i’m glad my sweet momma saved these, my first soft leather pre-stride-rite walking shoes. they hang in my studio and are a literal reminder that everything is accomplished by first taking baby steps. leaps are optional. long jumps, ridiculous.
as we embark on some new adventures, i keep reminding myself of this. regardless of age, the idea of learning new things can be daunting and exhilarating, both. we step with commitment and with a willingness to bend and be fluid like reeds in the wind. we hold fast to past lessons and apply them generously where they fit and we recognize when new wisdom will serve us better. we step confidently and tenderly. both.
my beautiful niece chose BABY STEPS as the piece that started her wedding on the beach. the wedding party all walked barefoot through the sand to this music as we witnessed and supported heather and brian starting their new journey, one baby step at a time.
it all starts with baby steps. one tiny footfall at a time. speed matters not. it’s all forward motion.
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read DAVID’S thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY
BABY STEPS from RIGHT NOW ©️ 2010 kerri sherwood
the nurse-log’s new life in the lake up north this year, the strawberry patch, the new herb garden we built out of re-purposed schtuff (as wendy calls it), and, speaking of wendy, the tulips on her wall (sometimes the flowers aren’t real-live-in-the-dirt-flowers). there are photos from ocean-side marshland, the sweet gift of farmer’s market sunflowers, saved pictures of susan’s porch with hanging flowerpots…just to look at…as if i were there. flowers in linda’s abundant garden, 
huge basil at jen’s, gorgeous orange impatiens that stubbornly live in our backyard, even when we don’t notice them. black-eyed susans from our walks, white-flowering hostas on an iowa farm. soybeans in the field and bamboo alongside the lake, unidentified purple flowers 
and pink and yellow flowers along a neighbor’s front walk, purple sedum buzzing with bees a few houses away. the first tree to turn in the woods we were hiking in, a lone red leaf on a maple in the ‘hood. my photo shoot of the painting 
and breathe it back in. sometime, in the middle of winter, when the days are not as fluffy or romantically snowy, i will want to look at these pictures. to remember. you know, the whole thready thing. it’s a curse.
tent, which i am well-acquainted with, it called my name. “look at that happy bag,” i said to david. usually i don’t purchase much at these shows. i am often feeling that i-don’t-need-more-stuff feeling. but, as david told someone recently, pieces of art (really, despite what medium they are) reach out and find their true owner. and, i have to tell you, this happy bag found me. and you’ll never guess what the fabric was. for this dedicated wear-blue-jeans-and-black-tops girl (ok, that term “girl” may be outdated for me, but humor me, ok?”), this flowery backpack found its way into my hands. now i am using it each day. i know i will return to other purses i own (aka pocketbooks, aka handbags), but this happy bag will bring back -with just one glance- the hot day at the festival, the flowers in my summer, the color in my life. and we all need that, don’t we?
reverse threading 