The Beauty in the Ugliness

It has been a wonderful, wonderful day today.... spent with my ya-ya's... celebrating the lives of two of our mothers and deepening the connection that the three of us embrace.

N and I arrived at R's... bearing the beginnings of brunch with an egg casserole, beautiful cantalope and the makings for bloody mary's. Upon entering the decorated doorway of R's, our noses were tickled with the scrumptous scent of apples and cinnamon...R's signature apple cake that NO ONE can say 'no' to a second piece! My nose was gay...

which leads me to this beauty....

A nosegay from N.... bright vermillion gerber daisies bundled into the sweetest nosegay... a token of my ya-ya's love and celebration of my mother life. A book of sentiments, and a card swirled with wisdom from a humble nun...

touched to tears was I.... as was R..... for she received the same sweet offerings in celebration of her mother's life..... Two mothers.... three women....

We sat out on the patio... and it was a feast for both the tummy and the eyes.... a carpet of fresh, new grass rolling behind us as it was showered intermintently ... roots wiggling down as green shoots stretched sunward. Hummingbirds toyed with each other between sips of nectar... squeeking and buzzing with nary a care in the world! As it should be....

The autumnal sun arced over the south horizon... dragging a lazy Saturday along with it. Candle flames waving 'hi' to us from an outdoor firepit...their fragrant scent occassionally drifting across our table...

Coffee laced with pumpkin pie creamer, bloody mary's stirred with Mary's pickled asparagus, happy sunflowers listening silently to our conversation from their pitcher next to the apple cake and eggs...

The three of us share many, many commonalities... some beautiful, and some ugly. Thankfully, the shadowy ones are locked away in past lives, never to be seen again.
Traces remain and compel us to make the choice... do we let them revive ? or do we step on them, heavily, slowly rolling heel to toe....quelling any attempted uprising....

yes

that's exactly what we do.... with arms locked around each other and twinkles in our eyes...
we move forward through this beautiful life

3 beautiful women

rising out of the ugliness

For the Love of Peggy and Betty

i have found the paradox that if i love until it hurts,

then there is no hurt,

only more love

...Mother Teresa

Live as If...

Live as if...

Autumn Angels

Welcome to a slice of heaven on Earth....

Monday morning, the ya-ya's and I loaded up the Tahoe. We had blankets, camping chairs, picnic baskets full of snickerdoodles, chicken salad, cheeses, chips, chocolate, pickled asparagus, apples and more!, magazines, journals, books, cameras, hard cider, gloves, scarves and a thermos of hot coffee... all for spending the day in the woods...literally!

R, N and I ran up to a grove of trees that are the most brilliant red that I have ever found in Arizona! I found this sweet spot about 6 years ago, while running the roads on one of my frequent road trips. It always calls me back each autumn because of how it reminds me of Ohio autumns. I'm not sure what type these red trees are, I think maples, but whatever their species, their impact is striking!

I was afraid the leaves might not quite have changed yet...but quite the opposite was true....they had faded and fallen ... most of them. A couple of aspens shook their yellow medallions as a breeze danced through, but most of the red had spirited into the fall air ... no mind... we were happy with all that we had.

We set up our little camp... a thermos of coffee on a tree stump served perfectly as a table (note the picture), chairs in the sun to stave off the brisk, crisp 48 degree air.... food passed around and shared, and a toast to us 'autumn angels' with a bottle of hard cider! OH YES! The splendor of fall had begun! We spent the next 5 hours soaking in the purity of autumn in the forest... chatting, comforting, laughing, eating... Funny thing... books were left closed, pens were left capped, magazines were left tucked in their baskets. When the three of us get together, we seem to fill the moment with stories, advice, laughs... and the 'distractions' that were packed are never opened. It's as if we cherish these times together and don't want to waste this face-to-face offering. It's always been the right decision... I never come back home and think 'Wish I had read that magazine instead..." never....

As the sun began to sink into the bare branches of late afternoon, we started to gather talismans of our trip and pack up. Poor R... she, of all people, highly ticked off a chipmunk who was distaining our intrusion into his living room uninvited. As she gathered from the forest floor, she was pelt from above with nuts! A chittering accompanied the pelts, and we could only imagine the words being hurled at her along with the nuts...which found their mark, more than once!!! It was too, too funny...!

After packing our day up the ridge and back into the car, we stopped by a noble pine tree...old, stoic, solid and stately. His gift lay before us... huge, tan pinecones frosted with sap... fragrant, curved and large. Without even trying, they evoked thoughts of upcoming Christmas... and we gathered each a bag of them to take home... the car smelling like a Christmas tree on the ride home.

I have to give a 'shout out' to my Autumn Angels... these two women are as pure and true and genuine as friends can be. They are the true epitomy of friends. They, WITHOUT RESERVATION, were so agreeable to make this trip with me.. no reservations, no hesitations, no worries and no 'uh... I don't know...'s.... These angels packed up goodies that made this trip so special, so memorable... and they did it with purity and love in their hearts. Thank you, my ya-ya's, for taking this trip with me. Thank you for your love and honor and support. Amazing you are... blessed I am.

Autumn

Being from Ohio, I'm ingrained with the seasons. I can not watch the months slip on the calendar without thinking of the seasons, the solstice, the waning and waxing of daylight, the storms, the snow, the floating leaves of such unique color raining down on my hair. As said before, I play the part of a desert rat...but I hate it. It doesn't seem natural to me to live in an oven.

This is the driving force that has lead me to many a roadtrip adventure. Thus this little gem here. Traveling on a dirt road up in the forest about two hours from here is a cluster of trees that each fall put on such a vibrant show for anyone who happens to meander by on this road less traveled. One time my family and I took chairs, books and a picnic and just set up the day in this grove of splendor. I love it here.... nothing but nature...pure nature.

Yesterday was spent cleaning top to bottom, laundry duty and the kitchen fired up as two girls made pumpkin-cream cheese muffins and rice krispie treats. It took all day to complete that last sentence, but when I laid down for sleep, a good day had been spent.

I have a couple of errands to do today... I'm in search of a certain brand of ledger paper which is being very elusive. I may splurge and buy a Yankee Candle. I've wanted to for a month now, but finances have prevented that kind of purchase. Maybe today I can justify it. Autumn always wakes up my 'nesting'....decorate the house, pull out some of my favorite things to spruce up the home, make some yummy favorite recipes...soups, bread...you know... good ol' comfort food.

What does Autumn make you yearn to do?