you're gonna miss me

"Let’s go…!
Won’t look back
When I say goodbye.
You’ll miss me when I’m gone
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone"

lyrics from Simple Plan, "When I'm Gone."

dear readers,

i thought i could be creative every day AND post every day of 2008. i have decided to choose one of those...and it is not posting. i am off on another adventure and, sorry, but this time i am not taking you with me.

i intend to create a little rest, relaxation and good fellowship with family and friends. posting will resume around april 6...one curious observation before i go: readership for this site is up...comments are down. hmmmm.

you're gonna miss me when i'm gone ☺!

if you get too bored, stop over and check out the new gallery at h3images.

family resemblance?

can anyone else see why i might have been drawn to this bust at the musee d'orsay? i would love to know what you see.

my easter

tell me what you see...

...what you feel.

heart images

"In difficult times you should always carry something beautiful in your heart." - Blaise Pascal

photo by lucy; quote found at "Of dreams and visions"

creations from my womb

thinking of my children today...my son is here and this is my daughter, a few years past:

May you feel life as an irresistible invitation

To discover and develop your talents,

Each day bringing something new to birth.

--John O'Donohue

return to art

yesterday i returned to my visual journal after several weeks away. in the morning i created the page called "steps back to art" not knowing that in the afternoon i would make an impromptu stop by the seattle art museum to see the roman exhibit from the louvre.

they make for a nice pairing, don't you think? both in returning to art creatively and visually. it was a delight to see the louvre exhibition since my stop in paris was so brief and made me hope that maybe the venus de milo had lifted her curse ☺.

new life begins

As soon as one sees with one's own eyes the whole which one had hitherto only known in fragments and chaotically, a new life begins.

--Goethe, "Italian Journey", November 1, 1786

statue of Polyhymnia from Seattle Art Museum--Roman Art from the Louvre Exhibit

matin

Somewhere, out at the edges, the night
Is turning and the waves of darkness
Begin to brighten the shore of dawn

The heavy dark falls back to earth
And the freed air goes wild with light,
The heart fills with fresh, bright breath
And thoughts stir to give birth to color.

--John O'Donohue

photo by h3images

ggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

If you're dog-tired at night, it may be because you growled all day.
--War Cry

holy week

Jesus overcame evil by loving it to death. Can we do the same?

words inspired by Richard Rohr daily meditation. photo from Rodin Museum.

creating a meal

"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast." --Ernest Hemingway to a friend, 1950

While in Paris I not only enjoyed reading Hemingway's, A Moveable Feast, I also enjoyed creating one of my own. Strolling through the neighborhood and selecting ingredients one by one was both a sensual and satisfying endeavor. (It comes in sharp contrast to visiting the Seattle Safeway!) Rue Cler offers anything a girl could want to create a luscious meal, including world famous Berthillon ice cream. It really may be the best in the world! Bon Appetit!!

be boundless

there are some people who live in a dream world,
and there are some who face reality;
and then there are those who turn one into the other.
--douglas everett

photo taken at Rodin Museum

courage

"Courage does not mean an absence of fear, but the ability not to let yourself be paralyzed by that fear." --Paulo Coelho

natural high

"Creativity is a drug I cannot live without." --- Cecil B. Demille

Unknown

You are invited to join the "Invitation to Poetry" found at Abbey of the Arts here. This week’s photo is of a gravestone in the cemetery where Chief Sealth’s (who Seattle is named after) grave is found on the Suquamish reservation. There were several of these unknown graves and Christine has invited us to enter into our poetic imagination and give one of them (or several) a story. Here is mine:


Papoose strapped upon her back,
she strains against the weight.
In her heart she longs to dance
and break free toward the plains.
She cooks and works and serves her Chief
while dreams brew thoughts of life.
Now stooped and bent around the fire,
she stirs a soup of strife.

She’s been the squaw, the mother dear,
and now it seems so clear,
the stamp that’s lain across her heart
rings loudly in her ears.
She’s breathed it in and breathed it out.
It’s screamed within her mind.

Her heart, it breaks, the end is near.
She feels the loss, her own.
No one saw her in this life and
she has been alone.
She hears the word and knows it’s true
Her fate is all too clear.
From now until eternity,
she will be
UNKNOWN.

blossoming

"Each flower is a soul blossoming out to nature" --Gerard de Nerval

sunday meditation

"In Love that Long" --Rumi

I am here, this moment, inside the beauty,
the gift God has given,
our love:

this gold and circular sign
means we are free of any duty:

out of eternity

I turn my face to you, and into
eternity:

we have been in
love that long.

photos by lucy top to bottom: Rodin's "The Thinker"; lit candles at Notre Dame; Monet's "Water Lilies", Musee d'Orsay; St. Chapelle; statue at Musee d'Orsay

returning home

"I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.” --Maya Angelou

time to go

my chariot awaits (taxi on the right)

airborne over greenland

Bon Voyage!!!

stalking les chiens

Aside from exploring the museums, cafes and amazing sights of Paris, I seem to have taken on one other little past time for which I hold my "nephew," Riley, fully responsible--dog stalking. This started when Riley requested that I bring him back a photo of an "authentic French poodle." I also stated in my Paris Manifesto that I would pet a poodle if it looked my way. This ended up being harder than you might imagine, because seriously I only saw ONE poodle my whole trip and believe me when I say...I was looking!!!

While I would not classify many of these in my "best photos" category (animals are really hard to capture especially when you are trying to be discreet), but they represent to me a funny, quirky little side of my great Paris adventure. So here they are, the Paris pups...

Free-roaming lhaso apso on ile de la cite. Read more here.

Cisco...hangin' out in my 'hood. (He was the biggest dog I saw & he is a 9 month old puppy!) Riley can tell you more here.

I seriously think this one may be Riley and his person, Sunrise Sister. Were they perhaps stalking moi?

Not a great shot, but I think cocker spaniels have become the official dog of Paris. I saw more of them than anything else!

Monsieur Ginger, le chien. Featured today at "Diamonds."

Hard to see, but there were three of these guys!!!

Another Riley look-alike. This time with his male person.

I saw this big fellow last night near the Latin Quarter. He has his own suitcase and everything.

I'd love to know if you have a fave. (I would have to vote for the big guys myself☺.)

One more little FYI--they seem to have banned smoking inside restaurants, but dogs are heartily welcomed. I love Paris!!!

more window shopping

if you are interested in photos as well as commentary, check out diamonds in the sky with lucy here.

can you feel the "flavor" of the different neighborhoods???

what surprise looks like

"Plan to be surprised." from Dan in Real Life

the "bored" gargoyle at Notre Dame

view from the top of Notre Dame (400 steps up)

amazing window from the much under-explored St. Severin Church

Jim Morrison of the Doors grave in Pere LaChaise cemetery

wall to wall Monet "Water Lilies" at L'Orangerie Musee

Paris sunset from the Right Bank near the Champs-Elysee

the Arc de Triomphe just after sunset.

It was definitely a surprise-filled day!!!