Six Senses Sunday #4 - the purple edition

See:
The most gorgeous purple every where I go
The Man Ray exhibit - very interesting but not what I expected..lots of work by his students as well as the African Art used in his work
Butterflies and robins every day now...it's really spring!
Hear:
Riding with the King...B.B. and Eric...yum
Less crow, more song birds
No more diesel tow truck in the middle of the night...the repo man moved!!! yippee skippee
Taste:
The most amazing scallop and polenta dish..with crispy cheese and a jabanero corn salsa
Blue Bell Ice Cream!!!! The best ever and only available in limited area, fell in love with it in college in TX and haven't had it since, (unless I was in TX) but my lovelies, it's here now...too bad I can't really enjoy ice cream like I use to
Yummy Cajun food from a new restaurant in town...2 blocks from where I work...we went 3 times in the first week it was open, tastes "right" ya know?
An organic tomato from Mexico that was so good and tasty, I expected to hear my daddy's voice.
Touch:
The softest shawl with beautiful swirly colors...from Target!
Pan pastels, I love how soft they are and how easily they blend
Cotton shirts and bare feet outside
Smell:
Finally, the lilacs!! Every where and so fragrant now that the wind has subsided a bit
RAIN!! and a foggy morning with that smell you know means moisture
Wisteria has a fragrance all it's own and it is soooo intoxicating. As I was taking some of the pictures I felt kinda like Wimpy after hamburgers...I would follow it anywhere. We are calling it hysteria this year instead of wisteria...
Feel:
Very excited that I have found ways to manipulate pictures from my shiny pink PoGo printer!! I KNOW!! How cool is that! Double exposures, altered with sanding, fire and acetone! Thanks to Traci Bunkers for the idea and the link!
Grateful for a break from the wind.
Disappointed in the Dia de los Muertos show yesterday...it was so junky! Nothing even remotely like the one last year that had tons of different kinds of things and real quality. I only purchased a couple of pairs of Milagros earrings and could hardly wait to get out of the building!

Suggestions welcome

This is a wonderful little California poppy...in a New Mexico wind. Both the poppy and I were having a hard time staying upright. When I am walking I can find lots and lots of things to be grateful for..the warmth, the sun, the fact that I have 2 legs that work, I don't have to carry everything I own, I have the opportunity to buy good healthy food, wonderful friends support me, I have a great kid, no socks! But when the wind begins to blow.....ey..ey...ey... everything goes out of my head and I become a raving lunatic!
You can almost see this lovely lilac that I am sure would smell wonderful...if the wind wasn't beating the shit out of it. So if you have any suggestions about how to help me not fight the wind and yes, I know I can't win, or things that I should be grateful for when the wind blows...I'm all ears...

If I were...

If I were a month I’d be May...or October

If I were a day I’d be Sunday

If I were a time of day I’d be sunset into dusk

If I were a planet I’d be the moon circling the earth in all it's phases

If I were a sea animal I’d be a leafy sea dragon

If I were a direction I’d be southwest

If I were a piece of furniture I’d be a rocking chair

If I were a liquid I’d be Earl Grey Tea

If I were a gem stone I’d be Amazonite

If I were a tree I’d be a Jacaranda

If I were a tool I’d be a camera

If I were a flower I’d be a lily of the valley

If I were an element of weather I’d be dew

If I were a musical instrument I’d be a accordion

If I were a color I'd be purple

If I were an emotion I’d be gratitude

If I were a fruit I’d be a avocado

If I were a sound I’d be a whistle

If I were an element I'd be earth

If I were a car I’d be a Willis Jeep pickup

If I were a food I’d be shrimp creole

If I were a place I’d be a mountain meadow

If I were a material I'd be lawn

If I were a taste I’d be salty

If I were a scent I’d be lilac

If I were a body part I’d be an eye

If I were a song I’d be off key

If I were a bird I'd be a mourning dove

If I were a gift I'd be the last book you talked about

If I were a city I'd be New Orleans

If I were a door I'd be one of those old wooden screen doors whose sound lets you know when someone comes in or goes out

If I were a pair of shoes I’d be discarded by the door

If I were a poem I would be Dance Me to the End of Love by Leonard Cohen

what would you be?

I saw this first when Allegra posted it and others followed, Tara and then Stephanie and so a little late but with my love of lists...

Well, since you asked..

Allegra and Chris want to know

where I've been...
and what I've been doing...
the answer is ...

here...
doing nothing... well
working and walking
and dealing with the wind at work and on my walks...

these pictures are for Allegra...she loves peacocks and so do I
but I wonder

how they deal with the wind and that tail...
a friend of mine once said the wind in New Mexico

doesn't blow...it sucks
boy was he right...!
I know why the women in the old west tales
killed their husbands, children, chickens, and any stray passerbys
when the wind was blowing...it makes me crazy.
And this is spring in New Mexico...
wind...
wind...
wind!!
And when all our lovely blossoming,
pollinating, amazing flowering fruit trees
get just full of wonderfulness...
that wind takes all of our goodness to Arizona...or Texas...or Colorado
I hope they appreciate it!

Last week, my Mama Poole (she called herself my mother-in-love) turned 80. This is a card she sent me last year on the first day of spring. That's me and her years ago, under a concrete picnic table in the Rocky Mountain National Park on a spring picnic when it started the rain. Everyone else ran for the car but she and I stayed to enjoy the rain...under the table. I've known and loved her since I was 19. The first day of spring is the holiday we always celebrate together. I buy a yellow shirt and new sandals every year and she always laughs at me for doing it in the snow and asks if there is room in my closet for one more pair of shoes...see how well she knows me? She has lived through lots of hard things...loosing her son and most of her siblings most recently... but has the best attitude ever and taught me sooooo many things. "You learn more about being an adult from your children than you do your parents" she said. And she was right. "Once you give something away, let go of what happens to it." Another wise nugget that has served me well. One of my favorite lessons is that it's okay to keep art you made and love. Not everything has to be for sale or given away. For years we gardened, cooked, played, did art, traveled to craft shows and even had a store in Estes Park a couple of summers. They are a family of potters - 3 generations now. She was a teacher of first graders for years and years and let me be a part of that as well. I went to the college she did because I wanted to be like her. Now she's old - or so she says. When I spoke to her last week she told me they went to the doctor because they "thought they should" but they told him up front they didn't want any medicine. So they had the exam, took all the tests and got the results. The tests all showed they were healthy...old but healthy and so she told the doctor...they weren't coming back. I still want to be her when I grow up.

Grace in small things
1. a brief respite from the wind when the sun was shining - warmth!!! lovely, lovely New Mexico
2. the most amazing paintings and cloth made from those paintings done by a blind man! I'll find the link and post it some day but he is amazing!! If you're local - stop by and see the show...
3. beautiful light in the mornings as I walk to the bus, the slow dawning of the day
4. mourning doves - it's mating season and they don't ever shut up! The cooing goes on and on...I love that sound
5. finally finishing my taxes!!! yippee skippee!! and so I can finish my plans for my trip to CO to see my niece get married...I get to be the one to marry them...isn't that a hoot!