daily delights - february 4

 

i accidentally made latte art when i poured the espresso into my foamed milk this morning. fitting that it looks like a swan, since our lake continues to be covered in a flock of trumpeter swans day and night. it felt a bit like serendipity. i love when things come together in an unexpected way and make the world seem connected and whole. 

swan lake

already last night, i could hear the cacophony down on the lake. tho' birds are normally quiet at night, when it's time for the migrating swans to make their yearly winter stop on our lake, they do not come quietly. i don't know if they don't fly together, so they have much to discuss when they see one another or if it's the swan equivalent of "are we there yet" from the younger, grey ones to the adults. the whole bevy of them lifted noisily off in groups as i approached with my camera and so i didn't manage to get a shot that i really liked.

when you put ideas into the world, magic happens

when you start something, it begins with a few who are interested.

then it grows, as they invite their friends.

and who knows what it will become?

i am grateful for this evening. for being interviewed (if only for 3 minutes) on the radio. for being comfortable enough to spend my entire evening in danish. for those who were more charmed by my accent than offended. for those who came - some who felt a sense of duty to me (thank you!!), but who ended up inspired (thank you!!!). to the nodding and smiles and tears i saw in some eyes. to the beginning of something. something potentially special. and especially for the ideas that i hadn't thought of that already surfaced...words to go with the photos (of COURSE!) and photos already taken over the years. fantastic.

mostly i'm grateful for meeting neighbors and new friends. and the sense of community.

i love putting something out there into the world and seeing what happens. because it's always magical.

edit: i should have noted that this post is actually about the project i described in the previous one.

sparkle feathers

the swans have it

the swans have it

a week ago on sunday, we had a friend and her two children visiting. we declared the day to be a totally analog day. the only digital photos i was allowed to take that day were of the filling of the jars of honey. other than that, it had to be film or not at all. and wouldn't you know it, my friend and i walked down to the lake and i saw the swan couple that lives there parading their five beautiful children around the still and beautiful lake which was bathed in the golden light of evening. and me without a camera. so i was forced to take a photo of it in my mind. "click" as my nephew would say. but it made me determined to go back down there with the camera.

of course it's pretty much been raining since then, but i decided not to be defeated by the rain and so i went down to the lake, camera in hand (well, camera mostly under my raincoat, actually). and although it wasn't as picture perfect as it was on the day that's preserved only in memory, it wasn't half bad. but those swan parents are seriously protective. as soon as they saw me, they lined up the crew and headed for the other end. and so i stalked through the wet grass and headed them off, sending them back up to our end of the lake.

i'll want to be able to herd them into the ark we're building you see....