04 | desert rain

It’s been an intense monsoon season in Tucson. The desert is incredibly lush and humid. All kinds of butterflies are coming through - feasting on the flowering of the second spring. Here are a few inspiring things to start your week.

Tucson Botanical Garden | One of the oldest gardens in the Southwest, the collection features an amazing variety of desert plants. They open at 7:30 am - which is an amazing way to start the day.

https://tucsonbotanical.org

Reading | I am reading up on the healing properties and care of crystals and semi precious gemstones. It is so cool to be in a city and state that has incredible natural resources, and tons of rock shops to explore. I am looking forward to adding specimens as I discover them. Please feel free to contact me if you are looking for a particular family of stones. The new stone age by Carol Woolton is an easy place to start.

https://www.instagram.com/carolwoolton/?hl=en

Listening | Dave Brubeck never fails to disappoint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs

03 | Soft lines

Have a lovely weekend. What are you planning to do? Even though we missed the full moon, we are planning to walk the dogs as the moon rises over the catalina mountains of Tucson. It is an epic moonrise from this vantage point, in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains, and something to look forward to every month.

My earliest influence working with silver was observing water edges and the way that it softened a shoreline, a stone, or a fragment of beach glass. In the Sonoran desert, wind is the major actor and you see eddies behind trees in sand dunes and grasses making marks. I hope this body of work is evocative of natural phenomena, and reminds you of your place in nature. The interface between bone, body and landscape is deep. It’s been a quiet week here, fits and starts of a rhythm. The temperature dropped into the 90’s for a couple of days.

Working and shooting products | Lots of new cuffs and rings are in the shop this week. I shoot everything on my iphone SE. The composition is another art form - with the goal to make minimal, tactile layered shots that have clarity. I follow Johnnie Gall on instagram. Her workshops on lightroom editing and filters is on my to do list.

https://www.instagram.com/dirtbagdarling/

Listening | I am in the middle of a 40 mindfulness training with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. It has been a great reset - this year I experienced four of the five most stressful things you can experience in a lifetime. The biggest one being the loss of my father. He was such a huge part of my life, we just had an understanding, you know? His death is rocking my world right now. He lived an amazing life, but I wasn’t ready for him to go. The silence booms. This meditation practice has been so helpful during this time. I already know that I will do it again. Please feel free to join me.

https://www.soundstrue.com/products/mindfulness-daily#5dcd8762906ed

Movement | I am so excited to get back to a yoga studio and take some classes. I have always been drawn towards ashtanga yoga, and had the great pleasure and pressure of studying with David Garrigues. He is a master of insight and intuition. I feel so lucky that I got to practice with him for about 5 years. Please find him out in the world, and on instagram. His approach is a beautiful blend of punk, devotion, irreverence, and rigor in the best possible way - exemplified by his popular asana kitchen, and my favorite cooking episode making chapatis. enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JL4oxTyynU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rR-TlJzTAA

02 | head in the clouds

Every June I make sure to head back to Pennsylvania in time for the strawberry harvest. This year was an amazing yield. We ate strawberries and cream multiple times a day. June in Lancaster county is a dream. The Spring coldness is long gone, and the summer humidity is coming. But the rare, clear June day is pretty spectacular.

Traveling | My sister lives near Belmar Beach, NJ. We went on two cloudy, moody, beautiful mornings in a row, picking up limpet shells, oyster shells to use for silver findings as well as all kinds of sea glass, broken shells and stones. What an amazing perspective shift to be at the ocean. I hope I get to live near water some time. The desert is full of sea life fossils, and is oceanic. I designed and planted a flower garden for my sister, in front of a deck that my brother built. It was the first project of his that I have responded to with a landscape. It was such a satisfying experience

Listening | I listened to an interview with Suleika Jaouad by Tim Ferriss. I was inspired by her story and perspective on moving through difficult challenges in life. She is a NYT writer and just published a book called Between Two Kingdoms about her near death and “recovery”. I highly recommend reading or listening to the book and following the links below to some incredible content.

https://www.tatteredcover.com/book/9780399588587

https://tim.blog/2021/06/02/suleika-jaouad-transcript/

https://www.theisolationjournals.com/

MUSIC | I have been making playlists in Apple music, but I will be transferring over to spotify soon so that I can share them with you. I’ve been borrowing heavily from Kevin Bacon’s Monday Blues.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHqLAWrnaNK/