hello mtn

a few glimpses into my afternoon with hello mtn (aka my brother matthew and the delightful, beautiful, and sweet catherine). they are currently working on a video and finishing their debut EP. 

(so let's pretend for a moment that the handsome guy in these photos is not my brother.) here is what i love about hello mtn's story (aside from the fact that they wrote my daughter the most beautiful song ever heard in all the world):

they are working on their album, writing all the songs and recording them in stops and spurts, while catherine is on tour with horse feathers. this means that sometimes they are emailing ideas back and forth, and she records a demo in her hotel room while in, let's say montreal, and matt then fleshes it out in his studio in portland. then he will email her the updated song, and she will listen to it on her iphone while she is on a train heading to berlin. feedback is exchanged. matt tries to brush off the reality that she is across the world from him and continues working on the song until she gets back and they can record the final version. but she's only home a few days. they play a few shows, continue recording the EP, and off she goes again.

sounds like a movie doesn't it? it gets better. they are writing letters back and forth on their website to fill in the spaces of the missing and give each other a glimpse into where they are in the world.

i am smitten, just smitten with this band and its story. in a way i haven't been smitten since i heard the weepies sing, "i thought of you, and where you'd gone. and the world spins madly on."

and lucky for us, i get to share a little video clip from "first song for ellie jane."

(you can hear a few minutes of some "demo" recordings on their facebook page, and you can see a few more photos from our day together over on my flickr.)

begin

pieces of fall through my lens

crunch, crinkle, crunch, crunch,
her decade-long companion cowboy boots along for the excursion,
she stoops to gather one of each color
(brick red, goldenrod, carrot, sunset)
and tucks them into the bigger than her hand pocket of her grandfather's brown cardigan.
she pauses at a pile in the middle of the park.
twirls once to check for onlookers,
and finds herself crosslegged with a smile.
breathing deeply, she rests in the knowledge:
autumn is her spring.

*****

each season, i am creating a limited edition necklace that honors the colors, smells, textures of that season. the necklace is paired with a poem and a word (the poem's title) that shares a sliver of one moment in that season. (read more about the origins of this series here.)

today, i am introducing begin: a necklace inspired by one girl's walk in a park along puget sound on a day when she could almost hear the leaves as they turned away from green and began to dance with color.

you can find begin in my etsy shop; it will be available for just two weeks (and possibly again in late October).

five (really) good things . where i remind myself i choose...

 

a boy and his guitar . september 2010

1. pumpkin spice lattes are back. 

2. this afternoon, i am creating several custom soul mantra necklaces, and this has me thinking about how healing it is to hammer phrases like "stand in your light" and "rest inside love" and "claim your worth" into metal.*

3. ellie has started laughing when we dance to some favorite songs. that sound, oh that sound, how it causes me to remember how beautiful life is.

4. pushing myself to own that i am brave in so many aspects of my life. honoring this is a gift i give myself. 

5. my brother and his girlfriend [who are the duo hello mtn] were here last weekend. i am still smiling when thinking about the afternoon we spent at point defiance park. they are working on a video of the song they wrote for ellie** and i had the privilege of taking some footage for them and snapping photos along the way. that day taught me so much about photography and creating and reminded me of the importance of having artist dates even in the midst of challenging times. (we must refill our soul's well and this is an important way for me.)

*i am currently taking custom soul mantra orders until this wednesday, september 15. i will be closing the shop for several weeks later this month as i focus on ellie's health needs. the next time i will be able to offer custom necklaces and lockets will probably be in november.

**the song they wrote and recorded for ellie...well...i simply cannot wait until i can share it with you later this fall. it is the most beautiful gift i have ever received. and the words, the words are healing me each time i hear them. matt gave me the okay to share a snippet of video here next week, so stay tuned for some photos from our day along with a little video clip.

*****

i make lists like these to remind myself that i can choose to find the goodness even when i am in the midst of the scariest time in my life. because even though so much of the day is filled with medication and worry of what is to come and trying to support one another while being so exhausted, i can still stop by starbucks while running errands and spend just a few seconds breathing in the "fall is on its way" smell of a pumpkin spice latte and then notice the smiling down on me through the sunroof blue of the sky and turn up the radio and sing along until i pull up in front of the house. each day, each moment, i can still choose the way i see things and who i want to be. and i always want to be the person who seeks the beauty in the moments.

and you...

what are your five (really) good things today?

i would love to hear them.

i thought about...

 

i thought about running away today
just for a second
less than a second really
i thought about running away
from the fear
and the "what is ahead on the path"
but then i remembered her words
you are so strong. even if you are feeling not so strong and brave, you really are.
i remembered her words
and i knew: this is where i was meant to be
in this moment,
even while the fear whispers around me,
i am certain of this truth

(thank you for being a light on my path)

::neruda::

catherine's bus . point defiance park . september 6, 2010

So, through me, freedom and the sea
will call in answer to the shrouded heart.

Pablo Neruda, "The Poet's Obligation"
from On the Blue Shore of Silence: Poems of the Sea
English translation by Alastair Reid

all you need...

what is real, september 2

when i walked up to my grandmother and stared at her, willing her to breathe, i felt my heart break. and in that moment, i thought "this is what it means to love." holding ellie tonight, watching her chest move up and down, knowing that a surgeon i have not yet met will more than likely be cracking that chest open in a few weeks, that phrase kept turning around in my mind. the idea of a piece of one's heart breaking off being what forces us to understand what love really is. i have been singing that last few lines of "all you need is love" over and over these last few weeks. you know that part when paul, or is it john, repeats "love is all you need. love is all you need." and someone sings, "she loves you, yeah yeah yeah..." and i think there is a yee-haw involved. i have always loved that last part as it feels so impromptu, like the boys were just having fun. yes. love is all you need. and i don't mean it in a simple rose-colored glasses way. no. i mean it in a standing in front of your grandmother in a funeral home and realizing she loved you and you loved her in an imperfect beautiful and i am going to miss you every day for the rest of my life sort of way. i mean it in a holding the space for a friend while she shares her story and then saying, "what do you need in this moment?" sort of way. i mean it in a reaching for your partner's hand in the middle of the night after you had such a horrible fight sort of way. i mean it in a watching your child breathe and knowing you don't want to be anywhere else sort of way. i mean it in a hearing your golden retriever sigh after a long good day of simple living sort of way. i mean it in a standing face to face with yourself and looking in the mirror and choosing a soft gaze of acceptance sort of way. yes. as you walk on your path and hope upon hope that you will find your way. as you stand in this moment and think about what you know to be true. i believe that the one thing we need to carry in the pocket of our heart is the trust and faith and grace that is love. the guts of life. yes. this is what love is. love for ourselves. for the ones who rest inside our hearts. for all of it.

*****

for the last few days, i have been trying out 750words.com. a space to write "morning pages" of sorts. i kind of love it. the above was a paragraph of freewriting i did tonight and i decided to just share it here. because it is how things are in this moment in my corner of it all...

patience (postcard poetry)

the (weekend) view from here