Passing On The Stories

 I have a long, love affair with stories. From the real life stories and the picture books shared with my Grandma Grace and the bedtime stories read by Mom and Dad. Now I'm the grandmother and Ive never loved anything more than being Grandma.

 When my boys were little we went to the library to Storytime, and now that they are Dads, I find myself repeating the adventure with the granddaughter, and hopefully someday with the younger cousins she has as well.

 Stories bridge the gap between not knowing how to get through this adventure we call life, and being able to use our imagination to draw on the history and knowledge stretching back through our family and the human family in general.  I am so blessed to have my rich store of tales and memories.  My mom's dementia reminds me that even those can be taken from us, and need to be shared and distributed to our future before we lose them.

 Bless the future with the lessons you have learned and teach them to choose kindness and strength over fear and cruelty. Happy Valentine's Day to the world.

Looks Like . . .

I call this Alice's Sunflower, because it looks like it should be gasping at the impudence of a young weedy girl in it's garden in Wonderland.

 I think one of my earliest memories was of being told that I had to take a nap, and could not get out of my crib until . . . and so staying quiet, but exploring the room with my eyes, telling myself stories about the faces I saw in the wood grain on my closet door and the textured pattern on my wall and the shadows that danced across my wall.

This was entertaining in the daytime and terrifying after dark, when the shadows became claws which were just waiting for me to stick a foot out of the covers or close my eyes for a moment

Snow horse

 Now I am 48 and I still see things everywhere I look, which remind me of other things.  My family has long been used to seeing me stop, and point and say, "Doesn't that look like .  .  .?"

I am not the first to see this, as the beach is called "Whale's Head Beach"

I was teaching at a Catholic School, so stunned to see a Black Madonna where I had hung my hand towel

Did not see this until after the picture was shot, but it was our first family get together after my Sister-In-Law died.
Her sisters and husband are on the rafts

 Some are fun, and some are scary and some feel almost Holy.  Thanks to the fact that I now have my digital, point and shoot camera on me nearly all the time, I have captured several over the years.  So Today I feel like sharing some with you.

I call this the Goddess of Fire

This driftwood horse was many years ago

Do you see a couple, and she is waving "hi?"

An Angel or fairy?

another, developed in the camera, Cross

Royalty of the sea, striding down the beach

Another Human looking, Bride like, sea rock

Ghost of young girl, under window on the right?

Eye, ear and forehead of a bear?

the tide washed in an Angel

Another Angel Angle

Sketch of Heart Mountain, realistic

Sketch of how I see Heart Mountain

Dragon fire

Goddess silhouette with leaf in her hair, on a steamed up mirror

This one obviously had some help coming to life

HI

Angel with gown of light

Two handled Guitar

Tree with evil face near the top

Old Lady watching Sunset on the Sea

Really Driftwood

Love this face

And below I include a poem that I wrote back in High school

Shadows

Shadows dance

twisting - entwining - flickering

THAT ONE

IT'S AN ARM

no

a hand

A CLAW

     help!  it's grabbing at me


oh please


              no


go away




that shadow
                  it's a heart
pulsing
              beating


trying to pull me in


MA MA
            MA  MAAAAAA




The Light Flashes ON
the shadows run
  scurrying
  under my bed
waiting
          to get me