Monthly Archives: February 2012

Joy Jam

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What were the 3-5 things that gave you joy this week?

:: Rediscovering, remembering artist Anne Packard: When I was working on my Full Snow Moon Dreamboard, I used a few images from an article about painter Anne Packard from the December/January 2010 issue of Coastal Living magazine–one of a table and tools in her studio, and the other of her hands working on a tiny painting. The hands remind me of a similar picture of an 83 year old painter, hands splattered with paint, that Andrea Scher shared on Superhero Journal recently. I want to be old like that, I want to be creative like that, I want to be free like that.

Honestly, it was hard for me to cut up those pages and use those images. I love that article so much, love everything about Anne’s work and life, and covet her studio. She reminds me in some ways of poet Mary Oliver, another gloriously creative and free spirit–what/who I want to be when I grow up.

:: Tina Fey: Everything about this woman makes me happy. When I was younger, I wanted to be a performer, like Barbara Streisand, Lucille Ball, and Carol Burnett. Who cares about “pretty,” but oh to be talented and funny (and gorgeous–maybe not in the traditional Hollywood sense, but all these women are gorgeous)!

In the 41 6-Word Days lovefest on A Human Thing yesterday (it’s a lovefest every day), a few of us got to talking about the line from 30 Rock, “I want to go to there.” It’s one of my favorite quotes, even more so because of the story about where it came from. In an interview on the Jimmy Fallon show, Tina Fey told him that her oldest daughter Alice says funny stuff that ends up in the show all the time, but for this particular line, Alice was about three and Tina was secretly considering taking her on a trip to Disneyland, so she was online, researching and looking at the website when Alice came around the corner, saw what was up on the screen (the Cinderella castle) and said “I want to go to there.”

I was explaining that yesterday, and while trying to find a video of that interview, I ended up watching some other Tina Fey videos and thinking about how much I love her–she makes me laugh, makes me so happy.

Tina Fey, Sexy Nerdy Funny Girl

:: Registering for Blogging from the Heart: I know I’ve said this already, but I am so excited about this class. I signed up in the first few minutes registration opened because I just couldn’t wait (the class is officially sold out). Clearly, the theme for this week’s joy jam is women I admire, and Susannah Conway is one of them–funny, brave, open-hearted, smart, gorgeous, and talented. As good as I feel about the blogging I’m already doing, I know that this class is going to open up a whole new part of my heart.
Susannah Conway
:: Playing “find it” with Sam: This is a game where I take whatever toy Sam happens to be playing with, ask him to sit and wait, go into another room and “hide” it (no place too difficult, because he’s really not all that good at it yet), return to where he’s waiting and tell him to “go find it!” He loves this game. I have to make sure Dexter doesn’t help, because he’s super good at finding, and would win every time.

:: Glen the baby squirrel adopted by a dog: This is actually an older story (February of 2009), but Eric just forwarded me an email about it today. If you click on the picture, it will link you to the original news story and a video. In the mail Eric sent me, it ended with what it called “the moral of the story”: Keep loving everyone, even the squirrelly ones.

Small Stone: Big Moon

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This morning was one of those walks when I wished I had my camera. Not so much to capture the view or be able to share it, but to have proof that I wasn’t just dreaming it. The magic of it was such that it was hard to believe it was real.

The full moon was at first covered by a fog of clouds, blurry and golden, hovering over a black, leafless tree.

Then, it rose above the fog, bright white and clear, lighting up the clouds below, illuminating 14 shades of white, blue, and gray.

Later, it disappeared completely behind a bank of thick clouds, with only the faintest glow marking it in the still dark sky.

Then the dawn and clouds hid it entirely, turning the snow a light blue.

At McMurry Ponds, I breathe in how lucky I am to live here. And by here, I don’t just mean Northern Colorado, or even Fort Collins, but this specific spot northwest of the center of town. Walking around the back pond, to the north is the edge of Creekside Garden Center with it’s forest of young trees and barn with peeling white paint where the foxes like to nap, to the south on the other side of the pond is the Poudre River where last week we saw a Blue Heron fly the length of it with a beaver and three ducks swimming below, behind us the sun is rising, turning the treeline orange, and in front to the west, there’s an old white farmhouse with three large Blue Spruce in the yard and the moon sits high above them, with the Foothills, Horsetooth Rock and the Reservoir behind and below it. This is where I live.

Back at the beginning of the trail and the end of our walk, the pale moon sits against a bright blue sky. Goodnight moon, good morning beautiful day.