I was going to write some movie reviews tonight, but I am really enjoying The Savage Detectives and I want to keep reading…! For the moment I will simply share with you the remarkably purple-grey clouds that were hanging over the beach and the silver ocean this afternoon.
All day I sat in my parent’s house, doing projects and watching movies and making tea, and eyeing the glowering skies without much hope that they would disperse and let the sun shine through. I went for a walk simply to un-kink my back and get my sluggish blood moving. The drama that awaited me was unexpected and wonderful. Surprised, once again, by beauty – and how incredibly blessed am I to be here, to see it? I was struck rather forcefully by what I had read only a few days ago on Joel’s blog Of the Hands. He wrote about the incomprehensible grace and blessing and good fortune of moments like these and his/my/our responsibility to give something back – not in an effort to deserve such moments, but as a natural response to the overabundance of good things, joyful things, beautiful things in our own lives. Pass it on, spread it round, build with it.
Today’s purple clouds were a reminder and confirmation of the purpose I am pointing my life toward. Sure, I am going on an adventure and will be learning new skills in exciting places and will be given so many more amazing moments and pictures to take – but I have a purpose, and work to do. It’s time for me to give something of myself back, as a thank-you for those purple clouds. Time to plant my lupines.
“You must do something to make the world more beautiful.”
what we have here is a failure to communicate 
These photos are very beuatiful, a very special blue-grey.
I’m unfortunately not enjoying the Savage Detectives all that much. It’s not the right moment for it.
It’s very true about giving something back. It’s so easily forgotten.
By: Caroline on January 20, 2012
at 11:13 am
As I said over Twitter, I have lots of time to devote to The Savage Detectives right now, which helps a lot. The right moment definitely impacts a book’s ability to jive with the reader – I love that interactive element of reading…
Glad you liked the photos. My walk that day was more of a wander, as I tripped about staring at the pretty sky!
By: tuulenhaiven on January 21, 2012
at 7:10 pm
Thanks for the link, Sarah! Glad I proved a bit inspiring. Love the pictures, which are beautiful as always. What a gorgeous day there out on the coast. I love those sorts of dominating, substantive clouds.
By: Joel Caris on January 20, 2012
at 2:55 pm
Me too! Perhaps because I was born in NM under the wide-open sky, I have always loved big skies full of interesting clouds. I get a special thrill from them. The view was huge the other day, even though the clouds seemed very low and heavy – giant swaths of cotton candy. Delicious.
By: tuulenhaiven on January 21, 2012
at 7:16 pm
lovely photos, and encouraging thoughts. going to have to check that book out.
By: L on January 20, 2012
at 7:43 pm
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney is a lovely, lovely book. Definitely seek it out, and anything else by Barbara Cooney that you find. She’s a gorgeous illustrator and her stories are always interesting (often set in Maine). Another favorite is Roxaboxen.
By: tuulenhaiven on January 21, 2012
at 7:20 pm
[…] and bettering the world. After a trip like this how could I possibly aim for less? Time for the Lupine Lady to strike […]
By: It’s not over ’til it’s over: ME to OR Roadtrip, Part 5 « what we have here is a failure to communicate on March 11, 2012
at 11:54 am