two of my grandies at the detroit zoo
experiencing the butterfly house
firsthand
and finding
just who exactly
is patiently sitting with them
waiting for his identity to be discovered. 
“wonder is the heaviest element on the periodic table.
even a tiny fleck of it stops time.”
― Diane Ackerman
littlest hands
with
careful touch
make soft-rolled fluffy snowmen
of whitest peppermint dough.
something’s lost
and
something’s gained
each time someone new arrives
rising from the sparkly snow.
“we build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt.”
-walter scott
my daughter’s two cats
copy her two art cats
all four posed and looking out her window
perhaps watching for two birds
who might be copying two art birds.
—
“as long as you’re being a copycat, you will never be the best copycat.”
-eric thomas
as the snowfall arrives
there is a soft quiet
a world of white outside
while inside
the cottage is filled with color
the center of the snow globe
i’m clearly drawn to whimsical animal art
and yes,
that is the wing of a peacock kite you see in the upper left corner.
—
“laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.”
-victor hugo
In order to be considered an island in this region, land must be larger than one square foot, it must remain above the water level year round, and it must sustain at least one tree. Welcome to Just Room Enough Island.
Part of the 2,000-isle-strong Thousand Islands chain in New York, this tiny land mass meets the official criteria. It was purchased in the 1950s by the Sizeland family who were looking to create a holiday getaway.
They built the walls right up to the edges of the island, giving the island its quirky name. A pair of bench chairs were placed in front of the home and there was also a tree growing on one side. And that is all the room the island had.
While the Sizelands had hoped for their quirky little getaway to be a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of city life, it soon attracted hordes of sightseers and tourists who broke their placid solitude.
When islands get really small they sometimes barely even count as islands, and so some places actually have criteria that the landforms must meet to be officially considered islands, and not just crappy little scraps of land. Just Room Enough Island meets these standards just barely, but really it’s more house than island.
“just when i thought there wasn’t room enough
for another thought in my head,
i had this great idea -“
-john ashberry
—
credit: atlas obscura
“i’m envious of people who can sleep as long as they want.
i have the circadian rhythm of a farmer.”
-moby
—
image credit: bored panda
helped my daughter
to pull a dollhouse kit down from the store shelf above
quite surprised to find
how heavy it actually was
just before it crowned me
more surprised than anything
all was well
but as we picked it up
with an alarmed store employee
i happened to notice
a little sticker on the underside that said
‘heavy’
too little, too late. too heavy.
—
“heavy is the head that wears the crown”
― wiiliam shakespeare
—
image credit: goodreads.com
last night’s super moon over ann arbor.
—
“i’ve never seen a moon in the sky that,
if it didn’t take my breath away,
at least misplaced it for a moment.”
-colin farrell
—
image credit: g.e. anderson, alumni association of university of michigan
at the annual ann arbor city-wide celebration
a wonderful band from russia plays live
and the crowd can’t get enough
with tons of warmth both inside and out
i may have agreed with a couple of little people
after a very fun evening
with daylight savings time in play
that it was ‘midnight’
as the bells chimed a different time.
—
“instead of hate, celebrate.”
-prince
I didn't have my glasses on.... 