A weekly Time Capsule, of sorts, in which I pause and notice. And write down what I love. And notice all the reasons I don’t want to die before my time. And get curious. And am inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem “Gratitude” (in What Do We Know). And do my own little tradition (with a hat tip to Havi).

Italicized* questions are from Mary Oliver’s poem

What made you happy?

Walden Pond: Cool water and me in sun and in shade with trees and bees and dragonflies. Here’s one. Do you see it?

What did you notice?*

Johnny. Johnny Depp! That’s right: be-still-my-heart-pirate-scissorhand-Johnny made an appearance— not once but twice!—in my dreams last night. He recognized me in a crowd and I turned around to see if he was talking to someone else, but it was me. And he told me I’m going to do well because I already know a lot about him.

Come again, Johnny? I know a lot about you? All I know is that you’re a fantastically creative badass hottie who takes roles that inspire you without giving a shit what people say or think of you. Or if you do care, we’d never know. You do it anyway.

What did you admire?*

Not to be redundant: Badassery. Of every ilk. My radar has become finely tuned to it. If you are a badass, I’m probably crushing on you right now. And taking notes. I know, I know, that is so not badass. What can I say. I don’t care 😉 (What’s that? Badasses don’t wink? Hrmph! I don’t give a rats ass).

Moving on.

What did you appreciate?

Light and night. Sun and shadow. In-between spaces. In-between places. The in-between time. Or to borrow one of Neruda’s favorite words: crepúsculo.

What did you [over]hear?*

“Dad! I need my shadow!” (Young boy when the dad’s shadow fell across his own as they walked)

Here’s a picture of my shadow at Danehy Park, one of my favorite city places. It’s built on an old dump! This is the marsh, where you’ll find all manner of birds. City parks, ahhhhh.

What stole your breath?

The light. Especially at crepúsculo, at dusk. The other evening I went nuts with my camera. Here’s one of my favorites, though I sure did have a hard time choosing!

What would you like to see again?*

The dragonflies hovering over the water while I swim at Walden.

What else did you notice?

When I take new ways I see new things. Like this, on a street I’d never walked down! Someone’s youth, RIP. (I’m quite sure there’s not an actual body under there.)

What surprised you?

An aardvark. Also in my dream! Aardvarks, which are more closely related to elephants than hogs or anteaters (the latter more typically assumed) have a fantastic sense of smell and a super tough skin. So tough, in fact, that termites and ants can bite their tongue when they go burrowing for food into their nests and the aardvark is like, la-de-da-ho-hum… whatevs…

I’d love to be more “whatever” about what people are saying or thinking about me. Yeah, I need me some of that.

What inspired you?

“We claim to be missing resources. But the defining factor is never resources, it’s resourcefulness.” -Anthony Robbins

What did the quote mean for you?
Go for it, Heidi. Operation Aardvark. Smell it, girl. Toughen up. Keep at it. Figure it out. You’re doing better than you imagine. You know more than you think. Don’t stop now.

That’s this week’s slice of life, my friends. Feel free to join in with noticings—big or small, happy or sad, old or new—of your own. I’d love it if you did! And, until next time, keep noticing…