Author Archives: Tracy MacDonald

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About Tracy MacDonald

A joyful writer, photographer, mixed-media artist, and seeker of beauty on this amazing journey.

Take Me To the Kingdom!

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“Ramsay, are you ready to go overseas?” my husband asks our 14 month old over speakerphone.

“We got an assignment?” (I practically scream this question with excitement into the phone).

“Where?! Where are we going?”

“Swaziland!”

(In case you need to look up the geography, as I did, here is a screen shot from Google Maps):

Swaziland, Google Maps, 2013-08-06 at 8.50.16 PMWe move this October, to the Kingdom of Swaziland; a monarchy in a country the size of New Jersey.  I’ve lived in the United Kingdom, but I have so much to learn about this African Kingdom.  Right now, this place sounds to me like something out of the Chronicles of Narnia, an exciting adventure!  I love the idea that Ramsay will know safari animals in their natural habitat. And to think he will be close to four years old when we leave Africa. And some of his first words will be in the language of Swati!

I can’t wait to blog from our new home, to capture impressions and share photos and see how our new country shapes us. Parts of it will be hard on the heart, too: Swaziland has one of the highest rates of HIV, which has left too many children orphaned, and there is much suffering from disease, hunger, and poverty. Peace Corps, USAID, Heart for Africa, and many charitable groups are active. We will learn how to get involved, too, in our new community.

I’ve heard the skies in Africa are amazing, and the stars shine as brightly as you’ve ever seen them.

I bought a Lonely Planet guide on South Africa yesterday. It seems like a tiny start, but one must start somewhere. There is much research, daydreaming, and planning to be done. And, oh, the emotions of leaving family and friends. It’s all exciting, overwhelming, and coming very, very quickly! Two more months!

Has anyone out there reading this been to Swaziland? Please share!

til next time,

Starry

A Tale of Two Cities, a Toddler, Some Tea…

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Hi! It’s good to get back to blogging after a little summer break!  So much to catch up on. Took baby Ramsay on a two-city tour of Tucson, Arizona and Columbus, Georgia to see family. It was so much fun to watch him with his grandparents, and so good to get hugs and feel taken care of.

Too many random thoughts for any cohesive writing lately, so here’s a summary of things I am grateful for lately through photos:

The ritual of making tea with loose tea leaves

How baking makes the house smell good. (And the deliciousness of devouring Madeleines).

Quiet time in the evenings to read, and to collage some “mail art” and create with molding paste, which is a fun, new medium I’m learning about.

Discovering what interests my son:  especially the color yellow, and shoes in general.

Surprises and beauty in nature, architecture, and daily life:

Hope your summer is going well, and there are many amazing moments in each day.

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Serendipity on a Winding Path

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IMG_1375When I saw this mixed-media necklace at our local Art Fair in historic Occoquan recently, the word JOURNEY called to me.  We are all on a journey, a winding path of moments and days.

Lately, the days on my journey have felt longer, and a bit emptier.  My sweet honey got orders to work overseas until Mid-August. I miss him terribly, and so does our little fella, who teeters from room to room in our house, calling, “DaDa?” “DaDA!” and it’s heart wrenching not to be able to explain that Daddy is far away, but we’ll see him in a couple of months.

We made time for a date night before he left, and had dinner at Central in D.C.

IMG_1360   The Oysters Rockefeller were divine, and I loved the artistic display of herbs and spices on rock salt on the platter.  IMG_1351Thank you for paying attention to detail, chef Michel Richard!  It’s all in the details… I love details, especially artistic ones.

So, do you remember in my last post when I quoted a Shel Silverstein Poem about the girl who would not take out the trash (Cynthia Sylvia Stout)?  It was an odd coincidence that this poem (that I first read in the 70’s, and had not thought about for years), popped up on my radar at LUSH (homemade bath products) a few days later as the name of a Shampoo. Ha! IMG_1300 Don’t you love it when something random appears on your radar and then unexpectedly resurfaces again soon after? (Am I  the only person amused by this sort of thing)?  Serendipity? Chance? Fate? The law of attraction?

Are you familiar with Paulo Coelho’s book, The Alchemist?  It’s one of my favorites, and I am drawn to his idea that the universe teaches us (brings things to us) when we are ready.  I bought a small original watercolor in Rome in 1999, and when I asked the artist what inspired him, he told me about this book. When I returned to London the following week (where I was working at the time), I read The Alchemist cover to cover, and suddenly, it seemed everyone I met was talking about it. (It had been published almost a decade earlier, so it wasn’t new on the scene). Have you had something similar happen?

Wishing for you lots of serendipity in the coming days.

Cheers,

Starry