“cowgirl courage isn’t the lack of fear, but the courage to take action in the face of fear.”
-j.h.lee
Category Archives: adventure
here we go!
pixie dust.
‘We proudly support the local fairy community with cinema and live performances!
Our fairy door is located at the front entrance of our theater.’
(from the beautiful michigan theater)
the fairies have officially moved into the theater at last
(though most likely there long before anyone noticed them)
“trust the pixie dust.”
-author unknown
ride along.
stopping for an oil change
on my way home from school
the tech went to open my hood
pausing to tell me
i had a ‘little friend’ traveling along with me
a praying mantis
who had hunkered down and hung on just below my windshield
he very carefully opened the hood
the mantis hopped up on the windshield wiper
hung out while my oil was changed
just taking it all in
other people came over to check him out
still he held his ground
the tech carefully closed the hood when finished
trying to very gently coax the mantis to go back to his safe spot
before i drove off
but the mantis would not be deterred
hung on as i drove to the book store
then i drove toward home
with my very special hood ornament
my ride along
even still hanging on
gone when i got home
perhaps he hopped off
stopping to visit a town along the way
i hope it was the adventure of a lifetime.
—
“the truth is
you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.
life is a crazy ride,
and nothing is guaranteed.”
-eminem
quietly floating through the cloud forest.
crossing the continental divide
into the pacific region
for a visit to canto del rio and a hike into the cloud forest
one of the most unique environments in the world
surviving on costa rica’s mountaintops
incredibly quiet and powerful
the cloud forests are formed by a combination of wind and geography.
—
“in the cloud forest the fog is taken into the plants, thus ever clearing the air and feeding the streams. these forests are sacred, for they both bring flowing water to the ecosystem and hold the earth in place during the rains.”
-angela abraham
up in the canopy and so lucky.
it was a very lucky day
to wake up and look out my window
to see the high clouds had cleared
revealing the top of the volcano at last
then a hike up and into the tree canopy of the arenal rainforest
amidst many highly specialized flora and fauna that very rarely live in other places.
it’s estimated that no less than 1/3 of all tropical species are found in a rainforest canopy.
it was such a lovely way to end the day
to see these skies when returning in the early evening
after a day spent up high in the canopy
a very lucky day indeed.
“the forest is for me a temple-
a cathedral of tree canopies and dancing light.”
-dr. jane goodall
duned.
walking down from a dune
i saw a wind-weathered tree
that looked like i imagined a ‘beach cactus’ would look
if they existed
just standing very still by lake michigan
(somewhat like me at one point in the middle of the dune odyssey)
—
we went on a hike
in a beautiful park
with tall grasses and water and rocks and views and sand dunes
that began with
one dune
looking forward to the rolling hills and flats
but we didn’t exactly
ever make it to the place where we were headed
turned into a bigger adventure than we had imagined
perhaps we never found the official ‘trail’
but we did find
dune after dune after dune
after dune
and once we got over one
we found another
and another
and another
i announced that it was like
we were in one of those old desert plane crash movies
all soft sand and more soft sand
and more soft sand
mostly uphill
thought
i may have to sleep there
or have them drag my carcass out
we may have to send one ahead
or leave one behind
and finally
after a few hours of climbing and descending
a refreshing rain, a snack, another few sets of dunes
we arrived
far from where we were headed
far from where we had started
at the very top of the ‘big dune’
looking down toward another lake
walked down this last dune
and
got a ride back to where we had started
surprised we had gone so far
didn’t have to send someone or leave someone
but it was a bit ‘iffy’ at certain points
interesting conversations happened along the way
i learned i could do more than i thought i was capable of
because there really were no options
and i did have a few comments
good thing i wasn’t the navigator
or we might still be there now
good training, good workout, good adventure, all good
and i’m still finding good sand…
—
“the voyager’s path is marked by the stars and not the sand dunes.”
-nilotic proverb
discovery shopping.
(not me, but a baby who shops with my same level of fervor as she fills her cart)
i love the adventure of shopping at t.j. maxx
walking in, not knowing what kind of treasure i’ll find
one can never enter
looking for a particular thing or size
you have to keep an open mind
be willing to discover as you go
i don’t enjoy regular shopping
but this
is almost a sport
a discovery scavenger hunt
going up and down the aisles
filling my cart
with all kinds of things i didn’t know that i needed
or that they even existed
like the stuffed duck with four legs
the vintage style pink baby reindeer with white snow glitter
and a pinecone falling off of it
a very soft blanket with woodland creatures and plants
a sweater that is my exact favorite shade of green
the thai chili and lime bath soap
i cannot believe that no one bought these treasures before i arrived
it’s all a matter of luck and timing!
—
“a discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind.”
-albert szent gyorgyi