This will be my fourth opportunity to cross our wonderful country. The first three times were pretty harried and hurried – the first a true unknown adventure full of break downs and roadside kindnesses in a dilapidated van (I didn’t know it at the time of purchase, but it had a blown head gasket!) which…
When you read the words of great writers, you realize that what you offer when you sit down at a keyboard is paltry; perhaps not even worth typing. After spending the morning with the words of Rachel Carson, Emily Dickinson, M.C. Escher, Thoreau, Oliver Sacks and the like, you wonder what in the world makes…
Today on a break I sat outside, away from computers and phones, and practiced just being. Why is this so darn hard?? Thoughts came floating in and I let them float by. I looked at the ground. I looked at the sky. I looked at the golden air where sun streamed between tree limbs. Here…
Shabbat is always good for a lazy, reflective, do-nothing-much day. Today it has rained on and off. So I fired up some wax tarts (Cinnamon Roll and Orange Spice), took out the sketch book (if you can call what I do at this stage ‘sketching’ lol), and connected the phone to the laptop. Yes. I…
Trees are such an amazing part of our world. They provide shelter, shade, food, heat and suck up all of that carbon we’re emitting! These two caught my eye, appearing to be a long-time partnered couple, supporting each other through thick and thin. Or maybe he’s goosing her…knots? 🙂 Instead of the more sentimental limb…
I dropped my phone and busted the screen, and that is what I do all things non-work on. So, please bear with me while I develop a work around 🙂 PS. I am hell on phones, so why I buy expensive ones escapes me. Oh, right, the camera…the one I currently cannot pull any photos…
Heh, maybe I should change the bus name! Monday at work is usually lightly peppered with meetings and then plenty of time to actually get work done instead of meeting to talk about getting work done. But today the merger and acquisition was formally announced, so a lot of post meeting time was spent by…
Today was a pretty good measure of what a non- work bus day looks like. Sleep in (I get up around 0430 on weekdays), coffee, read the digital newspaper, start puttering. The bus is energy independent in most situations, as I have 750 watts of solar on top, plus another 400 watts on stand alone…
Today was errand day, With the hope of picking up mail along with groceries, and a stint at the laundromat. Alas, mail is still in Denver, which means a return trip to civilization tomorrow:( Mail retrieval is a challenge on the road. I have a mail service, but then I have to pay to have…
People’s affinity for affixing stickers for public consumption fascinates me. I linger far too long in front of mass gatherings like these, possibly making the folks behind the window wonder if I’m a little daft. Anyone else here actually read through displays like these? A few other recent discoveries in towns or on roadsides I’ve…
At the same time I am embarking on poking my writing muse, I am also doing an art journal…finally. I follow an artist whose books I own, and I’ve been watching little clips for probably close to a year now, contemplating doing one. What held me back? I sketch like a kindergartener, lol. Plus, you…
And, it’s been a while since I wrote anything. I’ve been busy traveling, trying my hand at other forms of expression like watercolor (long way to go on that media!), Junk collage mixed media, alcohol inks, bone art, photography, and practicing looking at things differently. Today the real chill of fall is in the air,…
Up until two weeks ago, my answer to that question would have been a myriad of things. A new SUV. Really nice smokey perfume. A case of fabu Pinot Noir. An all-inclusive trip to Alaska or Scotland. And so forth. My, my, how one’s perspective can change in a jiffy! Top of the list now?…
Well, they don’t call me the wandering Jew for lack of a reason, but I’m putting down tentative roots once more. I bought a house. I’ll try not to burden my mind with calling it my ‘forever’ home, as I did once before when I found a little slice of heaven – making it like…
In my last post I explained the new direction that my life is taking, and the on-boarding of a little one. What has come to light is the beautiful outpouring of sisterly support for the situation. No, not my sisters, as I don’t have any. But the Aunts of my grandson, my other daughters. One…
“Plop.” The sound came soft and clear from somewhere in the fading dusk. I looked around for what it might be and there, unmoving in the dark, was the shape of a frog. As I approached for a better look it shook off the fall and hopped away. It made me smile. Back to reading.…
It has been a long and pensive non-public time for me, kicked into gear by the emotional trip to my property followed fast on the heels by Thanksgiving with family, and then as usual, ruminations on all kinds of things. While I’ve written some offline to keep the creative trickle alive, the rest of me…
As you may (or, may not) have noticed, I’ve pretty much been MIA except for a couple of automatic posts I set up last weekend in a five minute period of calm. That title up there…do you recall when it even entered our lingo? Work-Life Balance. Work used to be something you did between 8-5…
Yes, it is a little play on words from the duet by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong because today I am writing about my homesteading dreams. Maybe re-re-dreams is more accurate, since I’ve already started twice and had to stop due to the death of my spouse and another time due to the pesky necessity…
Ivory towers are difficult to maintain Too much melancholy seeps into the cracks Jostling the dust for position of primacy Longing for an out; escape is a feather duster ride She hovers among the secreted garden of words Slender stalks of them over here, ground-hugging clumps over there Flinging some violently against the canvas of…
I always have words. Words to write, words to say when given a chance. And I am full of them now too – well, thoughts actually would be more accurate. What does one write on a death anniversary, when writing is simply what one does? Does it make others uncomfortable? I don’t know too many…
Originally posted on countingducks:
To those unknowing of my childhood my enigmatic and disconnected behaviour must have seemed odd and possibly uncivilised. In youth I could not see beyond getting by and surviving day by day; ‘learning’ was another country where less damaged people lived. I was busy trying to fly that alien craft I…
Photo Credit: BoredPanda.org “The Book of Life” – Artist David Kracov If I had a lot of money, I would so purchase this piece of sculpture. It is metal, and each butterfly is hand-painted. The book contains diary pages, poetry and notes written by the children of Auschwitz. I find it haunting and incredibly…
Prose, poem or parable – your choice; but for your reading and thinking pleasure 🙂 The Map Makers (For K) She once met a mapmaker Ordered from the back of a matchbook She checked the mail impatiently for her buck-fifty worth When he arrived she was astonished As he told her it was all lies…
I don’t have much to say today really. If you’ve a mind, I ask you to visit my poetry site here: She Doesn’t Mourn Well Life is for the living, but sometimes living is harder than you expect. To those who have helped me along the way, my gratitude is truly inexpressible even for me…
There are days when being a responsible adult just drains you. Yesterday was one of those for me. A storm had taken out my primary internet on Sunday. This means all day in the office, rather than a half day in and then finishing up my work at home. This means no tadpole kissy faces…
I’ve spent the last two days thinking over this experiment that I practiced in July, of posting almost every day. I wanted to see if I could keep that pace, while working and trying to have a semblance of life with my family and friends as well. I enjoyed it immensely, but I have found…
Another week has flown by in our lives. What did you do differently this week than last week? What did you see, smell, hear, or say – that made a difference? I know, it’s annoying these questions. It’s Friday and you just want the damn week over, and some entertainment to help with that. I…
I read a lot of blogs each week. Some weeks more than usual, other weeks far less. I DO have to sleep sometime 🙂 I’ll drop by Community Pool on the weekends sometimes to catch newcomers and provide feedback. All of us write for a reason, but the reasons vary. Pain and loss, self-discovery, because…
Welcome to Time Travel Tuesday, where I go back to something somewhere on my blog. A reader’s comment on a post from last week sent my brain into overdrive mode. Sometimes I pick at things like they are a new bone; gnawing at them, burying it, walking away, going and digging it up to gnaw…
Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ~ Hans Christian Anderson Things on my writing mind… 1. Good gawd, could anyone come up with more things that women are ‘supposed’ to be? Badass. Baker. Power Executive. Mom. Construction supervisor. Submissive wife. Activist. Feminist. I get tired reading about…
…no, no, not that kind. (But you clicked, hah!) Hey, even *I* know what sells 😉 Last night I actually got off work before dark! While it was a baking, sticky, humid day, the evening turned nicely. I was able to spend time outside, doing a bit of weeding, some sweeping and some soaking…
Everyone should start their Monday with a little Reggae mon 🙂 This week’s artist is a personal favorite of mine primarily because it is one of his songs that became my personal theme song a few years back. I enjoy this genre very much, finding the music uplifting, catchy and very easily stuck in your…
The other day I published a quote of my own. But in part, it was a lie. This was the quote: “Sexual abuse in the young creates the neediest people, who will tell you we need nothing; we live that way too. We are taught by actions that there is no real love; there is no trust,…
Today is Shabbat. A time free of work world constraints. Time to absorb beauty, reflect beauty and warmth, radiate that back to others. A time for thinking, for being. A time for giving thanks. I smell like the woods, having finally finished my sun-steeping of a new body oil I created, scented with vetiver, peru…
Did you hear that sound just now? Kind of like a deflating balloon, that weird ‘Eeeeeeiiiiiiiiii’ with a whoosh accompanying it? I think that was my energy. Yes, it is FRIDAY, and not one minute too soon I might add. I may have to change the title to Friday Frazzles & Frustrations if something in…
I had not purchased a book of poetry in decades, until I stumbled across this writer here on WordPress. Poetry is a fickle companion, requiring time to pause, to let the words marinate, to speak the words out loud. It cannot be rushed. Sometimes life is just too busy for that. KB’s book “To Travel…
“’..and what will you trade for these things that you desire?’ he intoned flatly. ‘Blood, tears, sweat?’ I felt smaller even than before. ‘But, you see, I’ve already given all of that; and yet I still stand here before you empty-handed, without the Affection. Is there, there… no other way?’ My voice trails away imperceptibly,…
While I was cleaning – an interjection into your day outside of my normal posting schedule. Yes, it has to be done. I’d love to be able to snap my fingers and have this chore away, but it isn’t so. What I so dislike about cleaning, is that once you begin, you see more to…
Today Today I visited Shanghai in the rain, circumnavigated the mass of people and the vibrant colors of parasols sheltering the dreams dreamt only perhaps in Mandarin, beyond my comprehension, but their beauty I can interpret without a translator. I then traipsed from there to Lebanon, where wearied field workers rested against stacks of wheat…
Woohoo, the weekend is nigh! Amazing that we get so excited about these things, isn’t it? As I always say, it’s the little things 🙂 Humor, it comes in all forms. I was introduced to a very funny guy via a friend, but I warn ya, the language is not tame, for those of you…
Remember how just a few days ago I mentioned that I was divesting myself of 50% of what I own, except of course, in the realm of books. I also mentioned that my bookcases had a bit of room in them. Ahem. Wellll, I went to the library on lunch break this week, and lo…
I normally don’t post on Wednesdays, because it’s the most hectic work day of my week. But in a conversation with another blogger, a thought hit me today about all of you, my readers. Many of you are new; in fact, more than half of you, within the last six weeks. You don’t really know…
I continue my march (shuffle?) on towards a return to living closer to the natural world, with a lighter footprint, more mindful consumption, growing more of my own food (leaf and limb) and trying to reduce what I already own. Egads, you simply don’t know the cycle, the pressure of it on those around you,…
Like my musical tastes, my reading tastes are eclectic as well. My baby brother often shares writers of interest with me, and he introduced me to Theroux several years ago. Certain writers incite a desire in me to travel, something I’ve had little opportunity to do. I appreciate their depictions of places most likely I’ll…
Today I am imitating a sage, so, bear with me. Since I have removed myself from the dating world (not that I was ever really in it since widowhood), I find it is easier to think about. It is akin to trying to think about grocery shopping while eating I suppose. It has come to…
Writing has been a part of me for a very long time, but for most of my life it was a private thing. It is how I deal with things, process them, make sense of them. It is also the place where I am most vulnerable, for there is nothing to hide under in words,…
Sunflower Solace Farm 