From Tulips To Tropical...

Q:WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN OUT OF THE BLUE A FRIEND INVITES YOU TO THEIR HOME IN A TROPICAL PARADISE?

A:  YOU PACK YOUR BAGS, AND HEAD OUT ON THE NEXT PLANE AVAILABLE...

Which is exactly what I did when my friend B. invited me to stay with her at her beautiful family home in Mexico

Its quite remarkable how life can change on a dime, 11 days ago, I had no idea that I would be booking a flight to leave the cold and grey of the Pacific Northwest (where we are all longing for the elusive spring weather to show up.)  And now, I find myself here,  in the tropics enjoying fabulous 82 degree temperatures, lathering myself in spf 30 sunscreen sitting under giant "palapas," drinking chilled hibiscus tea by the gallon fantasizing about what life would be like to live somewhere sunny and cheery, warm and colorful everyday....?  Sort of like when our family went from having a black and white t.v to a full technicolor t.v in the 1970's... (it was a radical shift for us!) 

See what you think...

Looking over tiled roofs, Orchid and Palm trees to the Pacific Ocean...

Surfing all day till the sun sets...

Afternoon tea in the shade of an Orchid Tree...

Plants that bedazzle...

And flowers that bloom year round...

Its easy to see the allure, this is a very special place.   

As I sit and listen to the flocks of the dearest little green parrots arguing as they fly over the house and sip my iced tea, I feel layer upon layer of stress falling away.

This place is working its magic on me and I feel a healing taking place... - So glad my friend asked...

So glad I said "YES."

With love, 

from Mexico.

Neinah

Tulips...

At the moment the local markets are filled with myriads of brilliantly colored tulips, making me believe that Spring must have arrived... - surely???

But then, just a few days ago, as I drove to work and left a few pale shafts of early morning sun behind me, I found myself driving into a snowstorm...!  Thankfully it was short lived, and a little later in the day, the sun came back, making me appreciate all the more those short sweet little sunburst moments... AND tulips because they are exquisite harbingers of spring, and their multitude of colors brighten my day (regardless of what the weather may bring.)

So, dear ones, in celebration of spring (which is just around the corner,) here's a lovely poem for you and a few more photo's to brighten your day...

Love,

Neinah

Tulips

BY A.E. STALLINGS

The tulips make me want to paint,

Something about the way they drop

Their petals on the tabletop

And do not wilt so much as faint,

Something about their burnt-out hearts,

Something about their pallid stems

Wearing decay like diadems,

Parading finishes like starts,

Something about the way they twist

As if to catch the last applause,

And drink the moment through long straws,

And how, tomorrow, they’ll be missed.

The way they’re somehow getting clearer,

The tulips make me want to see—

The tulips make the other me

(The backwards one who’s in the mirror,

The one who can’t tell left from right),

Glance now over the wrong shoulder

To watch them get a little older

And give themselves up to the light.