Gorillas in the Mist

"you're like a female version
of the silverback gorilla,"
her friend said to
her one morning.

"hm. is that a good thing?"
she asked with a grin.

"absolutely!" her friend replied.
"because it means that you're a strong
leader, you dig your veggies, and people
trust and like you."

"however, if anyone hurts
your troop, they're toast!"
she finished.

"whoa." she said.
"cool."

"yep," her friend said,
"and it's always good to have
a silverback gorilla on your
side in the wild and untamed
world of the paper jungle."

Brown Thumb

"i named my aloe vera
plant 'stella' because
she looks like a pointed star,"
she said.

"nice!" her friend replied.
"my plants used
to have names but they're
all dead.

"we did bury them
in the backyard, though,"
she finished.

"so, instead of a pet cemetery,
you have a plant cemetery?"
she asked mischievously.

"yeah," her friend replied
with a giggle. "something like that...
we just prefer to call it
fertilizer."

"Riddikulus!"

"well, you survived,"
he said, picking her up
from the airport.

"yep," she said,
"but it was trying,
even for a little
faerie sprite."

"i mean," she went on to vent,
"it was just so ridiculously
high maintenance --
where some women want a tiara,
i just want a wand."

"a wand, huh?" he
said with a chuckle.
"sounds easy enough."

"right?" she said.
"it would come in especially
handy at events like that
because it would allow me to cast a
"riddikulus" spell on an
even more ridiculous affair
and expose all
its silliness."

5-year-old temper tantrum

"pooh," she pouted.

"i really, really, REALLY
don't want to attend this upcoming function,"
she said, stomping
her left foot for emphasis.

"and just *knowing* that i have
to makes me crankier than a
five-year-old needing a nap!"

"oh, really," he said
with a wry smile.
"what exactly does that look like?"

"i'll show you," she said
as she lay down on the floor
and kicked her feet about
until she ended up laughing.

"of course, it's much more
effective when you don't giggle," she said,
trying to still her laughter for effect.

unsuccessful at the attempt,
she allowed herself to breathe in
the fantastic ridiculousness
of the moment,

giving her inner five-year old
an opportunity to soak up
every second of it.

Skiptastic

they were strolling
down the trail
and she skipped
for a few seconds
out of sheer joy.

he laughed.
"wait. did you just skip?"
he inquired with a grin.

"yep," she replied.
"sometimes life is so
good, i just have to skip
about like a little
faerie sprite."

"you should try it sometime,"
she added.

he didn't say anything
for a few seconds as
he watched her jump in
the sunshine.

and, out of the corner
of her eye, she saw him
do a small hop
as he strolled
and she burst out in giggles
and her happiness filled the air.

Entrainment

recently, she
discovered the term
"entrainment" which,
in the biomusical sense, is
used to describe the
synchronization of organisms
to an external rhythm.

she thought about
fireflies flashing in wooded glens
and cicadas calling to
one another during
heated nights in august.

and she had to wonder about
its effect on humans --
especially of the opposite sex --
because whenever she was
near him, her heart
began to follow
his in rhythm.

and she giggled
because it gave a whole
new meaning to
the phrase "in sync".

Updated Vision Board

Several months ago, I put together a vision board of things, experiences, and desires I had for my life. It was so much fun going through magazines and cutting out words and images to represent my biggest dreams and even more fun watching them come true. I just can't get over HOW QUICKLY they are all coming true. Now I find myself giggling when another wish becomes reality...such blessings.

The board looks very different now than it did upon its construction -- namely, there are many, many more additions, especially phrases of thought which have popped into my mind over the last 4 or 5 months and have come to have meaning.

So, it struck me recently that I needed to add to its already percolating magic, so as to give the universe fresh wishes to work on for me. I have a sense that this, too, will find continual updating, but, for now, here's my new list of things I'd like to do, experience and explore by the end of 2009.

1. Adopt a pound puppy that I shall call "Baku".
2. See the Aurora Borealis in both Alaska and Iceland.
3. Travel to Greece and take in Santorini's exquisite sunsets. Istanbul and Malta would also be nice.
4. Tandem skydive.
5. Tandem hang glide.
6. Live overseas for a month or two.
7. Publish my poetry collection entitled "A Book of Private Conversations".
8. Learn how to make a REAL Italian cappuccino -- my recent trip to Italy has me hooked.
9. See the pyramids in Egypt and get my photo taken by the Sphinx.
10. Learn the fascinating art of reflexology and begin offering reiki to prospective clients.
11. Learn how to find all the planets in a telescope.
12. Go on a ski trip and learn to snow board (yes, I realize this means falling down...a lot!)
13. Enjoy time with the family during next summer's vacay at the beach!
14. Read the complete collection of works by Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell and Dumas!
15. Buy my motorcycle and ride OFTEN!

Stay tuned as I know I'll be adding to this list often!