Winter

This is not an ad for Land's End; but it could be. These are not my children; but I wish they were. In fact, they belong to my old college friend, Al, whose blog will make you want to run outside and make a snowman, whether or not you have children, or a yard full of snow. If I were in the business of exploiting people for money, hers would be the first door I would knock on. As it is, I will remain content to admire her from a distance, and seize every opportunity to enjoy the season - such as, for starters, catching the next plane to Portland to enjoy two weeks of rain and cold!

Pony House

I brought home some old produce boxes from Costco; took a bag of fabric scraps, pipe cleaners and batting out of the closet and marginally assisted Audrey, Ella, and Kate in the construction of "garden-forest-houses" for their ponies.

They were absorbed all evening.

When Ella's mother went in to check on her that night her "pony house" was nestled beside her bed... and her pony had been tucked in just as lovingly as she had been.

I wish I looked that happy while I sleep.

"The bird a nest,
the spider a web,
man friendship."
- William Blake

have a laugh

K-dawg,

There is a passage in "The Princess and the Goblin," one of my favorite George MacDonald stories, in which the grandmother says to Princess Irene, "You must be content to be misunderstood for a while. We are all very anxious to be understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much more necessary."

"What is that Grandmother?" asks Irene.

"To understand other people."

"Yes, Grandmother," says Irene. "I must be fair - for if I'm not fair to other people, I'm not worth being understood myself. I see."

We have known each other for more than half our lives... You have taught me so many things, but one of the foremost is this: that it is more important to understand than to be understood. A hard lesson; and a lifetime process.

Hopefully, with your help, I'll never cease to engage myself in it... I love you!

**Photos courtesy of MommaLove Photography**

a few more from bisbee

Favorite Bisbee moment: At five years old Ella ventured into the grown-up world by addressing the waitress all by herself and putting in an order: "I'll have the Sea Ass," she said politely, "and a plate of sgabetti on the side."

It was delicious.

**Family photo courtesy of MammaLove Photography**

Bisbee Getaway

AZ 'Pumpkin Patch'

a friend is someone who likes you

This gorgeous little poem of a book - written and illustrated by the acclaimed Joan Walsh Anglund - makes a powerful (if diminutive) argument in favor of friendship and is currently on my short list of favorite things. After thumbing through it in a bookstore I bought it for my friend on the occasion of her '29th' birthday - which is tomorrow!

My favorite passage: "[Sometimes]...you think you don't have any friends. Then you must stop hurrying and rushing so fast... and move very slowly, and look around carefully, to see someone who smiles at you in a special way... or a dog that wags its tail extra hard when you are near... or a tree that lets you climb it easily... or a brook that lets you be quiet when you want to be quiet. Sometimes you have to find your friend."

C'est vrai.

To all the friends (online and off) whom I have found in precisely this manner - here's to you!

friends are like flowers... no one is the same

"A tree can be a different kind of friend. It doesn't talk to you, but you know it likes you, because it gives you apples... or pears... or cherries..." or, sometimes, a place to gaze in wonder (Joan Walsh Anglund).