Daily Practice

Hide and Seek

Marcie Scudder — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:00:11 +0000

Preferring the safety and security of a big tree behind which she could virtually disappear and hide. Preferring not to come out and play. Wishing to go un-noticed..to remain un-seen.

I begged.

I pleaded.

I lured her with my sweetest of sweet treats. I whistled a happy tune. I kindly beckoned...calling out her name.

She remained just where she was. A little bit curious. Mostly - hesitant...unsure...filled with fear. I could read it in her terrified eyes. I could see it in her flattened ears. I could feel it in her cautious gait.

If it was a game of hide and seek..she certainly showed no inkling..no sign of wishing to be found.

I stopped. I grabbed my camera..capturing her thru my lens. And - in that moment it occurred - how much she is just like me.

Crayons and Markers

Marcie Scudder — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:00:23 +0000

Five cats..three dogs...two spinning hamsters and a singing bird.

Crayons and markers and paints in every imaginary color. Walls as empty blank canvases..waiting to be filled. Imprints of tiny hands and feet found all around.

Cookies and milk. A bowl of fresh fruit on the kitchen counter. Music filling the air.

Pillow fights and marshmallows and tickles and giggles and joy everywhere.

Light and laughter and unpredictable messy magic. Bubble baths and good-night kisses and hugs.

And so it is - I imagine - the picture perfect happy family and life that lives right here.

Four dancing..growing children and lots and lots of love.

An Apple A Day

Marcie Scudder — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:00:59 +0000

An apple a day. Or two. Or - on some days - maybe even three.

Been asking myself - of late - why? Why - this need..this drive..this un-ending desire to create? To make? To find something new each and every day..and record it? How did what once was nothing more than an occasional pastime ....turn into a daily habit?

I thought of that old saying of how an apple-a-day keeps the doctor away. I thought about how that has translated itself into what I do.

Repetition. Returning - again and again and again. A simple diet. A bit of color. A walk in the woods..or in my little hand-made home-made studio. An apple each and every day. Together - it all adds up.

A little lightness. A little laughter. A little fun. A few basic ingredients that combine together and add up. To one big happy smile

Life Partners

Marcie Scudder — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:00:42 +0000

Mesmerized - I watched as what one did..the other did immediately thereafter. Mirrors of one another. Reflections of each other's actions and thoughts.

One reached back to scratch beneath its feathers..the other reached back and scratched beneath that same but opposing side. One extended and stretched its long and graceful neck...the other followed.

Such perfect synchronicity. Not a single word or sound passed between them. And - yet - they seemed to know and understand. Where one ends and the other begins. Where one begins the other ends. Or - perhaps - there are no beginnings and endings at all.

Maybe that's what makes them so unique. These seemingly simple swans..with their bodies so much bigger than their heads. Life partners and best friends.

I Knew Too

Marcie Scudder — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:00:17 +0000

Just like this - I found her.

Quietly sitting beneath a leafless winter tree. Sweetly childlike. Exposed. Vulnerable. Tenderly innocent. Wise..and yet so naive.

She reminded me of a tiny island - insignificant..small..and lost in the vastness of life's ocean. Calm... content...and at peace within. She was undisturbed by the curious passers-by and onlookers.... unaware of anything...other than her reading.

She was lost in her imagination. And - yet - it was there that she was found.

It was just an instant..a blink of an eye. I'm sure it happened. I'm quite sure it did.

She looked up at me. She smiled. She gave me that all-knowing look. As if - she understood. She knew me and I knew she....and that - really - we two are much the same.

And - in that silent wordless exchange - I knew too.

Winter Room

Marcie Scudder — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:00:49 +0000

Dontcha just love the brown/blue combination?? The colors of this snowless winter landscape.

Primaries on Parade

Marcie Scudder — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:00:30 +0000

Needing a little color to brighten up the day!

Leader of the Pack

Marcie Scudder — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:00:34 +0000

At first - there was nothing. A river. A riverbank. An uninspiring ky of endless grey. Everywhere I looked - up down and under and behind - there was no life...no color. Nothing.

And then - it happened. Out of nowhere they appeared. First one...and then the other three. One swooped up and into the sky...the others followed. That same one - then - dipped down..and then up and then down and then up again. All in ther right place and in their just right line - the others did exactly the same.

I wondered about what it was he was doing? What game - perhaps - he was playing? Was he trying to get away and ahead of his pack? Was he trying to disappear from sight? Out of view?

Or - was he leading....knowing that the others would follow?

For an Instant

Marcie Scudder — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:00:35 +0000

For a moment - she stopped to contemplate the moon suspended there in the late winter afternoon sky. How is it possible that something as ordinary as this can be as beautiful???

She thought about how infinitesimally small she is in comparison to it all..how insignificant her worries and problems are in relation. She considered the vastness of this universe. Its power...its grace...its absolute perfection.

And - for just that one moment she gave herself a gift. She allowed herself the permission of true surrender. She let go - of her haunted past. ...and the future that carried more questions than she could ever answer.

For the first time..and for only that single instant - she understood in her heart..in her soul..in her body. She felt it. What it is to just 'be'...to simply 'exist'...to breathe.

February Calendar 2012

Marcie Scudder — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:00:33 +0000

Here we are - the second month of this new year..and I'm already dragging my feet...wishing for time to slow itself down. And - this is a lucky year. We get an extra day!!!!

Aaaah...how it flies.....