What Is Surprising

Q:  WHAT IS SURPRISING ABOUT LIFE?
(one way or another)

A: EVERYTHING....

Good Things Happen (still)

I'm not sure where the last four weeks have gone, quietly slipping past.
Amid scorching heat and non-specific bustling hither and thither and yon (isn't 'thither' a neat word? and 'yon' is kind of intersting too, lol) week upon week elapsed.

Time does that.
It's immensely present hour by hour but in larger increments it's difficult to quantify or track aside from the intermittent glance at the wall calendar (yes I still use one - the epitomy of low tech - why I like it suppose).

But amid the last few weeks one remarkable event is noteworthy.
One event speaks to two other event tied by a heartwarming thread.

One evening, of one week, my husband mentioned to me  he'd crossed paths with a gentleman who was turned around in his directions, distraught about arriving on time for an appointment. Alone and upset my husband took him directly to the location of his appointment (the sort of thing he often does). They chatted a bit about life, the world, handsakes were exchanged and the gentleman headed thru the door to his appointment.

One afternoon, another week, in wallymart, I came across a woman struggling to lift some portable folding tables into her shopping cart (those 'portable tables' are heavy! lol). I asked her if I could give her a hand and we made short work of it. She mentioned she was picking them up for a special party her daughter was planning.  Smiles and thanks/welcomes exchanged I went on to shop and she, to cash out.

One late afternoon, of yet another week my husband and I were struggling to lift a VERY heavy item into our ancient old vehicle. We're pretty experienced at finding ways to do the unlikely if not impossible task, lol. But this was vexing us. We couldn't muscle it in. We'd failed at drawing it in from the inside via a heavy packing blanket. We couldn't get it to roll up the ramps we'd pulled from the garage. And did I mention it was 98 in the shade that day? We were standing, staring, when a SUV drove by, turned around and came back. As it pulled over to our side of the road the driver called out "would you like some help"?

Hating to bother him we laughed and said we weren't sure it had beat us yet, but again he asked and was out of his car on his way to help.  In moments the impossible item was securely placed.  Smiles, thanks and handshakes were exchanged.  I mentioned what he'd done gave me hope in  humanity. He smiled broadly. In moments he was back in his car, on his way down the road. We headed out shortly thereafter.

It's really so easy to make the world a better place. To instill a bit of hope. To affirm we're all along for the ride of life together.

And is a coincidence that Karma and Kindness both begin with K? I think not.

Doing something kind does make a difference. It does have an impact. Especially if you're on the receiving side. But it's equally impressive to the heart and mind being the giver of help or kindness. The world does sense and register your choices, your efforts. Even the smallest ones. The ways of the world rise, fall and alter ~ one nano-effort, one choice at a time.

How many days till Spring?



My bird bath frog seeming to signal for help!

windswept snow filled fields

 I'm pretty sure you're weary of seeing pictures of snow - yet I somehow can not refrain from sharing mine.....

So if you're tired of snow-snaps, skip this post but if you're interested, keep reading!



Snow reaching window height!


 


It is beautiful.....

 





One of the endless essential paths shoveled

Yes, tell me is it long till Spring arrives?
(feel free to lie to me if  necessary, lol)

 



The Sun Dial
(as IF we have much winter sun-Not!)

Acting on my word for 2011

This winter has been remarkable. Snow in states that never see chilly weather much less snow.

For those who live in the northeast as I do it has been brutal. The snow has been endless. The gray skies more ominpresent than usual. 

Bleh.
And the heat bills. They could bring you to tears.
Or insanity.
Or both.

I've always winter-treated windows & doors. But of late it has become my personal quest to find every open space, every leaking window, every bit of 'frost' and then irradicate any 'cold connection' I've found. With dedication both DH and I have made progress. Much has been improved. Much remains. "Take that!' I whisper to each window & door (and ok, yes, with a bit of a 'bbbwwwaahhhhhh' laugh as I proceed).  Hey, it's part of the process....  lol

But as I'm working along, caulking, sealing, quasi-cursing the cold I remember. I remember the word I chose for 2011. The goal I chose for these 12 months BOKEH  ,,,,,
Stop.
Breathe.
Not only look but SEE.
Observe the outside-of-the-direct-line-of-sight beauty/good in any situation.
And these pictures along with the momentary pause & happiness capturing these images, are the outcome.

The image above and this one as the sun shown briefly and the blue of the sky reflected are the gifts 'bokeh' shared....

They say artists are inclined to notice beauty in small things. But I think the truth is that anyone who looks finds a treasure trove. 

If my campaign is successful, if the cold is kept outside and the warm inside. If the dragon-of-heat-bills is slain these images will 'ner again be seen. 

And dontcha know I'll miss their beautiful flowing delicate shapes. Another lesson. What seems (or even is) a problem at one point in time still possessed beauty. Still had merit. Or was not without merit. There is always something bright shimmering in the darkness of difficulty.  But to find it. To see it.  There, ah.... there is the challenge.  

Bokeh. 
A good word.
A good goal.
Here's to many 2011 moments not missed because of it......

Paper Hopes

Today, amid an unexpected snowstorm,  slippery roads, a cranky waitress and other day to day detritus I noted I was beginning to feel just the slightest bit cranky. Nothing intense or overt. Emotional diaper rash would best describe the pathway my mood was taking. The grapes at my first grocery stop were moldy, the bank computer was sluggish. The diaper rash-ness intensified. Sigh. Several stops later, I was at the last errand of my day, Walmart. Entering the store, wobbly wheeled snow cover cart (two additional annoyances) in hand  it caught my eye. It was sad. It was forlorn. Just shy of forsaken. A tiny little artificial tree. It's branches were filled with less-than-perfectly-cut pieces of paper. Intended to be rectangles, many were versions of rectangles. Hung by ribbons. 

Cranky or not there was something about that tree. Those clumsily cut pieces of paper. It was a vision of imperfection. It struck me as I viewed that quasi tragic little tree that the heartfelt honest imperfectness - the humanity it proudly (even defiantly) exuded is what I've missed most about christmas for a long time. I couldn't walk by it....  It wouldn't let me.

I turned over the first beribboned paper to read the request.
In printed hand it said, simply, soap.
I turned over another tag and found, again, one word.  Deodorant.
I turned over another.
In beautiful scripted handwriting, just one word filled the space - toothpaste.
I turned over the next. A child had printed - a shirt. Any color. Any kind.
I couldn't stop turning and reading tags....
The next asked for a toothbrush. Underneath in smaller letters it said toothpaste too? 
I turned over the next revealing this wish - a comb.

 I think I stopped breathing for a moment.
I think my heart stopped for a second. Or two.
I know I felt embarrassed at my irritation over the falling snow
(snow falling on my heated home)
I know I felt absurdly foolish to have been annoyed with the waitress
(while eating my lunch out)
Like a shock of electric current it occurred to me how fortunate I am.
I hardly think about having all the things on those tags.
I hardly think of many other comforts in my life
I have never been cold, hungry, dirty, unclothed.
I have never longed for a comb, deodorant, toothbrush, or toothpaste too?
(as tho asking for a toothbrush AND toothpasste was an excessive request)
I have never had to contemplate how hard it would be to ask for those things, if needed

I'm a fairly no-nonsense, non-weepy person by nature.
But I found it growing difficult to read those little pieces of paper hope bleary eyed
I gathered as many of those beribboned odd shaped tags as my budget could cover
Next week I'm heading back to that tree again to gather and fill more wishes

I found a whole new meaning in the holidays today.
In a Walmart.
Hanging on the branches of a bent up fake tree.

Life is full of surprises.
And lessons.
And Paper Hopes

FDFerris copyright 2010

What can I say?

LOL I try really really I try NOT to let things follow me home (that's another post in and of itself)! 

But look, just look at this face.....

Could you have left him behind?!????
(assuming of course you have a fondness for frogs sitting on orbs like I do, roflmao)

Ribbbitttttttt

Now I have to resist the urge to put a tiny little christmas hat and/or bow on him.... Help me.....

HEY! Actually you can help me! In comments tell me your opinion - vote 'yes or no' on
a christmas outfit for frog!

PS don't forget to swing by yesterdays post to see remaining beads supersale link (at Flickr)

Ribbittttttttt

Perfect As It Is

No photoshop
No "paint"
No fix or crop
Or straighten....

Not one of these was needed
To improve these bytes
Sun painted..

Some moments and some images
Are perfect on their own
Unaided...
FDFerris 2010    

Knockin On The Door

  

A little bit 'o ice

on the pond.....

           

 No doubt about it

  Winter's on her way

Creative Solitude

I lived in solitude
in the country

And noticed how
The monotony
Of a quiet life

Stimulates the
creative mind.

A Einstein

Farewell

The weeks from June to November

always include a stop at the local produce stand.

It's an errand (unlike grocery store shopping) that I look forward to & enjoy.

Part of the reason is the obvious visual charm

But my love of 'farm stand' perusing goes so much deeper than the mix of colors & textures!

The smells! The weathered wood crates! The props (look at that handsome old wheelbarrow)

                                        Veg and fruit and flower all gathered in one place.

My mind dances with thoughts of medieval markets

Images of women with baskets in times long gone, the image paints itself in my mind...

Here, at farm-stands there are no 

'departments'

No canned music

No disinterested 'employees'

Everything offered is nestled together

like a little community of growing visual or edible bits of life!

The 'music' is background chatter, news being shared,
concern for a neighbor or happy updates

Laughter.

(When was the last time you heard anyone laugh in a grocery store)?

A moment or two with the grower/owner - who often offers a slice of  melon or apple

while telling the story, flavor, favored growing condition of whatever you

hold in your hand.

I want 2 apples? I can have two apples!

Not in plastic bags from far off lands but the two I hand pick from the crate.

Best of all, buying here supports the people who work tirelessly to plant, weed, water, watch-over

harvest, pack, carry, set up, watch-over-and-sell-themselves. No middleman. No overhead.

Every time you or I buy a piece of fruit or tomatoe or flower the farmer/grower
sets out here, this way, they see so much more profit for the efforts he or she has invested.

For the buyers, ah the taste! The freshness! The (often) non-pesticided-ness!

The not-been-in-plastic-bags-and-trucks-forever-ness! The choice!

Magic.

Simple, enjoyable, ancient magic...

If you've never tried it, you don't know what you're missing.
Find the nearest stand, open market next year and Go..

If you love it like I do, you understand when I tell you

how much I love, yet am saddened by pumpkin/apple/mum season

at the market because soon, it will be grocery-store-only season.

I'll be (as every year) counting the days till my little farm stand is open again!

I'll be counting down to being able to again buy good food from good people at good prices

And the magic.....

I AM...

I AM

I am a wide open spaces kind of soul
Happiest in places where traffic noise is distant
(better yet, non existent)
And the flashing notice no cell signal is magic to me 

More fond of moonlight than malls

More drawn to trails than tiaras
(tho I do have a tiara just in case I have a tiara longing)
I seek to be solitary from humanity yet surrounded by 'beings'

"Travel among us" whisper the hills to me

And when I do

The trees speak of legends

The birds whisper secrets

The paired hawks call borders

(While floating upon invisible currents of time)

I am alone

but

not

lonely

Within these hills

Within these moments
I can simply

contentedly

be

who
I

Am...

The trees, the birds, the border hawks
Understand the layers of time
The anchor and flow of the past
The immediacy of now
And the length of forever

They understand (and embrace)

the diversity

that dances thru all three layers

of time and life
(including the occasional tiara)

FDFerris copyright 2010





Mid-week-musing

Up at 3:45 am (yes that is the normal time I drag my butt cheerfully spring out of bed daily). Tidy up of the personal being and go directly from bath to coffee pot. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars and no get out of jail free card if you get in my way, lol  Coffee in hand, the day begins officially.

No two days are the same in anyone's world. A bit more-so for me, a self employed artist.  I have a core of routine but the edges of each day weave up (or unravel, lol) differently each & every 24 hour cycle.  So when you stop by here to visit you will find most anything/everything  a widely (or perhaps wildly!) varied array of topics/thoughts/images. Not necessarily cohesive. Not at all contrived. Just me.

Glass, verse, rambles, (occasional) rants, humor, whining, ups, downs, chase my tail around in circles.

What's the meaning of it all?  For me? For you? For the world at large  (or small)?  Not a clue.  But it's lovely to have cyber-company on the journey!

And please do feel at ease to chat along via comments. There is so much to be found reading the shared thoughts you leave behind here...

Novemburrrrrrrr

November
She's a tiny bit hard to get along with
She takes my orange yellow leaves
My dappled sun, no longer summer strong
But sill able to dance through
October Autumn leaves

November
She closes my windows
Stills my billowing lace sheers
That are my icon for summer daydreaming

She makes the sensible heat saving me
Go even one step further as I drop the blinds

November steals away the long long longgggg days
That have been trippingly decreasing for months
(but I blame her - she carries the designated time change date)

She's hard to befriend
This cold dark month

But she brings small gifts to win me over
(or to appease me at the very least)

In the form of crisp apples and pumpkins
In the longing for sweaters and blankets
Absent all hot steaming summer

And September-October-Fall

She gifts me with my renewed passion to bake
Breads and sweets will again fill the house

With inside aroma and coziness
Exiled in Summer

Perhaps I'll befriend her
These weeks, uncared for by me, of November
Not not for the gifts she brings
Not ignoring the loves of mine she takes

But perhaps I can befriend her

Based on the thought that she
Like me
Is, simply, who she is
Both good and bad interwoven, inseparable
The loveable (and unlikeable) parts of the whole
November
Copyright FDFerris 2010

Lightbulb moment

The greatest control
is found by deciding
not
to
                       control

FALL CLEANING

Fall - time to clean-the-nest for me.
Odd? Well, lets say "different..."
I know Spring cleaning is the standard but it's never worked for me, lol. When Spring arrives she beckons, whispers, calls-me-outside! House and I have been together all winter. We love each other but we need a little time apart. Spring cleaning holds no magic for me.

Fall is the opposite.
Fall stirs up all the nesting needs in my little heart and mind. House and I will soon be returning to our beloved  intense companionship of winter ( just shy of forever when you consider the length of winters in Upstate NY).  

Decor & organizational thoughts dreams & schemes considered and shelved all Spring and Summer come to life. Sort! Clean! Paint! (Re)Arrange! Label! Projects!
Lions and tigers and bears (oh my!)

Coffee in hand this morning I started jotting down notes of the things I'd love to accomplish this Fall. Oh I love the list! On the list all things are possible! There is no nod to time. No thought of budget! The list is a daydream put to words. My not-yet-real plan in ink.  What's on the list?  LOL it's not finished yet. It'll take a few more cups of coffee to finish. But once it is I'll share my list.

If you're a fellow fall-cleaner I'd love to know what you have on your list?!

The Secret Garden

Many years past , when we were younger and far more difficult to tire, lol we created a secret garden.

Designed with three six foot walls of concrete block ending in double wooden gates with spikes to mimic old iron gates we'd admired in London. The gates, once painted high gloss black gave a good faux impression of iron.  The garden creation was a massive effort, laying the block, building the gates, brining in the soil and stone. We worked on the project week after week after week. When it was complete it was a fortress of tranquility & it was barren, as any  newly completed project is wont to be.

The concrete blocks (hundreds of them) were bright, as were the mortar joints. Even the small pebble gravel glinted in the sunlight. The only rest for the eye was the darkness of the earth where we'd arranged for future plants and informal gardens.

But even then I knew it was a place I'd love.

The curious thing was that I'd thought the hardest part was done.

But, as it turned out the greatest challenge, and reward, wass to be found in the small details.

And amid the time it would take to arrive at the dreamt of destination.

The secret courtyard garden North wall as it looks today..

First came the decisions we made of what to plant.

Next came the decsion of those plants as to what would live there, lol

     We and the plantings disagreed often.

But plant by plant, step by step, year by year the dream evolved.

Over three decades the walls have softened, the colors gently aged.

The clemantis, ivy, euonymus have become intertwined. Good friends with each other.

Tiger lillies and barberry bushes cluster happily under the crabbapple tree

that buzzes with bees and brilliant pink blooms every Spring.

This place, this tiny garden, has given more hours of pleasure and peace than anyone has a right to have dreampt. So much from such a tiny bit of ground, from such a small inauspicious beginning.

And in the many years I've walked thru it, over the years I've gazed at it thru all four seasons

I'm only now understanding it's a study, a lesson in the flow of life....

All beginnings are difficult. Much work, little rest. Stark at birth.

Some things, ideas, dreams, journeys, die. Others thrive, succeed, flourish.

And often you are never able to understand why....

Most important things take time. Patience. A definate will-not-be-rushed-ness.

Some combinations protect each other. Some combinations compete.

Some have no influence or impact whatsoever at all upon each other.

They simply 'are', day by day, coincidentally sharing space and time.

Some things are dramatically beautiful ~ but for only a season.

Some are beautiful in much quiter ways but for the entire length of the season, even into death.

Life layers.

Flowers = bees

Vines = birds

Ivy = rabbits

Berries = passing visitors only there for as long as the berries last and never return.

There are conflict and scuffles. Births and passings.

There is cohabitation, song, buzzing, rustling, cricket chirping, firefly sparkling.

There is magic.

There is contentment.

In spite of, and alongside the unchosen sadness, passings, competiton, quarreling the magic and contentment remain. Unbowed. Challenged but not diminished, not overcome.

Who knew, when we layed those blocks in the blistering sun decades ago, tired but driven by a dream

that this little patch of ground

would teach us so much about

life....

FDFerris Copyright 2010

SUMMER SHARED

I think one of my favorite parts of summer is

the unexpected visitors that share the days with me...

Resting a bit - but still watching the nest!

                                                          

Flip Flop Danger??!!

REALLY?!

Danger????

Apparently so, according to

this article...

No disrespect intended towards the writer,

the source or the intent of the article.

But fer cryin' out loud

FLIP FLOP DANGERS?

(there's actually even a link to flip flops / sandals

that earn the APMA Seal of Acceptance). 

Again, no disrespect but  

Puuullleeeaasseee!

Flip flops are a simple, long standing ICON of summer!

Of fun and frolic

Of beach, yard & summer stroll.

Limp, bendy (yes a made up word, lol) pieces

of gay and happily colored foam-plastic!

I ask you

of all the things to worry about, of all the ills of humanity

of all the things that could justify (and improve) from our attention

should fun, funky, (still cheap) FF's 

be classified as a topic of worry and fear?

Uh, well, how can I put this.... 

NO! 

With a bit of common sense, and a dash of 'may stub your toe but you'll live'

sprinkled with 'let's just have a little sqishy fun' and not over-think this

I believe this icon of summer frolic 

(remember frolic? lol) 

may yet live on

happily amusing

(many) 

of us for years to come.....

It's a great life if you don't weaken

(lol)

Start by not buying into the purported danger

of 

Flip

Flops!

She's mine

I know
I know...

I don't need

more large furniture

No

I

Don't

But will you just look at her?

Do you see what I see? lol

She's the kind of chair that just wraps itself around you...

She's the  kind of chair that takes away the 'all day in the studio on my feet' aches

The kind of chair that says 'stay awhile, think, sketch, no you're not wasting time'

(what? your furniture and various other objects don't speak to you? oh my.... what you're missing! :-)

She's the kind of chair that has stories to tell

She's seen a lot of life, a number of homes most likely

and now she's mine...

(see my coffee-cup = turf marker?!!)

But here's the question - any all help appreciated!!

She's flocked (material) with original horse hair stuffing

I've done scads of inter-netting for the best ways to clean  her

but I'd LOVE to hear from any of you with hands on (literally, lol)

experience with referbing an oldie but snugglie such as this

lest I do her harm and make both chair and I sad  :-)

Thanks for any suggestions you can wing my way!

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

On a hill & long forgotten

a good life lesson found....

ADAPT and be CREATIVE

(use whatever is around)!!!

~ ~

Life isn't easy, not for sissies to be certain.

The day to day routine

can be just as challenging

as the crisis moments.

This little building with it's 'twig lock' 

standing on it's tall and windy hill reminded me

ADAPT

 BE CREATIVE

USE what you have

Don't just think outside the box

cut a hole in it..... 

& climb thru

You won't always find 

the answer/path/solution you want

but you will (almost) always

find 

a 

solution.....

fdferris 2010