{Upstream}

One tree is like another tree, but not that much. One tulip is like the next tulip, but not altogether. More or less like people-a general outline, the the stunning individual strokes. Hello Tom, hello Andy, Hello Archibald Violet, and Clarissa Bluebell. Hello Lillian Willow, and Noah the oak tree I have hugged and kissed every first day of spring for the last thirty years. And in reply it's thousands of leaves tremble! What a life is ours! 
            Doesn't anybody in the world anymore want to get up in the middle of the night and sing?
                                                     -Mary Oliver, Upstream

One of the best things about being "creatively organized" is I have a back log of pictures. It's hard to delete these files even after I've edited and tucked them away. So these huge RAW files sit on my computer til I want to avoid doing work (right now in fact) and I decide it's time to mop the floor and oh yeah...How about I clean out Lightroom. I came across this photograph from a trip to Arizona about six years ago. In general, I can find beauty with most landscapes. With the exception of North Dakota. I can't. I just can't even. I've tried. The desert is an abstract painting speckled with tiny details in unusual places. It's airy, peaceful and majestic. This picture was a favorite, despite the odd crop. I believe I was trying to avoid bees while shooting. And the I'm currently reading Mary Oliver's book of essays Upstream. Which is tremendous and easy to get lost in its pages.

{Everglades}

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” ― John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir

I finally had a chance to go kayaking and it did not disappoint. In an attempt to step outside my comfort zone I signed up for a 3 hour tour through Grassy Water Park with a friend of mine. We were led through the Everglades by a very competent tour guide, who pointed out natural creatures and plants of the swamp life. No alligators were seen on this tour, which was disappointing, but I hear they hide out...but are Wallflowers...and blend in. The best part was the relief in provided to be somewhere quiet and natural. Surrounded by water, hidden sub life surrounding me. The air was humid but there was a breeze. This is the time of year in Florida to enjoy. The water lily's stole my heart as well as trees. Which from what I understand host other plant life-Our tour guide could give a better description. By the end of the three hours I was physically worn out and mentally calm as a cucumber. Decided I'm most definitely am buying a kayak.

{Knock, Knock}

“Don't you just love those long rainy afternoons in New Orleans when an hour isn't just an hour - but a little piece of eternity dropped into your hands - and who knows what to do with it?” ― Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

{Irma Chronicles-New Orleans}

“It's an awful truth that suffering can deepen us, give a greater lustre to our colours, a richer resonance to our words.” ― Anne Rice, The Queen of the Damned

There is so much to say regarding the depth of hell called a hurricane evacuation. Blessed to have survived the chaos, roads, anxiety all sober and within good mind. The trip was unexpected and it took me to two states that I have never been to before-so I have Mississippi and Alabama knocked off the list. And the highlight was a day in New Orleans. I had been there over 20 years ago and had faint memories. This time, I was able to take in the city and fell in love with it's architecture and history. Here a few pictures. More to come. And it turns out that Dark Vadar is a Saints fan? Whatever...

{Boats and New Yorkers}

“Everybody ought to have a Lower East Side in their life.” —Irving Berlin

I certainly have no clever title here or much tie into the picture, however, I did want to take sometime to reflect on Florida and it's New Yorkers. And it's boats. Which seem to have sort of correlation I haven't figured out just yet. Having in my 42 years lived in most parts of the country, which I feel extremely blessed, I've been able to take in its diverse culture. Florida is a hodgepodge and I love it. There is a lot to take in, observe and learn. Most especially the Haitian culture which is prevalent here much like the Somalian and Hmong immigrants in St. Paul. I know nothing about this country and it's a shame and a homework assignment for plain cultural awareness and also being able to understand the students I work with better.

 I do however, know New Yorkers. And oh how I have missed these people. It seems that Florida is where they flock when, like me, the cold becomes what they say...bullshit. Or they come to get and/or stay sober. Also like me. There is an amazing recovery community here which, for me,  is imperative in living a happy, joyous and free life.

You always know where you stand, literally or figuratively with a New Yorker. There is no end of conversation or run on sentences. They could be talking about finding a primer parking spot at Five Guys Burger and it become a 15 minute story that inevitably ends no where I expected. But I dig it so most of the time I listen and walk away dizzy with what my friends in Minnesota would call TMI. I digress, it's a lot like listening to David Sedaris who is one of my favorite writers that frequently reads his work on NPR. It's also random yet not random so unless I tired and hungry, it's fine by me. I would also say it reminds me a Neil Simon play too. Which I grew up watching, when I was young and would head to New York for a visit with my dad. To this day a favorite memory. Good ole childhood nostalgia.

After our conversations I usually am invited on their boat. Even if I just met them say right before a meeting or at work. To me this seems rather intimate. Being stuck in the middle of the ocean with a stranger but after getting used to the invitation, I realize it's just life in the city tropical style. A difference is comfort zones and definition of family. That's cool. Thus far, I've only taken one trip out on a boat for deep sea fishing. A first. It was awesome til it wasn't because of how rough the waters were and how much I wanted to projectile vomit everywhere. I'm sure I'll have more to write as the days pass....right now I'm hungry, tired which makes me cranky as a New York taxi driver stuck in traffic on the Lower East Side:)

{A Slight Breeze}

"Tonight, once more, life sinks its teeth into my heart"-Simone de Beauvior

And Ode to the Bokeh and Breeze, the flowers and trees. Thank you for making me so happy.

{Chronology of Water}

“Your life doesn’t happen in any kind of order. Events don’t have cause and effect relationships the way you wish they did. It’s all a series of fragments and repetitions and pattern formations. Language and water have this in common.” ― Lidia Yuknavitch, The Chronology of Water: A Memoir

My love affair with the ocean deepens. Every time I visit the warm Atlantic Water. So blue and comforting. Cradling me as I float on my back staring at the endless blue above me. I stand on my feet, toes grasping the sand. On the horizon is endless turquoise blue. Which I find impossible to describe. Swimming, I keep swimming. And the water is the best pain reliever I have found. It's hard to leave. Maybe I'm a mermaid. I feel at home in the water:)