Late {15-23}

Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind.  ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I know that today is Tuesday, and that I missed my weekly time of contemplation that come amid the sunrise each Monday morning.

Yesterday, however, was one of those days that left me simply no time for blogging...save for a short yet sweet explanation of my absenteeism, which can be found here.

And trust me, as much as I love each and every one of you, it was truly worth it in the long run.

Yesterday was one of those days that was so full of complicated blessings and wracked with unending moments of business that it almost has all run together in a watercolour blur...

...and yet, the blessings stand out as clear as though they were illuminated in an outline of the purest of light.

• 15. The restoration of the once-under-appreciated gift of electricity after almost an entire day of darkness, due to yet another vicious storm that swept over us.

• 16. Checking item 43 off my bucket list...as I begin the process of directing my first musical theater production...one step closer to fulfilling all my dreams. OZ! has just begun. 

• 17. The squeal of delight from an aspiring actor or actress as I tell them the part they received...these phone calls are one of the best parts of being a director. 

• 18. The simple blessings of a sunrise, warm and sweet after so many days of oppressive storm clouds stealing the sunlight. 

• 19. Awakening to read the beautiful words of Psalm 113, my heart flooding with tear-filled wonder and awe..."Who is like our God?"

• 20. Discovering that my little sister is coming home from Germany almost a month earlier than originally planned...reading a Facebook wallpost filled with sisterly inside jokes and upcoming photoshoot plans...it's been too long since I've seen my best friend.

• 21. Owl City and icy-cold Dr. Pepper...the melodies and the dripping moisture down the side of the can blending into a strange symphony of sensation and beauty.

• 22. The discovery of this song by Breanne Duren...Adam Young's female counterpart with a voice like oranges and sandlewood. This is my new musical love. 

• 23. Allowing my love of dandelions to pour out into this guest post over at A New Rebel...innocent beauty found in the weed patch. 

More simple joys. More little things combined to make beautiful pleasures of life.

Forgive my lateness...

...and embrace my delight. 

When ideas float in our mind without any reflection or regard of the understanding, it is that which the French call revery, our language has scarce a name for it.  ~John Locke

Village

Small-town USA
Photo by DramaticElegance 

Just a small town girl
Livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train
Goin' anywhere ~Don't Stop Believing, Journey


All of my life, I have been a small-town girl. 


While my heart is a little more big-city style...


...while I always complained throughout my entire teen years about how I can't wait to "get out of this town,"...


...how I spent summer upon summer planning my star-studded future in Chicago or NYC...


...my heart is melted here now. 


Tonight while my husband was at work, my mummy, daddy, and I piled into my parents' Jeep...


...complete with pillows, popcorn buckets, reclining armchairs, and fluffy blankets...


...and headed to downtown movie night!


Honestly, there is nothing better than Tangled to the tune of fireflies...complete with rather awful small-town guitar music, and right up next to the local ice cream parlour where white-chocolate-raspberry-fudge waffle cones await. 


This is the town I grew up in, the town in which I do theater.


This is a town so sweet and small that the police shut down an entire street for the locals to fill with lawn chairs and blankets, and the bank supplies steaming hot popcorn without a single cent in exchange. 


Spending the evening with my parents...

My amazing and wonderfully still-in-love parents
Photo by DramaticElegance

...laughing at the antics of my sugar-hyper daddy, recording snippets of video pre-movie for my sister overseas, and snuggling under blankets with my mummy while my daddy chats up almost everyone in town...


...that's a place I love to be. 


Small town girl. 


Big city dreams.


Here the two meet, 


and they meet well.

Just smell the grass! The dirt! Just like I dreamed they'd be! / Just feel that summer breeze - the way it's calling me / For like the first time ever, I'm completely free! / I could go running / And racing / And dancing / And chasing / And leaping / And bounding / Hair flying / Heart pounding / And splashing / And reeling / And finally feeling / Now's when my life begins! ~When My Life Begins, Tangled

(Also, speaking of adorable villages, Carlotta at Pastor's Girl's Ponderings is having an adorable Parisan giveaway! It ends tomorrow, so be sure to check it out and enter soon!)