.

I had just enough of this soft fabric leftover from another project I found at a Creative Hands Show a couple years ago. And by project, what I really mean is project failure.  Sadly, I think the remainder of the fabric has some long-forgotten gnome half-stiched on it somewhere.  I should find it and see if there's any way to bring a half-stitched gnome back to life.

I chose both cotton and polyester threads in the hopes it would be just a bit shiny and the difference in threads would give it texture.  I practiced tracing it the pattern inside of a circle stencil a couple times in order to get it right.  This was a bit tricky but my spatial awareness isn't the best sometimes.  I used a micron pen to trace the pattern on the fabric (no backsies).  

Favorite March Reads

It felt like I read a lot in March but most of the books just didn't resonate with me.

Thankfully, these two books saved the day:

Little by Little by Jean Little (Juvenile Nonfiction)

I enjoyed reading about Jean Little’s childhood and how she overcame the challenges of being visually impaired in a world that made little effort to embrace those who were different. I also enjoyed watching her grow as a writer and how much her family shaped, encouraged, and nurtured her in this process, especially her father. When Jean gets lost coming home on the streetcar one day, she is exhausted, emotionally drained, and needs comfort. When she finally makes it home, her worried mom makes her dinner in bed and then invites the whole family in to read Secret Garden together. Jean writes, “I…needed a story to come between me and the difficult things that had happened.” There are lots of these poignant, a-ha moments tucked into this short autobiography, and by the end I was a little sad I could never meet this spunky, thoughtful author (she passed away in 2020).

The Artist's Rule by Christine Valters Paintner (Adult Nonfiction)

This is a great resource for writers and artists looking to savor and draw more inspiration from their artistic journeys. I like to think of this book as a mud room for creating – a place to come in, take off your shoes, sit down and reflect for a minute before leaving or entering your artistic space. I particularly enjoyed the reflections on the different times of day and the seasons of creating. I struggle with resting periods but they are so vital to any kind of growth, artistic or otherwise. 

I jotted down so many quotes I could easily paper an entire wall with them. Here is a favorite from John Chryssavgis: “Silence is never merely the cessation of words…Rather it is the pause that holds together – indeed, it makes sense of – all the words, both spoken and unspoken. Silence is the glue that connects our attitudes and our actions. Silence is the fullness, not emptiness; it is not absence, but the awareness of a presence.”