on our 45 minute drive to isle of capri yesterday morning, i slumped in the passenger seat, my feet propped up on the dash, chewing on my pen, lost in the words of brenda ueland, a sister recommendation (if you want to write: a book about art, independence and spirit). and as i read, i feverishly underlined. this is it, i thought. this is so why i blog, why i take pictures, why i string it all together and tell stories of our life. brilliant, her words.

she likens this whole writing, telling, etc. thing to art. to van gogh…

on creative impulse:

it is a feeling of love and enthusiasm for something, and in a direct, simple, passionate and true way, you try to show this beauty in things to others by drawing it. …and van gogh…was a work of art because he loved the sky and the frail lamppost against it so seriously that he made the drawing with the most exquisite conscientiousness and care. he made it as much like what he loved as he could.

and, oh i love this next part…

by painting the sky, van gogh was really able to see it and adore it better than if he had just looked at it.

i think there is something necessary and life-giving about ‘creative work.’ a state of excitement. and it is like a faucet: nothing comes unless you turn it on, and the more you turn it on, the more comes.

i learned…inspiriation does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing…i learned that you should feel when writing, not like lord byron on a mountaintop, but like a child stringing beads in kindergarten–happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another.

and there you have it. that’s what i do…just happily putting my beads together, turning on a faucet, and “painting the sky” because it makes me love it more and delve for beauty that would, perhaps otherwise, go unnoticed.

and with all that said…a repeated post with yet another trip to isle of capri, but then again…van gogh did paint the same things over and over and yet every one looked different and beautiful.

a colorful day it was.

oh…and major excited about THIS summer plan!

mid-june…can’t wait.

my isle of capri mother’s day…

view here.

and my personal favorite–austyn’s volociraptor interpretation at the end…on a dark beach. lainey loves volociraptor rides.

oh, what a beautiful day.

~k

amid photo shoots and riding clownish bikes, there are days like these.

days when my heart feels like it is going to burst.

because it’s after midnight, the family is asleep, the nook is just barely aglow, a heavy dog warms my feet and here i am…just replaying my day. my week. my two years of every blessed moment this motherhood thing has granted. and somewhere between flipping through her two-year book with her on the couch this morning to tucking my sandy sleeping baby into clean sheets tonight, well…i had my moments. moments where i wanted to join hands with any other woman in this world who loves life, kisses the universe, sings a baby to sleep, finds solace in memories of being loved by some kind of motherly figure as a young, draws inspiration from it all and has a moment to spare to grab my hand, sing kumbaya and shout out to the world that we are grateful. yes, i had moments like that today.

i feel a bit biased celebrating this holiday having been blessed with the incredible gift of loving this life i created and partaking in every bit of marvelous heaven this role continuously gifts me with. and yet, at the same time, i want to share my joy, my gratitude, my love with any kindred spirit out there who has craved that unearthly motherly love and hasn’t been able to taste it. and i want to share it with every inspiring soul i have been blessed to know that has molded my motherly aspirations and intentions. because i will always aspire to love as i have been loved. and it’s a constant beautiful journey…one i don’t even realize i’m on sometimes. but, oh is it lovely.

and through all that emotional sap (i really am going to stop apologizing for being sappy. promise), i wished for two things on my special mama day this year.

i told my man i wanted to take a family bike ride in the morning and i wanted to go to isle of capri in the afternoon.

that’s all i wanted.
and my wish was granted fifty-billion fold.

because, as two posts ago demonstrated, a family bike ride is difficult when your bike is a clown mobile with broken gears.

so looky here.

i’ve been eyeing this pink retro beauty for quite some time. and i came home from a long day working last night to find this in the driveway.

nice bike. lovely daddy. happy mama.

so it was, we were more suitably eqipped to take our family bike ride this morning…three miles up tree-canopied sidewalks to panera for breakfast and three miles back. it was dreamy.

and, while my heart was just perfectly content with that, the day continued into a rolling ball of loveliness when friends joined us at the church of the holy beach.

isle of capri. my isle of capri. i’ve never felt such ownership until i walked onto our familiar sands today and realized how much i’ve missed our home away from home.

and then there we were. sinking our feet into friendly sand, cupping silverfish out of shallow pools, coralling sun-kissed littles onto the dock for pictures, jumping off jet-skis in the middle of nowhere to float…and laugh….and talk…and …holy, holy, it was marvelous. like the kind of marvelous where you can’t stop saying this is marvelous. and we did. over and over and over. and we danced. and we dug. and we floated. and we hugged. and we loved. all day long. until the sun went down and the moon came up and the tide pulled back to leave giant salty craters for littles to stomp their delicious pink feet in.

and i dumped it all into a quick little video, but my exhaustion cannot wait for youtube to load it. so there shall be more tomorrow. but for now…a little love…

big, happy mama heart.

happy mother’s day to all…and to all a good night.

and i love you mama, mama colleen, and donna nana. xoxo your hearts seep goodness into our family every day and for that alone…i am a better mama.