where do you find your state of grace....

I was driving to the studio this morning and the sky was filled with an overcast of clouds....
then on the horizon...the sky opened up and the clear line of blue sky cut the horizon...
the entrance to a celestial energy with white light peering back down to the Autumn landscape...
I felt the Grace ...entering my being and guiding my spiritual being to my home away from home...
I had found a quiet moment of Grace.

I had a Harvest salad with fresh apples, walnuts and cheeses over dark rich greens with a friend just returning from surgery and week confined to her home ...a painter working in a new and expansive direction... a daughter learning to walk alone... and a patron waiting with us until her gal pals arrive for their lunch. The room was buzzing with activity and yet as I enjoyed my luncheon companions I felt a kinship in a circle of women all working the intricacies of their lives...one moment at a time. This may seem like a simple lunch but I felt a gratitude for being in the moment...the present moment of time.

After the socializing I buckled down to work on my "Batty Boo" tee shirt I had hand painted and will embellish for our Saturday of holiday fun for the Paper Moon celebration. I ended up chain stitching...a slow cloth process the outline of two bats flying under a full Harvest moon... I love the time slipping away as the afternoon passed in a quiet solitude. I listened to Native American flutes and eased in the stitches all the while planning the next steps for embellishing. And what about a head dress of some kind? I have a board meeting at 4:00 o clock and then I need to make a few errands. The men are coming to install our new thermostat and new furnace...Merry Christmas to us!!! It should take about 5 hours to complete the whole job so I will be working from home in my upstairs studio. I have plenty to keep me busy but I will miss being in the middle of the downtown activity. I am hoping you all embraced the promise that today gave us ...I am a blessed woman. Now I know I do not have a perfect life but I realize we each make our own happiness with the choices we make at the beginning of each day. Imagine and Live in peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

p.s. Joan Baez is coming to our theater ...The Midland Theater on Wednesday evening...I have been humming "The Night They Torn Old Dixie down... I am not sure these are the right words...but you get the picture :O)!