mid

Mid-week, feeling like I need an extended nap which means I’m not so chatty today. Pausing for a break so…

keep your peepers open!®

look out

snow watching it blow

about wildly cold

swirling fluff

melting against warm skin

holds me captive

hour to hour

watching it slow

so gently it falls

whirling flakes

caressingly cool on waiting skin

captivates me

minute to minute

watching snow...

Oh the weather outside is frightful all across the country and yet, there is beauty in the flurries. Stay warm, be safe and…

keep your peepers open!®

conscious consistency

Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after having an experience with you becomes your trademark.

 - Jay Danzie

When I received the above quote in a daily inspirational email, the words and their meaning left a huge impression on me. It got me to thinking about the people whose paths I cross or who cross mine as I move through each day. I have never found it difficult to smile at a stranger so I am miffed when people I encounter on a daily basis walk past me and others as if we do not exist, can come into a room and not speak or say good morning. It’s hard for me to understand how someone can so miserably fail at a simple common courtesy while at the same time asking for support. I guess we just don’t always realize how what we say and do is received by others so caught up in self and our own agendas are we.

Each time I read this quote it serves as a reminder that sometimes the first impression, be it bad or good does not necessarily hold over time, that every time we see or talk to a person even if it’s for the hundredth time, we make a new impression. So as I close, the words conscious consistency resonates within me. It’s a concept, may we all begin to practice it and as you do…

keep your peepers open!®

the list

Though I don’t always write down what I’m grateful for each day, each day I am grateful for something even if it’s the basics -- food, water, shelter, clothing, family, friendship.

I often hear and have also experienced that it’s not always easy to list five new things that evoke feelings of

gratitude on a daily basis so I’ve actually expanded my list to include what makes me happy or things that make me smile. Sometimes all three are one in the same however I find that I’m able to pinpoint joy or something that turns the corners of my mouth towards heaven very quickly when I can’t think of different things to express gratefulness for. Like yesterday…I felt a strong desire to listen to Billie Holiday and when I dressed to go out was compelled to adorn my wrist with two charm bracelets, both with hearts on them. Very ordinary actions at first blush until I add that it was Valentine’s Day, a day that reminds me of my grandparents. I first heard Billie in their home; she became part of the soundtrack of my life her voice so “fine and mellow”. My grandparents also hosted a rousing evening of poker with their friends once or twice a month. Amongst those who attended was Aunt Alisha, a woman who always wore a charm bracelet that created a lovely sound each time she moved her arm; the music of mine as they jangled together was just as charming as I remember hers to be (I made sure to shake my wrist often!).

Both Billie and the bracelets carried me back and brought me forward to happy moments that made me smile. And come to think of it, I was and am grateful. So make your own list of whatever it is you wish to keep track of and as you do…

keep your peepers open!®

sweet

I love a good cupcake. Baked and Wired in Georgetown has a delectable selection of pure yumminess to choose from, mine was the Razmanian Devil, a sinfully delicious lemon delight with raspberry filling and a generous slathering of buttercreme frosting. Every mouthful of that cupcake with the tiny red heart felt like it was baked with love and as I was reviewing photos, suddenly my Grandmother came to mind for a few reasons. Though regular size cakes no longer tickle my fancy, she made a lemon one that made me smack my lips (and as I write, I remember that I also lingered in front of the Ménage à Trois, a chocolate version of the one I picked; my Grandma used to make us the cake of our choice for our birthdays and mine was always devils food). To some, Valentine’s Day is just another day, for me, it was my Grandmother’s birthday and the heart on the cupcake and oh, yeah, those hanging in the café trigger thoughts of how my Grandfather never failed to shower her with double love on her day.

Funny how the smallest things can evoke such big memories, speaking of which, each time I see this picture, it will spark thoughts of a pleasantly sweet way to end a day. Have a happy and...

keep your peepers open!®

b roll

Scrolling through thousands of photos, an exercise in prepping to submit for a show, images for a book, strolling through ground past traversed of pictures never shared…

…and these just scratch the surface, so…

keep your peepers open!®

solace

As Washington continues to build on seemingly every inch of open space and traffic and the influx of people and bicycle lanes covers the rest, I find solace in the early morning and late evening when it all slows way, way down and the city at last is open once again for movement and to be seen.

There are those of us who relish having our town returned to us during the quiet hours, I’ve seen you out there as you…

keep your peepers open!®

phrase together

What lies behind us

and what lies before us

are small matters compared to

what lies within us.

               - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Put your ear down close

to your soul and

listen.

- Anne Sexton

and…

keep your peepers open!®