Thinking Out Loud…

First off, Jim and I are hale and hardy in Woodinville.   We are following the healthcare dictates— washing hands to two verses of Happy Birthday (I recommend this!  It makes me happy to sing it out loud.), avoiding crowds, keeping well, and being careful.

Gone undercover…

It is a good time to peruse my photos, and I will admit it, a darn good time to knit.  I will knit anywhere at any time.

There are no two ways about it, I have gone to the yarn side of things. I look forward to new patterns and textures, new yarns—like a kid looks forward to ice cream.
Jim took this picture of me recently as I was reorganizing my knitting stash…it looks like my studio blew up yarn.  Well, it kinda did.  I was in second heaven.

Knitting and yarn got me through the rough times with my arthritic hip and eventual surgery.  Focusing on what was in my hands, and what I was making, took my mind off my pain.  I told Jim, I didn’t use opiates, I medicated with yarn…lots of yarn.

And still, I go from project to project with such pleasure and curiosity. It adds a quiet time to my life, a good way to manage the stressful times we live in.

So does bird watching, water and sky watching.  Getting outside, feeling the cold, the wind, or spritzing rain feels invigorating, and makes me want to get back into cozy and knit.  Wool is my friend.

 

Thinking out loud…

I’m feeling lazy today.  After a few days of busy busy—errands and around the house—I find myself feeling rushed and in a hurry, not really ready for the day.

One great thing about being retired is that I can take all the time I want to do things.  Well, mostly anyway.  There are still appointments, taxes, chores that tend not to go away on their own, and then there is keeping us fed.  Though I have felt more like being in the kitchen again—trying new recipes in a relaxed way.

But today on this first really sunny day since November (according to the classical radio station guy), I am feeling lazy, like I need a good stretch.  And another cup of coffee…  I have to remind myself that I can take my own time and slow down.

The morning is a good time to look around, to notice things.  This is when I love my smart phone camera.  I can grab glimpses, take a moment to see, really see my surroundings.

What are the backyard birds up to?  It may be sunny, but it is still icy out there!  The birds will need their ice skates this morning.

So, what to do with this day?  The laundry awaits folding, but…

I think I have other plans…

Chuckle, chuckle…

Up at dawn and thinking out loud,

I feel like making a quilt—an old fashioned traditional quilt, well, sort of…  It makes me think of a quote by American film director, John Ford—“When in doubt, make a western.”  I love that quote, and think of it often.  Simple.  Take hold of what you know.  Come around the circle to look at it again.

A traditional “prairie” quilt, draped over a chair in some TV thing I was watching, caught me, literally caught me.  I could make that!  I want to make that!  But I would do it differently, and then my imagination took off.  Not a quilt for exhibition, but one for me, maybe even for a bed, working slowly, pleasantly uncomplicated and simple, with humble materials.

Brings to mind the bits from a WIP/UFO that I began over a decade ago, still tucked in a bin….somewhere…

I found it!

Now, how delicious it is to take my time…

Wrangling scraps and textures and colors that argue with one another.  Making them sit in the same room and work together.

How delicious it is.

 

Thinking out loud…

(Somewhere, a long time ago, someone told me that boredom is right next to invention.  I think about that from time to time.)

I’ve been wondering what the heck my question for myself would be this coming year.  I haven’t felt inspired, more just feeling restlessly bored with myself, and powerless.  In the midst of all the worldly chaos, how does one keep balanced?  How does one help?  What should one DO?  Good questions that I don’t have clear answers for.  All I know is to keep on keeping on, doing the best I can to be a positive presence on this planet—in all the big and little things that entails.

But beyond the big stuff, what is there poking me in the ribs?   I am getting older.  At nearly 73, I tell myself that I am not really OLD yet.  (Funny how OLD seems to be getting further away from me the older I get.)

I’ll be honest with you, ageing has been on my mind for quite a while. I tackled it in my quilt making by looking at weathered surfaces and communicating the beauty I found there.  That really helped, I think, because I began to focus on the beauty of ageing in all things, and  in all living beings.  I can still lose myself in observing the cycles of nature, and therein I find a great deal of peace and hope.

I am still fascinated with tatters, frayed edges, worn and faded surfaces….

But how do I face my own ageing?  How does one go through this passage with the grace of a positive outlook?  It gets personal when I bring it into the room with me (where it has been all along).

Believe me, it is not my intention to turn this blog into a litany of the woes of ageing.  I am NOT going there.  But I am curious to find a path, a meaningful path through it, one that brings me meaning and satisfaction and joy.  I am going to look it square in the face, and I will tell myself (and you) the truth.

Again, this might be a bit like watching paint dry…I like watching paint dry….but I invite you to drop by as the spirit moves you.  You will always be welcome.

 

Thinking out loud…

I don’t know what it is about the first snow of the season, but it still holds magic and wonder for me.  This morning we awoke to a dusting, still falling in the cold and dark.  I’ve got on my woolies, and as I sit here with my coffee, I feel pretty darn lucky for many, many reasons.

So it comes to mind to share some of my photo images—captured recently—recording something that caught my eye or imagination.  Here goes…

Yeah, I notice pie showed up in there twice…what can I say?

As this New Year unfolds remember to take heart from the simplicity and beauty that surrounds you.  Believe me, I am.

Thinking Out Loud…

Re-reading my blog posts

Remembering

Reminding myself…oh yeah, that was what I had in mind!

Reminding myself this is a different day, a different way.

I guess it is only natural to come to the end of a year and look back. Where was I then, where am I now?  It has been nearly a year that I have been doing this blog, and I have wondered whether I am still looking for answers to my creative shift questions.  Or have I quietly made the shift while hardly noticing.

I am more settled  and comfortable in my own skin at the moment.  I say “at the moment” because that can change as I shift points of view.  But I can truly say I am glad, very glad to be where I am in my life.

One thing that is very noticeable, is the change in how I refrain from putting pressure on myself to be other than what I am or where I am.  The decreasing use of “should” has not escaped my notice—neither has the resulting increase in peacefulness.  It is about time.

It really is all about time—taking the time to listen, to reflect, to explore and to play.  I can say I feel “even”.  I don’t know how to describe it any better than that, but it is a good place to be and to begin.

I have always been a planner, a list maker, an organizer, an arranger of chaos.  It quiets my mind—which really helps sometimes.  But it is also a pretty bossy way to proceed.   So I make plans to shut up my inner critic, but now I notice that I am often choosing to forget the plans, the lists, the expectations.  What the heck!  Who am I trying to please?

And what about the big question?  Do I still call myself an artist?  Quietly, the answer comes to me.  Yes.  What I see in looking back over this year of questioning, is that being an artist is just there.  It is in the questions, it is in the seeing, it is in the way I do, and plan, and problem solve, and it is in the way I explore and play.  I couldn’t get away from it if I tried.  Whether it is cooking or politics, bird watching or cleaning, traveling or staying home, alone or in a crowd, it is just the way I am.

After a lifetime of trying to BE an artist, somehow it is more about getting out of the way of the question, and just letting it show up, because it is already there.

I sure hope some of this makes sense.  I sure hope it helps to reduce some of the anxiety we feel about who we are and what we should be doing.  Being an artist isn’t really a great and pretentious thing to be.  It is a way of going about life, thoughtfully alive to possibilities.  We can do that.

 

 

 

Thinking Out Loud—The Importance Of…Pie

That was a darn good pie.  Apple.  Simply apple.  I love pie.  When we travel we look for places of great pie.  And when at home, maybe once or twice a year, I actually make a pie.

Making a pie is all about celebration for me. A pie can (and does) celebrate a seasonal fruit—apples, pears, berries, peaches, rhubarb.  And I think I do need to make a rhubarb pie next season!   But generally my pie making is at holiday time, and I crank out one (or two) of the old favorites—Pumpkin (for sure and certain!), Pecan (hubby’s favorite), Mincemeat with Hard Sauce (a favorite of our kids, Hard Sauce being the key).  I must admit, the Hard Sauce is pretty darn good, though I can’t think of what besides mincemeat pie one might put it on….in our house the two go together.  It is the way.

So we come around again to the season of celebrations. I wish you lots of the goodness that makes your life rich and full.  I wish you an abundance of quiet moments with those you love, lots of laughter, and lots of hugs.

And whether your days are quiet and relaxed or full of bustle…

Remember to eat dessert!  We’re having pie.

My Favorites…

Sometimes I get lucky and the camera grabs exactly what I am looking at, just the way I want it.  The color is right, the lighting is perfect, and the camera doesn’t try to improve it.  This is a smart camera after all…  I’m not sure that I have a goal in mind when I take out the camera (iPhone or iPad).  I often see something that takes hold of me, and I must capture it.  Often it doesn’t work…  And I am so glad that I am not wasting film.

The picture above is from Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park, just after an early snowfall.  Sometimes the moment is perfect. Hurricane Ridge allows us to look out over and into the deep wilderness of the National Forest.  I was looking the other way…

But later, further down the road, we stopped for this view of the deepest darkest, velvety green of a wilderness.

The next two views are from another favorite place, Lake Crescent, also in the Olympic National Forest.   Grey days!  The light is silver, the shadows deep.  The shapes of things stand out.  There are fewer distractions when color is muted.

Another thing I like to experiment with is taking pictures up close or from odd angles so that I lose the identifying details and the image moves towards abstract.  I don’t know where my love of abstract art really comes from.  It just feels so natural to me to look at things that way, to imagine, to suggest what goes beyond what is there in reality.

It intrigues me to go in close and see something isolated from its surroundings, changing the context of the view, focusing on just that one thing.

 

How to capture a sense of place is always a challenge.  In the Hoh Rain Forest water defines the place.  Wet is its gloriously natural state.  Though it isn’t always that way.  I’ve been in the rain forest during drought and it feels strange and frightening, anxious and stressed.  This trip the rains came down, sometimes gently, sometimes determined.

And finally, atmospherics…that’s the way I think of it, partly a sense of place, recording a moment captured—all those sky and weather shots I love to go for.

Sunset, Kalaloch Beach, Washington.

Jim stood out in the rain and wind to catch his shot of the Cape Disappointment Light House.  I did not…

As always, Baker Bay, Cape Disappointment, seemed ever different, ever new, and at the same time eternal.

Good trip, and good to be back home.  Cheers everyone!

Glimpses of community…

We are just home from our road trip around the Olympic Peninsula and the wild coast of Washington, a month of easy-going travel.  We left on a rainy morning, with just hints of the Fall color to come.

This time I decided to focus my picture taking on the details, the overlooked and quiet things in places of big vistas.  All pictures were taken with my iPhone camera, or my iPad camera—I used both—dealing with dodgy internet, sparing use of electricity/batteries in the more basic National Park campgrounds, and often buffeting wind.

We revisited the Elwah River Restoration project, where two old dams were removed to restore environmental and river health, salmon runs, and renew the cultural importance of a free running river to tribal cultures.  This has been a huge project, and one very close to my heart.  The Elwah runs free now, and salmon are returning, the estuary is rebuilding.  This confirms for me that Nature wants to heal and thrive—especially when we get out of the way.

The community has built a wonderful information center, displaying the history and progress of the project, surrounded by art tiles created by the local children.  Wonderful!  This is just a taste…

Western Washington is slug country.  Our native Banana Slug is big—they can reach 6-8” in length.   They generally eat the detritus of the forest, rather than one’s potted plants.

A favorite cafe of ours displays other options….

Local informational signs began to catch my eye.  This one made me laugh every time we passed it!  “Little Dribblers”, beginning basketball…it also rains a lot in this home town.

And “Kitchen Music” just sounded so welcoming.

And near the town of Forks (setting for the Twilight Series—books and movies) we found this one….I was really glad to know the threat level was low….

With the artistic belief in using what you have, what you find, someone created this…

And someone else left these behind on a shingled beach…

And, finally, one of my favorites, along a neighborhood road quite a ways from town…

There are good things out there, good folks.  What a pleasure!

Thinking out loud,

Little things

Little things that tickle me,

Cause a smile

Or a hesitation.

Little things that spark

A memory

Of a moment shared.

Little thoughts,

Little glimpses,

Little bits, dabs, and drops,

Adding up,

Adding up,

Adding up.