Delicious Things

A visit to Leonie's blog has inspired a grand list of all that is delicious in my life these days.


I think one of the most delicious things in my life right now is how happy i feel. I've spent a long time emerging from my own messy self and its so sweet to be authentically happy. I also have a clear understanding that this abundance of happiness in me waiting to emerge...must be treated with kindness. i need to continue to speak kindly to myself, to be resiliant and to take deep breaths in my own strength.




Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert has been an amazing addition to my life. I consumed it during my vacation and i truly think it has what has helped me integrate the peacefulness-in-myself that i found there.



When I came back everything looked so different, so lush. Reds, Purples and Pinks lighting up my yard.




My new gorgeous rubber boots make a girl feel pretty all year round, even when you haven't seen the sun in a month. rainy season is over, but they are too delicious to put away for the summer.




My sunday afternoon art making session has changed the way i feel about this city. not only is it something to look forward to every week, but it is doing what i had hoped which is help me to infiltrate art into my everyday life.





Literally delicious is the dragon bowl at the Naam. I have only been back from my trip for a bit over a week and i've already been there far too many times! True nutritious, sumputous, deliciousness.



Grateful in all this deliciousness,
V

Dear Hilton Head

Dear Hilton Head

i didn't know what to expect from you. i had no clue how much you calmed me, how good it felt to sit in your dunes. i didn't know i could feel so at home at a place that i would never have been if not for sheer luck. i didn't know i needed so much to be away from all that i knew as home, be held by you for a while, then be sent back home with a healed heart.

your heat soaked into my skin, fresh air caused me to take deeper breaths and your shore helped me remember that i, and all that is on this earth, is magic.

with love,

Vancouver (aka vivienne)

where the sidewalk ends.

I headed out on a ride, determined to go as far as i possibly could on this island, despite the little drops of rain falling and the sky smelling like campfire (there was a big fire in georgia and the smog had come our way). i should confess that where i really wanted to go was over the bridge to the mainland to find the outlet stores! but biking on hilton head is wonderful, as there are bike paths all along the major roads and its mostly flat, so my one speed bike 'beauty' with the pedal breaks has me feeling like partly a princess, sitting all upright with a basket on the front...and then it brings out the tomboy when i can stand up and pedal as though on a bmx. i wish i could have this bike back in vancouver, but its all hills where i live so it just wouldn't work (plus i already have 2 bikes to choose from!)

after about an hour of biking i could see from my little map i was nearing the bridge. and then. there it was. where the sidewalk ends.



yearning to shop, it was dissapointing for 10 seconds, but i turned around and faced the traffic to keep on moving and then something happened. it was something about the sound of the highway that made me feel free. there was so much white noise around me and i was on the move that i just started singing as loud as i could. the thing is you see, that i haven't felt like i could access my voice in a long time. through last summers whole funk and the recovery from it, i haven't really been singing. and singing makes me feel the most alive. so on this day somehow it was back. it started out surprisingly by being church songs that wanted to come out, then of course i moved on to the entire indigo girls repretoire (church was probably the first place i learned to sing high and loud and my sister and i would sing indigo girls together, harmonizing). it felt amazing to have the songs in me again.

halfway home i could see the beach peeking out from a long road, and knowing it would get me home, it drew me in. biking along the beach is phenomenal. as long as its low tide, there is a wide area of solid sand that everyone bikes along. it takes biking to a whole new bliss.



and soon after this picture was taken i looked to the ocean and saw a pair of dolphins bopping up and down. another 5 minutes down the beach were yet another pair, these ones really close to the shore. its amazing here. how am i going to tear myself away from this haven? i suppose saying the words 'ladybug and elliot' will do the trick, but i'm pretty sure i'll have to find my way back here someday.

the beauty of doing nothing

as the picture attests to, i am reading 'eat pray love' during this holiday. todays pages have the author living in italy and learning a new term 'il bel far niente' which means 'the beauty of doing nothing'. that resonates so strongly right now. i'm spending much of my days collecting shells at the beach, reading by the pool and exploring on my bike. i feel like i am able to live in the moment here. beauty beauty beauty.

elemental

earth

air

fire

water


today the elements were in full force.

i headed down to the beach as soon as i woke up, to say my first hello to the atlantic ocean. its a breathtaking beach as far as the eye can see.

i then rented a bike and went for a ride on the beach and soon came across people pointing excitedly. two dolphins were very close to shore, swimming along, flipping their tails, flowing up and down in the waves. i biked along side them for a long while.

as soon as i finally decided to turn back, the lightest rain fell. within minutes it was ferocious. i love biking in the rain and it was a very refreshing cool treat.

after a bit of work i was beyond excited to head to the beach. after getting suited up, i headed past the pool to the walkway just as everyone from the beach poured past me the opposite way. i soon realized the most intense wind was creating a small sandstorm just up the beach. you could see it heading our way. back to the house for tea and chocolate on the porch to watch the storm. the rain soon came and it poured some more. apparently it hasn't rained in a while so it is much needed!

after the storm was over i headed back to see what had changed. the wind was still fierce but the sky was clear and the sun setting. i gathered some shells and sang into the wind.

this day was filled with so much elemental intensity that i could not help but leave my thoughts behind and just be present all that i was witnessing. during this final trip of the day i did something i have not done in so long. it began with "spirits of the east, element of air" and continued through the elements, words i had not expected poured from me, sending gratitute for all that has happened in the few years and feeling each element tell me ways that they can help me continue to seek a better future. the witchy part of myself hasn't been in hiding, but since moving to vancouver i haven't found people to circle with and i needed a break from some elements of working with a group. but it feels like its time to find the witchy-me again.
feels like its already started.

oh the places we'll go

3 big car rides
2 flights
3 kids
3 adults

spanish moss dripping from trees
really really loud tree frogs
the beach awaiting my bare feet
the pool awaiting an early morning swim

a life well lived.

rubber boots and camera phones

my camera has started to make the strangest noises and will not shut down! this lovely little silver box goes everywhere with me. no bike ride is without a stop to take a picture of some beautiful tree or flower, or to take a self portrait. I'm smitten with it. so as i handed it over to the guy at the store to fix it, it was hard to let it go. it will of course be back with me in a couple weeks, fixed as good as new. unfortunately i won't have it back in time for me trip to hilton head, but alas.

a good thing is it has gotten me in touch with the good old camera on my phone. i'm realizing how smitten with photography and with having that creative medium at my disposal! love it love it!

here is a little photo of my gorgeous new rubber boots!