A wrinkly green shirt

{Outfit Details: Cardigan: Buffalo Exchange, Top: vintage, Jeans: F21, Moccasins: Marshals, Purse: Thrift, Necklace: Thrift}

I wore this the other day.  My brother took approximately five pictures for me before he got bored.  Then we went to youth group.  And we ran around looking for farm animals and flash mob-ing and singing.  It was pretty eventful.  I like youth group.

The End. 

Words and Pictures

Well.  I tried my hand at poetry.  Writing down words that are intended to be emotions and feelings and wonderment on paper is truly an experience.  Whether I will please any poetic people with my words, I doubt it, but you should try it some time.  It's interesting at the very least.

I think I shall keep at this.  It makes me smile.

♥

Emily

her smile. having her tell stories.  laughing at her own jokes. climbing trees.  expressions.  giggles.  being spontanious. sunlight.  this girl.

A moment of light where I took a few pictures of this little girl.  

♥

In a day

 Lilacs from our yard //

 Special Breakfast //

 Schoolwork //

 Father's palette of paints //

 Wearing a favorite dress again and my moccasins //

Playing games with friends //

Monday I scooped up my father's camera and spent the day snapping pictures of life.  In manual focus, which I've never done before.  I loved the process.  There was at least one moment where I was literally on my back in the grass smiling through my lens at the sky.  True story.
I love the simple days.  We had school, yes, but also fun.  Time with family and friends.  Time to breathe. 

♥

Now we hear the stars

I've learned that I simply cannot make a small playlist of music.  I don't like to listen to something over and over after a certain point because that can and will ruin it for me.  so I make big playlists of happiness.  songs gathered from friends, from strangers, songs i know, songs i don't know, music that will inspire me to live, to dance, to laugh.
and so i frequently end of with hours of music before me, and my ipod on shuffle.  I like to be surprised, i like to hear the first notes of a song i'm not expecting, it's almost as if hearing it for the first time.  there's not a lot of contemplated listening when i'm happiest, just the music playing and me going about whatever it is.  I'll be doing schoolwork, blogging, cooking, reading, or sometimes I'll just be sitting still listening.
mainly, I just love sounds, and here is a (long, of course) playlist of the most pleasant sounds to my ears right now.  I hope you enjoy it.

now we hear the stars

lillian.

Having nothing to do with chocolate chip cookies

when I was little (well little-r), and I was not yet the eldest of four children, and at least two of them were only little wisps of thoughts somewhere else, I ran around barefoot with my little brother picking up cicada bugs and drinking strawberry milk at my grandmothers house.

and then my mom was pregnant with a little baby child and I prayed desperately for a baby sister, since I already had a brother, and we made many trips to the midwife's, so many it seemed that my childhood memories are completely enveloped in midwifery things.  I learned about Polaroid and secret candy drawers, and mommy-daughter lunch trips, tears of joy, and being as helpful as a five-year-old can be.
the midwives were always nice, and that's probably why those trips are so memorable.  i almost always went with my mother to check ups and things, and even went to my sister's births even though I was young and younger.  and those times of waving the thick picture back and forth to see it come alive, and sucking on a lollipop from the special candy drawer, and learning how to knit when my mother was at the hospital, and the excitement in the little things, all those little details that I still remember make it sweet.
we moved away when I started to get older, and so there's no spoiled memories of that place, when the midwives had to move, or the buildings changed, or I got too old for the candy drawer, or the Polaroid got too outdated and was most likely chucked.  none of that happened.  those memories stayed there, frozen in time, attached to myself from when my little sisters were born.  when i was five and then eight, and a free spirit who loved climbing trees and babies and Polaroids.

and sometimes that's just the sweetest taste.

lillian.

Of things unknown but longed for still

A free bird leaps on the back // Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing //  In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage  // Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied // So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill // Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for //The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze // And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees // And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams //His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied // So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with //A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his // Tune is heard on the distant hill
 

For the caged bird sings of freedom.

 Maya Angelou

Lillian ♥

Things that fit perfectly together

 So.  I was thinking about memories and the ways things have a way of attaching themselves to other things.  How I think of summer and juice dripping down my elbows when I look at these pictures.  The way a certain jar of home-made (home-harvested? gathered?) honey reminds me of a friend.  The way parsley reminds me of my littlest sister, and I always associate "One Day" and "Wavin' Flag" with our trip to Hungary.  LOTR reminds me of a childhood friend.  The quilt on my bed reminds me of a neighbor. 

Specialness can stick to things because of the memories you attach to them, don't you think?  A color, a song, a food.  An emotion, a movie, a season.  Human being are pretty neat I think.   

 I feel like I should have some sort of moral to this, a perfect way of wrapping a post up, but I don't really.  I just find people and memories fascinating. 

Lillian ♥