Yesterday was a day filled with writing, making photographs, working on my sample hand-made book, and enjoying nature right outside my office window—
Squirrel, book-making, roses and more!
It felt like a Mary Oliver kind of day, perfectly imperfect and full of light.
I began my day working on the cover of the hand-made book I’ve been working on. I would give myself a grade of C for my results so far. But I’m happy with my progress anyway. I now know that I need to learn more about gluing down the corners. My efforts were less than successful. But now that I’ve seen it’s construction up close I’m pretty sure that this is not the type of cover I want for my photo/essay book. So I count that as a win. Sometimes knowing what you don’t want helps discover what you do want.
I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing—that the light is everything—that it is more than the sum of each flawed blossom rising and falling. And I do.
– Mary Oliver
Gluing the cover boards to the book spine cover fabric
What it looked like after the glue dried
And after the paper was glued to cover the book cover
Today I plan to finish assembling the book. And I may try some other experiments with placing photos and text on the pages of the book.
While I was working on my book cover, I noticed an albino squirrel looking for food under the bird feeder. We’ve seen this squirrel in our backyard before but I was never quick enough to photograph it. Yesterday I was able to get my long lens on my camera and make a few photographs of it through the window. Isn’t it fascinating to see the pink ears and nose?
You can have the other words-chance, luck, coincidence, serendipity. I’ll take grace. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’ll take it.
– Mary Oliver
Yesterday afternoon I noticed that many of the roses in the bouquet that I brought home over a week and a half ago are beginning to lose petals and droop. But one rose stood tall and so beautiful that I stopped to photograph it.
This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.
– Mary Oliver
And I photographed some of the fallen petals.
And while I was at it, I decided to photograph an avocado that was ripening on my kitchen counter.
While the outside landscape of snow and more snow is no longer quite as inspiring to me as it was, I’m finding plenty of beauty and inspiration indoors and in my ongoing projects.
But I also say this: that light is an invitation to happiness, and that happiness, when it’s done right, is a kind of holiness, palpable and redemptive.
– Mary Oliver
What is inspiring you today?
May you walk in beauty.
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