down this path before

"One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful."

Sigmund Freud

Spring thyme

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.

Margaret Atwood

Bells of Ireland

Galentine

This is a reposted entry that we thought appropriate for this glorious day.

As they say, love is a four-legged word. We wish you joy today and always.

x|o

"They are constant reminders that life reveals the best of itself when we live fully in the moment and extend our unconditional love. And it is very true that the most tender, uncomplicated, most-generous part of our being blossoms without any effort when it comes to the love of a dog."
- from Maira Kalman's 'Beloved Dog'

elf | oil on panel | 6" x 6" | Flanegan

Peace to you Mary Oliver and thank you.

One of the most popular poems by Mary Oliver, but still my favorite...

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

—Mary Oliver   September 10,1935 - January 17, 2019

An NPR Weekend Edition segment featuring Mary Oliver in 2012 and Krista Tippett's interview with Mary Oliver in 2015.

Neighbor

15

20min study | oil on panel | 8"x 6" | Flanegan

Celebrating my 15th Christmas with my Gingersnap. Her expression is telling me that it's treat time and to get that silly hat off her head.