Amsterdam - Day 2 of . . . .

Our tour of Amsterdam was not only the grand museums, but romantic walks that one only dares to dream about.

You read of such walks in novels. And you think . . . nah, it could never happen in our life like that. Well. The beauty is there to behold. Everywhere you look. The heart-to-heart exchanges as you walk arm in arm, are timeless. You don't gossip. You don't talk about work. You don't even talk about the worrisome baggage we all seem to carry. You just see. Marvel. Notice for the first time. Feel so lucky to be where you are, at that moment. You meander with no destination in mind, taking in the wonder of each tiny detail that you would never notice at another time.

We saw (thousands!) of bicyclists, going about their daily rituals, with children in tow.

You could imagine what it would be like as a child, "en plein air" with careless breezes through your hair and the comfort of your parent behind you, on your way to the day ahead.

Rick was in that state of exuberance, stopping every few feet and chronicling that moment in vivid color as only he can.

(I am a bit partial here, as I think his photos are extraordinary). : )

The fairytale-esque architecture,

the fabulous fashions from around the world, stained glass, time-worn ceramic tiles

and building facades,

architectural details,

as well as the manhole covers, shadows, patterns and reflections on (and off) the floors and walls,

 

 
scooter seats, (shades of 'n Zeppel)

and trolley wires, (inviting 'n Zeppel)

the luscious food on our plates (!),

store displays,

chandeliers,

all contributed to a never-ending portfolio of yet unrealized tangles and reminders of familiar ones.

My little leather journal was alive with images sparking tiles I had not planned. Sketches of borders, floral patterns, carved corners, etched glass abound.

The tangles, as if breathing life onto the folios in my hands, seemed to grow in spite of me. This, as you all know, is just what tangling can do to a person.

The very act of tangling, brings to me whatever I seem to need at the time. . . be it calm, excitement, focus, happiness, gratitude, passion.

What do you experience when YOU tangle?

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Since we've been SO preoccupied with our fall seminars and the roll-out of our new website, we'll send our promised "something special" to five (instead of one) of you who took your time to contribute to that blog post's comments.

Each of the following will receive a set of our new Opus tiles. Just email your snail mail address to maria@zentangle.com and we'll get those out right away!

And the "winners" are:

Peg Stueber
Diane Wright
Art Lady Kate
Rosie-55
Judy Holzschuh

We also invite your comments to this blog post and will send a randomly chosen commenter a gift in appreciation (perhaps not after so long a wait this time!)

Thanks so much!

R&M