1/30/14

Morning in the mountains


The dark of night has quit, dawn is heavy with silence
as light starts to softly appear like a whisper.
Slowly black lifts into shades of blues and pale yellow that become the new early Montana sky,
a well orchestrated symphony of color- morning is arriving.
I light a few candles, a winter ritual.
The light washes over the old oak table,
shadows dancing on the dark walls as the little lights flicker, a warm glow in the kitchen.
It's koselig...peace settles in.





Hunting for the coffee grinder I find it behind a box of cheerios- a good hiding spot. 
I pour the dark coffee beans in the grinder, a waft of exotic aroma from far away places...
Arabica, Arabica, Arbica- my mind drifts...maybe Marrakesh, maybe one day?
The whirr of the grinder noisily starts and I am back in the kitchen.
I love coffee, yes, large doses in the am. is needed
Cold water is pored into the old red kettle, it's worked it's fair share in this household,
 boiling water for hot drinks during our winter hibernation.





Simple is best.
Breakfast- two choices, knekkebrod with lingon berry jam or steel cut oats.
Boring to some, to me- never. Today oatmeal wins.
The stove gets fired up again and the oats and water goes in the little white enamel pot,
I wing it, no exact measurements needed. 
My little ceramic bowl, " made in Vermont" scribed on the back...
indigo blue and black dappled glaze adorns this little pottery piece, it's  not perfectly perfect, 
an organic shape, still roundish...there is beauty in that.
In goes the blueberries, in goes the walnuts,
equally important
 then the hot oatmeal with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon.
Breakfast of champions.... kettle whistles.
Coffee is on- good timing!





Early morning routine, candles being lit,
breakfast making brings a sense of comfort and gratitude-
I look forward to a fresh new day and how it may unfold.
Life has been so shocking lately it feels good to have something to hold on to,
predictable,
the gentleness of morning calm sets the tone.




Steam from the hot coffee and oatmeal rise, squinting I reach for my reading glasses.
Frosty teal colored...like beach glass,
they are roundish- I look like Yoko Ono.
These days I need them for everything-
including eating.
Generally I know what I am consuming- it's just that I like to see what I am eating.
My glasses foggy always,
I can see larger thru the fog maybe not clear,
but it beats eating blurry breakfast.
This will remain the same until I figure out the secret to cleaning them correctly.
Outside the mountain has turned a darker indigo blue,
the sky becoming brighter almost an ombre of blue
poring into a lemony and saffron yellow tones where the treetops touch the sky.
Always dazzled by the painterly Montana winter skies,
I have come to love the intensity of the tones and colors each morning
 that are so truly magnificent in Big Sky .





A hearty breakfast with hot coffee is enjoyed and devoured, satisfying as always.
One by one I blow out the candles and muse at the pretty pattern and wisps of smoke that rises.
Dawn has long since departed
Morning in the mountains.
 
 Breakfast ends
the day has arrived.



1/28/14

Surface



 
"It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the
surface
and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 
 
 my sometimes frosty surface
is just my protective shield against your judgment
of whom you think I might be
 
 beyond the surface
inside you will find the warmth of my heart
and who I really am
 
 
 
"Surface"
January prompt-a- day
 
 
 

1/25/14

Way finding














 
 



There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way. 
 ~Thich Nhat Hanh
 
*
 my family
sunshine
 champagne air
 wide open spaces
beach
mountains
eyes up
heart open

*
 happy
 
 *
  way finding


 

1/23/14

Pissed off pies

 
Reflecting on this week
it's been alarming to say the least.....
and humbling
 
 I survived it all
 
 
 
Let me start off by saying our septic is on the fritz...meaning yes, we need a new one.
Apparently we did not factor in our 4 kids who adore toilet paper and long showers
when we bought this abode
and the laundry ah yes,
the Mount Everest of laundry I climb each day
chipping at it with four kids
 like shoveling in a snow storm
 
Just waiting for that mountain to fall.
And it did
 
 this 3 bdr house could simply not with stand all this.
us
 we need a new septic this spring
 
meaning I have to take garbage bags filled with laundry- yes, garbage bags, to the laundry mat
 each week
 
When people tell you that they pick up heaps of wet,
 damp, musty, moldy towels
in their teens bathroom
believe it !!!!! 
 
a startling realization to me.
 
I fought back telling the kids (no, I probably yelled)
 - what do you think this is...
" Le drop and go self cleaning spa????? "
 you now only get one towel a week
 cherish it!
 
 they just gaze at me with supreme indifference
 
 


The following day I took my sweet  angels to the dentist
 
Fog horn comes running towards me bawling
I have 5 cavities mom.....!!!!!
 
Oh joy.
 
 instant discomfort for both parties
 
we both felt the pain...
his mouth
 my wallet


 
My horses pasture has become an ice lake that melts and re freezes
every other day
the girls are so frightened of the ice-
slipping
 they walk awkwardly and carefully
 as if tiptoeing on top of the slippy stuff
(ever seen a horse tip toe?)
 
After riding for the first time in 3 months
I came back from the stables
sore as heck walking around like John Wayne
 
pretty happy with myself having survived the winter with no slips
 walked back to my tack room to hang up my saddle
maneuvering very carefully thru the islands of ice patches
 freshly covered
with a new dusting of snow
 
and....down she goes
 
with no grace at all
 both feet in the air
 
BLAM!
 on the ice
 
on my back
 with my saddle falling on top of me
 
 pain shooting up my back
 alarmed and grateful at the same time
that nothing was broken
 
 
 
Later after the shock of going down
 I hobbled hoy into town
to pick up my weekly share of books
 
once home
 excited to dive in
 I end up stepping in cat puke on the wool rug
as I methodically clean it all up
 calling the dang cat every swear word I can think of.
in Norwegian
 
Mimi doesn't speak Norwegian
 (my choice of language to cuss in)
 
eventually
 finding a rare moment of bliss- quiet
 to sit down with my aching body
 
 not so fast.....
 
Foghorn comes running in from school
he yells out to his siblings....
 
moms pissed off- she's baking again!!
 
he looks up at me with his deep blue eyes
 are we having pissed off pies mom?
 
and that folks ....is what I do when the weeks like this hits you like a storm
 
I bake
 because
yes, I am pissed off
 I have had a rough week
 a very rough week
 
 so I feed my family cake
because it makes us all feel good
 they know I love them
 with all my heart
 
 and this will all be a faint breeze of a memory
 toilet paper, wet moldy towels, cat puke, icy falls and cavities




 

1/21/14

...to the trees!

 
 
 
I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow
to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch,
or an old acquaintance among the pines. 
~Henry David Thoreau
 
 
 

















 
 
Wonderful little walk we had amongst the trees and the river this weekend.
We just discovered this lovely trail in Big Fork
 
 
with our boys...Lilly leading the way
 
I think this time of year the trees are especially lovely- sugar coated.
 
 
 


1/20/14

Montana Morning

 
Do you ever get up in the morning and look in the mirror and think:
That can't be accurate?
 
 
 
 




Burn baby, burn
work
winter growth
memories
quietly waiting
 
 
~ wishing you a beautiful, sunshiny morning where ever you might be.

1/17/14

" In motion "

 
 



Every thing under heaven a sacred vessel
 
 

and cannot be controlled
 
 
 Trying to control it leads to ruin
Trying to grasp we lose
 

Allow your life to unfold naturally
Know that too is a vessel
of perfection
 

Just as you breathe in and breath out


there is a time for being ahead
 there is a time for being behind

 
  a time for being
 
in motion
 
a time for being at rest;
 


  a time for being vigorous
 

 a time to be exhausted

 
  a time to be safe


 a time to be in danger
~ Lao Tzu

 
 

" In Motion "
 
January 17
 prompt- a- day