I'm tired of thinking of titles (120/365)

Looped Around (119/365)

Optimistic (118/365)

Despite the stormy sky, these tulips make me feel hopeful!

Buttons (117/365)

You're supposed to recycle these museum admission buttons, but  I like to hang on to them.  Keeping is the same thing as recycling, anyway.  Maybe someday I'll return a whole rainbow of them to the receptacle.

(The button in the back was a gift from my brother when I was a kid.  It says, "Conform, Go Crazy, or Become an Artist." Hand-me-downs from my brother (buttons, cassette tapes, baseball hats) were always small treasures.  I took it the button's message to heart.)

Like Lace like Wings (116/365)

The Sun Shines on Things

Leaf-like,
Frond-like,
Strand-like things.

Easter Memories (114/365)

My family and I went for an Easter stroll today.  The sun was really shining and the dogwoods, redwoods, and peaches were in their Sunday finery.  The scene reminded me of the country drives we took on Easter when I was very small.  My mom always admired the redbuds from the car, and I always admired the horses.

Tsoureki (113/365)

I made it!

Quick Stop (112/365)

On the way back from visiting a friend, home to see her parents for Easter.  It was a fantastic evening, sitting on her parents' deck under the stars, in the cool country air.  On the drive home this gas station appeared in the dark, with its twinkling lights and warmth.

Flowers from the windowsill (111/365)

Consciousness (110/365)

Ordinary Path (109/365)

Tuesday of Holy Week

It's raining today, which seems appropriate.   I feel a sense of anticipation and of waiting: Sunday's palms no longer waving, the drama of Good Friday yet to begin.

I also did a lot of literal waiting, as I was in line at the post office for an hour on my lunch break. I tried to eat hurriedly when I got back, but my tuna salad was watery and my sandwich fell apart.  I was frustrated.  My coworker reminded me that it was Holy Week and that my frustrations could be prayer.

I think that for many of us, much of the story of our faith is like the Tuesday of Holy Week.  The times when we're awed by Hosannas come and go, like Palm Sunday.  And the times when our integrity is put to a dramatic test or we're offered the chance to be heroic come rarely, like Good Friday.  Most of the time, we have ordinary paths to take in accompanying God or neighbor.  Many days, like Tuesdays, are full of ordinary waiting, ordinary prayer.

Ceilings (108/365)

Sketch (107/365)

Threshold (106/365)

A Puzzle (105/365)

This gadget appeared in my kitchen recently.   I've been wondering what it is.  Clearly, I could ask my roommates, but it's more fun to try to figure out the mystery myself.  Any guesses?

What IS this? (104/365)

Word, I'm so disoriented.  I think I forgot what this color is called. It's ... it's blue, right?

Prayers (103/365)

From a prayer service for global solidarity that we hosted at my organization today.  This makes me feel lucky to have the job I do!

Pretending it's spring (102/365)

Green Gears (101/365)

If you've been reading my blog for long you know what I'm obsessed with*: BICYCLES!!!



*Only photographically.  If you've been reading my blog for very long you also know I'm terrified of the actual riding of them, on shared roads at least.

Two Faces (100/365)

Saturday Morning (99/365)

Lame-O (98/365)

My best friend and I were just sitting on my bed talking about how lame drugs are and how little interest we had in trying them even in our most rebellious life stages.  It was very affirming.  "Yeah!" we said. "I really cannot fathom that my life would be any cooler with the addition of drugs.  If you need drugs to have fun or relax that's just lame!  Yeah!"  And then I said, I need a picture for my blog and took a shot of my dresser scarf.  Oh.  So maybe I am a little lame.  Still no drugs, though.

Doodle Break (97/365)

I was ravenously hungry today, all day, inexplicably.

The Courtyard (96/365)

Deja Vu (95/365)

I'm lucky to have added best friends like pearls on a string as I've been through life.  I've already written about my hometown best friends and my college roommate best friend.  I really don't think there's anything wrong with having more than one best friend, do you?

This month I'm lucky again because my best friend from England (we studied abroad together and met because we were assigned adjacent, alphabetical seats on the plane) is staying with me in the City of Eight Hundred Languages while she completes her internationally renowned certification in teaching English as a second language.   We come home at the end of our respective long days and crowd the kitchen table with our computers and books and snacks and tea while we do homework (well, while she does homework and I complete the all-important work of checking up on Mostest Favoritest of All Time Sports Team and update my blog).   We listen to the pigeons cooing on the roof of my apartment building and remember the kitchen of our English residence hall, with its own pigeons peering in the windows.  We remember the setting sun arching over the lawn and the wood behind our hall, a pink glow settling over those first snacks and meals we shared many years ago.

Off and On (94/365)

Rescued? (93/365)

I noticed this plant on the sidewalk beneath my window, huddled by the No Parking sign, dripping in the rain, on Friday morning.  I watched it as I got ready for work, but no one came back for it.  It seemed to be bracing itself for its uncertain future, lifting its leaves up toward the clouds with bravery, watching the taxis and delivery trucks and dogs on morning walks pass by it with some small amount of resigned, but not hopeless, trepidation.   So I came down carefully, nonchalantly, and then snatched it.

 It's in my living room now, curling itself between the armchair and the futon.  I think it's carefully watching the rumpled ivy and yellowing philodendron, still uncertain of its future.

Looking (92/365)

Rainy Hazy (91/365)

It feels like it's been raining for days on end now,
but maybe it hasn't.
It only seems worse since spring briefly spoiled us.
But it even snowed this morning.
Thank goodness for tea!

Lettering (90/365)