10.31.2008

fall seems to be flying by this year.

some pictures and a song that they remind me of . . .





one of my all-time favorite songs . . .
the windmills of your mind

round,
like a circle in a spiral
like a wheel within a wheel
never ending or beginning
on an ever-spinning reel
like a snowball down a mountain
or a carnival balloon
like a carousel that’s turning
running rings around the moon
like a clock whose hands are sweeping
past the minutes on it’s face
and the world is like an apple
whirling silently in space
like the circles that you find
in the windmills of your mind

like a tunnel that you follow
to a tunnel of it’s own
down a hollow to a cavern
where the sun has never shone
like a door that keeps revolving
in a half-forgotten dream
like the ripples from a pebble
someone tosses in a stream
like a clock whose hands are sweeping
past the minutes on it’s face
and the world is like an apple
whirling silently in space
like the circles that you find
in the windmills of your mind

keys that jingle in your pocket
words that jangle in your head
why did summer go so quickly?
was it something that I said?
lovers walk along a shore
and leave their footprints in the sand
was the sound of distant drumming
just the fingers of your hand?
pictures hanging in a hallway
or the fragment of a song
half-remembered names and faces
but to whom do they belong?
when you knew that it was over
were you suddenly aware
that the autumn leaves were turning
to the colour of her hair?

like a circle in a spiral
like a wheel within a wheel
never ending or beginning
on an ever-spinning reel
as the images unwind
like the circles that you find
in the windmills of your mind

10.30.2008

oasis


you're my oasis today.
you're my oasis—please stay.
if we go home this dissolves
before it's the chance to evolve.
just one more sip, then we're through.
i promise—the train waits for you.

{i wrote this for the friend who meets me regularly on wednesdays for tapas. whenever we meet, i just don't want this time to end, and it always goes so fast. i have to consider that she has a long train ride home and allow her to leave much earlier than i would like! but she also drops everything to meet me when i need her in the midst of a rough patch, even if it's not our wednesday. even if it's a friday. oasis.}
beautiful friend
i've yet
to meet,
you meet
me at
my needs.
i can't see
your ears,
still
you listen.
i can't see
your mouth,
yet
you speak.
perhaps
because
we sense
each other's
hearts
whether in
the same room
or an ocean
apart.

dots


Lord, i must admit—i've grown tired of connecting the dots. i'm grateful for so many yellow dots. and i cherish my one red. please—if You will, though—send me an orange dot. one that needs my orange dottiness, too—like i do. or am i not orangeable? and if so, what's wrong with me? is this how You made me? yellow by nature? or worse—not even a dot, period? but You made me in Your image. have i faded so much? Lord, i must admit—i've grown tired of connecting the dots. and while we are on the subject, i long for a little pink or blue dot or two, too.

10.28.2008

letter





hurricane brac


wind tunnel in my driveway—i named it brac.

thank you, Lord




there had to be twenty or more robins hanging out underneath the evergreen tree right outside my office window yesterday and today. i couldn't have needed it more.

10.27.2008

drowning




i’m drowning.
in bills
in clothes
in things
in thoughts
in work
in stimulation
in lists
in piles
in ideas
in inspiration
in relationships
in grudges
in goals
in desires
in words
in waiting
in memories
in pictures
in stuff.
i’m rich beyond belief.
make me poor.
save me from myself.
save me from my selfishness.
take me to a dry and empty
land--island--You land
where there’s nothing
to distract me from You.

10.25.2008

puddles

i decided to take a few pictures of my own, while waiting for chris to set up the "rain-boots in puddles" photo shoot, so my pics are from a bird's-eye-view.

10.24.2008

fivefun"fotoshopped"forfall

here is the original. click on the picture to see a better detail.

i'm a purist, so i promise, i will never do something like this again on this blog.

but i couldn't resist.
the above picture is the pure original straight from my camera.

below are four more images of the same picture after photoshop effects were applied.

with my job comes the luxury of having software that allows me to play with my photos. i rarely do, but i thought this photo—although i love it on its own—was calling out to have some funky variations. and i'm glad i did, 'cause i like how it turned out {especially the last three}.

nothin' too special about this one—just converting the original to black and white—but a nice feature to have sometimes. {even though my camera does this for me if i want, but it was nice in the days of film.}

this one was created via the hue/saturation menu. i just moved it around until this nice color came out. i love this—sort of andy warhol-esque.

i really liked this effect. i just used the invert command to achieve this.

and this was just a blur affect. i liked how it turned out, because often, my photos turn out this way on their own, and i always like those ones—sometimes more than the crisp and clear ones.

deep friend


deep friend,
you do not use me to get
to another.
you do not change your treatment of me
when someone “more important”
enters the room.
you do everything you say you will do
when you say you will do it—
for me,
with me,
to me.
deep friend,
your giving has no end.
you do not forget me.
you respond to me
in the most timely, considerate manner.
you are never too busy for me.
you like me.
you love me—
with all that’s weak in me.
you wait for me.
you miss me when i’m gone.
you miss me when you’re gone.
you help me.
you listen to me.
you comfort me when others have disappointed me.
you are true.
your character is matched by no other.
and even if you were not my husband,
you’d be my deep friend.
~georgia

falling leaves {by sixpence none the richer}


standing in the middle of a forest
basking in the glorious autumn
watching the leaves as they change
from green, from green to orange, yellow and brown
i'm falling down
i'm falling down
my emotions are deceiving me
blinding my eyes from my nature
robbing my quiet solitude
of tranquility
i'm falling down
i'm falling down
oh, let these falling leaves cover me
let me sink into the ground never to be found

10.23.2008

having some fun with photos and type



my friend, shalice, gave me this quote years ago.
i transferred it to one of my favorite photos.

lately, i am enjoying mixing my photography
with the written word and typography.
it is something i will be playing with a lot,
as i have seen it out there so much
and want to try my hand at it.
i love typography, so it is something
i am looking forward to getting really
experimental with.
below are a couple more.
i hope you enjoy.

favorite things

more thoughts on fall... from a friend

10.22.2008

atonement


i just watched the film, atonement, a couple of nights ago.
it stirred up a lot of thoughts in my little ol' head.
this poem has been bubbling to the surface ever since.
i finished it in the middle of the night last night.
it says everything i wanted it to, but i'm not sure about the flow.
anyway, here it is.

my heart was taken from me—
flesh ripped right out.
for the other source of life in me
believed a liar
who said i could have more
so as to sabotage 
one more ordained love.

"come back. come back to me."

it's not the liar who made the atonement,
rather He who loves me,
my heart,
our union.

and how you look like Him, my heart,
since you've been back.

10.21.2008

hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go

encounter 1:
i got a ticket on my way to work this morning,
for i forgot to renew my license plates in august.
it really put me in a bad mood!
{especially because the officer was very rude}

encounter 2:
i like this one better.
this one put me in a much better mood to start the day.
i saw this "guy" while driving to work last week.
{"fast eddie" trying to flag people down for a car wash}
i happened to have my camera ready
so that i could take pictures of the sumac
that was everywhere along the road.
so, i stole a shot while smiling ear to ear.


10.20.2008

mary's yard



mary, only you 
would have such 
gorgeous dahlias—
bright, and tall,
weathering the october cold,
fiercely, yet delicately, 
defying summer's end
in the face of another
harsh winter.
how these tall, skinny
models of nature
remind me of you
on your nature day 2008.

10.16.2008

signs of the times

with media and advertising everywhere—
often sending negative or meaningless messages—
i liked these signs with simple messages or reminders.


greeting in the window of a cellular phone store.


message on the restaurant sign
where we went for our anniversary dinner.

random sign that almost seemed to be abandoned
on the side of the road out in the country.
then i noticed there were no words—
just an arrow pointing to a tree.
i think that says it all.

10.15.2008

on eight years of marriage


an anniversary card


left on my car door for my drive to work


"they have tested us, 
broken us,
hurt us,
depressed us,
worried us,
strengthened us
and are mending us.
through it all,
we are still us.
happy 8th us!"

two songs for two friends


{as i listened to this song while driving today, i cried as the words put you immediately on my heart. although for two very different reasons, i could hear you both singing.}

how pale is the sky that brings forth the rain
as the changing of seasons prepares me again
for the long bitter nights and the wild winter's day
my heart has grown cold, my love stored away
my heart has grown cold, my love stored away

i've been to the mountain left my tracks in the snow
where souls have been lost and the walking wounded go
i've taken the pain no girl should endure
faith can move mountains of that i am sure
but faith can move mountains of that i am sure

just get me through december
a promise i'll remember
get me through december
so i can start again

no divine purpose brings freedom from sin
and peace is a gift that must come from within
i've looked for the love that will bring me to rest
feeding this hunger beating strong in my chest
feeding this hunger beating strong in my chest

get me through december
a promise i'll remember
just get me through december
so i can start again

i've been to the mountain left my tracks in the snow
where souls have been lost and the walking wounded go
i've taken the pain no girl should endure
but faith can move mountains
but faith can move mountains of that i am sure.


•  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •

{i sang this, too. take it from me. sing on. you will sing this too.}

great is Thy faithfulness, o God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
as Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

great is Thy faithfulness!
great is Thy faithfulness!
morning by morning new mercies I see.
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided;
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!


{He was faithful to provide and preserve my "us". i am praying daily that he will provide and protect your "us".}

picture my favorite picture

happy anniversary, love.
i wrote this for you...


we said better or worse
but what about best?

we said richer or poorer
but what about blessed?

we said sickness and health
but what about rest?

until death do us part
your heart beats in my breast.

10.13.2008

looking up, falling in






~psalm 85:11~

faithfulness springs up from the ground, 
and righteousness looks down from the sky.