my heart is full to bursting because of tiny jewels, of happy accidents: chance encounters, random crazy moments of what-the-fuck-just-happened, feeling my heart change beat to sing in time to the drummers in the park, noticing the sound of the tap in the kitchen dripping and the hum of the refrigerator in the corner, finding the best coffee in the neighbourhood and making new friends of strangers.

magic lies in places like this. the discovery of a new friend via the blog world that leads to a meeting, then a trip to her fair city. i`m referring specifically to the lovely jeanine, whose house i sit in as i compose these first few lines to you.

i have so many photographs of this trip and a feeling that, even if i wrote for days, i simply could not portray to you just how much fun these few magic-filled days have been.

so instead of trying, i shall simply share some glimpses with you:

wandering the mile end streets

canon 5d mkII, diana+ lens

(i walked by the day after i’d taken this photograph to see the guy polishing his unicorn)

quirky shops, filled with interesting assortments

canon 5d mkII, diana+ lens

an amazing garage sale find. i mean who could resist the temptation to buy the polaroid spectra close-up stand duplicator for only $2. WHO? (i suspect this one purchase alone now qualifies me as a camera junkie of the strangest kind)

crossing to the other side of the tracks (loving the discovery that my jeans were folded up to different lengths)

to visit the fresh food market

interesting locals

tam tams in the park

the montreal jazz festival

great shop windows (yes, i did buy the moustache)

and gardens bursting with colour

a visit to beautys luncheonette: a montreal institution (for a full diner breakfast experience – including the crap filter coffee)

then to another for sodas

renting a bixi bike and cycling to the top of mont royal in the evening to see the city

the exhilarating ride back down the hill through the cemetery and a beautiful encounter with a raccoon

the BEST vegan food i have ever tasted in. my. life.

back streets and alleyways full of surprises

pizza and wine in the back yard, complete with tiki lanterns (which prompted this post by jeanine)

canon 5d mkII, diana+ lens

and a photobooth session for the finale – the results of which had me laughing so hard that my sides hurt & i had tears running down my face. i still need to work on my photobooth face!

there has been life, love & laughter in spades.

with love to you, wherever you are
-leonie

p.s. more photographs up on flickr (with more to come as i slowly sort through them all)

i’m not going to go into any detail about the assignment, because it’s not my place to tell you about the content of the course (it’s susannah’s baby and she absolutely deserves all the credit). it’s also partly because i consider this course to be an invitation… as a way that i can also question myself and begin new conversations that bubble up to the surface of my mind along with my responses to the course work. i see unravelling as a light, showing me the way into unexplored parts of me; a set of clues given to me by someone who hasn’t walked my path, yet has trodden one of their own that i can gain insights and wisdom from.

me and these feet have been travelling for a long time.
lifetimes perhaps. it feels like a long time ago, i left a place that was dear to me, part of me fully knowing that i would lose my way and spend a long time finding a pathway that would return me to the place that feels like somewhere i can belong.

i think i have also been runing from myself for [almost as] long as i’ve been travelling…
choosing to pack up & move when life got tricky rather than sticking around to work through my shit. this happens less frequently now as i get to know myself more. i travel now to move towards things like adventure and new friendships, rather than away from places of pain & discomfort. and it’s not that i don’t have these anymore, more that i am learning to sit with myself, dive into and explore those places, make them my friends and journey with them, accepting them as parts of who i am and what makes me whole.

these feet rollerbladed me on my first date with my beloved, and were barefoot as i held the arm of my father and walked along the beach to where i would make him my husband. they have danced me through festivals, helped me find balance in the standing leg series of bikram yoga, carried me to the doorways of both old & new friends, wandered over many pathways (both literally & metaphorically) and borne me through many countries. they were right there with me when i decided that i wanted a life of travel and adventure and not one with a house, a mortgage, two kids, two cars etc. the latter life is valid, it’s just not the one for me.

i find myself most grounded when not wearing any shoes.
that being said, i do love shoes and select them based on how much fun i think we can have together. i have dr martens, funky el naturalistas, a pair of pointy ones that seriously make me feel like getting up to mischief, some cowgirl boots and always, always a pair of funky birkenstock thongs.

i was looking back through the [very few] photos i have taken of my feet and found an unsurprising theme. in most i am barefoot & close to the sea. the ocean is one place i guess i could call home… my spirit home if you will. a place that soothes me, simply by being near her with my toes dug into the sand, or walking through her laughing waves. the sea is where i wash my taonga (treasures), one of which is a bone-carving of a mermaid. we know each other, the sea and i, and i miss her like a treasured friend when we are apart.

my beautiful, mostly uncomplaining feet have carried me to this place where i now sit (barefoot), with words tumbling around in my head craving to be made sense of. these feet are an essential part of the same body as a heart that is finally learning that all of this travelling to faraway & magical places is leading me closer and closer to the home that i will always carry deep within my most present and grounded self.

city of bicycles

this is a place i fall completely in love with whenever we visit

hanging out with friends,

finding the most interesting places

away from the main streets

elegance

and love are everywhere

there’s amazing coffee

some great places to eat

and the weather was perfect for being outside

love,
-leonie

the weather here has been beautiful recently and we thought we’d make the most of it on sunday with a day trip out of london…

we caught the train to brighton, picked up a streetcar, then collected our friend debz.

nic has been wanting to see the long man of wilmington for years, ever since seeing arthur c. clarke’s mysterious world. it’s only about 30 minutes by car from brighton so we headed there first…

long man of wilmington, polaroid sun 600 & expired film

before hopping back in the car & driving to the lovely camber sands beach. we had a picnic, then went for a walk along the beach. the water was surprisingly warm, so debz went for a swim while i lamented leaving my bathers in the car – i ended up soaked anyway, despite not technically going for a swim!

camber sands beach, polaroid sun 600 & expired film

nic was fascinated by all the kite surfers, out taking advantage of the 25-30 knot winds…

kite surfers, camber sands beach. polaroid sun 600 & expired film

we even had time on the way back to brighton to stop at birling gap for a quick pint and a glorious view of the seven sisters.

seven sisters, white chalk cliffs as seen from birling gap. polaroid sun 600 & expired film

being near the sea is a way for me to re-charge my batteries. simply digging my toes in the sand, or standing letting the waves wash around me makes me feel grounded, calm, happy.

my american sentence to describe the day
salty legs, damp clothes, sandy hair, twelve polaroids – smile wide as the sun.

with love,
leonie