Steady on

My last night in Scotland, a very diligent effort was made

to wash every trace of mud from my boots.

Never have they been so clean

as when I had to travel with them!

But it was the right thing to do and although some twinges of nostalgia

crept in for good times mucking about in that great River Tay,

better the remnants gurgle down the guest house drain

then land me in trouble with inspectors on the Other Side.

Since returning home, my head's been down so to speak.  Not too much blogging

yet slow & steady work has been afoot nonetheless.

A determination came home with me; a drive to better understand a few things,

conduct a few experiments, and to continue finishing the great pile of unfinished. 

A good deal of time has been spent

encouraging color from plants

exploring through failures and leaps of faith

without really knowing where all of this is going.

I'm putting trust in the process, following my intuition,

doing the work without knowing the outcome

because the work will take me where I need to go.

I don't need to know right now where that is.

~ inside the glasshouse, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland ~ 

Back in August, I began to post [almost] daily to my Instagram gallery ...

What started out as inspiration from Susannah Conway's daily prompts for August Break

has become a regular editing practice that's proven so valuable, I continue still.

In the beginning it was a way to post a somewhat unruly backlog from the Scottish adventures

but it's become so much more. My addiction to photo apps has found a comfortable outlet

where play, practice - and sometimes downright outrageousness - can be shared

with fellow picture makers.  I learn so much from them.

The creativity within the Instagram community as a whole

is nothing short of astounding.

Remember these?

Slow & steady work is happening within the pantry shelf jars, lots of changes over time.

Seven months and still counting ...

I'm oddly amused to not be feeling the least bit impatient

to view the results.  An indicator, surely,

of a certain kind of faith.