Looking through the Lattice-scope

When autumn splendour tips into the long stretch toward frost and flurries, after the brilliant splashiness of reds and oranges have fluttered off the branches,yellow continues to smile from the aging leaves. 

Everywhere you look it is the predominant colour on the Canadian landscape at this time of year. On lawns and streets saturated with rain, a textured collage of yellow leaves splay beautifully dormant. On sky reaching elms and old man willows they dangle, giggle and dance, radiating winks of light at passersby. 

Long after the harvesting of its fruit, woven vines with broad yellow relics decorate lattice and fences. And when the daytime beckons night, the rays of the streetlights blend and reflect off their branch tips creating halo archways you just want to walk under because it feels like good luck. 

Even in the dark, yellow beckons you home. 

This week's Photo theme is "yellow..."   For more interpretations and photos, check out Carmi's blog. 

red

When dreary is the order of the day, the hubris of Red boasts with a sense of daring bravado, there is no way to ignore its charisma. Red absorbs light and catapults it outward with such vibrant expression that you can't help but feel happily blushed by its warmth.....by its eccentricity.

This colour tantalizes the eye with a flirtatious tickling, inviting you into its heart. It's almost as if Red has the mysterious power of pulling out the blues while tapdancing troubles away with its sauciness. Like the allure of gypsy freedom, red thrills our sensibilities with daring delight.

Both exotic and common, Red is the empowering breath of life in all its mysterious elements. Paradoxically, it is also the shocking slice of a weeping wound, terrified by its own stark reflection. Either way, you just want to hang around its energy don't you?


This photo is a small section of a welcoming place called the Tiny Tea Tent where friends gathered during the Greenbelt Festival. I am left with warm memories of this wonderful little spot, where the energy of red light brought smiles to everyone I had the pleasure of meeting there. (some of whom I contintue to remain in touch with through facebook.......!)

This week's photo theme at Carmi's place is RED. I just may stick with the theme all week along. Thank you Carmi. November needs the energy of Red to counteract its gloomy presence.

pastels.......

If I were an artist,
I'd choose pastels as my medium to create sweeping murals.
Those vibrant clay lipsticks
allow for a blurring overlapping landscape to emerge
in a coupling of colourful clarity.

Using the warm energy from my fingers
to ply its buttery substance
I'd pull their intense colours across the canvas
blending them into harmonic hues and contrasting drama.

I'd let them weep into shades of autumnal laments
staining romance onto a wanting canvas
in a textured velvety cream.....

As I apply my colours with varying fingertip pressure
I'd sense a moody tenderness,
courting sharp light with opaque tones,
capturing transience in flight.

If I were an artist, I'd choose pastels....
Strong vibrant clay lipsticks of pure pigment
to layer a dappling brilliance of lifetimes
with forgiving imagination.

yes I would.....

Dusk on the Saint John River

A tip of the hat

A wink and a nod

A soft shuffle exit

A touch of elegance before the final curtain

One last beautiful breath

captured in the smooth sound of Sinatra....

Melodic right down to the last croon.

Encore!

Nice and easy does it every time......

Bravo!

This week's theme at Carmi's place is dusk. These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago just up the hill from where i live. We are blessed to witness the glory of the sunset simply by looking out our window. But the best view is up on Springhill Road or down by the river's edge on an evening when the water turns to a pool of glass. Tonight, we are in for a stunner. You know, my dusk is someone's elses dawn. I like that thought. For more natural beauty, check out Carmi's blog. You're in for a colourful show.

Cointreauversational Questions and Answers....

I seem to be having a tough time pulling my writing thoughts together over the past couple of days.... short attention span....... other priorities ...... hovering in limbo waiting to hear some news related to my career (good news, but still waiting...) I suck at waiting. Just ask my family who make me wait for them at least once a day, and then stand back as my head explodes.

Tonight, Pip posted these questions on his blog and they intrigued me. They stirred up a bunch of golden thought threads I may tug on beyond here, where I can delve a little deeper into the secret "whys" and "how comes." As much as I share quite a bit of myself on this site, it is only the tip of the iceberg, some of which is still hidden from me. Questions like these provoke and poke, twist and braid, tug and pull at the golden threads..... unravel too. I like that process.

1. What colour would describe you interior right now?

A dark shade of purple.....the colour you see long after the sun has slipped beyond sight. I love the idea of mixing red with blue. Vibrant heat with Azure cool. Purple is the colour of royal contradictions. Paradoxical purple.... moving into dark.

2. What colour would describe your exterior you right now?

A much lighter shade of purple ...... though if you looked at the back of my neck you'd see red. I was gardening all afternoon and was slapped by the sun. No pain....just heat and it feels good and healthy.

3. What feeling is predominant right now?

My feelings seem to run the gamut these days. I blame whacky blasts of estrogen on top of a continued sense of being unsettled which makes me impatient, uncomfortable, doubtful on top of hopeful. But, if I had to pinpoint one predominant feeling right.at.this.moment as I reflect on the day?

Satisfied.....

4. Which human person is inside your head right now?

One of my oldest friends has been visiting me in my head tonight. Its a rare occasion when we have a chance to catch up, but its a rare day when I don't think of our friendship at least once. In fact, I am convinced that our thoughts are often simultaneous. This comforts me on many levels.

5. When was the last time you prayed?

I try to keep a prayer going all the time, and began to believe so after I read this quote by Frederick Buechner... "Everybody prays whether [you think] of it as praying or not. The odd silence you fall into when something very beautiful is happening or something very good or very bad. The ah-h-h-h! that sometimes floats up out of you as out of a Fourth of July crowd when the sky-rocket bursts over the water. The stammer of pain at somebody else's pain. The stammer of joy at somebody else's joy. Whatever words or sounds you use for sighing with over your own life. These are all prayers in their way. These are all spoken not just to yourself but to something even more familiar than yourself and even more strange than the world. "

When I really stopped and focused on a prayer was the other day. I was sitting in my van in the parking lot where I now work. I had been rushed and feeling discombobulated over all the changes in my work life. In order to calm myself, I sat quietly and repeated the words of St. Francis ..... as a way to seek some inner peace. It truly refreshed me.

6. When is the last time you wept?

Last night. I was exhausted and felt emotionally drained. It seemed like a cleansing. I slept soundly afterwards.

7. Describe the connection between 5 and 6?

Tears are never too far away from me, but I'm fine with them. They may make others feel uncomfortable, and its not that I don't care about making them uncomfortable, but I actually don't care if I make them uncomfortable. Sometimes tears hit me when I'm praying. This happens mostly when my cup is too full and they just spill out of that place.

Tears come from a place of joy too, or when I let my guard down in order to feel deeply when something profound occurs. This happened yesterday morning when a colleague was describing an amazing encounter she had over the weekend. Her stories often leave me with a rush of tears because she has such a strong spiritual side to her and can encapsulate it in a story that always moves me. I am blessed to be working closely with her every single day.

8. Name three activities which help you in your wholeness journey?

Writing, photography

and connecting with people .... counselling, facilitating, emailing, blogging, over dinner, just hanging out.

9. Say when you last actually participated in those activities?

Every single day..... as much as I can.

10. Will you think of a question for me and send it?

Yes..... and if you would like me to send you a question, leave me a comment and I will custom design one for you....!! And if you would like, you leave your answers to any of Pip's questions as a comment here. I would LOVE to read your thoughts....!

Pip? Here is your "cointreauversational" question my emerald friend..... :)
Is there a book you've read which impacted your way of thinking and living to a point where you felt an internal transformational shift?

happiness unfurling...

Joy and woe are woven fine,

A clothing for the soul divine.

Under every grief and pine.

Runs a joy with silken twine.

William Blake

Sunday morning .... skies were cloaked in dark grey. Draping down to touch the hilly fields, the clouds hovered to the riverbend. Rain fell straight like a fine spray evenly soaking all that it touched, feeding strength, encouraging growth.

Newly planted seeds, row upon row.....fresh budding leaves, tender roots unfurling......germinating under the grey laden rainspray skies.

'Tis the season where light moves us from the insulation of darkness. Even the gloomy skies can't forgo the feeling. In fact, the alchemy of colour POPS out of the grey.....with dramatic vitality....from the dreary dross comes golden touches.

If happiness were a colour, I would choose the innocence of green in spring. Its open vibrancy tantalizes the eye with the fullness of future potential.....as happiness does to the heart. Tender green shoots.....our nature exposed to the elements, joy woven with woe. It is a risk to be exposed. Happiness does that to us....we are more open to risk when we choose happiness....but I'm thinking its one worth branching out to....