the sky in my eye

Clearly the sky has always been here, but lately it has taken my by surprise. I find myself gazing into the clouds and some kind of calmness takes me over. It's powers have outweighed the busy days, the traffic jams and the worries. I'm bewildered. Some of my most recent sky photos are my proudest. Of course, keeping the camera less than an arms length away is also a great way to capture one of natures most beautiful gifts.

layers.

beaming.



a way we go.

sunset.


Take a minute out of your busy day, gaze into the sky and be prepared to be amazed.

changes

I'm not sure what has started happening to me but in the last few months or so I've developed a strong liking for beatnik (not the Beatniks per se) music from the late 60's and early 70's - Previously you would have probably found me covering my ears or making a funny face in disgust when these melodies were played but now I'm completely enthralled there is so much of this whatdya do.....lalalala....totally chilled music out there for me to find and listen to! I encourage the tunes to wander throughout...so much so it's becoming a slight obsession.

I would never have thunk I'd be listening to half of this stuff:
Creedence Clearwater Revival. Bob Dylan. Jimi Hendrix. Led Zeppelin. Janis Joplin. The Beatles. Joni Mitchell. Pink Floyd. The Rolling Stones. Santana. Bob Marley. Simon & Garfunkel. Cat Stevens. The Who. The Allman Brothers.

But I am, I really am.

So where is this all coming from?
Well.... let's see. I have an idea, far-fetched as it may seem.

I always try to do something different for my birthday, on PURPOSE, like the time I got my palms read, but this year it came to me out of fate or some might say it was purely coincidental... Either way it seems the decade is starting to follow me around a little. Maybe the notion of dancing in the rain to Holy Ghost Tent Revival while people sport vintage bathing suits made me curious as to what was really happening OR perhaps the encounter with two peace loving gypsies sealed the deal. I mean it was my 26th birthday afterall, and what did I end up doing? I ended up playing with a goat that charged at a rubber ball and knew tricks as well as the next dog, I met chickens & turkeys with names like Lunch and Dinner, and get this — I witnessed a turtle lay an egg! I also viewed a massive hemp jewelry, gem & quartz collection and learned all about glass blowing and even managed to find out that my animal spirit is probably a sea turtle and then was advised that I might have special abilities and I need to see a Shaman asap!! Truth be told in the back of my mind I have always thought that something mysterious lingered in my Cherokee Indian blood and there would come a point in my life when, perhaps when I turned a certain age, I would learn of this... who knew it would come to me by way of another Cherokee girl on a night where I thought drinks would be had at the ol' Rec Billiards until I was all out of birthday drinkin'. Instead I end up at a 200 year old house, lined with psychadelic wallpaper, a farm out back and a however many acre trail lit by way of tiki torches. Maybe a Shaman is in order.

All I know is that everything around me seems to be increasing my free spiritability. The one I intended to discover this year. Does my increased awareness of all this really have me braiding my hair almost daily and buying patchouli to keep the skeeters away? Or is this really the path that was cleared away for me? Who really knows? It's neat to think about though. I guess we all change whether we are aware of it or not and so I keep referring back to something which was just said to me a few weeks ago... 'it takes a special person to be aware of these certain things and that's what makes you different from the others Ashley...' Trippy huh? Any way you look at it, it's these things that keep finding their way into my life and helping me become a better freeeer person, emotionally and spiritually.

So am I finding the music or is the music finding me?
My answer. I feel in one way or another the music finds us, it makes us think, it makes us dream and sends us into a place that is unexplainable. Much like my life right now. I'm taking it all in, riding the wave and enjoying all the experiences and coincendences life is lending me until my time here is over. You should too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TbmLkwMHwo

Although this is newer. way newer. it seemed suprisingly fitting.
.....you go...wherever you go today...you go today.

that’s what I call fulfillment

Have you ever been able to listen to a song and it matches perfectly to the way you are feeling at that exact moment? This one purely and effortlessly gave me the feeling of entirety in its less than 3 minute run time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuqGI0kS3Z4&feature=related

Picture this.

I like taking pictures just as much as the average person. Just because I have camera and *know how to use it doesn't make me a photographer but I tend to believe what does make us one is the way in which we capture the moment. I have a Samsung Coolpix my dad purchased for me last year for my birthday and I still haven't figured out all the functions so I don't consider myself a pro by any means.

The types of pictures I deeply enjoy taking are not your average "smile" and click - it's done. Nope. Most of what I enjoy is taking pictures while driving and I think I've managed the art of being really still and knowing exactly what conditions are suitable for so. Also, it helps to have your window down or at least clean, yes I've learned this from experience.

I mostly enjoy taking pictures of bridges and sky's.

A few examples are found below.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this bridge picture...

it reminds me of California and this wicked re-occurring dream I had when I was younger.

Knowing there was not enough time to even turn my body around in the back seat of the car to get this shot I held my camera up to the side of my head and without looking took what I believe to be an awesome picture.



Mountains in Virginia and an old rusted, faded green iron bridge.

I was at a stop light and couldn't help but capture this

storm a brewing with bits of sun light peeking through.

OK so this one doesn't quite fit the mold but I did take it from my car and it does have a sky in it and a railing that could be considered a bridge, right? Maybe not... but in any case I like the picture for some reason and so included it must be.

Moral of this story.

Even if you don't know the right way to do something,

don't worry, don't hesitate

it doesn't mean you're not doing it right.

I do! Butterflies and all.

Originally I had a side-kick who was coming along for the wedding weekend bliss but since that didn’t work out so well, I was left with two choices - Go by myself or not go at all - well actually I didn’t have a choice and I’m damn glad - Never would I ever have imagined my responsibility in my friend Kelly’s wedding to be – are you ready for this? – The Butterfly Handler. Yep that’s right; of all people she could have picked I was the one she chose to be responsible for these precious little four-winged creatures. I was honored in a way but I also felt slightly hesitant in the beginning to take on such a unfamiliar assignment because I had so many questions and the bride-to-be was so busy with all the wedding planning it was hard to get butterfly details from her (I think part of it was that Kelly didn’t really know much about the little beings either) BUT as you all should gather, I, being the newly carefree broad that I am was ready for the challenge and so I awaited the details, which never really came and so onward I went. With little to go on, and being the only one ready, willing and able to take care of the butterflies I headed to the farm (which by the way I was slightly skeptical even about where this place was considering when I MapQuested it there was no “exact” match) but in any case unknowingly I set out.

After pulling into the wrong driveway I was quickly redirected by the guy at the storage place to take an immediate right out of his driveway onto the dirt road. I can see how I missed it, the dirt road was fully lined with tall magnificent Leyland Cyprus and there was a small white sign that said “farm” with a red arrow on it – yep that’s it, and you wonder there was no match on MapQuest?


As I’m driving along the approximate 2 mile stretch of dirt road and dirt dips at oooh about 5 miles an hour in my 2-door sports coupe I couldn’t help but wonder what I was about to pull up to and what my duties would entail once I had the butterflies in hand. While the road was pretty rugged the view was beautiful and the weather was healing up nicely after a short hard rain and I was starting to get excited about this butterfly handling gig. So I pull into a large field that reads “Parking here” and I park and at this point I’m starting to gather that details and butterflies obviously don’t go together. So I stood in the field for a little bit then headed towards what looked like a greenhouse, took some pictures, waited for someone to appear, walked a little further over a wooden plank to a nice-sized house (didn’t look like a butterfly pick-up spot to me) and well, I knocked on the door. Much to my dismay I was at the right place indeed and was greeted by a young woman whom without even questioning who I was or what I was there for she proceeded to give me butterfly handling directions. The butterflies were packed in a cooler on ice, could stay there for 48 hours and were to be taken out and hour and fifteen minutes before the wedding to sit at room temperature and wake up, as she put it. Then they would be let off, the Monarchs individually and the Painted Lady’s as a mass. So she handed me the tightly sealed cooler along with an instruction sheet and sent me on my way. So as things became clearer to me...or not really any clearer at all...I sloshed back across the field and over to my car.


I set off for Asheville and I made sure I guarded the butterflies with my life; after all they were a pretty important part of the wedding. I kept them in a cool dark place over night and just like the lady instructed and hour before the wedding I took all of the butterflies out of the cooler and set them out at room temperature. Two nieces of the groom were to help let off the butterflies and I managed to snag them beforehand to let them see the butterflies and hold the little packages in their tiny hands. I told the little girls – Staley Rose & Isabelle, the little bit I knew about the butterflies and I wanted to make sure they were comfortable with what they were doing and continued by letting them know if they opened up one of the envelopes and the butterfly did not fly off, not to worry, it wasn’t ready to fly just yet, but that eventually it would…and the girls looked at me with depth and took my words. I even managed to get a basket to place the butterflies in then took the butterflies and placed them by the small table and awning where the “I do’s” would take place. Who knew there was so much that goes into this???

The mountain top wedding was absolutely beautiful. We sat there in awe overtop the landscape that Asheville offers in the springtime after an afternoon rain while Kelly & Scott exchanged vows. The butterflies were amazing and went off without a hitch.


The day after the wedding we all gathered at neighbors of the bride & groom to watch a slideshow/video of the wedding and drink margaritas. While watching the video Kelly noticed that after the wedding was over and the camera was still rolling that I went over to the table, gathered up the butterfly garb and made sure the remaining few butterflies who hadn’t yet taken off did. She looked over at me slightly teary eyed and said “Wow Ashley, when I asked you to be the butterfly handler you really took that to heart, you handled those things from the very beginning to the very end, thank you.” – And those words made the experience worth every bit.

It’s nice to be noticed. I’ve always tried to be the type of person that if I say I’m going to do something, I do it and when I do it I try my hardest to do my best at it.Even though the details were lacking I think it made the experience all the better. I took something that was just a task and turned it into something that ended up meaning a lot to me and hopefully meaning the same to many others.

Every bit of this wedding was truly sensational, but in the end it was the butterflies that carried me along. They made me realize I am a good person and not because of what I do or how I do it but just because with each day I live I strive to be a better person and that's all that really matters.


So thank you Kelly for letting me be a part of your dream come true and thank you butterflies for just being you.

Me..the Constant Gardener?

Never would I ever have imagined that I would purchase a house at 23 - let alone refinance the dang thing before turning 26! But I’m doing it, right now, real time. The “refi” process is truly a learning experience but I’m hoping the 1.5% interest reduction in itself will prove to be a wise choice for the future. It seems like every time I delve into something new like this I end up with a new hobby or pick up an unusual habit along the way. Thankfully, they’re good habits, which are the #1 reason my psychologist gave me for being “ok” now and able to live in the “real” world – and thank God for reassurance!So during the process I have managed to turn into a dedicated planter of all things green and blooming, a landscapist if you will. I’ve practically thrown myself into working on my back patio with the promise of an appraisal high enough to warrant my refinance. And so the madness has just begun, I tore up bricks and replaced them with cobblestone; I pulled out a humongous hydrangea and replaced it with a feeble purple perennial with high hopes of bearing lots of buds for years to come, I laid the bricks I pulled up to form a walkway around the backside of my house, replanted the hydrangea alongside the garbage cans to muffle water erosion and create more oxygen for the trash that it lay beside, and guess what? - That’s not all folks! I now have a little area in my patio dedicated to a potted herb garden which is sure to grow in size and variety. I also refinished a wrought iron patio table I paid a whopping $10 bucks for, which hosts a couple other potted plants including my bonsai tree, Clowie. Next on the list, I’m going to add a few garden yummies. I definitely want to have tomatoes and I’ve had a couple suggestions for squash & green peppers but I need to do some research first on types of veggies and what living conditions they’re most suitable in. More suggestions and/or gardening tips are surely welcome. Last but not least, it’s actually the order it must come in – I’m staining the concrete slabs on the patio. Now that all the dirty work is done it’s time to lay the finishing touch. This will by far the biggest feat but it will also be well worth it. Do you know how good it feels to put this much work into something and in the end find that you have a new pleasure in life that doesn’t involve drinking vodka red bulls all night long in hopes of blacking out? I am super stoked about tearing off fresh leaves to add to my dinner delights, not hooking up with the hottie in the corner of the bar. This makes me feel grown up. This makes me feel happy. And so happy I will be, cause’ some habits are worth keeping.