whenever we are at the pet store and atlas is trying to eat all the pig ears – i do not love to buy them; while he finds them delectable, i find them smelly – i tease him by saying that he should make his own money so he can buy himself all the pig ears he wants.

(once, after saying this, one of the regulars tried to slip atlas $10. he told atlas that if he earned enough money, he wouldn’t need my approval and he could adopt his own kitty. atlas just licked the bill. either he wasn’t listening or he thinks everything is edible until proven otherwise.)

it turns out that he must listen to me, because i have been informed that he is going to do a thing. as far as i can tell, it is a year with atlas – stories and photos in your email every monday. he is working on the page now. i have a feeling that i am going to be involved somehow; i don’t know how he will implement his idea without me, being that he doesn’t have opposable thumbs. (i am already writing the page for him. due to the no opposable thumbs, of course. they really are useful.)

he really is a sweetheart, so i am excited to see what he wants to do.

(i am also a little sorry that i told him he could buy all the pig ears he wants. i hope he only wants one. or maybe two.)

it’s a warm april afternoon in marrakech.

helen and i are sitting at an outdoor table near the main square, our suitcases and bags piled all around us, eating lunch before our flight. our table is on an outside corner, next to the main street and a small side street.

i look up from my meal to see two peacocks in a bike basket right next to me.

i am so astonished that it feels a little surreal and i keep staring, as if to assure myself that they really are peacocks.

the peacocks are sitting in a basket on the back of the bike. they are facing the back and their feathers are stretched across the bike seat and over the handlebars.

there is a little old man in a rumpled suit, holding the bicycle upright and talking to two policeman. i have no idea what any of them are saying but the policeman look rather astonished themselves.

the peacocks look remarkably calm, given that they are sitting on the back of a bicycle and there are people and noise and commotion all around them. they do not, however, look very happy.

as the man leaves the policemen and walks around the corner with his bicycle, some children stop him to look at the peacocks. as he walks off again, they look a little ruffled (the peacocks, not the children), and i see the man reach his hand back and gently, lovingly, absentmindedly pet them as he walks off with his precious cargo.

it was the most unexpectedly delightful scene.

i’m sorry i don’t have a picture, but you can see why i might have forgotten to pull my iphone out. it’s not every day that you look up from your lunch to see peacocks in a bicycle basket.

i love my little niece so much i can hardly stand it.

i wish she lived here. i would take her to story hour and to the children’s museum and she could chase atlas all around the house and pull his tail. sniffle.

i made up a song for her: “oh, savannah, oh don’t you cry for me, for i’ve come from portland, oregon, to hold you on my knee.”

i also have a new nephew, who i met, but i forgot to ask his mom if she cared if i posted a picture of him. i did start a story for him, though. it is the story of prince lars, who went out one day with a very large sword to hunt dragons but somehow came home with one instead because it was so cute. he let his dragon light the fire in his fireplace every night with his fiery breath. (at that point, i had to stop the story, because that was not where i thought it was going at all and i was very confused.)

savannah also has her own story. in case you’ve forgotten, it is the story of queen savannah, who rode her pony named mustard around the island of molasses every morning and decreed that all the little girls on the island would be princesses. people came from all over the world to see the herd of princesses on ponies following queen savannah and mustard around the island and they even ended up as a feature article in national geographic.

did i mention that i love love love her?

i got nattering gnats that pinch and pry
i got parched sunbeams that drink me dry

i got restless train tracks that go nowhere
i got lily-white preachers that smell like a snare

i hear it come and it’s always the same
i shake my fist at the pouring rain

i got crosses, canyons, desert, and lace
i got maple winters burnt by fate

i got vulture voices hollow and lack
i got drowned old saints in a flaming pack

i hear it come and it’s always the same
i shake my fist at the pouring rain

i got selfish bumblebees buried alive
i got chains of worth stretched nine to five

i got crisscrossed pockets, five soon late
i got hidden fog that jumps its gate

i hear it come and it’s always the same
i shake my fist at the pouring rain

i hear it come but it’s never the same
i stretch my hands out toward the rain

i am not so good about sharing pictures of me anywhere. i have been trying to be better about it this year, at least on facebook.

it’s partly because people pictures are not my forte. it’s partly because i don’t take pictures of myself. it’s partly because – as is probably true of many people – i am too hard on myself and do not really like pictures of me. happily, i notice that as i grow older and wiser and kinder, i am less and less critical of myself in all ways, including in pictures.

just for fun, i thought i would share some today. i do know that it’s nice to see more of the person behind the blog and offerings. both photos were taken by my sister helen. (you can click on them to see the larger size.)

i picked these ones because the stories behind them made me laugh.

in the first photo, we were playing at being models. my sisters margaret and helen and i went to walk along a lake superior beach one afternoon because it was too chilly to swim. while we were walking, we passed my camera back and forth. at one point, we decided to play the model game. first, helen took pictures while margaret and i modeled. then, margaret took pictures while helen and i modeled. poor helen was getting very frustrated because she wanted us to keep a straight face – unsmiling – but margaret couldn’t do it without either laughing or looking strange. finally, helen gave in and let margaret smile. i liked those ones the best.

in the second photo, helen was trying to prove a point. i have tried to take a few photos of her from that same angle. i think i read somewhere that it’s a good one. whenever she could tell that that was the angle i was aiming for, she’d complain and make me stop. this was her attempt to show me why it didn’t work. unfortunately for her, i didn’t mind the photo so her plan was foiled.

(as a side note, modeling is hard work. the second photo was from another set where helen was making me model for her. she’d take a picture and then holler, “change your pose!” after maybe two poses, i had run out of ideas and could only do something random and awkward. it was pretty funny.)

(as another side note, this post was inspired by liz lamoreux’s latest adventures in creative self-care newsletter. are you signed up?)

i have a feeling that no matter where i roam, lake superior will always be my favorite body of water. i lived a few miles away from it for about half my life.

on thursday night, one of my sisters and i went to mclain state park to run on the trails and jump in the lake as the sun dropped below the horizon. on saturday night, i went back with another sister to take pictures of the sunset.

it was so lovely. i look at these pictures and i feel so lucky to have experienced such beauty while growing up. i also know why i am drawn to the cold and wild and seemingly infinite pacific.

isn’t it lovely!

i am hoping to get some new photos because i have been wanting to make a “wish you were here” card set for either the upper peninsula or lake superior since i started my shop. maybe this will be the year it finally happens.

speaking of cards, i want to remind anyone who’s interested that the end of summer sale on everything in my etsy shop ends on monday.

enter endofsummer as the coupon code at checkout for 17% off your purchase.

click here to visit the shop!

in other news, if you like art and stories and mail, i have a new offering! it’s called the world of story and it begins in october. (in case you are keeping track of such things, i did introduce the world of story earlier this summer, but i had an inspired idea last week and changed it up a little.)

you know that thing dogs do where they look like they’re running in their sleep?

in the past year or so, atlas runs more and more often, and his running is becoming more and more intense.

how do i know? he kicks harder.

atlas sleeps on the bed so when he starts running at night, there i am, in the way. usually, his feet are by my legs so my legs bear the brunt of it.

i read once that it’s not good to wake dogs up when they’re dreaming so i don’t anymore. (i used to. he’d let out that little whine and i would decide he must be having a bad dream so i’d wake him up and hug him.) (if i remember correctly, the argument against waking dogs up while dreaming was related to an increased likelihood of being bit, which makes sense.)

once upon a time, it was soft, light kicks. now, it’s not. you would not believe how hard he kicks while he’s running now. it hurts! and it seems to go on for ages.

i’m already on the end of the bed so there’s really nowhere for me to go. instead, i wait not-so-patiently for the kicking to stop, while secretly hoping that if he is chasing something in his dream, he catches it quickly.

i wonder if it’s an age thing. maybe he’s reliving his puppyhood. awwwwww. my cute-old-strong-legged-puppy-dog.

anyway, if you ever see me in shorts and my legs look bruised, you will know why.

“For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? .. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”

– from On Death, by Khalil Gibran

while i’m away, i thought it would be fun to have an end of summer sale on everything in my etsy shop.

enter endofsummer as the coupon code at checkout for 17% off your purchase.

the sale ends on the 10th. items will ship on the 12th.

now might be a good time to replenish your card supply!

the cards also work as miniature art prints – the card acts like a mat – in case you’re looking for an easy way to add more beauty to your home.

click here to visit the shop!