The weather is lovely. Wish you were here.
XX
Winning
July 24, 2014 by
I’ve reached the point wherein I am very, very fire season tired. I’ll get a second and third and fourth and fifth wind. I always do. But for the moment, I am tired and waiting on that breeze, that thing to loft my wilted feathers and carry me skyward.
I stayed in bed this morning until 10AM simply because I felt ill equipped to face the day, the week…the month. This month and August were not supposed to be like this. I was supposed to relish spacious living, room to roam the backcountry with my fly rod in hand and my dogs at my heels, daily ten mile runs, watering the gardens in the cool of 9PM while sipping a gin and tonic after a decent day of work…
That moment when life takes drastic turns in a thousand different directions is when we fire wives (and otherwise) prove our fortitude, when we prove what we are made of, as humans; I’m in the thick of a proving ground right now. I feel undignified, savage, scrambling, scruffy, exhausted. I told a friend today that I just have to keep on doing everything I’m doing because if I let everything come to rest, I’ll never get it all up in the air again. That loss of momentum is such a killer. I’m sure some of you can relate, fire wife or not. I just keep telling myself, “Don’t stop. The burden of it all will thin out eventually and then you’ll see the benefit of hard work. Keep pushing through it all. Fix what is broken. Make what you can. Feed yourself good food. Relax as deeply as you can once the sun goes down. Answer the emails with authentic joy. Keep saying yes.”
I simply must keep it all up in the air, orbiting and swirling at lofty heights. I’ll break a thousand fecund sweats keeping it all there, but the effort boasts a greater result than the alternative.
I made it into the studio around 4PM today. I didn’t get much done, but I was there, I made it. I fought the chaotic trajectory of the day with all my might and I won. I’m going to do it again tomorrow and then the day after that, because in the summer, this what I do, I fight hard and I win.
January 23, 2014 by
When we began walking, the valley was white with the frayed edges of a fog bank. We walked long enough to watch the sun burn the clouds away revealing a brilliant sky, bluebird belly and red berries divine.
In the studio, all was warm and I built a few bare, sterling canvasses to be worked with and finished out tomorrow. At the height of the day, I looked out the big studio window that opens to the West, saw Tater Tot sleeping in the sun and I joined him there for a bit, running my hands over the silk of his ears while hearing our heartbeats collide under the pleasant blanket of January light.
It was such a lovely day. Now friends are coming for dinner and drinks and tea and talk. Rob is in the kitchen making his famous sweet chili (The secret? HONEY!) and I suppose I’ll go help out.
I hope you are all better than well!
Items of note:
I am over here today with a dash of prose and some pretty photos — Dog Power.
I failed to mention this little interview last week.
You’ll love this, not just because the fellows strip down to their gitch for most of the film but because it’s awesome.
And how about this beautiful, online book — a quick read that will make your heart light and your soul yearn for the summer forest and the mountain meadows brimming with lupin and larkspur.
Tra la la!
In The Studio
January 8, 2014 by
Man, I’m just having the most beautiful day. Robbie and I have been working in the studio, side by side, me on my stuff, him on studio finishing. It’s loud. He just framed out the window between the rooms. We have music playing. Every now and then we kiss. Outside there is snow falling, fat flakes whimsically adrift on an easy breeze. In a few moments I’m going to take the big dogs for a skijor. They’re a little neurotic and I am too — we deserve a good long run — and all this fresh snow means we are going to fly.
I’m planning a medium sized shop update for Friday. Hang tight.
October 26, 2013 by
[Woke up at 5:08AM…have been working ever since. Feels so right and good.]