Secret Tree Star

A glint of light caught my eyes one blustery afternoon, and I glanced up to find a golden tree star winking back at me!

The leaves hid the secret all spring and summer. Only autumn told the truth. We are full of secret stars, too, I think. Sometimes strong winds strip us down to the bare glint, and we must learn how to shine again.

This little plastic tree star reminded me of a favorite quote of my mom's: "If at night you cry for the sun, you will not see the stars." -Rabindranath Tagore.

Heartstrikers trilogy! Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron

I bought myself the most delicious, non-caloric treat: the ebook trilogy consisting of Nice Dragons Finish Last, One Good Dragon Deserves Another, and No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished by Rachel Aaron. I finished off all three books in a week!

The Heartstriker series is set in a future where magic has returned to the earth after a meteor strike, and follows two principal characters: Julius, the youngest dragon in a family of violent, ambitious power hungry dragons who doesn't have an avaricious bone in his body. Disgusted by his gentle heart and utter lack of proper draconic behavior, his mother Bethesda seals him in human form and throws him into the DFZ (the Detroit Free Zone), telling him to Dragon Up or Die, basically. Too bad dragons are forbidden in the DFZ! But it is in this city that he meets Marci, a human mage who has a mysterious bond with Ghost, a spirit feline that isn't just a cat.

So what did I love best about this series? To start, the humor is hilarious! I especially loved the fact that Marci was no damsel in distress waiting to be rescued by Julius. Much of the series is devoted to her developing her powers as a mage and discovering more about her bond with Ghost. As for the other main character--oh Julius! He is stubbornly kind, non-violent and selfless even when his own life is at risk. And it is this very unique nature of his that starts to change the rule (and rules) of dragon society. The slow and sweetly awkward romance of Marci and Julius is also a pleasure to read . . . if you don't mind having your heart wrenched out now and then (no spoilers!). I don't think I've enjoyed a dragon story so much since Princess Cimorene and Kazul in The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede.

Very much looking forward to book 4!

Magic Places: Essence vs. Utter Reality

All our stories come from the earth. We nourish ourselves with the fantastic, find gods in a volcano's wrath and the turning of the seasons in pomegranate seeds. American poet Muriel Rukeyser said, "The universe is made of stories, not of atoms." An ancient prophet proclaimed, "In the beginning was the Word." Yet there is another truth, too; human imagination must first germinate in the mundane and wondrous materiality of existence before transcending the limits of the physical world.

This May, I was lucky enough to visit both Yellowstone and Iceland with family. Out of all the places that I visited in Yellowstone, my favorite was most certainly the Dragon's Mouth Spring, even though it wasn't as grand as Old Faithful in its towering glory . . .

Old Faithful

vs. 

The Dragon's Mouth Spring

And yet, this humble spring, a mere grumbling hole in a hill, filled me with awe because someone, sometime, had imagined a dragon lived there, snuffling spiraling puffs of smoke, its growling roar sending scalding hot splashes of water from the cave.

And the dragon does live there. I heard, I saw, I, too, felt the dragon's breath the second I read the sign and adjusted the lens of my imagination to catch the spectacular truth. The story makes the atoms true, in essence if not utter reality.

Iceland also proved rich loam for my imagination, or in the following case, mineral-rich waters. This is a picture of the stunning opaline waste waters of the Blue Lagoon near Reykjavik. You heard me right, these luminous blue waters are a by-product of a geothermal plant. The accidental lagoon was later converted into a spa that attracts tourists from all over the world.

The day my sister and I visited the Blue Lagoon was blustery and cold, but even so I felt I could gaze at the milky moon waters all day and never grow tired of the lapping brilliance.

The Dragon's Mouth Spring and the Blue Lagoon retaught me something: our world is filled with both big and little wonders waiting for someone to find their story. To read beauty into something as simply perfected as the fine serration of a rose leaf, or a dandelion's stubborn roots.

I just hope I pay attention!