I smell like dirt.

Today was the first day that I could feel summer. The air got almost hot this afternoon while we were working in the garden. I love the garden! I love to smell like dirt! I love being outside with family/friends, eating and laughing. I love every bit of it!

P.S. I just went outside to turn off the water in the garden and did a happy dance, in the wind, across the backyard in my p.j.s. That's how much I love summer.

These beautiful days, where the sun is golden, warm and precious. It's a last chance to warm my blood, to top off my reserve.

From the roof the sun feels closer. It's nice to observe from up above, not quite a part of it.

There was something in the air that lasted all day long. I wasn't the only one who felt it.

My middle kitten said, "we need more wind." And then the wind began to blow. There are several stories about the elements bending to middle kitten's will. The sky gods (Theoi Ouranioi) listen to her like they know her.

The kittens chanted while they danced around and around, like little witches casting a spell. They caught leaves and laughed. When it was time to come inside littlest kitten said what I felt, "I wished this day didn't have to end."

Fall

The temperature always seems just right on our patio. It's been the place to relax and be together this summer. The lights make it a lovely at night.

Even on the cooler nights it's a good place for teen kittens and tom cats to hang out.

When little ones get cozy and start to read it's almost impossible to get them to come in to bed. I'm so glad they are outside enjoying the beauty of this season.

Most people I know change out winter clothes for summer clothes in their closet, so as to have what they need available. I personally don't do much of that because I made a resolution three years ago to keep only what fits in the closet. If I start wanting to put clothes in other closets or storage bins, it means I've got too much. Anyway, what I was going to say was that though I don't rearrange my closet, I do seasonally organize my studio. It mostly has to do with having the kittens home for the summer. Trying to paint in the summer is more challenging then any other time. There doesn't seem to be much quiet time available so one of the tricks I've learned is that if when a kitten or two are in the studio with me, I've got some good stuff for them to work with right there ready to go. If not I hear, "look this mom" or " will you get me..?" So I went through my stuff and and put potential project supplies in easy to get to and clean up places. So far it's going well. I enjoy it ever so much when everybody is happy and engaged in making art.

Last night I did something really funny and in the excitement I forgot to take pictures. For family night, we went about our usual preparations... a little singing, blah, blah, blah, then I said I'm going to call you downstairs in just a second for our activity. I ran down and quickly changed into a wacky outfit that actually looked like a gypsy than anything and called them down. At the bottom of the stairs was a sign that read, "Massage School." I divided them up into teams with some study sheets then we practiced on each other. It was a pretty fun night. I'm still not sure where the gypsy outfit fit in.

Summer

In the studio for a minute, wearing a long-sleeved shirt over my swimsuit top, shorts and flip flops, listening to One Eskimo-Kandi, reading Willa Cather-The Song of the Lark, drinking chamomile tea while teen-cats empty the kitchen cupboards, the kittens play night games and Dan Barney waters the garden.

Sun

It's the same sensation as throwing an entire handful of Red Hots into my mouth all at once. It's so sweet and so hot that I almost can't stand it. It's overwhelming and delightful. I love the sun. It fills me up with energy all day long then drops me, exhausted at night.

I don't think I've ever enjoyed flowers more that I have this year. Maybe it's because I've been painting them. It's actually distracting. I feel this desire to stop and look at every single one. It's takes me so long to walk anywhere. I keep buying them too.
I told Dan Barney tonight, as we were hanging up our trowels on the back porch, that everyone should have lots of flowers and a sparkly chandelier on their patio. It's so dreamy...

A light exists in spring

-Emily Dickinson

"All of her life she had been hurrying and sputtering, as if she had been born behind time and had been trying to catch up. Now...it was as if she were waiting for something to catch up with her."
Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark

Spring...
My body and soul are awakening again after a cold, dormant respite. It feels like everything is back in sinc. It is as it is supposed to be. The sun does that. Red blood is moving in and out of my heart as it squeezes with intensity and purpose.

If everyday could be like today, Spring might be my favorite season. I so enjoy cleaning house, working in the yard and riding our Trek Mods. It feels good to have the windows open and skid-out around the neighborhood.

I saw this 'salad table' in a magazine and threatened to make it myself while Dan Barney was out of town this weekend. When he heard that, he made it for me while I was gone last Saturday. Not only was it a nice thing to do, his version is better crafted than mine would have been. I love it. We planted different kinds of lettuce in the middle and I've been acclimating the lettuce we sprouted from seed so that it can be planted soon.

Our little baby seedlings are so very precious. I sing to them everyday. I check on them probably eight or nine times a day. I am so excited to be gardening again.

When I come down the stairs in my house, I see two artworks by Jethro Gillespie. On one is written, Glory and on one is written, Woe. I often think, yep, that's it, that sums it up.

I very much enjoyed the questions people wrote in about what they would ask if they visited the studio. I have some of those same questions for other artists. There was one email I received that's been on my mind. It's from a lovely someone who is concerned about loosing herself in the glory and woe of motherhood. This is how I see it...

Each season of our lives offer different opportunities. Some of those opportunities might fall under the woe category at first glance, but at closer inspection they might indeed be part of the glory. For instance, winter is a drag. I'm tired of being cold, the short days cut down my production level and I don't feel as healthy because I'm not riding my bike. On the other hand, it's an excuse to stay indoors and knit, watch movies and make soup. Another example that has been a big surprise to me is that on weekends, Dan Barney and I often find ourselves home because teen kitten, middle kitten and the tom cats are playing here at our house. I'd never thought that I'd enjoy stepping aside and watching them be happy, but I do. It's crazy.

In my last post about the pen, I was having woe about forgetting so much. Really though, maybe that's alright too. If I remembered everything that I wanted to do all the time I'd be wiggedy trying to get it all done.

So where ever you are at, you won't be there too long and there are always opportunities to embrace. If there was too much glory and not enough woe, there wouldn't be anything to push against and learn from. Plus, other fruits will be in season coming up so soon, so enjoy the ones you've got, the glory and the woe.

A note to Jethro- keep painting, you're onto a good thing.

We're ending summer in the same way it began...partying. Actually this summer seems to be a series of parties linked together all the way through. Tonight we filmed videos. I dare say...we were pretty good. New youtube coming soon.

Photos and super fun party by Nina Cochran

Summer

I step outside just as the sun is going down and check on my garden. The sunset paints the world more beautifully than I ever can. There is paint under my fingernails and bike grease on my right leg and I feel good in my tired body. I listen to the trains and smell the smells that are summer. The geraniums and the tomatoes and the lavender are memories, memories that I feel but don't think. They are memories of summers always.

The air cools down and so do I. Returning to the house, I look in from the outside. I sit for a moment and watch. This is my favorite moment in my favorite season and I feel it.

Summer

She looked more like an illustration than real girl. Her hair in braids, backward baseball cap, chucks that matched her bike, and a shaved ice that was the same color blue, sitting in her bike basket. I was riding behind my middle kitten on my bike and in the bright sunlight she looked like a page out of a book. Summer seems like that sometimes. It's a brightly colored story. When I go to a kitten softball game I feel very Rockwell-esque. When we're rock'n out to...rockband or eating mexican food after a swim or enjoying a party in the backyard or watering the garden...I feel like I'm living in a story. When I feel my bare feet on the tile in my studio, I feel that summer feeling too. This is the time to live that story, to take in everything that it sweet and warm and fresh and full.