What I Love

Some things never change...

Note: If you’re reading this in an email, click on the title for a much nicer visual experience on the Substack website or app.

Dear Reader,

This list fell out of an old journal the other morning, and I thought, “What the heck - I’ll share it.” I decided to post it unedited. As I read through, I realized that there wasn’t one untrue thing on the list. I still love them all. Of course, there have been many new additions in the almost nine years since I wrote it. For now, this list will do.

I realized how many of these loves go all the way back to my childhood. This comment from Mike on my last post inspired me to share my list:

I was watching my 5yo granddaughter whirl and dance around to Tom Petty the other night. Not exactly in time with Tom but definitely enjoying her world. Your thoughts reminded me of something I heard somewhere. The inner child retains direct link to the divine and is always with you. You just need to talk to them occasionally.

I couldn’t agree more. And I have to wonder if Mike’s grandaughter will have dancing on her adult list one day.

So, I give you “What I Love,” written in August 2016, typed on my beloved Olympia manual typewriter, while I was still living in the city.

What I Love

Words and
letters
and books
writing them
underlining in them
pencils
tape
Yes, I have
a tape fetish
drawing and
painting
color
crayons
Tickle Me Pink
and
Goldenrod Yellow
I love line
fat
skinny
delicate
or raw
line
Taking photos
in Nature
or finding the
essence of others
from behind the
lens of my camera
Typewriters and
paper
stamps
especially
S&H Green Stamps
I found a bag of them
in my mother’s closet
after she died
a treasure
I love going to
the Post Office
I know,
that’s just weird
Clouds and
trees
plants and herbs
Fairies
and Unicorns
Dragons
and all things
Magical
I love lakes
in a rowboat
slow and easy
instead of fast
Mountains
and rivers
and roaring
waterfalls
the forest
Oh, God,
how I love
the forest
Tents and forts
and secret spaces
playing games
making people
smile
Skipping
Peace and quiet
but also
music
always with lyrics
Again, words
pretty dishes
vintage
Jasmine tea
in a china cup
staying in at night
coconut
peach yogurt
and spaghetti
not together
of course
Feeding the birds
especially the
little sparrows
sleeping and dreaming
naps
in hammocks
are the best
dogs
and turtles
bears
and wolves
my Spirit animals
Riding my Pink bike
skipping rope
and hula-hooping
ping pong
my Dad taught me
Learning something new
hugs
touching
being touched
the sun
and a full moon
patterns
going to the movies
sitting in the dark
I feel most present there
lost
in the story
on the screen
My guilty food pleasures
are potato chips
and caramel
and strawberry ice cream
I love
the smell of paint
and Pine trees
and popcorn
and the air after
a hard rain

I love
this list
typing it
makes me
smile
and
I remember
the dozens
of things I can
do today
that will bring me
Joy

I had another post started about Beauty.

But I think that instead, I’ll say a few words about it now.

I only discovered that my moon and rising signs are both in Taurus - a very different energy from my Sagittarius sun - when I had my first astrology reading in my fifties.

It’s Taurus Season, and today we have a new moon in Taurus.

When I had that first reading, the astrologer said, “You have a deep love of Beauty.” It was one of those magical moments in an astrology reading when one thinks, “How did you know that?”

For most of my life, until that moment, I often felt a little guilty about how much I loved Beauty. How silly is that? About how sensitive I was to color, and how one color, a particular shade, could bring me to tears, while another could repulse me.

Even as a young child, the primary colors in the crayon box were left untouched. Back in the day, the tempera paints offered to children were mainly primary colors, and I distinctly remember not liking them one bit. Ditto the clay. So, I would combine them or add white. I found that I like muted colors more than bright ones, or, God forbid, fluorescent ones!

Beauty is absolutely in the eye of the beholder.

While I cringe at royal blue and bright red, many people declare them their favorite colors.

Beauty, of course, has many meanings and reaches far beyond the physical. I only wanted to touch on the fact that it’s Taurus Season and Taureans are known for their deep love of Beauty. It’s the first Earth sign in the Zodiac, and if you know me, you know how deeply my love of Nature is.

Just the other day, while ruminating about this post, I opened the book “The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year” by Margaret Renkl, and wouldn’t you know it - I serendipitously opened to this page:

The world will always be beautiful to those who look for beauty. Throats will always catch when the fleeing clouds part fleetingly and the golden moon flashes into existence and then winks out again. Tears will always spring up at the wood thrush singing through the echoing trees, at the wild geese crying as they fly. A soul touched by the scent of turned soil or sun-warmed grass, a spirit moved by crickets singing in the grass, will spend a lifetime surrounded by wonder even as songbirds drop one by one from the poison sky and crickets fall silent in the poisoned grass.

Apocalyptic stories always get the apocalypse wrong. The tragedy is not the failed world’s baron ugliness. The tragedy is its clinging beauty, even as it fails. Until the very last cricket fall silent, the beauty-besotted will find a reason to love the world.

I’ve put together another packet of my snail mail cards - this time of spring flowers. It’s no accident that beautiful flowers make their first appearance during Taurus Season.

You’ll notice that I didn’t discriminate against the beautiful, healing "weeds” that are already pushing up, where just a few weeks ago, there was still snow.

As I was typing this post, the new moon happened and so I paused to meditate and draw some cards from my favorite deck which you’re all probably familiar with by now.

One of the cards I pulled was the Dragon - a favorite which I seem to pull over and over again. As I read the guidebook, this jumped out at me:

…the Dragon’s eyes see beauty everywhere. It is said that if a yogi does not see beauty in the world, their Agni is dim. Agni is described as “inner fire” or “sacred intelligence.” May even just the mention of the Dragon stir the embers of intelligence within you.

—Kim Krans “The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Guidebook

May you always see Beauty in the world.

Much Love,
Barbara

Thank you for your heartfelt comments, your subscriptions (free or paid), or just for stopping by and reading or listening to The Quaking Poplar 🌳!