Queen for a Day!

 When I was in high school there was a show on TV called Queen for a Day. During that time I traveled with my aunt, uncle, and cousins to Southern California where my aunt went on the show to tell her hard luck story and why she should be Queen for a Day. She didn't win, but it was a real eye opener for me. I learned that everyone has a hard luck story, life can be hard at times! It's how we learn to live with it, how we tell our story, and how we carry ourselves. Do we walk with our head down, defeated? Or do we hold our head up high and rejoice at the little things?

When I saw this sign at the antique mall this past week I just started thinking we all deserve to be treated like a Queen for the Day, each and every day.

These dresses at the antique mall reminded me of my mom. It was the era of the "house dress". She wasn't treated like a Queen, but she still knew how to laugh, smile, and love her neighbor or friend. We each deserve to dance.

What she and all of us deserve to wear and dance in is the following.

We are the Queen of Dreams and Reality too.

The yellow dress above doesn't show up well in the picture, but when I saw it I thought I would feel like a princess or a queen if I wore this. I would dance the night away, just floating on a cloud.

 I might not tell you my hard luck story because I know that is just the way life goes, but I can dream of being that Queen for a Day any day. I buy myself flowers because I deserve them. I take myself on adventures because I am my own Queen for the Day.

Remember to treat yourself with love and be your own Queen for the Day. And if we are very lucky, we will be treated by others like a queen or at the very least a princess. We deserve it!

Sending Love,

Marilyn

Puddle

 Puddle

Do you ever come across a word that already resides in your mind in one way, but then you see it in a book used in a way you hadn't thought of? In reading A Thousand Feasts by Nigel Slater with my morning tea, I keep coming across the word "puddle". 

Now for me when I hear the word "puddle" I picture a child with red rubber boots on stomping through water on a rainy day. It is such a pure picture of delight and laughter that I have never thought of it any other way. Now Nigel Slater comes along and he is writing about food with puddles of gravy or a gorgeous red sauce sitting on the plate just waiting to be soaked up by a piece of bread or savored with a pudding or ice cream. It shakes up my thinking on a "puddle". I want to delight in that gorgeous puddle on my plate like a child stomping through it in my red boots. Yesterday was Thanksgiving, there actually was a puddle on my plate of turkey gravy, but no picture of that puddle. It was gleefully devoured.

Then I begin wondering about words that create images in my mind and shake up my thinking. This book with his gorgeous, descriptive words does just that. Here is one line, "To smell steaming rice in the early morning is as comforting as being a baby swaddled in a cashmere shawl". Isn't that imagery amazing? Don't you just want to be "swaddled in a cashmere shawl"? Do we pay that much attention to a particle of food placed in front of us?

The closest I could get to a puddle in my own backyard is sitting in the birdbath. I imagine the birds think of it as their own personal puddle, a place to stomp their feet and splash about while washing their food or their feathers.

We must have rain to make a puddle. With bad times we can make something beautiful. There is a quote that says, "Into every life a little rain must fall".  So let the rains come and in the morning after the rain has passed, the sun will shine and we can dance in the puddles.
 

Find your own personal puddle today and dance.

Sending love,

Marilyn

It's Beginning - Don Your Gay Apparel

"Traditionally, this word was used to indicated that someone is cheery, merry, jolly, or light-hearted. So, when you don your gay apparel, you get dressed in cheery clothes."

So for today, we will "don your gay apparel" and dance through the holiday season.

All the pictures were taken on a recent adventure to my favorite antique mall.

Which outfit will you wear?

Now put your dancing shoes on!

And let the sparkles of the season begin!

Even tiny snow men sparkle and shine.

Snowy trees and pretty, festive plates are worth the celebration.

Do you see me? I love the little bottle brush trees. They take me back to my childhood. And even an empty frame speaks to me of possibilities.

More sparkles for your eyes.

I loved the sparkly butterfly. It probably should have come home with me.

And that's a wrap! Don we gay apparel! Let's go out and celebrate the season with JOY, laughter, dancing and music!

Embrace the sparkle and shine!

Happy weekend, dear friends!

Word for the Day - 2020

Whimsy

    from Wiktionary:

whimsy (usually uncountable, plural whimsies) A quaint and fanciful idea; a whim; playfully odd behaviour. An impulsive, illogical or capricious character.

If you have followed along on my blog for a long time

you might have figured out I like whimsy.

I like to imagine fairies dancing in my garden,

bunnies sipping tea,

or flowers smiling up at me.

Playfulness just makes me happy

and after all right now we need a bit of whimsy in our lives.

So for today let's play a bit, let our imaginations run wild,

sing to our hearts content, and dance our hearts out.

Happy Monday, dear friends!

The picture is from my garden, a door to welcome the fairies.

Word for the Day - 2020

Dance

In Wikipedia is says:  
"Dance is human movement created and expressed for an aesthetic purpose."

For me it is, a expression of JOY!
 

Fairies dance in the garden with daffodils
It is a joyful dance of springtime.
A way of nature saying "wake up" "celebrate the return of light"

Both pictures have been shared before, but for me they say dance.

Daffodils are like ballerinas dancing in the garden. 

Growing up I was told that dance was not a good thing; so I was not allowed to dance.

Dance was in my soul and I craved it.

I craved the movement of JOY, the full out laughter of it all.

As an adult I have tried to embrace dance with JOY.

It can come in the way we sway to the music, stroll through our garden,

and let the bubbles burst forth from our mouths in laughter.

So let's dance all our days in whatever way brings you JOY.

Word for the Day - 2020

Surreal, as in humor

Wikipedia says: 

 a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, 

producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical.

Yesterday as I was thinking about the Covid-19 virus this

is what came to mind, surreal. It is beyond my comprehension, not something

I have experienced in my lifetime. There doesn't seem to be an answer

to how this came to be. For awhile yesterday I watched a live conference

on global/environmental issues and I have seen articles on environmental, 

global warming issues that could effect the virus's living dormant around us.

But for me, an unscientific person it is all surreal, it doesn't make sense.

Are we really living in the Twilight Zone?

That is how it feels.

 On the last days of March in the past few years these were the pictures I was focusing on.

Flowers and Springtime!

 Walks in the country!

 More flowers and Easter coming!

 And now we almost have to laugh because it is so surreal

that we are shut in our homes, living in fright at something unseen,

but so devastating and so worrisome, that we can not really comprehend it.

How are you doing through this time of isolation?

My "live-in gardener" and I walked to a little neighborhood market

and I was thrilled to find a can of garbanzo beans on the shelf.

Score! I can make hummus now to go with some crackers on our shelf.

It's the little things that are bringing JOY.

But still it is hard for my mind to wrap it's head around this.

It definitely feels "surreal", rather illogical in so many ways

that it just makes me want to laugh and cry all at the same time.

Take care, dear ones, and for now stay put.

There will be a time coming when we can once more dance in the streets.

 

Beyond the Garden Gate

“I craved to go beyond the garden gate, follow the road that passed it by, and set out for the unknown”
 ~Alexandra David-Neel wrote in 1923

You might think that in reading that quote I would show a picture of some place famous, a gate.

This is the picture that jumped into my head.

Maybe a little thing, but to me it took my breathe away.

We were lost and wandering down a narrow country road in France

when suddenly the entrance to a farm house had this wall of stones and flowers.

I have always been reminded when looking at this picture that it is the little

things of an adventure that stun us, capture our attention, and bring JOY

when we are noticing what we are noticing. 
If we step beyond the garden gate we can find enchantment,
fairies dancing in the moonlight, listen closely as they sing,
imagine pictures in the sky, and laughter in a morning breeze.
The colors sing to me.
They laugh for me.
What are you finding today that is enchanting you?

Stories for my Sister

Grab yourself a cup of tea and settle down for a chat longer than usual.

Recently I finished reading this book. It was said that I might see myself in the story. Certainly I did,
but a different story. A story of a single mom and two daughters. The story came from the older daughter, but it was their story. And that is where my story is similar to this story, but then my story goes a different direction.

 https://elizabethduvivier.com/
Sometimes our stories can be told or written sad or they can be of happy times,
but to mix the two can be a challenge.  Elizabeth did both and I am still remembering this story.

Her book is definitely worth reading. Definitely check it out.

 

Where my story goes, well shall I tell you the struggles, the sad parts or do I tell you

the sugar coated pretty parts?

I could tell you about my mother being called "the stupid one" as a child.

I could tell you about my pregnant mother and I being deserted by my father when I was two.

I could tell you about abuse in the church for those I knew and
how that formed my spiritual beliefs.

I could tell you of learning that my father's family had a lot of sexual abuse stories

and my sister and I were so lucky not to have been a part of that.

I could tell you of difficult times in my life.

But I will tell you this!

As a child as I saw abuse around me I grew strong, I became a strong woman.

I know myself and I know how to take care of myself.

I learned to have an active fantasy life, dreaming dreams

of fairies and woodland creatures.

I learned to follow my dreams.
Growing up I emotionally supported my mom and I hope I
helped her realize she wasn't stupid.
Once I started babysitting I bought my own fabric and made my clothes.
One dream was to dance, though not accepted by my church;
I danced in my 30's. I dance in my stories.
Another dream was to go to design school and work with apparel.
In my 40's I did just that.
In my 50's I met my half siblings and learned even more how lucky
my sister and I were not to have the biological father in our lives.
During this time I learned to have a voice, speak for myself and
no one was going to take advantage of this strong woman.
Yes, I am getting older, I am getting stronger each day.
I speak truth.
As a 65 year old I picked up a camera and learned to listen and notice what I notice.
My husbands thinking was that it should be the man that takes the pictures,
but I listened to my heart.
I still know there are fairies out there and angels walking with me.
I walk on tiptoes with them.
I still imagine the dancing and can hear the music.
In my 70's I still notice what I notice,
I listen to my heart strings,
and I dance*.

Do you also notice what you notice?
Listen to your heart strings and dance?

Each of us has our own stories.
Sometimes our stories are the same, but most often they diverge into
our own unique story.
Pay attention to your story and allow it to make you a stronger person.
This story is for my sisters too. You know who you are more than I know you.

*Dance for me is figurative in nature, most often it is in my dreams and 

in the movement of my heart strings, or just a slight movement of my toe or hand.

Happy weekend, dear friends!

I am saying this early as I will be away on a small adventure,

an adventure where I plan on a dance or two.

Be back on Monday.

Right Now at this Very Moment

I was thinking of senses, but have already done that.

What do I think of right at this very moment.

Dreaming of beauty and adventures is in my soul.

Fantasies and fireflies tickle me with delight.

Singing in the rain and Dancing in the Moonlight,

a fantasy to behold; but truly in my dreams,

I sing!

 I sing for you
I sing for me
I sing for justice
and
I sing for joy.

I dance in the speckled light under the trees.
I dance through the rose gardens.
I dance just to make my heart happy
and
I dance for all the twinkling stars up above.

I laugh the laughter to ward off the pain.
I laugh at the silliness in a story that doesn't even make sense.
and
I laugh because sometimes it is just better than crying.

At this very moment joy surrounds me
like petals of a roses falling from the sky.
At this very moment stars are tickling my eyes.
and
at this very moment I twirl under the sun and moon.
The sun is setting and the moon is rising,
I notice both with my arms out stretched.
I welcome each for what choice do I have.

At this very moment I send you love.

Lan Su Chinese Gardens

Yes, I know! I have shared this garden many times,

but I love going here.

It is most often peaceful and sometimes entertaining.

There were quite a few people at the garden on this day.

There was entertainment.

Dancing!

I loved their peacock costumes.

An exhibit of peonies was throughout the garden too.

Peony's and peacock dancing, what more could a girl want?

So beautifully displayed.

Tucked in many corners of the garden.

Even beautiful in their last stages.

With more dancing, I was delighted.

Come to Portland, Oregon and I will take you there.

A favorite place of mine, a respite from the day.

Field of Dreams

Field of dreams!

Yes, once upon a time it was,

but now forgotten and full of weeds.

Coming upon this on a recent walk,

tucked in between the trees

I remembered another time.
A time long ago when I was young.
Full of laughter and delight.
A boy played on a field such as that.
I went for the boy.
Oh the form, the toss of the hand,
the fluidness of a body in movement.
And after we would laugh,
eat watermelon under the stars
with juice running down our arms.
Oh for summer nights on those fields
where we danced in the moonlight
and dreamed of dreams to come.

The dreams turned a different direction
much later than those nights at the field.
He went his way
and I went mine.
But for one summer long ago
our stars danced on a field of dreams. 
~m.miller

Happy weekend, dear friends!
Go out and make it a special time!

Garden Quotes 2019

The Song of the Crocus Fairies

Crocus of yellow, new and gay;

Mauve and purple, in brave array;

Crocus white

Like a cup of light,-

Hundreds of them are smiling up,

Each with a flame in its shining cup,

By the touch of the warm and welcome sun

Opened suddenly. Spring's begun!

Dance then, fairies, for joy, and sing

The song of the coming again of Spring.

from The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies

by Cicely Mary Barker

I love seeing the crocus as a welcome to Spring,

such a sign of hope.