Late Night Musings...and Catch Up! Catch Up! Catch Up!!

O.k. seriously...I've tried to squeeze a post in here and there over the past few weeks, and I really mean *squeeze* it in, but I get done with loading photos and writings, and I get a SUPREMELY annoying error message. No doubt it has to do with typing something up in MS Word and then cutting and pasting it in here...but by the time it has all been said and done, frankly, I've been out of time...so sorry...no post for a couple of months now.

I know...SUPER SLACKER GIRL...but it's summertime and oh well.

So now, I'll play a little bit of catch-up over the next few days and post-a-plenty.

For now, though...since it's tres late and I've got a bunch of stuff to do tomorrow, I think I'm going to pop some photos in here with a brief commentary and then call it good for now.

So here we go...

One of my big events (which I had a huge post on...which you will see later once I get it straightened out) was a girls weekend getaway with my book club--The Late Night Bookies. We've been trying to take a quick vacation together for a couple of years now and it just hasn't ever worked out. This year though, we made it happen. We went up into the mountains into the forest and stayed in a cabin for a couple of days. When we got there, we found that two moose had taken up residence there at the cabin. They hung out with us for the weekend...we named them Moosifer and Mork. Here's a quick pic of our new friends.


O.k. and these are my girls...I'm the only one not in the pic because I was taking it. These women are amazing...every single one of them. What an amazing time we had. I am truly blessed to have the friends that I do. L-R: Kristin, Tiffany, Anna, Mary, Michelle & Melissa.



Between all of them we have such a plethora of creativity and talent.

Among all of us you'll find somewhere in there a business owner, single mom, student, business woman, homemaker, beautician, manager, customer servicing, finance, artist, seamstress, researcher, chef, retail experience, project manager, harlequin lover, music lover, bird collector, Asian art lover, Renaissance adorer, interior decorator, an environmentalist, a libertarian, a democrat, a republican, bi & tri-lingual speakers, painter, furniture refinisher, independent thinker, writer, baker, creator, singer, rubber stamp enthusiast, card maker, crafter, musicians with piano, harp, flute and guitar...and no doubt...Rock Band aficionados...

You'll find women with a varied ethnic background...all of them from immigrants at some point, some more recently than others...Native American, French, Scottish, Irish, German, English, Spanish, Mexican, Latvian, Russian, Swedish, French & Greek...

You'll find women who have overcome divorce, abandonment, broken hearts, death and betrayal and while hurt by it, have come out on the other side stronger for it.

You'll find thoughtfulness, love, service, friendship and compassion among every single one of them.

You'll find beauty and talent.

You'll find women who will touch your life for light and good. Women who concern themselves with the cares of the world and the people in it. Women who try through small acts and great to make the world a more kindly place.

You'll find women of light. Women of faith. Women of fortitude and strength. Women of conviction. Women with the hearts of giants.

Stealing Sunshine...

Image taken from www.mombasainfo.com

One of my favorite blogs to visit is: http://mycastleinspain.blogspot.com/

I kid you not, this woman delights my heart! She is amazing...creative, thoughtful and bright. I've never met her, but I'm always excited to see what new things she has created, or new places she has visited. I admire her style and she lives with gusto--in color--in joy. I'm sure she is just like the rest of us and has her blue moments, her sadnesses and her disappointments...but she inspires me to create more...to live more...and to do so in fulness and not in mediocrity.

I strongly recommend her blog if you are looking for something different and new...something unique and exciting...but I digress through my commendations...

My point...and there was a point...LOL...was to share a poem, that I read on her blog a little while back. It is in French with an English translation. This comes from her site...but I had to share it on mine as well, because for me...it captures summertime and the joy that burbles through the clouds and the music that fills the air if we will but take a moment to stop--and to listen--to feel.

I love this poem in French...I love it in English.
It captures summer evenings--the smell of charcoal, fire, wood and meat...grass and water. Sunshine ebbing as eventide comes on and the way our noses follow the delightful scents of someone else's dinner...or if you are lucky...your own!

Les viandes grillent en plein vent, les sauces se composent
et la fumee remonte les chemins a vif et rejoint qui marchait.
A lors le Songeur aux joues sales
se tire d'un vieux songe tout raye de violences, de ruses et d'eclats,
et orne de suers, vers l'odeur de la viande
il descend
comme un femme qui traine: ses toiles, tout son ligne
et ses cheveux defaits

Meats broil in the open air, sauces are brewing
and the smoke goes up the raw paths and overtakes someone walking.
Then the Dreamer with dirty cheeks
comes slowly out of
an old dream all streaked with violences, wiles and splendour,
and jeweled in sweat, toward the odour of meat
he descends
like a woman trailing: her linen, all her clothes, and her hanging hair.

(Translation by Louise Varese-she made such a super job of capturing and translating the exact tone of Saint-John perse, the English translation is as enjoyable as the original text)