Author: Tracy Abell

Thankful Thursday

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Today I’m grateful for dogs. So many humans are a massive disappointment (I’m looking at you, DNC Resolution Committee members who voted against a #ClimateDebate) and I’m thankful canines agree to hang out with us.

Roscoe, this one’s for you.

Monday transformation

/ Tracy Abell

Zippy and I ran this morning and just as we finished we encountered this Wooly Bear. I dashed inside for my camera to document our meeting because I haven’t seen a Wooly Bear in many years.

And apparently I never took the time to learn what Wooly Bears become because it came as a complete surprise just now when I looked up “Wooly Bear caterpillar” and discovered my little friend will turn into an IsabellaTiger Moth. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of one of those. You can see it here.

Wishing everyone a transformational Monday!

Thankful Thursday

/ Tracy Abell

Zippy and I are in Ohio visiting my brother and his family. We spent the afternoon hunting down hoop-making materials before returning home to make four hoops of various sizes. Much hooping ensued (including my niece and I hoop-walking to the end of the street and back as her younger brother rode alongside on his scooter). Then basketball was added to the mix.

Here’s my favorite action shot of their entire family:

Lots of smiles and high-energy. A very nice day.

Taking back the color red

/ Tracy Abell

The other day I saw a neighbor walking up the street ahead of me. In 2016,  that white woman displayed a political sign in support of Agent Orange (something I don’t think I’ll ever forgive or forget), and when I saw her walking along in her red T-shirt I experienced a surge of anger. That red shirt triggered a stream of expletives about how she supported a white supremacist. (Poor Zippy had to endure that volcanic eruption.) Stupid mean people. Stupid red shirt.

But you know what? All the horrible racist people in this country don’t own the color red. Red is a beautiful color. Red belongs to all of us.

Cave Creek Canyon Ranch. May 16, 2019.

And no one wears it better than this dapper Northern Cardinal.

Dancing with the stars

/ Tracy Abell

We’re told to reach for the stars, but sometimes they’re not above us. Sometimes those stars are next to the trail, close enough to touch.

And sometimes if we keep very, very still we  might also catch a glimpse of a fairy dancing among the stars.

Here’s wishing for a magical Monday . . .

 

Fungal in the picture book jungle

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I’m trying to add layers of text to my nonfiction picture book and am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the gap between my vision for this project and the reality of what it looks like thus far. In my mind, this project is pure AWESOME. However, the manuscript currently feels more like a collection of fits and starts.

So I’m posting this magic mushroom as a reminder of how intricate details come together to create a whole. One gorgeous layer at a time.

Resting in the grace of the world

/ Tracy Abell

Green Heron, Kapok Park. January 11, 2019

When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. ~ Wendell Berry

Thank you, Toni Morrison

/ Tracy Abell

We die. That may be the meaning of life.
But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.
                                                               ~ Toni Morrison

She fearlessly wielded language, never backing down from truth. I’m grateful she graced the planet for 88 years, creating books that will keep her fierce genius alive forever.

Rest in power.

 

Friday afternoon activism

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

I just got back from a Sunrise Movement action outside the office for the Colorado Democrats. The DNC (Democratic National Committee) is taking a vote later this month to decide whether to hold a presidential debate focused solely on the climate crisis.

Three of the five eligible voters (state officers from the Colorado Dems) have already committed to a YES vote. Today we applied pressure on the two remaining voters. It boggles the mind (and enrages me) that young people must literally beg to be heard on the issue that directly affects their futures on this planet. The good news is we received lots of honks from people in response to our HONK FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL sign. As usual, the citizenry is way ahead of the political establishment.

I’m energized from today’s solidarity with those passionate youth. Let’s hope the DNC does the right thing and votes to accept the win-win opportunity to hold a debate on what efforts are needed in order to avert the worst of the climate crisis. The people want meaningful action. Will the DNC listen?

Thankful Thursday

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Horse Gulch. Durango, CO.

Yesterday we hiked with our elder son, Wildebeest. It was pretty warm and we opted to cut the hike short on Emma’s behalf because despite the bowls of water we gave her throughout and the handful of treats, she still made a beeline for every patch of shade where she’d pant accusingly until we got her up and moving again.

Still and all, it was a wonderful hike. It’s always good to spend time with Wildebeest and was especially nice seeing him in his natural habitat. A happy son makes for a happy mother.