April 11 2023
Nearly missed the pink sky this morning. 💖
Today’s walk was incredibly windy! 💨🌬️💨
April 6 2023
I finally had time to pick up the birthday gift from my dad. Some of you may remember this photo I made on a walk in 2020. I had been wanting to do something with it. Nailed it! Thanks to Pixels & Ink for helping me decide what would look best. 💙💚💙
This is the way I took the photo. It’s not framed. It is enlarged and mounted on foam board ready for hanging.
It’s hung! Per multiple requests, stay tuned for cards with this image.
March 16 2023
Wonderful walk earlier today. The birds were quite chatty, and loud! 💙🤍💙
Blessings,
Camilla
See It. Share It. BE IT … Spread Love Everywhere You Go!
“Words of Alchemy”, published December 2019, is a free-verse poetry memoir covering the last 6 years of my life. The poetry of nature, the poetry of healing, the poetry of appreciation, the poetry of love, in one beautiful book.
Amazing news! My 21 year old daughter, Lillian Darnell’s debut book, “Where Would You Fly and Other Magical Stories” was published January 2018. Learn more and order here.
Wonderfully exciting news! My 17 year old son, Thomas Darnell‘s book, Biggest Little Photographer is published. Be inspired! Learn more and order here.
February 8 2023
Wonderful walk yesterday. 🤍
February 10 2023
We had a beautiful sunset a few nights ago. It’s hard to catch a photo as it changes so quickly.
February 11 2023
Another sunset a couple of nights ago. Almost missed it!
I went for a walk yesterday without a jacket. Now, it’s snowing. ❄️🫣❄️
**THROWBACK POST**
(I think this was written in 2017 – Originally submitted to a poetry website for consideration to be published.)
(Photo taken by me Spring 2019)
The One Stillness
And she began the walk,
The walk of only she,
breathing in, knowing she was breathing in
breathing out, knowing she was breathing out.
She listened in the stillness,
the sound of
the song birds
the beeping construction equipment
the roar of an airplane overhead
the creak and pop of the plastic fence
the screech of the shiny black vulture as he took flight
the echo of a distant cough across the wetland
the jingle of her dream catcher earrings in the breeze
the whir of the traffic in the distance.
She felt the soft breeze
Tenderly caress her cheeks,
hair lifting ever so gently.
She focused her eyes on the
vibrant luscious pink flower
and found her thoughts to be,
I am the vibrant luscious pink flower
swaying in the breeze
The flower is me.
She focused her eyes on the crisp green
blades of grass hosting
plump round droplets of water,
I am the crisp green blade of grass
hosting the water droplet,
the blade of grass is me.
I am the plump round water droplet
resting on the blade of grass,
the water droplet is me.
She focused her eyes on the
majestic black vulture
I am the majestic black vulture
resting on a rock
the vulture is me.
She focused her eyes on
the tall crooked tree,
laying her hands upon the cracked bark
smoothed by the winds of time.
I am the tree standing tall and crooked
the tree is me.
And she is,
and they are,
fulfilling this Divine Life.
And she ended the walk
The walk of One,
breathing in, knowing she was breathing in
breathing out, knowing she was breathing out. – ©2017 Camilla Downs
**July 2021 Update – This poem is in its “raw” state. A polished version is included in my latest book, a free-verse poetry memoir titled, Words of Alchemy. Go here to learn more …
Blessings,
Camilla
See It. Share It. BE IT … Spread Love Everywhere You Go!
“Words of Alchemy”, published December 2019, is a free-verse poetry memoir covering the last 6 years of my life. The poetry of nature, the poetry of healing, the poetry of appreciation, the poetry of love, in one beautiful book.
Amazing news! My 19 year old daughter, Lillian Darnell’s debut book, “Where Would You Fly and Other Magical Stories” was published January 2018. Learn more and order here.
Wonderfully exciting news! My 15 year old son, Thomas Darnell‘s book, Biggest Little Photographer is published. Be inspired! Learn more and order here.
**THROWBACK POST**
September 6 2018
Two Homes
She was in a house.
The two sided house.
One side beautiful and functional.
The other side old and not as functional.
The wall separating the two disappeared
And then the two were connected.
The house began to shake and rumble
And broke free from the foundation,
Landing in the river of Life.
Traveling the river rapids to freedom,
the house bobbed, weaved
shook and rattled, and
leaned left, then right.
Finally reaching open waters
the house broke apart and transformed into
the ocean creature it had always been.
Joyful to be home again
the ocean creature gracefully
swam into the depths of Home.
I had a dream last night with my friend, Kimberly Phipps Nichol, in it. She lived in a duplex and I think I was visiting her. I was checking out the duplex next door to them and it was completely weird. As were the people living there. It barely had a bathroom, with a stand up shower so small you couldn’t even move around in it. The tenants use one of Kimberly’s bathrooms, which was oddly open to their side as there was no wall separating the two. One of the bedrooms was absolutely huge and had a few stairs leading down to it from the kitchen. That’s also where the tiny bathroom/shower was. The kitchen was small and had a pink sink, I think.
Kimberly and I started dancing around for some reason and the house began to shake like there was an earthquake. The duplex neighbor asked us to stop but we didn’t think we were causing any harm and kept dancing and bouncing around. Then the house tore loose from the foundation and, I think, was in a river in rapids heading somewhere. At some point the house began to shake and rumble again and we knew we needed to get out. Somehow we did and we watched as the house became the creature of the ocean it had always been, and swam off into the ocean, loop da looping all the way.
Next thing I knew, we were back in Kimberly’s side of the duplex, getting ready for some type of gathering.
May 20 2021 Update: I’m still cleaning and purging the draft posts in my blog. I think I’ve been at it for a year or two now. I just had to share this one. This was such a wild dream that it inspired the above poem. I had completely forgotten about the dream and that I had written a poem about it. I hope it gave you a laugh or at least satisfied your weirdness quota for the day.
Blessings,
Camilla
See It. Share It. BE IT … Spread Love Everywhere You Go!
“Words of Alchemy”, published December 2019, is a free-verse poetry memoir covering the last 6 years of my life. The poetry of nature, the poetry of healing, the poetry of appreciation, the poetry of love, in one beautiful book.
Amazing news! My 19 year old daughter, Lillian Darnell’s debut book, “Where Would You Fly and Other Magical Stories” was published January 2018. Learn more and order here.
Wonderfully exciting news! My 15 year old son, Thomas Darnell‘s book, Biggest Little Photographer is published. Be inspired! Learn more and order here.
**THROWBACK TO 2017 OR 2018″
Between the Sweet Spot and the Heaviness
And lo the feelings
of being trapped
are strong.Weighing on this body
as worries weigh
upon the mind.No way out is seen
as the mind ricochets
from thought to thought.Most having nothing
to do with what brings
forth the heaviness
and feelings of being trapped.Like the shell in
the ocean,
attention is focused
on one thought
until tossed
to another and
yet another
with the movement
of the ocean.
Never BEing still.Thoughts of wanting to be
somewhere one is not.
Always thoughts of how
one gets passed this
moment – how one
survives this moment.The moment will come.
There is no stopping it.
It arrives just
as the moment
before arrived and
the moment after arrives.Just as the shell
in the ocean is
tossed to and fro
one feels tossed
to and fro by life.Not knowing which
way is which.
Confusion clouds
the mind,
despair settles
within the confusion.Following this path
knowing not
where it leads.Looking back on
past paths with
thoughts of what
a good place it
was in the path.All the while knowing
that in the midst of
that place one was filled with
thoughts of being trapped
and seeking a way out.Could it be that
one will look back
on this place in
the path years from
now with thoughts of
what a good place
in the path this
was to have been?Though it feels like
it not, this place
in the path is always
a good place to be.As there is no way to
move forward from the past
or the future.
One can only move
forward from this
moment in time,
this place in the path.Knowing the answers
within seems so
far from knowing
the answers without.Seems like a
distance of eternity.An eternity of traveling
to the sweet spot within
where life is a blissful
walk in the park.Stopping for a bit here
Stopping for a bit there
following the nudges
that life presents.Knowing all we need
do is always BE
where we BE. – ©Camilla Downs
Blessings,
Camilla
See It. Share It. BE IT … Spread Love Everywhere You Go!
“Words of Alchemy”, published December 2019, is a free-verse poetry memoir covering the last 6 years of my life. The poetry of nature, the poetry of healing, the poetry of appreciation, the poetry of love, in one beautiful book.
Amazing news! My 19 year old daughter, Lillian Darnell’s debut book, “Where Would You Fly and Other Magical Stories” was published January 2018. Learn more and order here.
Wonderfully exciting news! My 15 year old son, Thomas Darnell‘s book, Biggest Little Photographer is published. Be inspired! Learn more and order here.
October 16 2020
A walk to Tamarack Lake this morning. The smell of the evergreen trees, the silence, the beauty, the sound of the birds, the taste of fresh clean air. Intoxicating. Pure bliss.
Go here to see the original post, including more photos …