Colleen's Store

A couple of days ago, I tried to surprise my friend for her birthday and failed. I moved 2 hours away from her so it was a crazy plan.   She wasn't home, but I broke into her store and shopped anyway.  We started a journey together many moons ago.  We are creative soul mates....we can talk about our passion for days without end.  She moved out to the country and started working on her little shop.  She slaved over the details and made her husband nuts with plans, but he did as she asked and now Prairie Peddler is now a reality.  The first day I walked into her little shop, tears ran down my face as I exclaimed "Oh, Colleen, your dream has come true." 

 This is Colleen's dream....

 Cut not the wings of your dreams,

for they are the heartbeat and the freedom of your soul.

~ Flavia ~

I love and miss you dearly, Colleen

Winter

Winter has kept me close to home.  Not that I mind....but my cranky body keeps me close not allowing me to wander very far with my camera.  Cranky, because I find as I get older I do not tolerate the cold as I once did.   Growing up at the base of Wolf Creek Pass in southwest Colorado, winter came early in October, blanketing the ground with white wonder and staying long after the first notion of spring.  I loved it there.  I was always up on the mountain partaking in winter by skiing, snowmobiling, ice skating and cross country skiing.  I don't remember my body being "cranky".  So now one block from my house I capture winter. This is it...not a flake of snow this day but alluring in it's own measure.

Happy Birthday, Chase

Today is the birthday of a little boy who is very special to me.  Chase...celebrates his third birthday today.  Three whole years...where does the time go. 

His birth is a well written story of love....love of mothers really.  Two mothers and a grandmother to be closer to the truth.  And I would say his birth started as a prayer for us all.  A prayer from one mother for the gift of a baby she could not have, a prayer from another for a baby she wanted but couldn't keep and a prayer of courage from me to help lift them both up.  Jordan, in the most precious and abundant love only a mother could understand, gave Chase to Jen who in the most precious and abundant love only a mother could understand gave us more than we all could have dreamed of and gave themselves back and more.


Adoption....dear, true and a gift from God to all of us.


We have an open adoption...where we can see Chase when we want and share in his life thru a wonderful blog by Jen and thru letters and emails.  Chase has a brother he shares with us.  Tate loves cars and trains and using blocks to build elaborate creations.

Adoption...dear, true, abundant selflessness


 I first gave everything I am to a special little girl, my daughter, on the day she was born who became Chase's mother.  She gave everything she was to him, a chance.   Now both of  us race thru his veins and when he listens closely he can hear us whisper..."I love you, no matter what." 

I am so proud of you, Jordan
I am so thankful for you, Jen
I am so blessed to have you, Chase.

My Mother

My mother has cancer....again. She was given her news the day before her birthday in 2003. She has fought and won....twice. Now the beast is back. I have been blessed to be able to be with her during the first few weeks back, with breaks from my work at a school and luck...I guess. Many would not think going to treatment was luck or sure not a blessing but when I look at the minutes I may have left with my mom, each is a blessing even at treatment.


The cancer treatment center should be a place of sorrow but I see hope in every drip thru the I.V. tube. My mom sees hope too. Sometimes she is brave, sharing her story with others as they are tethered to their chairs for two to three hours. Sometimes she is the only listening ear that understands her new friends fears. Sometimes she is the delicate aging woman, with wrinkled hands reaching for me for support.


For the first time, this time, I looked into the eyes of my mom and saw confusion for just a second before I saw the tears as she whispered, "I can't remember what we were talking about just now." I cried, as I held her shaking hand, blaming her "chemo brain" for her short memory, knowing that along with the chemicals that were raging in her body to save her life...again...she was also slipping into the unknown for us both. That place that all mature people go where memory is short, where I will have to remind her of what happened a minute ago, a year ago and a lifetime ago.


I ask God for the patience to do just that. Remember and remind...


But today, I will remember her like this picture...my family was coming to my house to celebrate September birthdays, to surprise my sisters and mom, when they arrived I started snapping pictures like they were coming down a red carpet...so today I will remember my mom, on the red carpet, eyes full of life like the movie star she is to me.

I love you, Mom.....

Mosaic Monday

Mosaic Monday at

Little Red House

Come see all the great artists and their Mosaics.

I love fences...I love the way their repetitive lines draw to or away from me.  They sometimes lead to an adventure or keep me from danger. I never let them box me in or define my space and thru my lens they are a thing of beauty.

Mosaic Monday

Little Red House: Mosaic Monday



Welcome to my first Mosaic Monday.  Whew....that was scary.
I am working on my goals already this year by posting for the first time on another blog.  If you are seeing my pictures for the first time, welcome and I look forward to hearing your comments.

Possibilities

I was inspired this year by The Blue Muse not to set a resolution but to pick a word or have a word pick me that represents what I see in 2011.

Possibility

My 2011 word.  I thought about what possibility would look like and came up with the photo.