"Desert Forecast..."

Daytime highs this week will be seasonable

and

will range from 103-109 degrees

Fahrenheit...

which is still tolerable outside...

cuz

it's a "dry heat"...LOL :)

...and the night time temps will also remain
seasonable
cooling to the mid to high 70's
range.
This is good...I dread July and August...:(
So...
My forecast for all you

(northern hemisphere) readers today

is a
Happy "First Day of Summer-Cactus Monday"!
Now let's all sing along...
cuz...
"It's summertime, summertime
sum sum summertime...
Summertime, summertime
sum sum summertime...
Summertime, summertime sum sum summertime..
Summerti...iiiiii...ime!"
~Sherm Feller & Tom Jameson
"The Jamies", 1958

Pssst...Happy 1st day of Winter for all of you

south of the Equator...:)

(Sorry, no song...)

"A Change Of Heart..."

Change is the only constant.

Sometimes we expect it...like the change of seasons...

and it is almost pleasant.

Other times...

it hits us

like a ton of bricks...

coming seemingly out of nowhere-

piercing clear through our soulful self...

leaving us

without

the

right

words.

We struggle to find the light at the end of the tunnel.

Today,

I post this in love and friendship...

for JGL...back "home"

but living in a brand new world.

"Continuity gives us roots;

change

gives us branches,

letting us stretch and grow and

reach new heights."

~Pauline R. Kezer

"Captured..."

...and preserved in my mind's eye-

for those days when I...or my blogging friends up north...

might have to go without.

:)

Why not capture some fleeting fall memories today, too!

“No shade, no shine,

no butterflies, no bees,

No fruits, no flowers, no leaves,

no birds, NOVEMBER!”
~Thomas Hood

"Searching For Zen..."

...in a Midwest Illinois world of humidity...

a broken air conditioning system...

furniture moving...

carpet stretching and cleaning...

downsizing...

prehistoric appliances...

and readjusting to life outside of my desert environment.

Whew!

But...relief has finally come

disguised in

refreshing rainfalls...

invigorating and breezy cool air...

a brand spankin' new A/C unit...

my return to art...

and time to breathe and enjoy it all....Ahhhhhh!

This is one card, entitled "Primordial",

of a 6 card series for the zentangle swap

at Illustrated ATCs.

"Smile, breathe and go slowly."
~Thich Nhat Hanh

"Every Rose..."

...has its thorns...

Sacred Heart Milagros Series...#3

"Silvery Sunday..."

The second image in my Sacred Heart Milagos Series...

Shining by day...glowing by night.

"Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold."
~Maurice Setter

"Come on Over..."

and "PLAY!"

...the optional theme for Creative Every Day: January...

Perfect!

After all...art should be fun...shouldn't it? LOL:)

I am so totally on board with this! :)

Won't you join me?

"You can discover more about a person

in an hour of play

than in a year of conversation."
~Plato

"A Brand New Garden..."

Back in Illinois, on the north side of our concrete patio right outside the sliding glass patio doors, sits an ever growing patch of lovely Lily of the Valley. The first "slip" that started the garden was given to me by Nancy, a good friend who also happened to be the art teacher in our school. At the time I wondered, knowing little to nothing about gardening, how could a bed of flowers ever grow from such a spindly, small single plant?

Time passed and when the garden was still young, I just might find maybe a dozen or so stems every spring to pick...I would place the precious stems in a small crystal vase and carry them from room to room with me, cherishing the delicate blooms and enjoying their light delicate fragrance. It was heavenly.

As the years marched on, the little flower bed grew with vigor. And, each May without fail (and remember, without any gardening expertise on my part) a lovely bed of rich green leaves and tiny bell shaped flowers would pierce through the dark rich soil and sing to my heart. My spirit was enriched with the joy those little flower blooms brought. I picked many full bunches of stems and had them all throughout the house. I shared them with family, and neighbors, and colleagues at school. I would always present my mother with a big bouquet on Mother's day.

Today, I live in Arizona. I am surrounded by some of the most gorgeous natural landforms on the planet. Everywhere I look there is rugged beauty...full of legend and antiquity. Happily, I still do have beautiful plants and flowers and colors all around me. But, it is a different kind of beauty...very geometric, rigid, and spiny, and usually, very thorny as well. Things here are very different indeed. The soil is compacted and stony and a reddish tan in color. Spring comes earlier...and today, May 14th, the weather forecasters are predicting triple digit temperatures by the weekend. This is to be expected for the area...no surprises here...

So...in nostalgic celebration of my Lily of the Valley, I drew a spindly little "slip"...similar to the same planting which started my Illinois flower bed over 20 + years ago. I share it now with you...my new artistic "neighbors". I smile at it's simplicity...my spirit still enriched by the memories of the lavish bouquets of the past. It is all good.

Now...I "plant" brand new gardens...in a whole new environment...gardens this time of the "sketchbook variety". This indeed brings great joy to my heart! And...come to think of it...I know this would definitely put a big smile on Nancy's face too! :)

"Alleluia!!!..."

May

you...your family...and your friends

be blessed
this

Easter.

"Giving Cactus Some Definition..."

According to Wikipedia, "A cactus (plural: cacti, cactuses, or cactus) is any member of the succulent plant family Cactaceae, native to the Americas."

But...according to me...that's way too stuffy! To me cacti are the "Personality of the Desert." They give their arid homes character, and life, and a sense of identity and history. They give me, as an artist, "food for my sketchbook". They decorate my imagination. They become actors-role playing scenes from life...statuesque saquaro transform into guards standing watch over huddling bouquets of prickly pear...fleshy, juicy, ready to burst with color...sensual night blooming cereus coyly flirt...and tempt the creatures of the dark with their charms. Images like these dance in my mind and energize my pen and my keyboard.

Cacti are complex and wise, yet fresh and spunky. They are survivors. They deftly plant seeds of nostalgia deep into my being. Like old souls, they wistfully tell me stories of times eternal...Stories of Days...blazing with fire, and heat, and agony...and... Stories of Evenings...blanketed by endless stretches of soothing magenta sunsets...and...Stories of Nights...dark...with an inky blackness pierced by eternal pinholes of starlight and the ebbing sounds of wailing coyotes. They tell stories of their "home turf"...immense and vast and expansive, cloaked in antiquity, buzzing with life, yet serenely quiet, solitary, and remote. They share their desert world...their environment...with each of us on this planet. Their very essence flavors the art journals, the sketchbooks, the photographs, and the canvasses of artists across the world.

To me...my art...and my words...give cacti some real definition.

Happy Cactus Monday! WooHoo!