Finding Joy

 Thursday I couldn't believe how green and beautiful the hills looked. We could again walk at city park and did. On this day, I was able to go the short distance to the bridge there, where we discovered that the swallows are indeed back now! There were SO MANY and they were SO BUSY!! Almost every small mud nest had a little face poking out, while the others in the community were rapidly coming and going. We could not tell if those were babies waiting in the nests, only that the others would fly in to the front of a nest and then fly off again. The sheer volume of little chirping birdsong was something! Some of the nests looked a little worse for wear since last year, but most were in pretty good shape. If repairs were needed, there was water and mud in the wash, ready for use.

Bach - Trio Sonata from The Musical Offering BWV 1079 | Netherlands Bach Society

LINK 19:01 minutes

I have gotten back to my rereading of "Theo of Golden". All four musical offerings here are from my rereading. I've enjoyed listening 'new to me' music, except "Summertime", which I already knew. I was looking forward to getting to the musical references in the book, so I could explore them. It was well worth it. I believe I may get to hear others, before the book ends.

As I did when I started this rereading adventure, I've also been looking up unfamiliar words, locations, people and so on. It has been interesting and fills in some of the ideas of the story.

One of the things I was reading about is the Morpho Butterflies, as they are spoken about in Theo of Golden. They are gorgeous. Every time we see any kind of butterfly on our walks, it lifts the spirit!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpho_(genus)

Lastly, the rereading of this book has given me a lot to consider as I am seeing it through new eyes, even after reading it such a short time ago. The first time I read it was through the lens of primarily: connection and kindness.  It was read from an emotional standpoint, from my gut. This time around I am seeing things in the story that I washed right over in the first read. Maybe I'll talk about that more later.

Miklós Rózsa Toccata Capricciosa, Op.36 for solo cello

LINK 6:33 minutes

We haven't really seen any red-winged blackbirds so far, but I did spy this bird in the tree. I am grateful whenever I get out in nature, whatever that looks like.

Summertime

LINK 5:00 minutes

Who would have guessed that I would be listening to this piece of music from Portugal! haha I guess I can say that reading Theo of Golden in this way, I have certainly expanded my horizons - at least momentarily! 

Hino Nacional de Portugal - A Portuguesa (versão completa/com letra)

LINK 5:01 minutes

The past few days have been spent with the Pink Glue Book. I am not really a pink girl at all and I thought this book would be one of the hard ones to find images for...but I was wrong! I've found a lot of pink. Here is a sample below. I've done others since I started this draft, but I'll save those. I've also begun adding words to the pages seen here. What words do you think I found to add to each spread? What story does the image say to you? I've also covered the front & back covers, both inside and out. I like it like this and plan to try it with the other colors too.

Our weekly jaunt up the canyon did not disappoint. It never, ever does. The scents, sights and vibe are so...right. I saw a pink thistle that escaped being photographed. But, the ones below stood out so much, how could I not snap a pic. There was a lot of purple-flowered sage and many scrub jays along the way. There's always something familiar (thus comforting) and something new to see on this short drive. I treasure it each time we go.

I am continuing the tradition of lighting the white ("health & caring") and the green ("money") candles each afternoon. They stay lit through to bedtime, reminding me of those important to me or a silliness that began decades ago with the lighting of money candles. One refreshing and hope-filled , and the other silly, but wishful. Their light brings me calmness and joy.

When do you like to revisit things?

 

May you learn something new, even from something old

May you never fail to appreciate the goodness around you

May you care for yourself and others in the best ways you know how

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026

Early November

I was able to dash off to the the local Hallmark store to get my new "2026 Datebook". I'm grateful to be able to access this little treasure for yet another new year. I took my mama's old 1947 Hallmark Datebook with me to share with the ladies up there. My mom would have been 19 years old and this lil book is filled with the 'goings on' of a young woman...many, many dates, hair and doctor appointments...phone numbers and addresses squished along the boarders. The phone numbers had letters or phrases for their first two digits, speaking of days gone by. There were new glasses, a train trip to Chicago (this was a big event for her)...there was the meeting of my birth-father, mid-August. By the end of the year, his name showed up daily. I'll never know who Buddy, Johnny or Chuck were, but I enjoyed stepping back in time with her and imagining her as a fresh-faced young woman, ready to take on the world.

I looked up the store, who's name & address is stamped on the back Coulter's in Los Angeles, on the Miracle Mile- that was her place, her youth. I spent a long time today looking down the memory lane of shopping in Los Angeles back then.

On my way out of the parking lot, I stopped to buy these bright orange marigolds. I'd seen the hispanic family selling them on the way in and was charmed by the young boy, maybe 10 years old, standing curbside, jumping around with his cardboard sign, reading $6.00. He had such a good energy, I had to stop on my way out. They brought the flowers right over to my car (which really helped with my bum foot)...his older sister, with a baby in a pack on her back and him - grinning from ear to ear. Each side of the entrance/exit driveway held a small group of folks selling flowers. I figured they were for "Dia de los Muertos". I figured if they were brave enough to stand out there and sell them, I could certainly support them. I'm so glad I did. *BTW~ fresh flowers sure are nice.

Be Kind ❤️ AI Music Video about Joy

LINK 2:56 minutes

I have my concerns about "AI", as I'm sure so many of us do...but this artistic video is so sweet and fanciful and just the right use for this new tool (in my opinion).

 I drove home the long way, driving up to the gate and the top op the hill over there. It brings me so much peace. I loved my days of walking in this area, many years ago now. I long to do that again.

My friend sent me this video, knowing I would love it...which I did. In another lifetime, I'd like to be one of these "hens". This video deserves a quiet viewing, where one can escape into the gorgeous landscape in OR...the horses, the deep, deep connections of these ladies...for generations...and the singing! Enjoy!

Exploring the Wallowas with the modern-day "Horsewomen of the Hen Party" | Oregon Field Guide

LINK 36:54 minutes

If you like to read and see the photos, go here

I've made 3 more holiday colored Medicine Bags, to add to the 5 left over from last year. I may make another one or two...or not. They will get planted when I can go walk again. Frankly, a full week later and I'm so over the pain, but I'm trying to be patient and following the healing protocol. 

Where can you make a positive impact?

 

May you feel good enough

May you find things to do, ways to be no matter how you feel

May you repeat as you can, each day

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

A Time of Reflection

16 years ago today, my adored mama died. It is her Yahrzeit. She's been on my mind, of course. As typical around here, we do all traditions in our own ways. Tomorrow is her sister's Yahrzeit, my beloved Auntie.

Also, it is Rosh Hashanah, so there are apples and honey. It is a good time to mourn, reflect and honor our loved ones.

L’Shana Tova U’Metoka (“le-shahna tow-VAH oo-meh-TOH-kah”) or to a good and sweet new year.

This quote to me recently and has stuck in my mind. 

THOUGHTS on this quote.

May you welcome in a sweet New Year

May you hold your loved ones in your heart as you go

May you greet one another in kindness

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2024 

Feeding the Soul

These days. These days, how does one feed their soul?

How does one keep HOPE alive?

We return to nature,

where we feel small in the bigness of our earth.

We read to find connection,

to find what we need

*Altered photograph

We see the world through our heart,

intentionally framing all we see, looking for the light in all. 

Log that held Rock, *see below

We look for old friends

again and again.

 

And when they're not right in view, 

we look again...

we widen the circle,

we look closer and further.

And we walk together,

for together we are stronger

'In a time of destruction, create something: a poem, a parade, 

a community, a school, a vow, a moral principle; one peaceful moment' 

~Maxine Hong Kingston  

We embrace the history, even as time marches on.

  

We seek balance and look for openings that will support us

during these days.

 

We search for this.

 

 

We don't give up.

We find our way around the roadblocks of life

We refuse to remain locked into things that are not working,

are unjust and do not serve us and our fellow man.

No matter how small what we are doing seems,

we keep doing it because that is what feeds us.

Today we went on a short hike to our regular trail.

We embraced the warmth of the sun, the coolness of the breeze, 

the songs of the birds

and the fun of our traditions.

*We looked for my old friend Rock.

I look every time we hike this trail, 

but many years have passed.

You first met Rock on my first find.

Then again for a second time.

And then again for a recap on the hike where I impressed the Forest Ranger 

with my story of

one rock, found twice!

We took many of our traditional two of us selfies.

They almost always have J.'s head partially cut off.

That's how we roll :)

May you find ways to move through these days with grace, humor and lots of love,

Take care,

N. 

Photos by NAE ©2018

A Saturday Night - Sunday Morning Post

It has been a day of remembering.

Candle glowing, marking the 7th anniversary of my mama's passing.

Yahrzeit

So, although today is the day we light a candle.

My mom is with me always.  We talk about her a lot, J. and I.

We miss her.
I don't need to put pics of her or the candle here, I've already done that these past years.

 XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Today, the feelings are more circular.
There's a lifespan thinking going on.

Today I remembered how 7 years ago my sister and I sat all morning, making the important phone calls of canceling her many credit cards.  Cards she'd had...some since the 1960's!

There was something significant in that.

The undoing of a life.

New friend at the Pow Wow

Take your place on The Great Mandala...
(Peter Yarrow)

I think of this as I've traveled around this week reading at Grace's, where The Old Cowboy has just had his last goodbye and over to Julie's where not too long ago she moved to a new phase in her life, saying goodbye to her children's childhoods (in a way) - through their displayed photographs, and to Dee's and Saskia's - both of whom share college bound boys...and dear Cindy, who has two growing up and away boys herself.  I think of this life shift as I spend time at Jude's ever-evolving space as she reinvents, talks about what to keep, what to part with or layers cloths into less-ness (in a way).

Today is also the birthday of my 5th kid.  Not my child by birth, nor a blood-family member or classroom child...but instead the child of one of my oldest, closest, dearest friends.  A child who grew up with my own.  You know the kind.  A family friend.  A bonus child.
Today she is a beautiful, funny, intelligent young woman beginning to make her way in the world, make her mark on the world.  She is filled with passion and justice and enthusiasm.
She is the kind of gal that gives you hope for the next generation.
Her grandma's Yahrzeit passed in summer and her birthday in September.  
She would have been 90.

Fry Bread

Will the circle be unbroken...
 Ada R. Habershon  
Tomorrow is the birthday of my newest daughter, my son's new wife.
I don't really like the term 'daughter-in-law'...it sounds like you are forced to accept this person by the actions of your loved one.  I am honored to welcome her into my life, so no 'in-law' for me!  She too is a gorgeous, passionate, spirited and fun-loving young woman. Traits I admire.  Traits I wish I'd held a bit more myself when I was young.

I think of them, mid-twenties, just thirty...moving thirty.
My mama, living 80 long years.  My friend's mama, close to 90.
And Old Cowboy...

I celebrate the days of birth of these loved ones.
I watch my work babies grow before my eyes, three turning two with six weeks.
Families in the throws of daily, busy family life.

And I celebrate my friends in the throws of letting go, of stuff...of particular obligations or old habits...of ways that no longer work.

There are so many ways to do this thing called life.

Basket with beads

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game...
(Joni Mitchell)

I, in my own place of grown children, stuff lightening, birthdays & anniversaries, 
sharing, considering...
and circling, have spent many months thoughtfully pairing down material belongings, both personal and professional.  I've shared things with friends, who also teach.  I've sold or donated things.  I've recycled and thrown out some things too.

My most recent sharing involved me going out on a limb...
stepping out of my comfort zone a bit...taking a risk. 
After communicating with the Director/Teacher of Takoma Park Cooperative Nursery School on Face Book, I decided to share a few items with her and the children, staff and families of the the school.  Not knowing her at all, except for a few FB comments, I bravely sent her a care package.  I was deeply touched by the reception I and the goodies received.  
I was especially pleased to be able to pass on what may be just 'stuff'...but what to me is the torch, traditions and my passion for teaching, cloth, feathers, children's books...and connections!  You can read about it here.

I had to stop reading a couple of times to wipe my eyes.
There is something magical about this time in ones life.


*Afternote: All of this deep thinking, pondering, reflecting and such happens wrapped in daily life (for me anyway).  That life includes our yearly...highly anticipated by me, local Pow Wow.  I usually start announcing in June that it is "almost Pow Wow time".  Being that it happens the third week of September, you can see how I look forward to it!  J. pretty much thinks I'm nuts.  For lack of any photos to pair with the powerful feelings I've been having, I paired my words with Pow Wow instead!  Such is life :)

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2015

Happy New Year 2013!

This is Kate.  She cared for my mother when my mother was a child.  She was the rock my mom leaned into.  I can't seem to remember her last name right now.  But I recall a few simple facts.  She was of German ancestry and was strong, stable and caring.  She's here tonight because the story I best remember about her is how she would wake my mom and my aunt at midnight on New Years eve and fix them hot chocolate to drink 

as they rang in the New Year!  

What a treat for a young child, to be allowed to get up after bedtime and drink a tasty treat!  

I wish I would have heard this story when my children were young, as I would have loved to carry on the tradition.
I think this story of hers should live on!

Happy New Year to all of my friends and family...may 2013 bring much goodness to all!

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

Spring's Arrival: Story Time and Hummingbirds

      
Book: Play With Me  
By: Marie Hall Ets
Copyright: 1955

 Spring is here!  

Well, it feels like it, for the most part.  I hope you've enjoyed this book.  

My mom read this to me and my sister when we were growing up.  I've read it to my own children and the many children in my classrooms over the years.

As a child, it always left me pondering.  Could that really be true?  Could you be friends with the wild animals if you were quiet enough, if you really listened?  

I wanted to be that little girl!

Today was a very rainy Sunday.  As I sat and watched 6 or more humming birds came to the feeder.  They seemed to not care one bit about the pouring rain!  Paying close attention, I'm beginning to tell some of them apart.  They're earning names for themselves.  Most of them look very similar.  There is a tiny one with a spot on her throat.  We've decided that the little ones are females.  This may or may not be true, as I don't really know how to tell the genders apart.  Maybe it's a leftover childhood thing, something like cats are girls and dogs are boys.  When you are young and naive, anything is possible!

There is one hummingbird that is far more colorful, a yellow-golden color.  She's fast and kind of a bully, she chases all of the others away from the feeder!  But, she is oh so beautiful.  Her name is Goldie (of course), but she has other color related nicknames as well.  They drink the homemade food like crazy.  They race back and forth between the feeder and the camellia bush next store, where they feed some more or sit for a moment.

They have become more comfortable around me, so when I water the Mama Rose - they fly right above my head.  I laugh and duck a bit, thinking the are the fastest whirligigs ever!!!

Standing in the driveway is like standing on the runway at LAX!!!

I tried to snap a photo through the window and the rain, but they are so fast and my shutter speed is not able to keep up!  Here is one of the better pictures.  The rest they look like grey-black blurry blobs.  They were flying up under the porch eves a lot (maybe because of the rain) and they look like ghosts against the white paint. So nondescript.

See the camellia bush next door?

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

By the way, the Mama Rose has at least one teeny-tiny bud.  It's about the size of a pencil tip!  It is lush with leaves and promise.  I am so grateful to be able to see it outside my window.

Lastly, here is a related book by wonderful children's book author Jan Brett.  It also speaks of a child's love, desire and impact on the animals in the wild.

Annie and the Wild Animals 

Home

The sky starts as a wash of gray-white-blue
Later it becomes a bright blue sky with
fluffs of white clouds
The breeze comes, a stiff cold wind now and again
But, later settles down and
leaves the sun to warm me
The seasons are confused
Winter and Spring blur together
in one day
And a piece of my heart has come home
__________________________________________

This rather boring photo, of a plain plastic pot (rescued from the trash), in all actuality captures
something deeply meaningful for me.
This rose bush was once upon a time
a gift from me to my mother.
I'm remembering it as a Mother's Day gift.
I gave it to my mom so she could have something pretty
to look at, knowing a gift a some tshatshke (trinket, knick-knack) was not necessary.
She requested the gardener plant it where it could be seen, from her living room couch.
For many years she enjoyed her view of the rose bush, calling me excitedly when it bloomed.
"There's a rose on your bush!" she'd say.  She always called it "your bush".
Some days, she'd cut a single rose and bring it in to sit on her coffee table,
enjoying it up close and personal.  "Guess what I'm looking at!" she'd say.
It connected her to the seasons, to nature, in a way she did not usually verbalize.
It was there for years, outside her window, bringing her pure joy in its beauty and in the knowledge of my love for her.
As my sister emptied the last belongings of the home her family shared with our mom,
my boyfriend and I dug up the rose bush.
Now it sits outside my living room window, where I can see it from my couch.
And I feel the same joy upon seeing it, and in the knowledge of our mutual love.
A corner of my heart feels wrapped up in the two-ness of us, as if my mom has come home.  This fills my heart to bursting.  I like having it nearby.  It feels right. 
I shall carry on the tradition of life with this rose bush.
________________________________________________________

                                                                             Note:

I'd like to wish everyone a happy Leap Day!  If you haven't leaped yet today...now is your turn!
If you haven't checked out the Monthly Finds in my sidebar, it's the last chance for these selections.  You've got nothing to loose...take a peek!
Today I like this growth (via Notice Quiet Nature)


Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

Where I Am

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011

The time has come to dismantle my mother's photo albums.

It is a very hard job.  

Many of the people in these books have already passed on.  I miss them.

My mother was the last of her generation in our family.  She had everybody's stuff.  

Now my sister and I have everybody's stuff.

I have so many...so very many conversations with myself (and my sister) about: 

What we are supposed to do with all of this "stuff"?

My mom created many photo albums over the years.

But, this grouping of bumpy, textured, woven ones are the hardest to undo.  

They hold my whole childhood.  

They hold the little girl part of me that still exists, deeply ingrained in my heart.

There are so many family photos, collected over years of life experiences.

There's so much family history here.

At first I did not think I would be able to take these books apart, as I've known them most of my life.  They speak volumes about my mother.  Their super organized, chronological order format, even down to the blending of two families...the little white paper labeling done in my mother's never-changing handwriting...their smell, my mother's smell that graces everything once belonging to her.

Taking them apart is loosing another piece of my mom.

It's loosing her once again and that is sad.

I look for the lessons.  I embrace family traditions.  

I celebrate joyous moments again.  

I marvel at who my mother was...at who each one of us has been.

Somehow, this job feels appropriate for this season of change.  

I feel changes coming.

I feel unsettled...disequilibrium.

I fit this job in where time and emotions allow.

Feathers Will Fly

The feathers are flying...everywhere!  I have been checking in on Jude's recent 
Magic Feather Project
 It has been great fun to see feathers and stories arriving to her
from all over the world!
These two are on their way!

This is his feather

One Crow Feather

Here is his story, in his words:

"First, I helped Grandma dye the fabric in purple cabbage.
Next, I helped Grandma take out the cabbage.  It smelled very bad.
Then, we put the fabric in the the freezer.
When we took it out, the fabric was silverish-white!
Last, on comes the feather."

The Back

Where Quill meets Shaft

He practices drawing crow feathers.  When I ask him, "Are you ready to draw?" (meaning the feather on the cloth), he responds, "Nope, you can't rush art".

He decides to use the purple cabbage fabric.  You may remember it from here.  After the rinse, the sun and the freezer, there is not much purple left!  He whips out the invisible stitch and attaches it to a piece of muslin.  He loves doing this stitch and completes the X in record time!   He chooses to make a crow feather.   He begins by practicing the shape of the crow feather. We discuss the coloring of it, all black. He draws the outline and away he goes!  He notices that where the quill meets the shaft, it is both black and white.  I suggest that he use one strand of each color and he agrees.  You may be able to see this if you enlarge the photo on the right.   He has already taught himself the wrap stitch after watching a moment of Jude's teaching video.
I must say, I love this little feather.  I love the tight bunched up little stitches, the mistakes cut and/or covered up with more stitches.  I love the cabbage fabric that will one day show no color at all, faded away like stories of our past.  This cloth feels so good to hold...it is so soft and it holds the gentle touches of his hands, stitched with his generous spirit and his own way of understanding that this will be sent to Jude for a quilt project for children.
"For the homeless children", he keeps saying. 
It is stitched with the long lashes of his down-turned eyes, focusing on this one single creation.  This one that will become one of many, a part of something bigger...for someone else.  This fills my heart and I hope that this experience, that will become but one in a lifetime filled with experiences, will stay with him in some way.
It will stay with me.

Big Crow Feather & Little Crow Feather

 Then it was my turn.  I had a few ideas and false start or two.
But, then I came across a square of orange cotton fabric in my stash.  I had gotten it years ago, too many years to remember now.  It was a giveaway square from a local quilt shop, one of those - free with purchase - choose a square.  I looked at it and thought of all the eco-dyeing going on these days.  I loved all of the variations of color and the markings on it.  I didn't even notice the butterflies until I started to stitch!  Orange...not my usual color choice...but it reminded me of the sun and the heat...or lack of heat and rain instead, that has been such a topic of conversation in the stitching community this summer.  It made me think of community and the ways we come together and support one another...how we all need the same basic things.
-Sun-Food & Water-Shelter-Loving Care-Mental Stimulation & Growth-Emotional Support-

Feather Finds the Sun

 In this stitching community...the spiral is to symbolize either spiraling down towards the warmth of the sun or up and away from too much heat.  It's a circling around, a gathering...an open-ended movement...

 These are some of the ideas associated with the spiral found on the web:

 "Ancient symbol of the goddess, the womb, fertility, feminine serpent force, continual change, and the evolution of the universe."
From  radio liberty

"Balance, Progress, Direction, Initiation, Centering, Expanding, Awareness, Connection, Journeying, Development."
From  What's Your Sign?

" Celtic artists used the spiral symbol as a mind-altering creative process in which the act of creating a spiral in their work released their minds into a creative splendor."
From  What's Your Sign?

 "Represents ethereal energy radiating out (or inward depending on your perspective) Also symbolizes growth, birth and expansion of consciousness."
 From What's Your Sign?

In terms of astrology, mysticism and myth the spiral translates into meanings of spirituality and rebirth.In terms of spirituality, the spiral symbol represents the path leading from outer consciousness (materialism, external awareness, ego, outward perception) to the inner soul (enlightenment, unseen essence, nirvana, cosmic awareness).
From Symbolic Meanings Blog by Avia Venefica

The spiral is one of the oldest pagan symbols in existence. It represents the perpetual motion of life, with the spring-like coils suggesting latent power, presenting a picture of life as an endless, evolutionary process bound within the cycles of time. Although each loop of the spiral brings us back to the same place, it takes us to a higher and more evolved level.
From  Exotic India Art

So many of the ideas, in particular the single words themselves really spoke to me.  But, I have to say I didn't do this mini-research until after the feather and spiral were already spinning and winging their way to Jude!  Although, I may have to use some more spirals in upcoming work!!!  I designed it by intuition, by gut, by artistic flow.
However, I did make 'design' choices inspired by what I wanted to communicate.
I chose the 'magic feather' in Jude's traditional style of black and white because I wanted this first (or only?) feather to be a representation of Jude's generosity and the spirit of the Magic Feather Project.  I loved how striking it looked on the bright orange fabric!  When I went to add the spiral, I decided to keep the feel of the magic thread, but mute the color, so the focus would remain on the feather itself...and sort of float off into the spiral.

Thank you Jude for the opportunity to participate in such a worthy project.  Not only is the chosen cause of the nurturing & education of children close to my heart, but I was fortunate to share this experience with my grandson.  For this, I am grateful.

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011