summer hail storm

This was the most incredible hail storm I've ever experienced! It came out of the blue (literally) and came down so heavy, hard and loud it was like being on another planet. Everything got dark and cold and deafening (especially the hail balls hitting the skylights!). After about 15 minutes it stopped as suddenly as it had come and water poured in gushes from the gutters all around the house. Leaves and fruit were shredded off the trees creating a blanket of green on white on dirt... The last picture is the path outside our back door. Our short cut to the main road nearby. It was flooded and rushing like a river...

It was definitely the kind of storm that stops anything and everything else from seeming relevant. Quite dramatic. Quite exciting. Quite odd! I have to admit that alongside the awe, I started to get a little bit freaked out!

And then the sun came out again and the sky was blue and if there weren't all the evidence of destruction, it would have been impossible to believe the storm had actually occurred.

fly away home...

I can't believe how quickly they grow up, spread their wings and fly away. I came home from work and the three peepers seem to be gone. I did get to see the first wobbily flight of the biggest one a couple of days ago which was heart wrenching in both a good and a bad way and now I feel much the same. Bitter-sweet bye-bye baby!

The ghost of her

was always present

taking notes for the future.

little red box

my joy is a little red box

with nothing inside that lasts

it fills and empties

it gets accidently run through the wash

and comes out soggy

in the pocket of my favorite jeans.

my joy has a handful of sugar

and a handful of salt

when you wave at me

one hand opens

spreading grains into the wind

it finds its way to the garden

it finds its way to the table

when i laugh one palm is ready

when i cry the other palm contains.

my joy has wings and can breath under water

especially when i'm sleeping

and when i dance

sometimes it flops around on dry land

gasping and choking on air

sometimes it lands with a thud after take off

mostly though it swims and soars like nothing

but bright light on a smooth lake.

my joy is a little red box

always filled with maybe

it swells and recedes

breaking boundaries

that i don't see

in the stairways of days

going upward towards the attic of night.

what is it about (?) the heat

Handsel the pony rider

brought candle light to me

we shuddered outside in the heat

wind blew through the opened doors

and windows

it was summertime. You know how that goes...

Between the magic and the dangers

the sheets catching sunlight on the line

we could kiss like strangers

waiting for nightfall

waiting for the moon to shine...

In the pools of wax; marking tools for time

the seconds leave impressions

the minutes gallup and the hours fly by

bodies of light, a moth's wing

I drew a tattoo on your back while I listened to you sing...

And then Handsel rode by

you could tell by the bells and the caravans

juggling fire like a gun for hire

spinning pinwheels like giant fans...

He left a little flame

for you and I

He read a little note

and watched while I cried

He saw you pick me up and then continued to ride

once upon a time

into summer...

4th of July/A good date

Jono and I went to Colorado for the 4th of July (long) weekend. We stayed with friends in Denver and in Boulder which was fun already, but on the 4th we had a very good date:

We went to Red Rocks for the annual Blues Traveler 4th of July concert. I'm not the biggest Blues Traveler fan but was excited to be going on a vacation and I had never been to Red Rocks

HOLY DONKEYS! Red Rocks is the most beautiful venue I've ever been to. Not only is the stage built into the natural rock formations, but the backstage areas have a wall made of the rock itself too. It's this incredible outdoor space in the middle of the most beautiful middle of nowhere.

Jono even got to perform. He sang (I think the Jermaine part) of the Jackson 5's I'll Be There and played on a few other tunes as well. I got to run around willy-nilly taking pictures and being enchanted by the place. As it got darker, the lights of Denver began to fill in the distant backdrop
and then, there were fireworks on the horizon all around the city. I went up high on the cascade of steps and got a great show while the music played. And the moon was nearly full! A giant grapefruit of a thing so close, so big!
The next day, driving home we went through an intense rain/hail storm. People pulled over, hazards blinking, rain drops the size of dimes and hail stones the size of cats eyes... But we couldn't see any of that because the visibility was so bad! And then we were through it. The sun was shining and there was not one, not two, not three, but many rainbows all against the sky. I've never seen rainbows like them It was as if there was a prism being dangled from the clouds making rainbows. Not in arcs but more like angular shafts... Except for the perfect arc in the photo which had a very faint rainbow mate beneath it.

Mini's 2x2