Under a Red Roof

My girl is leaving on a jet plane…

May 7, 2008 in Reading, Writing by Colleen | 4 comments

Well, not really, but I didn’t have another, more appropriate picture, and the envelope doesn’t photograph terribly well.

Anyhoo, I’m sending my dear novel to a publisher today. I let her rest a bit, then did some editing, and more editing, and she’s off, destination North Carolina. Send good thoughts her way, won’t you?

This next bit is for my friend Jeff and the many others who want to know what the book is about. Gregory calls it my elevator speech. I’m headed to the top floor, how about you?

Polite Society is a rather optimistic and unconventional portrait of the world and its possibilities via dreams, friendship, and sabotage. The story centers on the intersection of four lives in a small Oregon town: Serena, her mother Caroline, her Nana Helen, and a widowed teacher named Sharon.

Following her parent’s divorce, Serena moved in with her Nana. She has not seen her father for three long years, and her mother has shown little more than parental duty towards her for as long as she can remember. When Bob Barker, of The Price is Right, begins making regular appearances in Serena’s dreams, she takes his words to heart, forging a new path, one that brings friendship and changes the course of her life and those around her.

If you like slightly quirky stories involving cool cars, life, and coping with its difficulties, this one is for you!

Mutant Cookies

May 7, 2008 in Eating, Giving by Colleen | Permalink

Despite the fact that I’ve never actually wanted children of my own, I am a sucker for them.

Take these cookies. I bought the dough from the cute neighbor boys in support of their little league baseball team.

Next time, I think I’ll just make a donation – straight up, no purchasing of wrapping paper, junk food, chocolates, or cookie dough. It will save me the agony of having all these things that I don’t really need, like Slim Jims and three pounds (yes, pounds!) of peanut butter dough taunting me every time I open the refrigerator.

“You know you want to eat me. I am rather tasty by the spoonful, or you could stud me with chocolate chips (the way Gregory likes), so I get that mutant cookie look, and then bake me up. How great would I be with a glass of milk on a perfect Portland day?”

Well, darn it all if the dough wasn’t right! Now if Monday’s weather would return…

Said So Well

May 5, 2008 in Quoting by Colleen | Permalink

Gregory took this photo on our French vacation last summer. I love the composition: the washed-out brightness in the foreground, in contrast with the pleasant glow of the slightly blurred background, beckoning visitors. It reminds me of a poem that I like.

Just Delicate Needles

It is so delicate, the light.

And there is so little of it.

The dark is huge.

Just delicate needles, the light

in an endless night.

And it has such a long way to go

through such desolate space.

So let’s be gentle with it.

Cherish it.

So it will come again in the morning.

We hope.

Rolf Jacobsen, translated by Robert Hedin

The light reminds me of people too, often delicate and more likely to come again when cherished and treated with tenderness.

May you be treated with tenderness on this fifth day of May.

Touching the Universe

May 3, 2008 in Being, Feeling, Practicing, Receiving by Colleen | Permalink

Something amazing happened to me the other day, mind blowing, wonderful kind of amazing. I was finishing my yoga practice with a meditation before shavasana, something I don’t normally incorporate for reasons of time and laziness.

Anyway, as I was sitting there, listening to Shiva’s kind voice, I felt my body moving, only I didn’t feel like I was the one doing it. It was just happening, smooth and effortless, a birch branch slowly oscillating in the breeze. As I continued to move, I had this sensation of fullness, effervescence. I could no longer tell where my body ended and the rest of the universe began. In my closed eyes, I could see and feel billions of tiny bubbles of light pulsing and emanating to and from what I can only guess was the essence of all being: me, you, the sun, moon, and stars.

As you might imagine, it was exhilarating. It brought me the greatest sense of joy, peace, and wonder, and the moment I became fully conscious of what was happening, I wanted it to continue, to watch where it might take me, but, of course, in this same moment, I made the connection back to my thinking mind, and it was over, leaving me with tiny traces of its perfection.

Thinking about it now, I feel a bit empty but in the most positive way. Empty of pain, worry, suffering, and full of hope at the possibility of my life and our world. Now I am sharing it with you.

Namaste…

Tags: Shiva Rea, Yoga