Yellow Paper, Secret Notes and Magic Candles

Last night, at a triple birthday party (which ended up being double the triple) I got the only cupcake with a trick candle. I managed three wishes before someone snuffed my magic flame.

This morning we drove downtown early early. We could see all the way to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. The clouds were painted shades of sherbet: rosy pinks, vibrant oranges and light violets against a sea-blue sky.

This afternoon I was sent on an early birthday scavenger hunt which lead me to Special Collections at the U of U Library. I had an hour with a rare book all to myself.* Full of hand-painted color wheels and hand-set letterpress about thoughts and theories on color, I was in heaven. I took copious notes on yellow paper provided by the library and tried not to get pencil lead on the pages. I flipped them forward, then backward and I read the introduction three times. I liked this part:

The study of color is integral to that part of art so often ignored: the art of the artists' materials.

Tonight I came home to two dozen roses the color of a sunset in a vase with eucalyptus leaves, (one of my favorite smells) and a book I know I'll refer to again and again. We read aloud the part at the beginning written by E.B. White, deemed by one worthy of doing such deeming, "the greatest essayist America ever hatched." His words made us laugh. Plus, the 10 o'clock news announced a blizzard of epic proportions blowing this way. I heart snow oh so much. (In celebration of Saturday's storm, we downed our first ho cho of the season.) All of this...

...and my birthday isn't even until tomorrow.

*Thank you to the scavenger hunt schemer. Thank you for my secret note. And the drawing of the big dipper.