Snow in New England

We’re safe and warm, thank goodness, and letting Mother Nature dictate a day of rest and reflection.   It has been a rough week in the news.  Sending healing prayers and compassionate love.

Things to do, places to go, rushing, rushing, rushing, through this back-to-school heat wave of meetings, planning, and 122 shiny new faces…what did I neglect?  The Faeries.  That is not a wise thing to do, so I’ve been shown.  They will start hiding things to get your attention.  I’ve lost and found two sets of keys a dozen times. I’ve lost a large 16 month desk calendar, and a bag of school supplies.  And after four days of searching for my studio key in every possible hiding place I said out loud, “ok, I get it! I’m neglecting the Faeries!” and made a promise to get back to them when I got home today.  I opened my book-bag – the one I dumped on my desk twice to find my key– and there was my key.

When I got home I told my husband about the faeries, and he said “get thee to your studio!”  So you’d think after a week of frustrating scavenger hunts I’d go to the studio ASAP… but noooo! I figured I’d visit a friend, play with the dog, eat dinner, hang out with my husband, and even dared to try to go to Staples to buy more supplies when my school bag with my wallet and keys went missing.   I’m serious– the big, over stuffed, can’t-possibly-be-missed book bag with everything I think I need in it– wallet, keys, phone, lesson plans, toothbrush—gone.

I ran up stairs, down stairs, to my car, back to the house, back to the yard, to my husband’s studio, “I can’t find my bag.” He followed me into the house to help me look. He went up stairs and down, out to his car, and back to his studio, back to the house, we went back out to the yard, no bag.   Then he gave me the third degree: “Did you bring it home?” “Yes.” “Did you leave it at your friend’s house?” “No.”  “Did you put it in your studio?” “No.” “When did you remember last seeing your bag?” “I brought it home and took it out of the car.”  “Where did you put it?” “IF I COULD ANSWER THAT WOULD WE BE STANDING HERE WITH YOU ASKING ME THAT?… NOT HELPING!

With a shrug my husband left me in the back yard frustrated and scowling… “Ok, Faeries, I’m sorry! I’ll get to work!” I turned around, stomped into the house and tripped over my bag.  It was in the middle of the mudroom.  We stepped over it nine times without seeing it.  I brought it out to my husband’s studio and held it up.  He said “Where did you find it?” “I didn’t, I tripped over it in the mud room” “You’re kidding!” “Nope.” He stared at me and laughed.  “Faeries?”  “Yep.”

I have a work of art by Brian Andreas in my studio that says: “Most people don’t know that there are angels whose only job is to make sure you don’t get too comfortable and fall asleep and miss your life.”

My little woodland faeries are just telling me that I am moving too quickly through my life; that no matter how busy I am, I need to slow down and appreciate the world around me…or they’ll break my neck as I trip over it.  Faeries are not as subtle as angels.

So here I am.  And to make amends I am giving you a beautiful faery coloring book page.

Quietly watching the world

Click on the words below to download your free coloring book page.

UnderthewoodsColoringBook

Faery Blessings!

We are just back from our Maine vacation. It was a blissful week of reading, swimming, floating, and photography just for the fun of it.  Doing a whole lot of nothing special was just the ticket…like cannon balls into the lake

A double cannon mega-splash

Another big splash

Chasing Bubbles

a perfect world

Rolling down a grassy hill

rolling down hills

But the happiest camper of all was Sam…

Smiling Dog

July 31 was my birthday and we  celebrated  at the best restaurant ever: Prism Restaurant and Gallery in Rockport, Maine.  The food was exceptional and the restaurant is gallery space for beautiful (an understatement) blown-glass art objects.  They also have a gallery space beside the restaurant. You will need reservations if you go, who knew? But fortunately they could squeeze us in. (http://www.prismrockport.com/Prism_Restaurant_%26_Gallery/Home.html)  Instead of a birthday cake I opted for individual slices of some of the pass-out perfect desserts made at Sweet Sensations (a part of the 3Dog Cafe next to Prism restaurant).  Tom, Hannah, and I had a rich double chocolate mousse cake, Ian had a slice of berry cheese cake, and Shelby had a huge butterfly cookie.  If you are in the Rockport-Camden area you MUST go there.   fhttp://www.3dogscafe.com/ Unfortunately the mail-order link isn’t working on the site, otherwise I’d have a shipment of macaroons heading my way. If you love macaroons, you NEED to find a way to have some shipped to you.

There is a restaurant we went to that I must warn you about.  The food is the worst food we have ever had, even the rolls were tasteless.  I have never done this before, but we spent nearly 100 dollars on a meal that was inedible.  The Village Restaurant in Camden, Maine.  There are so many great restaurants in the area it is a terrible waste of money to go to this one.  I don’t wish them ill, I just wish that they find a new chef asap so others will not suffer our fate.

Well, I’m back in my studio so more on Faeries later.

Faery Blessings.

Between the branches, a faery door...

This is the true story of how a Smith College Honors Scholar was taken by the faeries and compelled to do their bidding.

The oldest natural magnolia tree in New England (so I am told) grows on a knoll in our yard.  Through a hundred years of unrestricted growth, the tree spread her branches skyward before bowing to the ground.  Where the branches touched the craggy soil, new roots shot through the dirt and spawned a new magnolia.   The new trees entwined with the mother tree causing the twisted and overlapping branches to rub painfully against each other, scarring the tree.  In places where new branches have cut off the circulation of the older limbs several branches have blackened and died.  In the twists and turns of all the branches a magical doorway was woven.  During the high faery holidays, if you stand at the entrance you will hear the faeries call you, or you will see them out of the corner of your eye – several faeries flitting through the branches like tiny humming birds.   It was midsummer 2003 when I first encountered the faeries of the Magnolia.

We were house hunting, and Tom fell in love with the house.  I fell in love with the old barn and the magnolia.  The realtor was blathering away while Tom and I circled the old tree looking at the yard.  I swear I heard the word ‘faeries’ followed by ‘magic’ which made me look down to strain my ears to hear.  In front of my eyes was a perfect faery ring. I had never seen a faery ring before—dozens of mushrooms growing in a perfect circle.

“We have faeries” I whispered. “What” Tom whispered back through the ‘blahblahblah’ of the realtor.  “Look, a faery ring.”  He looked at me puzzled then at the mushrooms in a ring. “It’s a sign of faeries” I explained.

After the realtor left I said “We should have a faery tea.”  He looked incredulous.  “What are you talking about.”  “When we move in, we could promote our photography business with a faery tea and invite all of the neighbors and their children.” So we did.  And ever since then, we have been celebrating with a faery festival every third Saturday in June.

My granddaughter once asked why the faeries came to talk to me that day.  My theory is that the pain of the earth is being manifested in vibrations that speak to us in different ways. For you it may be saints and angels, Buddha, or Al Gore, for me it’s faeries.  It doesn’t matter the trumpet as long as we listen to the song–

Take care of the earth, she will take care of us.

Faery Blessings!  Enjoy my blog!