on paperwhites and grace

"[You] wise old island, mute, leading the life of pure creaturehood open to any antelope or saint.  After you've blown the ocean sky-high, whats there to say?  What if we the people had the sense or grace to live as cooled islands in an archipelago live, with dignity, passion, and no comment?" 

(Annie Dillard)

--

By simply glancing at all this green life, you might not realize that just a few inches away, on the other side of the glass window pane, frosty snowflakes are quickly falling, heavily coating our world in an unabashed blanket of pure winter.

For my own part, flora and frost is one my favorite juxtapositions. 

Signs of spring in the depths of winter. 

I've mentioned in the past how much I abhor Januaries. But the truth is, this year, I am feeling a little more gracious towards this month. There are some things worth jolting out of bed for, and I am discovering that January sunlight streaming through newly blossomed paperwhites is one of them.

New Years resolutions have never really drawn me in; I make plenty of lists and set enough personal goals on a daily basis as is. But if I were to delicate a few new goals to this brand new year, I'd say being more gracious is one of them. To Januaries and other pre-judged things. And perhaps, at the risk of contradicting myself, this year I's like to resolve to write more. And take more pictures of people. Twenty-thirteen was built on so many images of objects, and while I have no intention of giving up that practice, snapshots of people are what I'll treasure most down the road. Photos of friends and family gatherings, but mostly photos of husband and me. We have so very few of just the two of us, and I'm determined that this year, we'll take our share of portraits, even if we must resort to selfies. 

I did not plan on abandoning this space as much as I did over the holidays. But life lived offline is far more important than keeping up appearances virtually. So forgive my neglect. I'm back. Here is to a new year as beautiful as paperwhites in January. 

xo