The temperatures are dropping and the mind is busy researching possibilities for 2012...

I woke with a feeling for gratitude ...yes the grayness is still in the skies but the rain is letting up and the streets are beginning to express black ice...so people please slow down. A friend was in a four car crash where people were not paying attention and rear ended the cars in front of themselves. The family is safe and sound but it is a real shock to look into your rear view mirror and know you are about to be hit.

I met with two progressive young women about the possibilities for 2012 and they are totally infinite. I have an enormous amount of research to do and work on an informative proposal ...and No I have never done something like this before but the risk is part of the journey and my personal growth. I am wanting to create another public art collaboration...and there are so many ways to develop this program. "A deep feeling of gratitude can emerge as we open to the experience of being helped". This was a very appropriate quote I encountered today. After lunch two new friends came in from my dear Weathervane Theater with a the possibility of combining music, performance , theater and Art with the young people in our community. Life never fails to amaze me when I am lost in simple process. I am having a Great month and I am so grateful to all the people who have come to me for gift certificates and special orders. Life is grand!

Tomorrow I am recycling gift bags given to me from my dear jewelers next door. I am sure the children will enjoy altering and embellishing the bags to fit their needs for parents and teachers and grandparents. I have plenty of glue on jewels and ribbons and ...you name it I have been collecting design elements to play with in my own works. My heart and prayers are going out for a dear artist friend who is battling her life interrupted by cancer. Every morning when the sky opens to new light i am thinking of you Anne....you are never more than a phone call away if you need me. Blessings to all my dear Internet friends. PEACE be with you, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

p.s. The beautiful eagle and the frosty foliage photos are from a favorite blog Spirithelpers...aren't they just beautiful. This artist has a gentle understanding of the incredible beauty in Nature. "Hope like a tree reaches for the sky" I wrote this when I was 16 at Angela Merici High School...funny how I can remember simple words from this point in my life. Blessings.