i wish i could remember where i stumbled across this quote – possibly from someone on facebook – but i just love it.

"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

-Albert Einstein

i have a couple of quick announcements. imagine my disembodied voice booming over a loudspeaker. hee.

there are new images in the grab bag! in case you're looking for a wintry computer background, for example. it's still "choose your own price" – which i like to think of as a variation on "choose your own adventure". remember those books? i loved them. (i read them in a very methodical and logical manner, in order to be sure i covered every single possible adventure. now that i think about it, given that, it's no wonder i enjoyed programming.)

there are a few more days for the holiday special on the pause. i don't have any spots left this week, but if it speaks to you, you are welcome to buy a session and use it in the new year. resting and renewing and retreating – in the comfort of your own home – seems like the perfect thing for january.

ok. it's time for the disembodied voice to leave; if you like, you can imagine it singing "whistle while you work" as it goes. for some odd reason, that is the song that comes into my head most often.

i read tolkien's the hobbit yesterday after stumbling across a trailer for the movie version. i love the book, though i always forget just how much until i read it again. (as an aside, i want to live in a hobbit-hole.) this time, i noticed lots of bits that i wanted to write down in my journal. here are two of my favorites.

"Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway."

"It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterwards were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait."

"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering."

– Winnie the Pooh

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

a dear friend gave me a magnet with the following sharon salzberg quote:

"Life is like an ever shifting kaleidoscope: a slight change and all patterns alter."

i love that quote. it makes me feel hopeful. it reminds me that everything i do in the big wide world of working on my stuff on has an impact on my life – no matter how small a thing it is, no matter if i can see how it will happen.

when i saw this scene/photo, it reminded me of that quote, and somehow, it all circled back to trust.

"The poetry of the earth is never dead."

– John Keats

i celebrate thanksgiving in my own way.

i celebrate the idea of thanks giving year round. i celebrate the day with three of my favorite things: atlas, a hike, and cooking. the ritual started when i worked too much and didn't want to leave atlas alone on thanksgiving day. now, i just think it's a lovely way to spend the day. this year, there will be no hike and i am making nachos instead of cooking; the pup and i both need to rest.

i was thinking about thanks giving when i found this quote. it perfectly sums up how i feel about the idea of trying to express my gratitude in one succinct blog post, or in one day, or at all.

"Gratitude is one of the least articulate of the emotions, especially when it is deep." - Felix Frankfurter

yes. that. exactly.

may your day be full of peace, love, and laughter.

“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.

“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!

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."

– John Muir

p.s. there's still a little time to enter the giveaway. i'll draw the names later this evening.