W is for.....

William - my biggest W, my youngest son. It's funny because we ended up naming him William only because it was the only name that both my husband and I could agree on. It wasn't near the top of either of our lists. Frankly I didn't think it would matter as I thought he would be a she and her name would have been Chloe. I knew it was William only a few days before he arrived. Long story. Now I can't imagine him having another name. He is sooooo William.

William - this time we're talking about The Bard. I came into appreciating him later in life, but I try to see a play or two every year.

wind - I love the sound of wind and rain, preferably while I'm warm and cozy watching it through a window.

windows - are frames onto the world. Depending on the angle, a window holds many different "paintings". Just the other day I was laying in bed appreciating how fortunate that I was that each of my bedroom windows over the years have framed beautiful tree branches - enjoyable alone or with a moon peeking through them.

Wisconsin - the state where I was born and spent the first ten or so years of my life.

Wicked - my favoritest play ever. Probably. Haven't seen them all yet so I can't say that definitively. My favorite soundtrack. And a great book.

wood - I've heated primarily with wood for most of my adult life. That's sort of an odd thing in this day and age. Sometimes fireplaces, more often woodstoves.

water - there's something so healing about water, whether it's the crashing of an ocean wave or the gentle drops of a hot shower

witch - that's me, just a little ol' kitchen witch. I collect kitchen witches for my kitchen, witch dolls and figurines - primarily in my bedroom, a few in my dandy new glass faced cabinet (gee, I still haven't taken a photo to show you!)

writer - what I want to be when I grow up. I suppose I'll grow up eventuallly. Sigh.

Whedon - a most excellent and brilliant writer/producer. I can't imagine a Buffy-less world.

Wheel of Fortune - I love to solve the puzzles. My family wants me to go on the show and win them all sorts of money.

walkingstick - an insect that looks like a stick. I was fascinated with little critters when I was a kid

watermelon - an odd food in that I hated it as a kid, love it as an adult

waterski - for most of my childhood years we lived on a lake or two. I learned to waterski. I could slalom, jump the wake. Some of my male friends could even ski barefoot.

whimsical - I love the word, and I love all things whimsical. I'm not big on "cutesy", but I'm a big sucker for "whimsical."

words - I love words. I mean, I started Wordplay - duh! Can you even imagine a world without words? I can't even imagine thinking without words although I suppose it's possible. Speaking of words, there's a really fascinating book called The Alphabet Vs. The Goddess by Leonard Shlain. I love words so much that I read the entire book wanting to not like it. But dang it, I did. Very intriguing theory of how words affect how we experience the world.

Wordplay - a great idea, if I do say so myself!

worry - I worry a lot. With a lot of kids come that much more worry. If it's not people worries, I'm pretty good at keeping it all in perspective. I figured out fifteen or twenty years ago that things worked out or didn't regardless of whether I worried about it a lot or a little. I've learned to take breath, wait, trust. The one exception is my kids. I'm a worrier when it comes to them, even an occasional anxiety or panic attack.

Wheel of the Year - I love to watch the seasons go round and round.

weather - I like weather, variety that is. If I live someplace where there's no change in weather, I get bored with it, even if it's perfect sunny skies. I'll take a little bit of sun, a bit of wind, a bit of rain, a bit of snow.

whales - I love all nature, but whales are particularly intriguing.

wild - although I mentioned I'm more of a rural gal then a wilderness one, that's not to say that I don't appreciate and treasure wildness. We need it to keep our proper place on this earth, part of all things, not masters of all things. I also like people with a bit of a wild edge. Not necessarily mean or dangerous, but just wild enough to rebel when it's important, or harmless fun.

winter - although autumn is my favorite season, winter has been a big influence on me. Born in January in Wisconsin, my mom said I slept better when she put my bassinet out on the balcony where the air was cold. When I say it like that, it sounds sort of creepy, huh! But I still can't sleep in a stuffy room and will take "too cold" over "too hot" any day. Growing up in the Midwest I spent a zillion hours in mittens, building snowmen, crunching or padding through snow, ice fishing, skating, sledding, and just enjoying snowflakes on my tongue.

walking - I like walking. It's a way to get from place to place at a pace that allows one to appreciate where you are at the end of each step. Stop to enjoy a garden, appreciate an old house, window shop in a store window. Or get lost in your own thoughts and tune out the world around you. Although my kids are more into participating in sports then I am, I can out walk them all.

Waste not, Want not - I'm not perfect, but I try to tread lightly on the earth.

wander - one of my favorite quotes - "Not all who wander are lost."