I am completely exhausted...

I spent the weekend in Dallas-Ft Worth.

Friday - Drove in to the metro-plex...construction traffic made my drive take almost 4 hours! ugh. Dinner at the Angry Dog - best hamburger EVER. Fantastic server, Vincent. Noise and bustle. Great Beer on tap. Incredible companions for the evening. Then to the House of Blues for one of my favourite bands, Blue October.

Oh. my. gawd!

I've been to several Blue October concerts. This! was the. best. show. I've seen them play! It was an acoustic show - they had big loung-y chairs, a rug and a huge comfy sofa on stage. they just kind of sat there, all relaxed-like, and...played for us. wow!

Saturday - Einstein bagel and coffee for breakfast, then drove to the Ft Worth side to visit with one of my longest friends. We had decided we'd go see "Inception." ummm...I loved it! It's one of those movies I wouldn't mind seeing in the theatres more than once!

After the movie...dinner, wine, and hours of conversation with one of the people I am most fond of.

Sunday - woke to amazing coffee. cheese danish from the Central Market bakery. a few hours of HGTV (LOVE it!) and an introduction to "True Blood."

Monday - I'm exhausted. lots of fun...very little sleep. tried to attack my piles of work today with only slight success. But! I did manage to get the remainder of my photo shoot for a project I will announce soon!

Today's prompts are as follows: write about exhaustion, friendship, food or music.
If you choose music, and would like a little help, I offer this: Peter Gabriel Here Comes the Flood because for some reason, it's the song running through my head this evening.

Raindrops on Roses...

Favourite things. Favourite people. Favourite places.

I have my lists. of people, places and things I am most fond of.
The people? well, they know who they are, I have no problem informing people of their importance in my realms.
Things? things like: perfect photographs in vibrantly lit and shadowed black & white...trees, god how I love trees - especially the baobab...wine...green olives...really good crunchy-on-the-outside-soft-and-warm-on-the-inside bread - ciabatta, focaccia...dark beer...chocolate eclairs...tiramisu...cheese - camembert, chevre, gorgonzola...used books...antiques...tattoos...music...
coffee!
Places? New Orleans - ah NOLA...what can be said. Seattle - hometown. Louisville, Kentucky - I love Louisville so much it breaks my heart. Nashville. Cincinnati. Monterey and Carmel. Santa Barbara. Coronado. Montana. The amazing rolling hills and rivers of Western Nebraska. New Mexico. Arizona.

This week, write about your favourites. pick one fave or multiple.

Lost and Found

Losing things pretty much just bites.

Lose your keys? can't drive your car or get in your house.

Lose your marbles? well...I would comment but the voices told me not to.

Lose your lunch? never want to eat pears again.

Lose a friend? Loved one?

Letting go and saying goodbye...usually not the happiest of times. and it doesn't seem to matter if it's a short goodbye, long goodbye, permanent goodbye... goodbyes tug at our hearts, bring tears to our eyes and turn us about to reflect on  when we smiled last with that person.

Think about the people that make you smile the most. What is it about them that makes you happiest. Tell them how much they mean to you, how much you love what they do for your soul. How they brighten your heart, lift your spirits, ease your worries. Then, send that letter, poem, story to them. Because it never sucks to hear that someone loves you.

Minot Monday

I'm in Minot, North Dakota. I drove up to visit my best friend, because today is her birthday. Her 30th Birthday. it's kind of a big deal.

We drove up to the International Peace Gardens, so we could stand on the border with a foot in Canada and a foot in The United States. The Peace Gardens are full of flowers, trees, lush grass (I walked barefoot for a bit...and I gave a tree a big hug) and beautiful monuments.

The newest addition to the Gardens is a memorial made of steel girders from the World Trade Center. It was moving and tragic, a painful memory of 9/11. There was a memorial plaque, and a design sketch for how they plan to finish the monument, which read: Reflect, Recall, Remember, Forgive.

I overheard someone say, "Forgive? I don't think so."

Forgiveness? wow. that's a tough one. Forgiving is hard even on a small scale.

But one of the things I've learned in the past few years, while working through my own feelings of anger and learning to forgive, is that Freedom is in Forgiving. We all work through our pain and begin to forgive in our own time, but wow! How free and light we feel when we finally do let go.

This week, use any (or all) of the following words in your writing and art: Reflect, Recall, Remember, Forgive, Freedom.