MANY MINI-MARVELS

I’ve been absent so long, I’m surprised anyone is still here, and I appreciate you SO much.   These are a few of the thousand-or-so photos on my phone SINCE LAST OCTOBER.  

We painted little Halloween houses with two of our Ohio GRANDS on a sunny day.   Kit is quite an artist in a lot of things.   That's hers on the left, Caro's in the middle (to be completed), and Cal's are the tower and the gore-splashed one on the right.   Sweetpea's is the little cottage with all the critters on the roof.

Small hands created Mummy Dogs for lunch:

A plain day in November, having a party with things gathered up around the house.

That magical moment when trees start to take on the burnished tinge of Autumn, with the scent of fresh-cut Summer grass still in the air. 

Quiet time with Ganner in a new-found park.   After a long walk and gathering-up of amazing finds, we just talked and did a little whittlin’.   Good talk and history and together---amazing, and free.

Admiring The Tree’s silver-smooth skin in the last golden light of afternoon.

My own little pink kitchen.

Lots of good friends for a sleepover. 

My Valentine Heart texted from our nine-year-old Grandson---a budding geologist, zoologist and doctor, and a scary-uncanny encyclopedia of Minecraft.   So Much To Do, So Much Time . . .  

Stopping for a breath of Childhood---the Bubblegum aisle. It’s my own Time-Machine, and I just stand there and close my eyes and breathe it in.  I fully expect to emerge someday with braids, a pocket-knife, and skinned knees.

A happy wheat-toast surprise.

A young cook learning to make cinnamon rolls on a frosty morning.

The fleeting moment between a brief flurry of wee hail and the sunny melt. It's like a scatter of those infinitesimal styrofoam packing-beads that you can never turn loose of.

A fabulous box of wonderful goodies from Sis—our version of a luxurious “hamper.”

The aroma and anticipation of a pan of basil/tomato pasta tossed with peppers and shards of fresh mozzarella. 

Sparklies that twinkle at me from beneath the chandelier.  The little scene changes often, depending on what Chris, Sweetpea and I lay hands on at any moment.  It could range from a Swarovski butterfly to a baby-chewed stuffed cat, but it’s always welcoming and happy.   

Finding Chris’ keys.   He didn’t hear them drop, and the hunt went on for AGES, til I stopped at Caro’s kitchen counter for some Tupperware.

Winter-warming Roses:

And Narcissus:

Another twinkly little tableau:

My newest book, fresh from the printer:

A surprise find in a stranger’s family history.   The young fellow on the left is my Grandpa, who would be 125 this year.  He’s probably dressed the best in his life, for it’s the wedding of his Mama to his new Step-father.   His sister and brother are the younger two in white, and the back three are his new siblings.

I wonder how his life was in that new family.   He never mentioned it, and I never knew to ask.

A few miles from home, after a 1400-mile trip last year.  We were stopped on the Interstate for an hour or so, listening to Leonard Cohen sing “Hallelujah” as the sun went down.

And another sky-pageant---this one mirroring my favorite moment in all of STAR TREK, when Troi translates the emotions of the just-freed captive alien couple:  GREAT JOY AND GRATITUDE.

And that’s how I feel about YOU, for hanging in there when I’m gone for so long.  Thank you all.