sidewalk art...

there is nothing like a grandpa to lift the wings of two budding artists...

me and my little creative sidekick...aka...my 10 yr. old daughter micah...

took our painting skills outside while the weather is nice here in utah.

we layed out a huge roll of paper across my dad.s front walkway and had at it.

we only had to contend with a few ants, several spiders

 and a small furry critter who paused on his way to see what we were up to.

the land here is as green as i.ve ever seen it 

and the colors jumping off the flower beds are radiant.

it wasn.t hard to find inspiration all around. 

i love how micah wanted to know the names of all the flowers she painted.

 i, on the other hand was quite happy making up my own names for things.

my little mind figured that if they don.t have real names,

 then it.s easier to paint them because they can be whatever

you want them to be and it will never look wrong.

that.s one of the beauties of art...

{notice how i snuck in some of my art work..see..i told you i was going to set sail again}

...refueling and unexpected happy visits.

yesterday i was in dire need of some personal reflection time.  

so i carved out a few hours in my day (i say "carved" because sometimes thats what i have to do...i have to "create" personal time...do you too?)  and i drove to a place i love to go when i need to get away from the noisy, worldly, chaos that sometimes swirls heavily around me.

have you ever been to arizona in the spring?  

or anywhere else when the citrus trees are just coming into bloom?

if not, let me just share with you that the air is perfumed with the most glorious smell.  it was this sweet scent that greeted me 

and put me instantly at ease.  

then the busy buzzing of bees caught my attention...

huge bees.

huge bees in flight.

i thought to myself how ironic it was that they too...

had come to this place for nourishment.  for sweet personal nectar.  

i spent the next few hours in peaceful contemplation.

in a beautifully quiet place with no judgement.  only love.  

unimaginable love.

i emerged at peace.

and just had to capture the beauty of it all.

colorful reminders 

"little purple pansies touched with yellow gold"

(do you know that song?)

and then one of the best gifts of the day came to me...

...he zoomed right in front of my lens.

(look at his tiny tongue.  hummingbirds have tongues right?)

my mom loved hummingbirds.

ever since she passed away we.ve had lots of unexpected visits from these dear creatures.  my children and i like to believe that they are little messengers sent from grandma ann.  her way of sending love and letting us know that she is aware of us.

thank you mom!  

i know you were present and i love you!

(i hope all of you can carve out a tiny bit of time for yourself.  soon. go be nurtured.  fed.  refueled.  whatever that may mean for you!)