On the road home stands this solitary pine...

"Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind.

To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, 

is to have the real spirit of Christmas.

-Calvin Coolidge

Enjoying what is... that has been a difficult thing to do this past year.  The year has been full of unexpected setbacks and disappointments.  I thought I was making great progress in my life only to be derailed.  I'm eager for life to be full and rich again but in that eagerness I do think it's essential to embrace what is.  To even try to enjoy it.  This morning I woke up to a wintry scene out my window.  With such beauty to behold it wasn't hard to embrace what is.  My prayer is that with time I would learn more and more how to embrace and enjoy the bitter along with the sweet.  

Pain

"I have also learned that because of pain, I can feel the beauty, tenderness and freedom of healing."
-C. Joy Bell C.

I forget in the midst of the pain that there is more.  Pain has a way of shouting above everything else.  It is the darkness and it is all consuming.  But the moment a beam of light touches the darkness, the pain, everything begins to change.  One begins to see.... and feel.  See the beauty and feel the tenderness and freedom.  I find it particularly hopeful that every dark experience has a light complement.

This post is for my Aunt Rosemary.

Today my Aunt Shirley and I took a walk in the woods. In the heart of the woods you will find a bowl that is home to these lovely little Trillium.  They are dainty and fragile, wild and free.  As spring embraces the land it isn't hard to find beauty.  I love the beauty of spring and how it slowly emerges from every corner of the woods and fields.

June Life....

It's summer at the barn.  I never think to write on this rusty blog of mine.  I find most of my writing I do for me and then when I'm inspired I share it with a select few.  Well, in recent months I'm learning more about saying what you want to say without considering what the response is.  That's pretty freeing if you ask me.  Brutal honesty goes so much further than cautious words that you've carefully scaled back just so you get a certain response.  So....

This is my blog post to say I'm embracing every second of this summer life.  Every moment of questioning, contentment and beauty.  I'm not apologizing for who I am becoming and who I am today.   I believe that true and genuine call out to others and ask them to be the same- true and REAL.  And, that is what I want to be more and more.... real.

Truth be told I've decided to embrace my imperfections and to make every day the best day of the year.

Enjoy the summer breeze and the vibrant colors.  It's all here for you to enjoy!

The Barn Loft

I live in a section of a blue barn that used to be a hay loft.  The Barn Loft.
I'm here to honor my sweet dwelling that I've now called home for a year.

And, one thing I always try to have in the barn are flowers.

A few of my favorites (Paris, France)

Perspective