Circle of Life

In the days surrounding memories of my Mom ...
There has been a Baby shower, a belated birthday, a Strawberry Moon, and many happy returns of the day.

At the baby shower we have celebrated a little boy we have yet to meet. Not yet among us, we love him already.

We have celebrated a belated birthday; despite the delay the candles still burned as bright.

There has been a Strawberry Moon, the name given a full moon in June. I love that they each have names.

There have been many happy returns of travelers; the family from vacation, the kids from adventures in Pennsylvania, the husband from business in Portland.

As the holiday weekend unfolds we will gather to share our memories, stories, adventures and travels and enjoy the company of each other. All of us floating on the ripples of the Great Circle that is Life. I wish for you the same pleasant pastime, and a wonderful weekend.

Weddings, Magic and Iridescence

I am still pondering cows jumping over the moon. I am still re-reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Oddly what connects these seemingly unrelated topics is a property called iridescence. I am assuming that if one possesses a magic wand, and has the power to use it, that it would leave a trail of irridescent sparks in its wake. It also occurs to me that sometimes the moon appears to be irridescent. Perhaps I am mistaken, and I am doing my moon gazing with rose colored glasses. It's hard to compare; one cannot, after all, gaze at the sun to search for that elusive property. It is hard to even define. If I was going to be really poetic, I'd say that iridescence is joy captured in light. If it was sound, I'd say it was light hearted laughter. I actually realize I like just thinking about it -or perhaps just like thinking about it. I've been thinking about weddings these past few days too. Pictured here is my nephew Joe and his bride Trista. I like including little details from my real life into paintings; theirs was a very special wedding. The wedding making all the news this weekend was on YouTube. It made the local and national news on Friday night...but I was so busy reading I didn't log on to see it. Then my husband came across it on Sunday afternoon. Seven million people had already gotten a look at the joyful entrance. It will not replace my children's or Joe & Trista's as favorite weddings-I don't know these folks. But I've already watched it at least 5 times. Probably more before I log off for the night. I added to my YouTube favorites. I posted it on my facebook page. It is not within my power to make everyone I know happy, but I sure can share what it looks like. I hope that you can enjoy it as well. Have an iridescent day! :o)

Night Lights

You'd think that a blog associated with moonflowers would have more to say when celebrating 40 year anniversaries of landing on the moon. Especially when the same week contains a solar eclipse by the aforementioned moon. I must admit to a bit of a block; then again there's a lot to sort through whilst contemplating such significant events. I knew there was stuff in my head-I just couldn't find my keys. I needed that ol' EUREKA moment, which finally occurred when I found me a muse. The cow jumps over the moon. If that's likely to happen any time soon, I'll bet it'd be in Wisconsin. I began pondering an image I'd seen somewhere, and discovered it to be the work of an artist named Lowell Herrero (added a link over there in the artist column) Now I know that I am going to have to create my own version. I've got moons, moonflowers, stars, but no cows at night.
I remember the night of the moon landing. I know it was a defining moment in history, but at the time I was a little reluctant to celebrate it. I was waiting until they got back in the landing unit. I was waiting until that unit got launched back into space and was on its way home. I guess that makes me a bit of ‘Doubting Thomas’, but all of this space adventure stuff was still uncharted territory. It was comforting to hear the words from Genesis being read; the words were a good anchor when boldly going where no man had gone before.
Now we’ve got an International space station; I love the global collaboration. Imagine thinking ‘outside the globe’ and the possibilities it opens. I guess that is why I would like to see space travel continue-as long as we can be reasonably sure of the safety of all concerned. And I also glad they are fixing up the Hubble telescope. Those images are breathtaking and beautiful. Now there’s an Artist at work. It is no stretch for me at all to hear “Let there be Light” when someone defines the Big Bang theory. Thank God.