scrapbooking.... visual journaling

 Awhile ago a friend said to me "why do you do this hobby? i think it's a ridiculous thing to do... i mean, i guess it's great that you like to do it and all but i don't get it."

and this really got me thinking. why DO i scrapbook? the thought knocked around in my head all winter  without coming to a truly satisfying answer. now, i haven't done any scrapbooking all season... i've been too busy to make time to do something i was questioning. today, though, the urge hit me. i got out my books & was flipping through the pages, trying to "see where i was" when i realized just why it is that i do this. gratitude. i know it might sound strange but, for me, it's all about gratitude. i tend to lose sight of exactly how amazingly wonderful my life is if i'm not reminded to be grateful. as i looked back over the photos & read the journaling i just felt a wave of sweet, warm calm wash over me. this is my life. it is wonderful! all those little moments captured... things that i definitely would've forgotten, like lars running around with the wii remote just laughing his head off. or when we dyed sami's hair red & it was SOOOO cool. the light in any given season. the unknown blaze orange flower in the garden. chives. tricycles. cousins. cookies. rainstorms. bbqs.  little things like that. we always remember the big stuff... but i think it's the day to day things that really help remind us that life is good all the time, even when it's hard or dreary or boring.  so that is why i scrapbook... to hold the gratitude for a wonderful life in my hands & say "look. it is good."

a love letter....

springtime, oh springtime how do i love thee? let me count the ways...

     i love you in the early morning when the air still holds the chill of the night, the dew stands like jewels on the grass & i hear the song of the mourning dove coming in through my long closed window, now open to the sweet, fresh air.

     i love you in the morning when i go out to survey the days work in the gardens, reveling in just being out of doors. the quiet moments watching the steam rise lazily from my mug of morning coffee.

     i love you in the mid morning when sun comes in at the east window reflecting through the crystals i hung there and scattering a multitude of tiny rainbows everywhere, reminding me of the possibilities of each glorious day.

     i love you in the daytime with the golden sun warming the soil, releasing its heady scent, full of the promise of summer flowers. or, on a grey day, when the rain falls gently and melodically like a lullaby sung to a fretting baby.

     i love you in the afternoon when my young son and i can escape to the backyard & have adventures of all sorts and his delight at all the wondrous things the new season brings for him to discover.

     i love you in the mid afternoon as i go for a stroll, unencumbered by the trappings of winter wear, enjoying the first buds & blooms of the year. or, perhaps, as i steal a lazy moment or two in the hammock under the tree, staring up through the branches now dressed in green.

     i love you in the early evening as the laughter of children & the relaxing drone of lawnmowers fill the golden air, me ever trying to resist the temptation to flop down on my voluminous comforter and float away in a nap.

     i love you in all your guises... warm, cold, wet, dry, muddy, loamy, green, sunny and grey. i love your ever changing moods & the promises you whisper. my dear springtime, i long to revel in the joys you bring!  please come soon or i feel i shall go mad for want of your sweet presence...