A little yumminess arrived in today's mail. Seems five of my photographs and a few of my words were accepted and published by Life Images. If you haven't seen the magazine, do yourself a favor and go check it out at your local book store. I don't know about the small mom and pop stores~which are the best!~but I do know the magazine is carried both by Borders and Barnes and Noble.

It's a new mag, and it fills me with inspiration every time an issue comes out. Gives me a little squeelage to see my own stuff in there. What fun! Wheeee!.

The photo of me flying through the Taos sagebrush was taken last July during one of Nature's rainy-season sky displays. If you can't read it, here is the accompanying text:

I've always loved that scene in Disney's film Mary Poppins when Mary grabs the hands of Jane and Michael Banks and they, along with Bert the Chimney Sweep, jump into a sidewalk chalk painting to play inside the artful landscape. Living in Taos, New Mexico is like that.  I sometimes think that at eight thousand feet above sea level, Nature is like a woman unleashed, free to follow her every creative whim. Painting the desert first pink then lavender then purple in pastels, oils, and watercolors, Nature changes her palette day to day, moment to moment. I often wonder if the view from my window is real, and have to walk outside to check the sagebrush for chalk dust. The day this photo was taken, the air was so lit with color, the wind itself was glowing. I ran outside to dance in the masterpiece. I am convinced that somewhere, somehow, a painting of the Taos desert sits propped on an easel. A surprising orange streak has appeared along the silver horizon. The artist thinks it's a mystery. But I know the truth.

The cemetery photos most of you will recognize. They're from my trips to the Czech Republic and have become the impetus for the film Guardian: Cemeteries and Their Sentinels. I wrote a poem for the photos which I've posted on Message from the Muse. It will probably end up being included in the Guardian book, should we ever get green-lighted on the project. (We had a publisher lined up, excited and ready, contract in hand. Then as the economy kept sinking last year the project was placed on indefinite "hold". So send us those good wishes cuz we know lots of you have been waiting to see it in print!)
 

The last day of summer...

And as the air shifts and the leaves burst into gold, us locals head to the ski lifts to dangle our feet over the tops of Alpine trees. And some of us, at 10,000 feet, share a kiss. Because after six years, some of us are still fools in love.

I love nonsense. Have I mentioned that lately? What? Whaddaya mean I haven't mentioned anything lately? Hmmmm. You mean to tell me I have to write these things down and actually post them? And here I thought the telepathic blogging thing was the wave of the future. Ah, well. Where was I? Ah yes...

Nonsense. Dig it. But if there's anything better than nonsense, it's impracticality. They make a nice pair. But the holy trio has got to be nonsense, impracticality and wisdom. Mindful heart-wisdom puts meat on the funny bone and fleshes out the soul. A buddy of mine once referred to me as a melding of Dr. King and Dr. Seuss. At first I didn't know whether to be flattered or miffed, but soon after considering it, I was ready to sing out to the American people:

I have a dream!
Where the eggs are green!
I will share it with my ham!
I will share it, Sam I Am!

So. Back to nonsense. Enter Aimee, stage left.

When I'm tittering with excitement, bubbling over, ready to explode with deliciousness, Aimee calls it a

Angipalooza-scrumdillyumptiousassparilla-sassafrassaplosion!

I think that tells you just about everything you need to know about Aimee. Except, maybe, for this. Aimee is an artist, and when I recently complained that I wanted to post an updated photo of myself on the new Duirwaigh website (coming January 2009) but didn't have anything yummy to post,(all my photos of late being thoroughly practical and utterly boring) she created this:

Need I say more?

Watch out for this girl. She's invaded my life like a Japanese Kudzu plant of goodness. She's sprouting verdant and delightful all over the Duirwaigh forest, and soon she'll be inspiring the world as part of our team!