Finding the Joy

 

It has been very hot, very sunny. We try to stay cool as I trudge through some unforeseen mountains of paperwork and online tasks. A flowing river of To Do items. The standing fan whisks the air around, offering coolness. 

When this video story popped up...well, I thought about perspective and how the heat (sun) can feel oppressive or cheerful. As the sayings go: It is up to us to choose.

During this week, I have tried to tell myself that the tasks I'm doing will be so useful and make things more understandable, manageable...even if I could have done without it all.

☀️                        ☀️                      ☀️                     ☀️ 

So long, Jessica Frank!

LINK 3:15 minutes

I'm thinking that I would have loved this job for 26 years! Brainstorming, connecting image to story...playing!

☀️                        ☀️                      ☀️                     ☀️

      ☀️              ☀️               ☀️        ☀️             ☀️ ☀️                        ☀️           ☀️           ☀️           ☀️          ☀️

This week also held the upcoming changes for those in the typepad blogging world. Although that is not me, it is my people and that upcoming change wound its way into my thinking. It had me considering my own blog...how it has been, how it may go, the ways I've had troubles with it recently. This coupled with the non-blog stuff had me thinking of the great quote on Deb's post on bee creative:

Wendell Berry:

"Don't own so much clutter that you will be relieved to see your house catch on fire."  

It's from "Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer."

I've often thought of "burning down the house" - as the saying goes (figuratively of course). Okay, okay...I hear you all laughing and saying: how can she have anything left to burn down after clearing clutter for the last million years! But, it is a true and deep feeling of living in this present century...the time of too much (and perhaps not enough). Too much stuff, news, problems (worldwide), visual overload...too much to do or undo, fix, interact with. At the same time of not enough...meaningful connection, quiet & calm, gentleness. A time of pendulum swinging again.

Even in the excessive heat, I am finding goodness and joy. 109° on the porch today. Only two recent walks, which have gone unposted (which is fine).

   ☀️    ☀️    ☀️    ☀️    ☀️    ☀️    ☀️                        (a week's worth of suns! 🙂)

So, I ask again... 

How are you doing these days? How are you really doing?

 

May you live with the changes

May you withstand the heat

May you always hug joy

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

This Is This Time

 

A very strange sight...some sort of crystalized sap on an Eucalyptus (Stringy Bark) tree. You'd think, upon seeing a tree trunk like this, that the 'sap' would be gooey. It wasn't. It felt like plastic. We were able to snap off a tiny piece easily.

Below is today's few minutes of fun, because we have to keep looking for that. This bit of 'fun' led to other thoughts too. because of today's Well visit, it also had me thinking about Community...about finding one's 'group' or 'tribe' and how that offers support, even if just in a moment of smiles. It had me thinking about Gratitude for these small moments, anonymous gestures...connections. Let's do it folks!

Why do Jeep Wrangler owners put miniature ducks on their dashboards?

LINK 3:17 minutes

It takes so little to make someone's day!

It's been a few days of heat and clouds and therefore, humidity. Now, here humidity is not what other areas of the country or world suffer with. Just to say, for us it has been a little humid. I've seen some faint, but lovely Sun Dogs. We talk about how we see them much more often than we did growing up. Change in climate? More awareness? No matter what, they are pretty cool to see.

Morning trees today. Crows, several crows call to me to come and take a look. There they are in the Sycamore Tree. There are 5 that I can spot hopping from branch to branch, hiding in the leaves. But, they are not hiding very well (or on purpose haha), because they are in constant conversation with each other.  Loudly 'talking' to each other. For the millionth time, I wish I spoke crow! I stand in the pleasant 75° air, listening. I can almost smell moisture in the air. Mmmm...so good.

Can you see them hidden within the leaves?

I spent a bit of time with Puppy this week. You met him a while back. I cleaned out as much of the old made of 'nuts sawdust stuffing' as I could. Shook him out over the porch railing, into the corridor. Ha. Then I cut up quilt batting into bitty pieces and stuffed him full again. I stitched him shut and repaired his pajamas (which I always loved, they're so cute!). I redressed him and wrote his tag story. What I did not do is fix his eye or ragged ears. They eye was hanging by a thread, but when I took him out of the bag...the eye was nowhere to be found. As a mender or a maker, I considered ways to address this. But, in the end, I decided to leave well enough alone. I recalled the book Dirty Bow Wow, which I posted about a while ago, and thought Puppy is 66 years old, he deserves to keep his well earned tatters!

He's waiting.

The green growth swallowed up the water! It's in there, under there...still moving...running under the bridge and towards the sea...but there are places today that you can't even see it.

89° - 13 lizards and one hawk in the dead tree-road to the bridge...and one teeny, green shield bug. 

When a bridge becomes a silhouette and the sky makes you heart expand. When teeny green bugs and lizards encourage you to mind your steps...it is a good day, isn't it?

The lizard above is on the top left rail, right at the post. Do you see it? There were so many teeny lizards today and almost every lizard was near...in or running into a hole of one kind or another. Today I learned that they run into and hide in the fence holes that hold the railings up. Who knew?!

So many tiny flower color variations at this time of year. From whitish, silverish, yellowish to some with purple still showing off.  It is good to embrace them all as beautiful.

How are you doing these days? How are you really doing?

 

May you go on all kinds of adventures

May you support others in their adventures as well

May you find and remain grateful for your people, wherever you go

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

Opposites

 

This artist in the video created her biggest painting ever...I've been looking at small happenings and taking those in.

Exhibiting My Biggest Painting Ever – Will It Sell?

LINK 13:43 minutes

I'm often over at Deb's place, bee creative...saying hello and checking out her juicy playfulness. On August 9th, she posted about Susannah Conway's challenge, which looked fun. However, we all know that I stink at these things, so instead I took note of the prompts to do it my way, when I felt like it.

On the 8th, the challenge was "circles" and on the 13th the challenge was "trio".

So, right away I thought of the trio of marks at the bridge recently, as seen HERE and took my desire to draw them, placing the trio in circles. This is what I came up with:

There you have it. 3 small (a little bit bigger than a quarter) circles on The Bridge drawing page of my journal book.

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How are you at so called "challenges" or prompts?

 

May you find your own way to participate

May you consider other's ways to participate 

May you embrace both

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

Ready, Set, Play

 

The ironing board serves as a work space. After ironing the strips of muslin, I lined everything up, to help organize my thoughts. There are many elements that I will choose from as I create each stick. Along with the Power/Metta Sticks, I plan to make at least one "Everything Stick".

You saw this stick in the post back HERE. I made this many, many years ago for a friend. It was a wild and crazy busy piece, which was filled with beads, braids, knots, wire, trinkets...anything at hand. It was great fun to make, so I am really looking forward to making one again. Just by the 'filled up' nature of an Everything Stick...it will also used up lots of materials laying about. Yay!

Back to the power sticks. So far, I've begun the process with leather and a feather (or more) and possibly a trinket. Because to me, a Power Stick is something to hold, to rise up, to show up for empowerment...they need a comfortable holding spot.

I've pulled out buttons, beads, wire bits of thread and cloth and the most recent gifted Deb threads (thanks again Deb). I have a small bag of round/oval abalone shells, which have no holes drilled in. I'm considering how/if they can be used. That is the fun part...the figuring things out, brainstorming, problem solving.

I've also collected found bits from nature and old rusty bits. This is an anything goes project in many ways. There is an 'outline' of sorts, but then it is wide open! This makes it feel so exciting.

Next week, this one will head out to Wyoming. It is the last completed Medicine Bag I have here. It has been saved for ages as one of my favorites. I considered keeping it for myself since I made it, but this feels so much better. I do still have the 'blues' one I had kept for me (and wore when I went to see The Elephants). However, I really don't wear it, just that one time so far. I don't know why that is. I love the blue one, especially since it has some of the original threads I got at the weaving workshop and some of the yarn I used for my son's bag. But, I don't wear it like I did my original one. Something to consider.

Anyway, I'll be most happy to gift this one next week. It is so, so soft and on the smaller, squishier side. Love that. I am prone to gifting things with cards made with the Mama Rose photo card. I adore that photo and every time I look at it, I am completely shocked that I took the picture!

Today I saw this bumper sticker: "I ❤️ The Constitution". Funny that I wasn't quite sure of the intended meaning, but I know what I'd like to believe they meant. sigh.

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How are you spending your days?

 

May you have something to look forward to

May you have a plan 

May you be willing to throw that plan aside

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

Tick, Tick, Tick

 

I'm compelled to finish some things up...and give them away. Why? Why am I so compelled to use up, let go of, send on...? What has been 'clearing clutter' for an abundance of years, which morphed into my version of 'Swedish Death Cleaning'...which has now morphed, widened to encompass just being done with so much stuff...or just is a continuation of the same old thing? How can I possibly have anything left to dispose of? But, I do.

I am tired of stuff, which I find fascinating, since I've always loved treasures. Even now, I can see spaces holding bits and bobs (as the saying goes) and want to look and look for hours. I've said such a thing on many blogs. I love the treasures! I think what has happened is that it feels like an unfinished task, that I am compelled to complete. So be it.

I had decided to complete (not truly possible) the precut strips for the Power/Metta words and then move on to actually making the sticks themselves. This would allow me to focus on a particular task and then inspiring an "opening up" of creative thinking once the simple task was done. One could think that this would make them all the same, assembly line like...but No, this was not so. Each strip of words is unique due to: the tea dying of the cloth appearing as one of a kind, the words not in the same order or the same, the order of colors applied changed each time and the edge stitching implemented in a different color each time.

Some of them had a word or two changed completely, some did not have room for the "May You Claim Your Power!" at the end. Which I decided was absolutely fine...do I need to TELL people or Wish that for people? How bossy! Some of them had corrections to the alphabetical order when noticed & others left the mistakes in, as they went unnoticed! The new ones still need to be ironed, but there are now 5 Power Words lists and 1 Metta strip (plus the one already added to a stick a while back). Next I get to play with making the sticks 🙂

As I colored the words, new words/phrases came to me: Act, Build, Comfort, Grieve, Lose, Repair, Require...

Each word comes with many meanings depending on the context, so as I colored, I also considered the many ways each word could land with someone, depending on their frame of mind. And of course, I came to the realization that the list could be never ending (depending on one's frame of mind with the word Power itself!). Some sort of 'life' project, eh?

Combined experience = THOUSANDS of years! 👏💛 #art #asmr #bobbinlace

LINK It is a 'short' on you tube

I have never had an interest in lace making...but the ASMR on this one was cool. 🙂

It was a 13 lizard, 2 crows and 1 hawk kind of day. The river getting swallowed up by the happy growth of lush green. PoohSticks will have to wait for Fall or Winter.

His word is added to his cloth. Another "Tick" of projects to complete. I have to say that it was great fun collaborating with him on this piece. He chose the colors, the numbers of strands used (all 6), the font and to leave the diaper company stamp showing. For something so simple, I really, really enjoyed it and am glad I will get to see it in use around the living room.

As far as the "ticking" off of things in my head...I saw a video recently about a group of people that came together to finish the quilt/crocheted or knitted blankets of loved ones recently deceased. I was so touched by their volunteering to do this for families and reflected on how important this must be for them, all of them. One clip showed a woman searching for a particular stitch on her loved one's crocheted blanket. She turned the blanket over and over in her hands until, there it was, the last stitch marked with a heart before the volunteer continued of to make the blanket whole. Isn't that lovely? For a moment, I humorously considered how so many quilters/stitchers are known to be working on more than one thing at a time or have bins and stacks of UFO's!! haha What would get finished then? Oy.

~~~~~🪡~~~~~

What do you want to complete, clean out, be done with? Which things do you not really care if the remain incomplete?

 

May you do what you want

May you get through what you have to

May you know the difference 

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

Little Bits, Rambling

 Not many words these days...chronological happenings have not been tracked...little bits of here and there is where I'm at.

My posting, reading & commenting mojo,  fallen away for now. 

Beauty right outside our door

I lay in the late hours, bothered by a headache and remembering how I loved the deep fog in the old commuting with migraines days gone by.  I watched and listened to the simple sounds and felt those days of driving and walking the bluffs on my lunch breaks. It felt so quiet and good. I watched and I also dozed. Nice. 

Elk Call in Fog on Morning Walk to Beach | Point Reyes, California 4K

LINK 1:08:18

Next day or so, I looked into ASMR some more. Calming, interesting...until more Pointe Reyes videos started popping up...and they were focused not on the beauty, but the controversy between the ranchers and the "environmentalists" (said like it is a bad word)...and the "truth about Point Reyes"...

What had been something that brought back fond memories, and was relaxing and beautiful instantly became a battle, became ugly.

Too much feels that way these days. I keep looking for the beauty, even when I keep bumping into the dark side of humanity.

Dragonfly exoskeleton

We're a bit haphazard with our walks - heat, air quality, headaches etc. However, each walk holds a handful or two of treasures worth noticing...from tiny to transforming, to soaring to bright and brilliant...I keep looking.

7th grade - Peace sign choker, pheasant blouse

From visiting the past through photos and memorabilia to writing power words for the future...to sending good vibes out to the universe.

Note to a neighbor...cool truck, freshly painted

Off to Alaska...

Found vintage card 

Golden views and code painting

"The Wood" embracing the green of a copper bottomed pot - magic

What do you do when you've run out of questions or answers? 

 

May you focus on the small

May you embrace the calm

May you remember the beauty

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

Simple or Boring

 

Haven't been out as much as I like

Went today, even in the poor air quality

Riverbed thick with green growth

As the cottonwoods begin to drop their heart shaped leaves

A string of never before seen markings on the pavement at the bridge, here are but 3

I wonder what made them

I want to draw them

Air the brown of wildfire, heat not as bad as the 106° of Thursday

The lush growth stops the PoohSticks from coming through to the other side

When do you notice the first changes of season? 

 

May you keep a creative spirit

May you keep a relaxed pace

May you nap as needed

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

2025 ~ Harvest Moon

 

The Brothers Comatose & AJ Lee - "Harvest Moon" (by Neil Young)

LINK 4:42 minutes

A lil project for J. Simple. Not busy. 

He's picked the colors and specifics.

A word will be added, in Purple.

The stitching on each side looks unique.

I commented at Jude's this morning about the fire in Central CA, about 4 hours away (Gifford Fire).

We opted out of a walk at 'city park' today, since it is 106° and the sky was hazy (again).

Came out of the grocery store and spotted a new fire immediately, much closer to home (Canyon Fire). Just since getting home, it has jumped up to 600 acres. There are many evacuations and lots of smoke. However, it is far enough from our home - so, WE ARE OKAY. 

I can't help but think J. picked a good color for this August. He wanted the "Dundee" stamp to remain showing. 🙂 I think I have 2 cloth diapers left, one pure white and one indigo dyed. This one was dyed in tea. We like it.

How do you keep it calm in life? 

 

May you keep it simple

May you be prepared

May you live well

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025