home away from home

Michigan, with its delicious American name. How lucky one must be to live there. ~ Gary Shteyngart, Little Failure

this present moment

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. ~ Thích Nhất Hạnh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

rain catcher

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~ George Washington Carver

daddy long legs

The world is full of happiness, and plenty to go round, if you are only willing to take the kind that comes your way. ~ Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs (Hodder & Stoughton, 1912)

under our feet

Dune climb, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Empire, MI

It’s a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. ~ Madeleine L’Engle

jasmine in bloom

In the spring of 1988, I returned to New Orleans, and as soon as I smelled the air, I knew I was home.  It was rich, almost sweet, like the scent of jasmine and roses around our old courtyard.  I walked the streets, savoring that long lost perfume. ~ Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire

waiting for the storm

I don’t just wish you rain, Beloved – I wish you the beauty of storms… ~ John Geddes, A Familiar Rain

shedding fragrance

I am thinking of the lilac-trees, That shook their purple plumes, And when the sash was open, Shed fragrance through the room. ~ Ann S. Stephens

the mother road

Well if you ever plan to motor west
Just take my way that’s the highway that’s the best
Get your kicks on Route 66.

Well it winds from Chicago to L.A.
More than 2000 miles all the way
Get your kicks on Route 66

Well, goes from St. Louie down to Missouri
Oklahoma city looks oh so pretty
You’ll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona don’t forget Winona
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino

Would you get hip to this kindly tip
And go take that California trip
Get your kicks on Route 66!

~ Bobby Troupe, copyright 1946, Londontown Music