Ode to Friendship, Pt. II: Mikaela Danae Ryan

When I think of you, my memories take me back to a lush green cemetery a few weeks after the fifth of July. There you are, clad in white, a whisp of a girl, dancing her heart out to Jesus, underneath a tall sturdy oak. People gathered around. Eyes wet with the tears of grief and sadness, but sparkling with the hope of that coming day - when we shall again be reunited with our loved ones. That glorious day wherein we shall all be caught up in the sky, whenceforth all tears WILL be wiped away, and burdens lifted. There you were, a testament to all of us, of gentle faith, of abandoned love, of simple and complete trust and of perfect peace. The picture of you dancing at the foot of your baby brother's grave that warm July Saturday (sweet sadness, and courage intermingled), twirling in the sun, held fast by the Son, will be kept in my memory forever.

Dear Mikaela, I have been so blessed by you. You may be years my younger, but in Spirit I see you as as someone I can look up to. Don't loose your sweet innocence, your gentle heart, your delicate reverence. You are a precious gem in the eyes of your Heavenly Father, a gift to the world, and a light to me. I love you.

P.S. We will never be too old to dream up imaginary families and draw our dream houses and write each other funny letters. I promise.

Ode to Friendship, Pt. I: Jordan Diann Schaefer

Oh my dear friend, look at you... look at you! What have I done to deserve such a confidante and faithful amiga as you? There are no words to express my deepest love and gladness in knowing you. Your life and liberty-of-spirit are a testimony to me! You encourage me and you comfort me. I love your zeal, your passion, your energy and your wisdom - your tenderness, your womanhood, your humor and your creativity. I smile as I look back on all that we've shared, and grin when I imagine what the future may hold - more late nights, I hope... More, deep talks, I hope... More silly-shenanigans, I hope... and More Surprises, I do hope, indeed!

You, my little Jordan Diann, ARE a kindred Spirit. I see you as a person I can spend a whole day with, each of us, just sitting, and writing... or thinking our own thoughts, separate, but together. This is a rare and precious bond. Let us not soon forget it, or neglect it...

I love you, My friend... spinning recklessly in the Dramatic Orange set-of-sun!

Speaking of Which....

My Uncle read me this quote onetime (It came out of a little Countryside Paper from the hills of Quebec - After he read it, I promptly ripped it out, and stuck it in my journal and in my heart):

"Ennui had made more gamblers than avarice, more drunkards than thirst, and perhaps as many suicides as despair." (C.C. Colton, 1780-1832)

Before this, I always loved how someone had told me that "gratitude is the highest form of thought". After I heard the above statement, I created a saying of my own, and think it is quite true...

My Paraphrase of C.C. Colton:
"Boredom is the lowest form of thought."

So... Be thankful and never give into 'boredom', and it will be sure to go well with you.

This has been your latest installment of "Wisdom, from Yours Truly"... ;-) haha.

Mustard

Today I pretended that I had just crossed the Oregon Trail one hundred and fifty years ago. I imagined that I had passed through sun-scortched desserts and endless plains, bone-chilling mountains and over deathly jagged peaks, survived cholera and typhoid, all with crummy shoes, on foot, ill-clad, or bumping along on a wooden box seat with no shocks. In my head, I had spent a year smelling like animal dung, getting bit by mosquitoes, and sleeping on the cold, hard ground. Fear of Savage attack would have been a near constant companion;I would have seen death and loss. And... our rations would have been meager and mundane.

So I continued my day dream... In it, I was just arriving on the beautiful coast, welcomed by a humble, yet homey Inn... where I got to take a warm bath for the first time in months, after eating a hearty cornbread and pork meal, covered in the delicious delicacy of mustard seasoning. Mustard, something so tasty and flavorful and such a treat, a welcomed and divine burst of lovely flavor. Then, my whole family was treated to a happy evening indoors, serenaded by the melodious echos of guitar and fiddle music.

.....And All this was brought up because we are out of Ketchup. I heated up an old corndog this evening, which I prefer to eat with Ketchup - but since we were out, I had to make up this story in my head so that I could enjoy it just as much with Mustard. Then I took a bath, and now I am listening to Joni Mitchell. It's all about perspective, isn't it, I tell my little heart. :-)

Some things I'd really like to do right now:

1. Be snug in a tiny little cottage in the south of France, looking out the window at the vineyards and orchards, drinking cider, by a crackling fire, wind howling beneath the door stops, rain foreboding in the nearing distance, good book in hand, wrapped in a quilt. (I've never done this before, but it sounds quite nice) :-)
2. Go to Orthodox Church.
3. Eat a lime.
4. Hold a Baby.

Oh Bob.

"Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow."

I did this today.
El Nino + the empty beach at Night.
Thanks Bob... for the inspiration.

"The best way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost"

"Do not save your loving speeches
For your friends till they are dead;
Do not write them on their tombstones,
Speak them rather now instead.
- Anna Cummins

"A Friend may well be reckoned
the masterpiece of Nature."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Any time not spent in love is wasted."

The grass is turning brown....

Everything,

everything...
everything...
is changing.
Spring... I will wait for you.

Eden

Take me to Eden
Just you and I
Alone in the Garden
Under brilliant Skies.

Let's wander together,
Till nightfall arise...
By the grace of the moon,
Let me gaze in your eyes.

The stars will surround us,
A blanket of time...
Lost under covers,
Let us unwind.

Beneath Branches and Vines
Let our secrets be told...
Through the winters of Life,
Your hand will I hold.

Let springtime again
Bring it's welcoming kiss,
Love with you in the flowers,
Fulfills my paramount wish.

Let us bathe in the rivers,
In crystalclear streams,
Let us dance in the waters,
And hide in revines.

Let us climb up mountains,
And slide down the dunes,
Let us nap in the hayfields
Let us please, do it soon.

We'll sing with the swallows,
You'll lead me away,
Into the shadows,
In the dusk of the day.

We'll run with the antelope,
And smell the sweet air...
Hand in hand, always humming,
You'll place feathers in my hair.

We'll drink from the waterfalls
And eat from the vine.
You and I in the garden...
I am yours... and you are mine.

Together forever
In the grass, in the sun...
In the treetops and valleys,
Let this lovesong be sung.

A Tribute to a Lil Friend

Your charms endear me.
Your jokes, they cheer me.
Your mind, it hears me.
I like you near me. :-)