from one of my favorite authors

“I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair

I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see

For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different green

I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago
And people that will see a world
That I shall never know

But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before
I listen for returning feet
And voices at the door”
―J.R.R. Tolkien

you heard it first

poster created by Jess Ray

june start

i love early mornings.

the coffee is going.  there is a sunflower in an old glass milk jar reminding me of the weekend – yard sales and farmers market.  violet hydrangeas from family in the country.  everything in my home needs a little mid-week reset, even me.  i’ll re-water the flowers, vaccuum, dust, straighten, hang a few more things on the walls… to send us off into the weekend.  birthday weekend!

new dress, friends, mexican food, enjoying our house!

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just some notable nuggets from this morning i want to capture:

dreams about lost things.  many lost things from throughout my life all in one dream.

homemade blueberry muffin with farmers market blueberries

local coffee house with husband’s soft tee on over trusty skinnies

the gumption to create and write, and write and write

perfectly overcast drizzly day with everyone huddled inside

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there are a few things that have given me inspiration this week.  i don’t think sensible artists usually share their very common, everyday inspiration sources – because you get to see the finer lines of their work –  but i just can’t help it!  this is what has been beating in my brain and heart.

this trailer for The Perks of Being A Wallflower 

watching The Lord of the Rings again.  big stories.

reading Chasing the Dragon – the Jackie Pullinger autobiography, recalling her life as a single British young lady missionary in the Walled City in Hong Kong.

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my official answer to the “if you could meet any person/people, dead or alive, today, who would it be and why?” question is this:

i would sit down with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien in the Eagle and Child Pub in Oxford and sit in on their Inklings meeting, and discuss whatever it is they would discuss – life, love, writing, big stories, bigger stories, or maybe none of that at all – over a pint. hopefully i wouldn’t bother them too much.

it inspires me to live that life now, here.  create.  let stories come alive.  surround myself with creators to encourage and sharpen.  put myself in an environment i just enjoy, no other “efficient” motive, more often.

okay early mornings, i’m liking you more and more already.