Painting the Shooting Stars

Spring is finally here!  The shooting stars said so.

Shooting stars blooming abundantly with a few Indian paintbrush

It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want — oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

The color and size of the shooting stars vary.

"Oh, look!  I see them!  Quick, stop, I'll be right back."  

These words are followed by me grabbing my camera and jumping out of the car.  I wander the roadside ditch for the next 15 minutes, searching for the best and brightest blooms.  Aware that my family is patiently waiting for me during a pause in our drive to wherever we are heading today.  This has been our habit for so long that no one complains; there's no impatience because this is our normal.  I can pass up boutiques and coffee shops but I brake for wildflowers.  For me, nature sends delightful little messengers of spring in the grassy wet areas.  I glance around for the amount of standing water, hoping to keep my feet dry.  It may sound crazy but I'm like a child at a parade, watching for candy to be tossed my way.  That's how it is for me while I'm anticipating the growing season for each wildflower.  This vivid fuchsia flower on slender stem has a lovely scent, as gentle and pleasing as lilacs or roses but still distinctly different.

The Long Pause (AKA The Lost Post)

I just completed the March 2013 post The Intermission is Over...only to find...I told you I don't know what I'm doing...the lost post from December 2012.  So I am posting it today.  Two at once!  Wow, I'm feeling a sense of accomplishment today.  I'm not going to spend any time editing it...you get it just as it is.  Bear with me, please.  And if you are reading and following, please add a comment.  What a boost to know whether anyone has been here.  I may be more encouraged to post more often.  hint. hint.

The Long Pause. 

It's been longer than a year since the last post.  This has been on my mind often and now I find myself rusty at posting today.  Why does this matter?  Why shouldn't I give up?  There's this nagging feeling that I've been beaten and/or I've quit.  I love reading blogs and for some crazy reason I can't put my finger on I want to record my own art related ventures.  My desire to write a blog began as a desire to be more than a wife, mother, homemaker, crafty person, Sunday School teacher, and on and on.  I felt like the artist part of me was very much lost.  She was pushed off to the side because there was no time.  It was a sad frustration that this core part of me was fading away.  I made a conscious decision to begin weaving my artistic self into everyday life.

Great times on the back roads of New Mexico.