Arboretum ho!

We got 3-ish inches of snow today...  

... soggy, slobbery snow, the best kind for romping in... 

You say good-bye, and I say hello...

Good bye, good-bye! 

Beautiful, colorful apartment...

(Sniff...)

Hello, hello! 

New house, just one block north- the glowing white one in the middle... 

Oh the many possibilities... 

Ahhh December...

Well, I dropped my camera... so sadly, no more in-focus photos! 

But merry christmas to you... because christmas is what I celebrate this time of year... and I want to share my sweet little tree with you, because it makes me glad. It takes me back through all the years of my childhood-- picking out trees and decorating them, being a family, creating special traditions and celebrations... And having friends around and believing that somehow we are all a part of something much bigger than ourselves. And that is good.  

Fall...

Today was a brilliant fall day- the kind of day that awakens ones senses and makes one feel hopeful and alive even though fall is the season before winter, a season of slowing, darkening, waiting and longing. But today, now, my heart feels light, I am excited, I am glad, I am ready.

I awoke to bright sunlight- the clean, clear, fresh kind of sunlight after a weekend of incessant rain… how satisfying too, to see my clean, freshly organized room in the brilliant streaming sunlight. Outside the clouds were a dark purple, it was one of those strange inexplicable weather things… they were dark- but not rainclouds, just thick, close, dark purple clouds. The contrast of the clouds heightened the sunlight, or maybe the golden sunlight heightened the clouds- I don’t know- but everything was clear and especially brilliant. And the wind! Loudly outside, pulling at the trees making them dance and sing. An unexpected email from a distant friend, his words, his sentiments resonating deep in my soul… cause for dancing and singing of my own.

I got into my car, hands full of the necessities of the day: cup of coffee, gym bag, lunch… headed toward the highway, but turned up Calvert instead, opting for the long way… Winding through the neighborhoods… to be IN it all (as long as possible)- a world alive and swirling with the movement and color of the wind- a great paintbrush or fleet of brushes, painting the leaves, their goldens, browns, reds and yellows, in big swaths-- this way and that… the sunlight catching each little leaf glittering in the frenzied to and fro of the pack across the street and back again, up up up in a thrilling swirl… fluttering down. Pause... Again! Oh what sheer FUN I tell you!

Laugher and glee glittering in the corners of my own wide-open eyes… Josh Ritter, his smiling voice and strumming guitar rockin’ through my sweet old gold volvo- yes yes! Let me remember why I want to be a rockstar and make note to really practice tonight.

I’m at work now I know, I know… but I need to recount and record the delight of the morning to myself- to hold onto its beauty- I already feel it fading as I settle in the world of office, computer screen and type type typing away at matters of great consequence. But I still hear the wind and the leaves at play outside my window- their running, tumbling, colorful clatter- like a great roomful of clapping behind closed doors… And now, with a deep sigh of gratitude and a sprig of anticipation at what might be, I embark on the week and all that is in front of me…