Going into the 9th week of 2008

After six days of rain the sun came out this morning and we're told that this is the way it will be for a while.

Last night I reread Julia Cameron's chapter on walking in THE WRITING DIET and decided to take Beulie for a short stroll in our neighborhood. It was only 30 minutes, but I've already lost the first three pounds with my Clean Eating and I have so much more energy. Already there is change! My goal is to walk more days than not, even if it is for so brief a time.

In one of Hannah Hinchman's books she writes of the importance of walking and suggests that we bring something home that can be incorporated into a sketchbook. So this afternoon I grabbed a bunch of wildflowers and added a page with the wild calendula that has fascinated me all winter.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Greetings from the blue skies of northern California. After days of rain the air quality is pristine, there's a slight breeze and everything feels...well, pure. Steve and I took the three dogs for a walk and lunched with the tourists.

Last night I finished reading a wonderful little book, A LIFE IN HAND, by Hannah Hinchman on the art of the illuminated journal. I don't know why the publisher has allowed this book to go out of print but I was able to request it from our public library and read it in two evenings. I kept wanting to put it down and do some journaling and drawing of my own....which is what I did after we got home this afternoon. One of her suggestions is that, when you go for a walk, find something to bring home to draw. Such a simple idea...and it works. There are so many acorns on the ground this fall that we crunched in places while we walked.

And then, first thing after getting in the front door -- the dogs fell asleep and I added a page to my Moleskine.