FlyingGirl.com

Sharing unique visions online since 1999.

News - updated December 22nd.

Remaining postcards now on CLEARANCE.

Crazy things have happened to me as far back as I can remember.  Sometimes it seems like the Universe operates more openly in my life than in the world at large.  I see signs everywhere and I accept them at face value.  I don't argue.  When God/Buddha/the Great Spirit sends me a hint or a suggestion, I just shrug my shoulders and follow along.  I think I was born with an innate understanding that what we see and what we think are only minimal components in "reality".  There is just a lot more going on than what we grasp and I am okay with that.  The string of events I am about to describe are just a few of the many crazy irrational unexpected turning points in my life.  But they are very important ones.

Angel the Dog - part 1

Sometime in 1993/1994, I was working at my first job out of college, living with someone I thought was my life-partner, pretending to make a home.  I was very young and very confused and very arrogant and I had no clue.  I lived by logic, worked to make an impression, and had no faith in anything.  My partner wanted a dog.  To give you some idea how out of whack I was back then, I was against the idea.  I did not like dogs.  (Can you imagine?!)  But eventually I gave in and we went to the local dog shelter where my partner discovered a dirty ratty terrified little poodle huddled in a cage.  Her name was Angel.  We adopted her.  I could not imagine myself calling for my dog in the park and yelling "Angel" for my white poodle.  It seemed so cheesy.  So I decided to change her name.  But she was already about three years old and I did not want to change it so much that she would not recognize it, so I changed her name to Angle.  Shortly thereafter, my relationship ended, but Angle and I had already bonded so deeply that I do not even recall a discussion about where she would live.  Angle stayed with me.  We were a team.  Over the next twelve years, Angle helped me through one crisis after another.  She saved my life more than once when I felt suicidal.  She taught me about love and devotion.  She helped me through a spiritual awakening and saw me go from a high-income business career to a dirt poor existence as an artist.  Angle was always at my feet when I painted, at my side when I walked, and snoring somewhere near me all through the night.  Angle protected me and kept me company and made each day a little brighter. 

My beloved baby dog passed away in March of 2005 and I miss her so much it aches and aches.  But I know Angle still keeps watch over me.  So I want to say to Angle, "Thank you, little one!"

Angel in the Night

One night in 1999 or so, I was awakened by a phone call from a stranger.  I picked up the phone by my bed and mumbled, "Hello?"  A woman's voice said, "My name is Angela and I have a postcard of your art here and this is a message from God."  I kid you not.  That is what she said.  Now she had my attention.  Obviously she meant that the postcard was a message from God intended to reach her.  What I heard was that she was an Angel (with an extra "a" on her name) and she was calling with a message from God intended for me.  I immediately clicked on my bedside lamp, grabbed a pen and started taking notes about our conversation.  Because you don't get calls like that every night!  I still have the scrap of paper where I scribbled my notes. 

Angela was in the psyche ward at the local hospital.  Somehow, a post card of my drawing titled "Birdhat" had found its way to the rec room at the psyche ward.  I cannot imagine how it got there.  When I had these postcards printed, I had added a caption about how my grade-school teacher used to make up construction paper hats that looked like birds on our birthdays.  And when I got mine, I could feel the wings of my hat flapping as I ran for the bus.  I noted on the postcard that I felt both excited and embarrassed to be so special.  When I ran in my flapping birthday bird hat.

This mystery caller said that this postcard made her feel better.  Like someone understood how she felt as a child.  She said it inspired her to make her own artwork.  She thanked me for making the drawing.  Angela's call came at a time when I was working at a day job and dreaming of being an artist.  But I was tired and running out of hope and considering the possibility that I was not tough enough to make it in the art world.  I thought I might stop making art all together and just focus on being a responsible citizen.  Play it safe.  This call from an Angel changed everything for me.  I literally had a calling.  I could not abandon art after someone called "with a message from God" and told me how important my art was.

How crazy is that!?  Amazing.  My life.  They don't even dream up scripts like this in Hollywood.  After I hung up the phone, I turned off my light and laid back down and thought I might go back to sleep.  But then I started to think I must have dreamed the whole crazy episode.  So I got up and went in the other room to check the caller ID box.  And there was a phone numbered noted as being from the local hospital.  I am still shaking my head in disbelief even now.

I never heard from Angela again.  If she is out there, I want to say, "Thank you."

Angel the Dog - part 2

Losing my little poodle has been incredibly painful for me.  I did not realize how much I depended on Angle's love until it was gone.  My studio is in my home, so I spend all of my time here.  With no human visitors.  And without Angle here for company, my days seemed unbearably empty.  Within days of Angle's passing, I began to talk with her and ask her for help.  I told her how lost I was without her and I told her how much I missed her and I told her how lonely I felt.  "Please help me through this, Angle," I begged.  "We can get through this together, I know we can."  I began to talk to friends about the possibility of adopting another dog.  Some said it was too soon.  But I knew I really needed a little dog in my life.  So I started reading internet listings for pets.  I put the word out that I might be looking to adopt.  I emailed the lady that had been a foster Mom to our baby Zeus when he was in the care of a rescue group and I asked her to keep an eye out for the right dog for me. 

I knew I would grieve my Angle for a long long time and I knew I could never replace her.  But I also knew that a little dog would help me through my tough times and keep me company while I deal with my loss.  Because Angle had shown me how much dogs can heal our hearts. 

The lady that had cared for Zeus wrote me back with pictures of some puppies in her care, but they were going to be too large.  She sent me to another woman who sent me to another woman who sent me photos of other puppies, also not quite right.  This rescue group had recently saved about FIFTY dogs and pups from a puppymill situation where they were neglected and suffering.  Most of these dogs were Wheaten Terrier mixes and most were quite large.  The last woman I spoke with then sent me an unexpected note about a dog from the puppymill that was being fostered by someone else.  A smaller dog.  An eight month old Wheaten / Poodle mix.  She said she would try to send me a photo.  When the photos finally came, I saw the file names and my breath caught in my throat.  They were "angelgood.jpg" and "angelbest.jpg".  I knew that my baby poodle that had passed away was sending in reinforcements.  She sent me some support.  I went to visit "Angel" and of course I knew she would be my new companion.  The woman fostering her was the intake coordinator for the rescue group.  She had named hundreds of dogs over the years and she had never named one Angel before.  She said, "I don't even like the name Angel!  I don't know why I picked it.  This little dog had an Angelic glow about her and I knew she was special, so I picked the name "Angel" even though I knew that was a strange name choice for me."  And when she took this little dog along with two other rescue dogs to the groomer, the groomer gave each of the three a different name.  The foster Mom said that the two other dogs could be renamed, but Angel's name had to stay Angel.  She still didn't know why.

I know why.

This new Angel has now been renamed Grace.  And little baby Gracie is a joy to see.  She warms my heart.  All I can say is, "Thank you."