10 Things I Can't Live Without: Petals In Prose

 Oh God I am such a sap. I have waited until it was time to post this list before I read it because I knew it would make me tear up. And it has.

This is my friend Cammie. Long before there was a dashing blonde South African husband, 2 beautiful blonde children and a flower farm, there was me and Cammie in a flower shop.

Where I helped teach her to design, she helped teach me to take life a little easier.  We traded books and laughs and inspiration.  When I reached the end of a job and gave a sigh of relief, Cammie was standing on her toes and seeking a new horizon ahead.  Cammie was endlessly creative and brave, and still is today.

Skip over to her blog, Petals in Prose, and below you'll find a list of her ten cherished things.

And, finally, here's me giving her a big hug and kiss.  Love you Cammie. Thank you

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When Jane asked me to do a list of 10 things, one of the first things I thought I couldn't live without was…..people like Jane.  But first, I need to tell you about my camera.

Photography practice with a poppy.

10. Two Christmases ago my husband said he would give me a camera for Christmas.  That was before he knew what I wanted. Two Christmases later, I unwrapped my favorite new friend, a Canon EOC Rebel T2i.  We are still getting to know each other but the love affair is intoxicating.  

Bee-charming.

9. My bees (and their flower friends).  The year I had little Lola we got our first hive of bees.  She and her brother are growing up with them and their excitement watching the little buzzers fly into the hive with their "pollen suitcases" has become one of the great lessons of my life...a minimum of 50% of fear appears to be "taught"....the other 50% may or may not be a necessary life skill.  Cover me in bees anyday, fear never.

Lola handing me my favorite flower.

8. Dandelions.  My life is effectively all about flowers and I cherish it...but since I was tiny I have loved the dandelion.  Collecting them, making necklaces with them, tucking one behind my ear.  The bees love them, Lola and Dirt Dog relish blowing about the pollen, and at the end of the day they remind me....beauty is everywhere.

7. Inspiring people.  I could write the whole list about them.   Authors, musicians, friends, family, my 98 year-old grandmother, and yes, Jane...you are on this list.  They open doors, they beckon you through barriers, they sow seeds.

6. Projects.  I love a project.  My life can be detailed into 3-6 month projects on which I work furiously then set off to the wind. (which reminds me, I really, really want to create a sand mandala someday.....anyone game? Big project.  Huge.)

5. This quote by T.S.Eliot, "I have measured out my life in coffee spoons" (from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock), which I was reading in the 10th grade when I was desperately in love with a senior boy.  I read the line over and over and in a sudden fit of inspiration, changed it to, "I will NOT measure out my life in coffee spoons!"  I jumped up, ran to the phone, dialed his number and asked him to go fishing with me.  Nothing came of the boy but the moment was life changing.  I have repeated that quote like a mantra over and over again at every great crossroads in my life.

4. Profanity.  I don't typically use it, but I love listening to it.  Not the mean kind.  The boldly, wildly, effusively expressive kind. 

3. My girls.  Do I need to explain?  My girls….my “need a talk, need a laugh, need a “hell yeah” anytime, anyday, anywhere no contract necessary…girls.” 

2. A rock in the shower.  Literally.  I live on a cut-flower farm now but for many years I lived in tiny apartments with windowless bathrooms.  I made a point to always have a rock in the shower to remind me of how fresh the water in a waterfall feels.  

1. Have I finished my countdown? I have so many loves but it comes down to this...the real loves of my life are right here, sleeping in their beds, covered in favorite blankets and surrounded by miniature tractors and excavators, handmade flower fairies and stuffed dolphins.  They may be drooling, snoring, or dreaming about the day they raise the roof with their garage-rock-band….but they are my family and I wouldn’t trade them for all the great finds at the flea market….not even a macro lens for my new camera (wish list 2013).