....thank you.  Thank you for all you did for the movies, for the environment, for politics, for anyone who saw your luminous portrayals of every character you embodied.  How could you not have fallen in love with this man?  His beauty and his skill were bone deep.  I remember seeing Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid at a tiny theater in Carmel, Indiana, which at the time was not the metropolis it is now.  There was a tiny movie theater, an ice cream parlor, and lots of fields and woods way back when, and Mom took us to see this movie and I was....mesmerized.  Paul Newman was gorgeous and funny and sexy and smart and charismatic and charming; Robert Redford was....breathtaking in his silence, his brooding, his shyness offset by his boldness.  I had never seen anything like it - mind you, I wasn't even in my teens yet -- and I was deeply affected by this beautiful man.  When The Sting came out, my sister and I rode our bikes up the street to the movie theater to see it, going back twice more over the weekend because we couldn't get enough.  My crush on Robert Redford only deepened over the years as I grew up and realized how much this man offered in his silent, strong, beautiful way to the world.  I'm so deeply saddened by his loss and grateful that he'll always be with us on film, at Sundance, and in the depths of my being, the little girl who couldn't take her eyes off of this larger-than-life wonderful being who changed so many lives as his life expanded.  Thank you, Mr. Redford. The world is a better place for having had you in it.

...thistles, another plant in the Asteraceae family - a very large family, indeed!  Thistles are wonderful pollinators, especially for bees and butterflies. They're also edible, the stalks, leaves, and the unopened flowers, which apparently can be prepared like you do artichokes (also in the Asteraceae family)!  Oil from the seeds can be used for burning and cooking, The cottony fluff can be used to stuff pillows.  The thistle is the national flower of Scotland, symbolizing its resilience, defiance, and strength,  I love these tall, strong, beautiful, prickly plants.  Their pops of color when we go hiking always make me smile.

Wishing you the properties of the thistle today and every day.

....flower, right?!?!  Encountered these on a walk and was literally stopped in my tracks!  I didn't realize they were dahlias until I looked it up.  Dahlias are part of the aster family (makes sense when I really look at their structure) and were named after Anders Dahl, a Swedish botanist who died in 1789.  They grow from tubers that kind of look like potatoes.  They love sun and are best in a place with six hours of sunlight.  They bloom from early summer till the fall.  And, man, they come in so many varieties and colors and are just gorgeous!  I remember going to the Indiana State Fair every year with my folks and looking at the flowers that were up for the blue ribbons and dahlias always were showstoppers :-)

May you come across something breathtakingly beautiful that stops you in your tracks today :-)

I absolutely cannot believe how quickly time goes!!!  It was just a mere year and a half ago, Amy Crider, playwright extraordinaire, was asking me if I was interested and available to be in a production of Buddha's Birthday, a play that began as a 10-minute scene in a workshop and blossomed over a decade into a full-length play, many rewrites, many readings, all a wonderful experience.  I had my doubts that this would happen, because, well, theater in these troubled times - art in these troubled times! - is really suffering, but Amy persisted, pursued, and self-produced this wonderful play, getting together marvelous artists Chris Hainsworth, Kathy Ruhl, Ada Grey, and fabulous puppeteer Emilie Wingate and Bowie, the raccoon, with Iris Jullar as our fearless director, Nora Cashman as our assistant director and ultimately backstage crew, and Anna Zaczek at the helm, beautifully stage managing at The Edge Theater in Chicago.  What a delight this whole experience was!  And after a fast three-week run, we're over, just like that!  So many friends and family came from far and wide!  My siblings, who are scattered around the country in Washington State, North Carolina, and Texas, all journeyed here to support me.  My oldest and dearest friend came in from Pittsburgh.  We had so much love and support throughout this process, it was uplifting and incredible!  I have to say it - say it with me - it takes a village :-)

...to be in rehearsal for Buddha's Birthday, a play written by Amy Crider, which began as a 10-minute piece a decade ago and which Amy has been working on all that time to create a marvelous full-length play.  I've been so busy and so happy!  What a wonderful group of artists Amy has assembled.  The marvelous Chris Hainsworth plays Lawrence, my husband.  The fabulous Kathy Ruhl plays Roberta, my mother.  And the luminous Ada Grey plays Jennifer, my niece.  A creative and insightful crew made of Iris Jullar, our detailed director; Nora Cashman, our keen assistant director; and Anna Zaczek, our lovely stage manager who keeps us on track are making rehearsals a place of creative excitement, collaboration, discovery, and fun.  Come see us at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway in Chicago August 1st through August 17th.  I'd love to see you there!

....poppies will put them to sleep!"  I can't see poppies without thinking of Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz, can you? According to my research, the poppy is a symbol of remembrance and sacrifice, particularly in the context of military conflict. It's most widely recognized for its association with the First World War, specifically Flanders Field and the red poppies that bloomed there after the battle. This association has led to the poppy being worn on Remembrance Day and Veterans Day as a symbol of honoring those who served and died. It also signifies hope and renewal, sleep, death, and the afterlife. They're in the Papaveraceae family and are wonderful pollinators. They come in different colors and are a wonderful addition to any garden.

This picture kind of reminds me of an Andy Warhol painting :-) I love the bright pop of color, and their insides are so detailed and full of dark, different colors which are easy to overlook when you're dazzled by the bright, happy orange-red of the flower.

Hoping you come across many things that make you smile today.

....salvia! And there are so many kinds!  But more important than me loving it are the pollinators who love it - bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, some songbirds, and goldfinches! It's drought-tolerant, low maintenance, and so vibrant and beautiful! Plus it's good for the soil, is edible, and has medicinal properties as well. It's in the Lamiaceae family, which includes multitudes of plants like basil, mint, rosemary, lavender, and bee balm, to name just a few.  This is new to my garden last year, and it came up strong and glorious! I can't wait for the pollinators to discover it!

I hope you discover some beautiful flowers in your day today and get to smile and wonder at the incredible beauty of nature.