A Pledge

I wonder if somehow this thin ice formed while a leaf was still there -- underneath it -- but I don't think so. How did the ice form itself, though, in such a leafy shaped way? I don't know. I do wish that "leaf" or "ice" began with the letter "D," since that's my next letter in the ABC-Along but if I keep my eyes open and my curiosity active then something will catch my eye....

I promise, though, that I won't go cheap and use "dog" for the photo -- in fact, I make a solemn pledge not to let this turn into the all-puppy blog. It won't be so easy; life has changed entirely as I knew it would, but my goal here is to fight to keep my creative life alive even in the face of new (though welcomed) demands. I'll simply say for now that I honestly did allow myself to take a deep breath and appreciate -- drink in -- the beauty of being outside at 3:20 a.m. in 18f. weather. It's not that I wanted to be there. I wanted to be in bed. Sleeping. But the puppy needed to be out and so I was out but instead of being upset about it I listened to the nearby owl and had the perfect view of the newly full moon to make me appreciate the moment. Part of being up for getting the dog and being willing to be the one primarily responsible for house-breaking him was the knowledge that it would force me to be outside a lot and I wanted to get something out of that. Even at 3:20 a.m.

Jess asked me if I'd needle felted any doggies yet. I haven't, but may put some birthday gift $ toward the supplies. Go check out her Easter swap; I don't think I can resist this one!

Thank you for all the kind birthday wishes! I almost wasn't going to mention my birthday here just because it's the type of thing I'm usually fairly private about, but I wanted to share my enthusiasm for birthdays generally and wanted to encourage everyone to think that birthdays are good things and never something to be glum about nor to ignore. I encourage you to celebrate your birthday this year -- every year -- in a way that feels exactly right, but to celebrate. Dean even managed to do the thing I never seem able to do: get the photo exactly as the candles (a representative 3 rather than the actual 46 of Dean's card!) are being blown out....