Before the Earthquake: Double smiles – He had new boots AND was thrilled to watch over his cousin’s new motorcycle!
“If my heart can become pure and simple like that of a child, I think there probably can be no greater happiness than this” Kitaro Nishida (From The Little Zen Companion)
The birds daily designs are drawn with cracked corn, and the birds slowly erase the designs! The frog usually hides behind the rain gauge.
The first hours of the morning are sacred to me, and I perfer to spend them in silence as I wean from an active dreamworld to the expectations of the day. An always-changing cast of winged performers flit through the living stage. This morning, as I write from the comfort of the front balcony, a cheerful wren forages along the branches of a Pico-Pico tree just long enough to have its image caught on camera.
Hello Wren!
A dozen or more swallows perform an aerial ballet across the pure-blue skies. One crisp-yellow butterfly inspects the landscaped area near the ponnd. At times the butterflies move with such precision that I think they are birds! Scanning the vista below, I spot a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird perusing the morning’s floral department while deciding which will provide the prized nectar for the day.
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird takes a timeout from the flowers!
While admiring the hummingbird, I spot a large bird streak past the house and realize it was a Collared Aracari!Hoping it landed in the top of the ‘Aguacatillo’ tree, I bolt for a better view, but alas, there’s no sign of the aracari.
It must have gone elsewhere to rest and ponder its options for the day!
Other members of the cast provided a side show – the Black Phoebe with a just-caught dragonfly, a cowbird feasting on yesterday’s cracked corn, and a cast of tanagers feeding in a nearby tree.
Black Phoebe’s Catch of the Day!
Knowing that the fish were waiting, I gathered the two varieties of fish food (tiny seed-like food for the little fish and large dog-food sized chunks for the larger ones.) Cracked corn is doled out at random bird-feeding spots, and in several places I enjoy drawing simple designs with the corn. The exercise focuses my attention, and for those thirty or so seconds, all else is forgotten as the design takes form.
Big food for Big Fish!
Little Food for Little Fish!
And corn for the birds!
This rock prompts me to draw spirals…
One particular rock has an irregular template already in place, and almost always I draw a simple smile, one that can be seen from the balcony above. There is something magic about drawing that smile, and almost always I begin with detached seriousness, and by the time the smile is finished, I realize that I too am smiling! Yes indeed, smiles are infectious!
This week, disconnect from being too serious, and help me with a simple test. Right now, draw a slow deliberate smile on a piece of paper or with a paint program on your computer. Eyes first. Then slowly make the smile, and see if the act of drawing the smile makes you smile.
Draw smiles where you normally would not – like when serving/arranging food or putting salsa on a burger or arrange your animal’s food in the shape of a smile — and see if it makes your heart smile just a bit more than it was before you began the task.
Equinox Noon Smiles!
Remember that art doesn’t have to be serious or perfect. Tap into your whimsical spirit and spread smiles with a childlike happiness; most likely your heart will smile as well.
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
You are a lesson to us all: look and see what beauty there is all around us!!
I will certainly begin to put out my bird seed in designs! Tomorrow a smiling face for the birds.
smiles every where. Let’s do this.
You make me smile, Lisa 🙂 🙂
Thanks for the smile 😊💐
Aha, I’m not the only one who draws patterns with birdseed then!
I usually do mine on top of our garden shed, the pigeons seem to appreciate it.
I am smiling now dear friend 🙂
Not only is the artist information a delightful zing to the heart of joy but also two other wonderful aspects are; the delicious words that always flow into the blog and of course the most beautiful of all the artist. Each time a blog comes forth it is a wonderful peek into Lisaaaaaaa heart and soul.
You’re so right that smiles beget smiles. Not being an artist, I’ve never thought of drawing smiles, but I do try to draw smiles out of grumpy or self-absorbed people I meet by smiling at them! For some reason, all of the other smiles I’m thinking of now involve food: frosting smiles on cookies, jelly smiles on bread and peanut butter.
To expand on your point just a little, I listened to a very interesting discussion recently about the ways that our society no longer laughs. The simplest of jokes risks offending someone, and as a result, we’re becoming increasingly fearful and puritanical. Bring on the laughter, I say: tell the jokes, play with words, tease just a little. Laughter and smiles don’t have to separate people — they’re a way we used to connect.
I so love your smiles.. and so loved the sequence of photos on the rock with smiles..
Have a Blessed day
The last one made me laugh. Is that ok? 🙂