Flying High ... But Not For Long

WINTER IS DEAD, I thought, until a sudden blast of wind appeared. It howled through the trees, snapped branches and swept the agitated sea onto the shore. The sky over Crescent Beach was a cloudy blur the day after the storm when the powerful winds started to sputter.

A cheery kite optimistically set off into the air where it bounced and swayed for several minutes. But it wasn't long before the wind stopped puffing and the kite fell gently to the beach floor.

When it landed in a headstand on the sand, it seemed a bit embarrassed.

A soft breeze blew the hapless kite onto its back. It's unblinking eyes gazed at the endless sky where it once soared so wonderfully high.

What goes up must come down ... but it is good to know that what comes down can go back up again.

Postscript 20/03/2016: Thanks to blogger Sallie at Full Time Life I learned the wide-eyed character depicted on the kite is a Minion appearing in several animation movies. Minions are followers that live to serve a master, which through unintended consequences, they ultimately destroy. They are super cute, lively, talk gibberish and can be seen in action HERE.

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Wings & Other Magical Things

YOUNG AND OLD alike were giddy with delight at the sight of a human fairy that miraculously appeared during a recent holiday event called Enchanted Nights at Bloedel Conservatory in Vancouver.

I joined my niece there just as the late afternoon sky dimmed and a luminous haze settled in. This whimsical start to the New Year was her nice idea.

The long line to get indoors moved slowly giving us time to view the beauty of bare branches draped over the changing pastel pink and blue horizon.

A mood of anticipation hung in the air as we hovered over the edge of the hill and looked down from what is said to be the highest point of the city.

Despite the wintry chill, someone wrote a warm "hello" in a dusting of snow.

As dark seeped more deeply into the evening commonplace ponies transformed into unicorns offering adventurous children magical rides.

Steaming hot chocolate was available to take a bite off the cold.

The large dome looked golden from the outside but when we went in ...

the ceiling was infused with purple and multicolored lights. Moon glow and starlight shimmered in the leafy nooks below.

Birds seemed resigned to hundreds of people pointing and chattering excitedly along designated pathways.

A stream of visitors through their cozy Conservatory home was a common occurrence for these exotic creatures that grew into their wings naturally.

Never too old to pretend, we looked in awe for the crafted miniature things that were cozily snuggled into the branches and foliage.

Creations of wood, ceramics, metal and glass were scattered throughout. Melissa Hume, Benjamin Kikkert and Corey Cote were part of a team of artists and helpers who worked hard to make the enchantment feel real.

Fairy dresses hung prettily on clotheslines.

Balloon rides were available for those small enough to fit in the baskets.

Sometimes art mimicked reality ... and sometimes reality mimicked art.

Glass creations looked like frosty icicles.

Flouncy leaves took on the appearance of wings.

The show delivered on its promised wonder-filled experience.

Our voyage was one of the imagination where ...

fairies ruled the land, played on swings and became artists.

My niece was reminded of the Friendly Giant, a Canadian television show from several years ago, and I can see why. Although we giants were far too big to join the fairies for a cup of tea, a spell was cast and we were refreshed.

Our journey through childhood seemed to suggest: There's no need to wait for wishes to come true to find that spark of magic all around and inside of you.

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Secret Whisperings From Our Gardens

The Secret Garden movie that I watched earlier that day replayed in my mind as I photographed flowers in my backyard.

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden," the young heroine said in the story.

Music (play video below) from the movie sent me adrift into mysterious realms.

If you look just the right way past the misty veil, you might catch glimpses of different realities.

Even the most fleeting spark of intuition or smudge of scientific study suggests nothing is quite as it appears to the human senses.

When a breeze whispers into the lobe of a leaf or a storm roars like an angry beast, it is clear there is much more to know about our garden home.

The true nature of existence and how life began is the world's greatest secret, sprouting multiple theories.

I liked how the author of the original story, Frances Hodgson Burnett, focused on the wizardry of it all when she brilliantly wrote:

"Sometimes since I've been in the garden I've looked up through the trees at the sky and I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something was pushing and drawing in my chest and making me breathe fast. Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden - in all the places.”

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

The Art Of Not Being Penny-less

HAVE YOU gotten out of bed with a big yawn and a stretch and a niggling feeling there is something important you forgot that needed your attention yesterday? Oh, yes … that gift for someone special that you still did not get. It is a dilemma we all have faced, including Penelope who is only six years old and penniless.

That is the start of the story accompanying another set of watercolour pencil drawings my daughter gave me several years ago for Mother's Day, complete with original font for the prose. Penelope's Gift of Time: Because No One Can Fill Your Shoes is from a child's simple perspective while the motivation behind the theme is mine.

During my walks, I often see the very elderly or ill accompanied by uninterested strangers. Tiny tots are ignored by nannies and parents who are lost in their cellphone screens. The Penelope story is about discovering nature's true gifts and being fully engaged with someone near who deserves attention.

This is the second in what I expect to be a growing series featuring the Penelope Puddle character and her small sidekick umbrella that takes on a best-pal role. In fact, I have big plans to evolve the umbrella's "personality" in future. I just need a few more decades of time in which to do all that I want to do with the concept and art.

Although I no longer get them as gifts, I have a wealth of Penelope drawings tucked away to play with whenever I find the time. An upcoming visit with my daughter for Mother's Day will give me a chance to thank her again for providing me with an always welcoming friend that absorbs my imagination and never accusingly asks, "Where have you been? What took you so long?"

Postscript May 11, 2015

A soft light glowed through the glass at a restaurant we randomly walked into on Sunday for a Mother's Day brunch. When we were seated, I noticed a sign on the wall over my daughter's head that read, "I don't eat my friends."

The Heirloom Vegetarian served up a plate of food that turned out to be one of the tastiest meals I have eaten anywhere. The vinaigrette on the super fresh salad was laced with the perfect amount of tang and the creamy sauce, spiced with a bit of seaweed powder, melted beautifully over the mouth-watering nutty meat substitute. The exceptional flavours sweetened our conversation.

As the reflection on the window from the outside shows, the day was not cloudless. So I was amazed that the sky still cast a wonderful glow.

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Wading Into E-Book Waters

WE ARE ALL busy but do you ever feel you could do something different or more with your days?

A little like this sandpiper wading in familiar puddles instead of distant shores, I put off learning how to make an eBook out of a children's story I am fond of that I wrote years ago.

They say it takes five minutes for authors to put their work on Kindle ... any kid can do it. But minutes stretch into hours and hours stretch into days and months when a learning curve and procrastination are at play. I needed to push through the "ugh" hurtle of doing something new and "technical" and instead welcome the challenge. In the process, I realized the piece needed revisions.

Well, I finally did it! Promotion "double-ugh" is now the key and an even greater challenge for me. It is so much easier to expound on the work of others than my own.

I truly baulk at jumping up and down and saying, "Over here! Look at me! Look at me!" Is that a Canadian thing?

This short story includes only two pictures that have nothing to do with birds. The imagination will take wing, however, in what really is an illustrator's dream.

The allegorical tale shows how confidence can build and solutions emerge during scary situations. I wanted the fantasy to be humorous and interestingly enough told for adult readers as well as children to enjoy.

The idea stems from a real-life green sofa I once had that reminded me of a leafy head of lettuce because of its hue and rounded edges. It had a big gap at the back where loose change and other objects disappeared.

The completion of this project has put me closer to another goal. I expect the Penelope Puddle story with its multiple illustrations will be a more formidable formatting challenge for an eBook.

I do feel a little more prepared now that I have gotten my feet wet with Couch and Company. If you have a second, you can check out the book on Amazon HERE.

Postscript to answer a question in the comment section from non-Kindle users: Amazon gave me a link where Kindle Apps for different products, including iPads, can be downloaded for free by opening an Amazon account. I do not have a Kindle or iPad and it all sounds a bit “techie” but the link is HERE.

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Free As The Birds To Imagine

SEAGULLS WITH a dark band around their beaks posed at Crescent Beach soon after my earlier post where I quoted the author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Like Jonathan these birds seemed a bit different than the usual variety that spend most of their time foraging for food along the coast. Perhaps they came from a great distance.

These gulls preened like cats and relaxed in the sun, seeming to communicate with one another in mysterious subtle ways. Smaller and fluffier than most, I wondered if they were juveniles. After a little research, I discovered the birds are aptly named ring-billed gulls. They let me creep a little closer with my camera but only up to a certain point.


A couple of them suddenly flew off into the horizon.

Their wide black-tipped wings flapped with ease as they receded into the pale blue sky.

My heart soared with them but my feet were stuck in the sand.



Sadly, I won't lift off the ground no matter how hard I twirl my arms ... but I am free as a bird to imagine other possibilities despite my obvious lack of feathers.

People spread throughout the earth like seagulls and reached great heights because their creative thinking merged with their ambitions and took wing.

Is it possible that one day we might not need boats, planes or trains to get from here to there? Gazing at birds in flight, we get an inkling that the future is wide open on both global and personal levels. And although there are inspiring phrases that speak brilliantly of that potential, I like the simple words of children's author Dr. Seuss who said: "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"

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