A WHAT from that blue sky?!

After an awe inspiring thunderstorm last night followed by a gloriously bright rainbow against a gray sky backdrop, today was beautiful and sunny, the world awash in impossibly bright colors.

(from the backyard, after we got home)

T and I drove down to Amarillo for some coffee shop reading and writing, and a grocery trip (organic produce is hard to come by outside the city). 


Along the drive we discussed nature and thought and God and plans and timelines, until all the sudden there was a dark cloud on the right horizon. 


I pointed to it as we sang along to his ipod, making a yucky face, indicating that the factory over there was polluting the beautiful day.
Ew.
Except, a moment later, I realized that the factory cloud I'd pointed to had just moved to be just next to the actual factory, rather than covering it.


...wait a second...


And another 30 seconds passed, where the mysterious "cloud" on the ground moved again - 


-and then I realized. That was no cloud.


It was a tornado.


Yesiree. When my sister and I drove up to Napa for a debaucherous weekend in the spring of '08, there were tons of little twisters on the side of the road, stirring up the fields where crops were not quite beginning to appear. M is also a weekend skydiver, and has seen dust devils below her on the ground as she's floated beneath her chute, hoping to avoid one (having that fickle circular wind grab the thin material of her parachute would certainly mean injury, maybe worse). 


I know what one looks like.


And that WAS one. The super clear day made most of it invisible, but we could see that wide bowl shaped funnel of thin blue-black soil from the fields where it was dancing, puffing out a thinner cloud beneath, along the surface of the ground.


And it was coming closer.


So I took a breath and said a little prayer, and by the time I was done, it was dissipating, so no worries. I learned a moment later that T had never had a minute's apprehension, but was excited to be seeing one this close. Yeah, it was close. And we saw it. Well, the bottom of it.


Then we went and had salads followed by chai tea whilst doing some reading and writing (I started perusing the Gospel of Thomas, which is awesome, just saying), and got groceries, and now we're back. No worse for wear. 


But who needs caffeine when you've got a tornado filling up your windshield to wake you up?!


Not I!


Happy Friday, have a marvelous weekend, and here's today's quote:
In those days, we finally chose to walk like giants and hold the world in arms grown strong with love
And there may be many things we forget in the days to come,
But this will not be one of them.
— Brian Andreas 

Wishes

Today's whiteboard quote:
"Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes."
~Mary Martin

This is what I'll wish for today:

• That the day will pass quickly, but not feel rushed or frenzied (Wednesdays are always my crazy days in comparison)
• For strength and energy for my school work (by the time I attack it, I'm usually half exhausted)
• For clarity and attention to detail
• To appreciate the small things, like the sun shining so brightly outside today (although not as hot, thank goodness! It'll only be in the 80's today. Remember those pink flowers I posted about a while ago? Well they're all shriveled and brown now from the past couple of scorcher days. Makes me a little sad. But that's the way of things, what are you gonna do...)
• To be streamlined and productive in my thoughts
• To only desire healthy foods (dang catering Wednesdays)...

I also can't help but notice the lack of comments on my giveaway post....does no one want silhouettes? I think they're a lovely thing. Well, if I keep on only having one comment, then I guess my decision will be easy! (maybe I should wish for more entries)

Happy Ostara!

a.k.a. the first day of Spring. I love the budding possibilities that this year holds, and I can't wait to see what comes of them. Well, considering the fact that "seeing what comes of them" requires a heck of a lot of effort and hours spent by moi, maybe "can't wait" is a teensy bit too strong a term....

Anyway.

Tonight, at casa RB, there will be a wine and cheese party full of folks I don't know. Sounds fun? Me neither. But I'll know the roomies and there will be wine, which means that I'll be happy. If I have enough energy by then - it's gonna be a busy day! Coffee (remember my extreme susceptibility to caffeine? House parties where I need to be lucid count as justifiable occasions for wall-bouncing) is called for tonight, I'm thinking.

This afternoon I'm also picking up Tara's wedding shower gift! The shower is Sunday, and in Pennsylvania, so it won't get there on time, but I don't mind. I got her a pretty little sweatsuit and had "Bride" embroidered on the back of the hoodie and hip of the pants, in a baby blue (one of her wedding colors).

I'm super excited about it. I know it'll be the perfect gift - see? I'm obsessed with the perfect gift giving. Right there is your first proof. Stay tuned. There'll be lots more in the future.

Okay, I'm off to participate in my busy day.

But you can bet I'll be taking lots of moments to have my own little mental moments of wonder and excitement about the Spring before us.....and to plan for what I'll be bringing in to the world this year (back in the pagan day, it was babies. Now, it's ideas! Much less messy. Usually).

Stirrings

The fern trees outside my office have tiny new bright green baby leaves. All around I can see the coming of Spring - I can feel it in the warmer air (although I'll always miss Richmond's soft air in the Spring...it literally feels like feathers brushing your skin. This doesn't happen in climates where it never gets really cold...), smell it in the great big wild rose bushes I pass on my daily work walk. They infuse the whole sidewalk next to their yard with the delicious smell of living flowers - I think I could get drunk on it..., and I can hear it in the birdsong that seems renewed with a brighter tone and quicker pace.

Today's whiteboard quote is:
"True inward quietness, is not vacancy, but stability, the steadfastness of a single purpose."
~Caroline Stephen
And inside me too, there is a new quietness. It's like a germination. And what's growing in me right now are thoughts, and ideas, about something seemingly mundane (my new work), but to me it's so important and needed, even spiritual. I think things always feel like that when they speak to your soul, and this is something I've known I was meant for since I was about 10 years old.

So I'll wait for everything to mature until it's ready to be presented to the world, the same way that nature does. All is quiet, then before you can blink, the world is suddenly full of a riot of colors and other signs of life that seemingly came out of nowhere. But they didn't, they were preparing the whole time.

The first day of Spring is Friday - what will you be doing to feel it within you?