"The poetry of the earth is never dead."

– John Keats

once, i was a child, with a child’s playful spirit.

then, i thought i had to grow up and leave childhood behind, and so i forced myself to do so.

now, i am learning to play again, though it seems that part of me never forgot – she is the one who tells stories and builds summer houses for the faeries and goes on adventures to the mailbox and sings silly songs and plays (always, it is play) with her camera.

she is so very wise. i recognize that now.

“walking softly like a spider in the early morning”

– Brian Andreas :: StoryPeople

as you might know, i love stories.

i stumbled across a book titled “bedtime stories” while waiting for my sandwich at new seasons and was looking through the stories.

in a story titled “troll bridge” by neil gaiman, i read this:

‘Trolls can smell the rainbows, trolls can smell the stars,’ it whispered sadly. ‘Trolls can smell the dreams you dreamed before you were ever born. Come close to me and I’ll eat your life.’

i bought the book for that bit alone. i had to stop reading so i could put my hand on my heart and breathe in the goodness.

so far, i love the few stories i’ve read, including that one, but i keep going back to those words. over and over and over.

as a side note, i have decided that i really want to illustrate a story (or stories) someday. photographically and artistically, of course; clearly i am not an actual illustrator. with the right person and the right story – oh my goodness, the fun.

there are oh-so-many things that i get excited about. i was thinking about one of them – beauty, something i want to talk more about – but then i got distracted by some of the other things.

like diet coke.

i mostly don't drink diet coke. i had to give it up when i decided to cut out artificial sweeteners. (that was a sad, sad day.) every once in a while, i treat myself to a can of it but unfortunately, now that i don't drink it, it's hard to drink it at all because the caffeine in it bothers me.

anyway, i was thinking about how much i love the treat of a can of (flat, cold) diet coke (with lime) and it made me think about the times you're in a restaurant and ask for a diet coke and they say, "is diet pepsi ok?" my response is a very sad face and a politely horrified "no, i'll just have water". what i am really thinking is, "of course it's not ok! they taste nothing alike! why would you ask such a foolish question?!"

speaking of diet coke, am i the only one who likes my diet coke flat and cold? i like to open the can and then leave it in the refrigerator and drink it hours later or even the next day, when the bubbles are all gone. it's the best way to drink it.

or pickles.

i love dill pickles. not sweet pickles. sweet pickles could be banned from the world and i would not be sorry. there is nothing that aggravates me more than when i see pickles and get excited and pile them on my sandwich or burger and then take a bite and they are sweet pickles and it is horrible.

dill pickles are excellent with peanut butter. really, peanut butter goes with everything, but it is especially good with dill pickles. if you are looking for a breakfast idea, might i suggest a piece of toast with peanut butter and dill pickle slices? you will thank me; i am sure of it.

i would also like to note that sandwich makers never put enough pickles on their sandwiches. pickles need to be piled on, like a little mountain. clearly i should run a sandwich shop. i could call it "the picklewich" and people like me would finally get enough pickles on their sandwiches.

(and no, this picture is totally not related. though now that i look at it after having written my post, i suppose it could resemble the bubbles in a diet coke or the green of a good dill pickle. clearly i am a genius picture picker.)

now i'm curious, what do you get excited about?

once upon a time, in a land far far away, on a very ordinary day, much like this one, a baby was born.

when the midwife held up the baby, the mother gasped, because she saw a silver and turquoise wand grasped tightly between the fingers of the baby's right hand.

the wand was a symbol of wizardry. it meant that the baby was a wizard, with a wizard's powers.

i don't know what wizardry is like in your world, but in this world, it was full of goodness. it imbued the wizard with the power of beauty and magic and possibility and wonder and play – and the ability to make the heart's fondest wishes come true. sometimes they came true in likely ways, sometimes they came true in unlikely ways, but they always came true.

there was a time when all the babies in that land were born with wands between their fingers – the colors varied but there was always a wand – but one day, it just stopped, and no one ever knew why.

(i've read books and books about their history and i have my suspicions. a ship landed at their port for refueling and the people on the ship laughed at the people of the land with their wands. "wands and play are for children," they said, as they laughed and pointed and took pictures to show their friends and family. "you're too old to still be playing." it was shortly after that that some of the people began to forget about their wands, and shortly after that that the first baby was born without a wand between its fingers.)

without their wands, life was dreary indeed. slowly, the people forgot about the power of beauty and magic and possibility and wonder and play. they forgot about their power to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. they even forgot that there was such a thing as extraordinary at all.

and then, on that perfectly ordinary day, the baby with the silver and turquoise wand was born, and a spark was lit in everyone's heart.

(for in truth, the wand had nothing to do with their powers; it was just a reminder that they existed.)

the end.

“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.”

– from William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

p.s. in case you missed monday’s post, there’s a celebration going on through saturday!

i will be in the midwest later this week. (i have a niece! yay! i am trying to decide on a niece/nephew name since elizabeth is sort of a mouthful. i am thinking auntie e, or auntie beth, or just auntie. i heard a little girl say "auntie" this summer and it was so sweet. i wanted to be an auntie too. pronounced a as in ahhhh, by the way, not a as in ant. not that i get any say in this at all, i suspect, but i still like thinking about it.)

since i intend to be the best auntie ever, and i have fond memories of growing up in the midwest, and i can't mail any etsy shop orders until next monday, i thought i'd have an extra-special celebration.

enter auntie as the coupon code at checkout to receive 20% off anything in my etsy shop. the coupon will be good through saturday the 22nd. i'll mail the orders on monday the 24th.

plus, anyone who signs up for a reiki session this week will receive a gift of the {happy surprises} postcard set.

and since this seems to be a day for announcements ..

guess what? there are new images in the image grab bag!

guess what? i made calendars! there are now two retinal perspectives calendars: {in the land of enchantment} and {a year with atlas}. i hope you love them as much as i do. (some day, i will have to tell you the story of april & september & calendars.)

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

trust without words.

i went for a photo walk yesterday.

i know. it doesn't sound newsworthy. it was to me, though; i had only used my camera once since the end of august.

at first, i thought i must be in resistance, and i wondered what on earth was blocking me from one of my favorite things. eventually, i realized that it was just time for a break. it was time to see and be and wander without the weight of a camera, instead of always looking at the world from behind my lens.

it was a lovely break and it feels good to be home.