It's Been A Hard Day's Night

It's been a hard day's night
And I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night
I should be sleeping like a log

But, no, I'm blogging!

We stripped the deck today.  It took up most of the day!  While I was at it, I cleaned the windows, too.  It's amazing how dirty a deck can get in just a couple of year's time.  Tomorrow the stain.  And probably the Beatle's refrain!

A Round Tuit

I had plans for these gourds and little pumpkins.  The gourd at the top was going to be a bird.  Can't you see the beak?  Two of the little pumpkins were going to be goblins, with those plastic fangs as teeth.  I have pipe cleaners to make curly hair for one, and a Frankenstein mask for another.  Google eyes and all.  I have my magazines for direction.  I had it all planned out.  Halloween came, Halloween went.  The pumpkins and gourds are as they were the first day I bought them home.

I used to have a wooden round tuit.  I have lost it over the years, so I'm using that as my excuse.  As I thought about my tuit, I looked it up on google.  There is a Facebook page devoted to round tuits.  A Round Tuit webstore selling tee shirts and coins and cups and….the list goes on.  For some reason this brings a sense of relief.  Others obviously have the same problem as I do.  A Facebook friend had a cartoon posted of six types of procrastinators.  She posted the type she was…..I posted back, ummm, I do all six.  That can't be good.  I'll worry about it tomorrow, when I get a round tuit.

Ordinary Discovery

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."  

Marcel Proust

I drive to work Monday through Friday and usually take the same route everyday.  I pass a small lake that is outlined by homes and a park. There is nothing extraordinary about this lake and I have never really paid much attention to it.  I have noticed when there was a hard rain and it would flow out of it's banks, or if geese had flown in, and where floating along the lake's surface or sunning themselves along it's banks.

As I drove to work today I was thinking if only I lived near the ocean, I could go to the beach. A picture a day would come easy, because I love the ocean.   The ocean speaks to me like nothing else can.  When I'm on a beach I sometimes close my eyes and imagine the voice of the ocean to be that of God's.   For when the waves are small, drifting in and gently out; He speaks softly to me and soothes my soul.  Sometimes the waves crash onto the beach and thunderously rush back to the ocean; just as His voice resonates within me and I am made aware of His majesty.  There is always beauty to be seen in the ocean, and heard.

This morning as I stopped at the intersection that faces the lake, I saw the lake, as if for the first time.  Although it's not the ocean, it has a tranquil beauty all it's own.  The reflection of the cloudy sky and color drenched trees on the lake seemed to beckon me;  and I realized I was seeing it as I had never seen it before.

I stopped tonight on my way home.  It was the first time I have ever pulled into the parking lot and gotten out of my car, just to take in and enjoy the beauty of this lake.  Camera in hand, I approached it's bank and heard a small lapping of the water from the breeze.   Funny how my new camera and a 365 day project has changed my perspective.  I'm seeing things through the lens of a camera and finding beauty I hadn't noticed before.  And the lapping of the water?  I think it was God's way of reminding me He speaks in the ordinary things of life.  I don't need an ocean for inspiration,  I need only to look around me, with new eyes.

 I couldn't decide which one of these I like the best.  The one above is "softer".  The one below I like except for the leaves that are too light.  Still using auto.  Maybe I should have shot a few more angles.

No Film?

Everyone has a photographic memory.  Some don't have film.

That's a funny quote I've collected.  I love quotes!  I think you can tell a lot about a person by their favorite quote.  Quotes that make you smile, or beg you to write them down so you don't forget have struck a chord within you; and that says something about your character.  Most of my favorite quotes are funny ones.  The quote above, I thought, was appropriate for this blog, although it's a little outdated.  So maybe it should go:  Everyone has a photographic memory.  Some don't have a card…umm…that just doesn't have quite the same ring.

My picture today is of my lunch.  It wasn't what I was expecting.  This morning I quickly grabbed a burrito and box of veggies from the freezer on the way out the door.  I thought I had a box of mixed vegetables.  To my dismay, it was asparagus.  I don't remember buying asparagus.  All I can say is, it must have been one of my film-less days.  Asparagus wasn't on my list.

I knew 365 days was going to be a challenge.  I didn't realize by day six I would be reduced to taking a picture of asparagus.  But, that's life.  Some days you have a picture perfect day, other days you have asparagus.  And, some days you just don't have any film.  Just don't go grocery shopping on those days.    

Uncle!

Mammogram time. At least I found solace in the Pavilion.  But that was only because it’s a beautiful building with nice people.  From the outside of the building to the warm cozy waiting room inside, I felt I was stepping into a retreat, a sanctuary of sorts.  In the waiting room I sat as far away from the glowing fireplace as possible.  At this point in my life, I don’t need a fire for warmth.  If I ever get cold, it’s a refreshing two minute relief.   The fireplace, I assume, is for comfort of those younger than I and pre-menopausal, or the fortunate ones that do not have personal summers year-round.

The mammogram didn’t take long, in retrospect.  At the time, it felt like forever.  I did have a flash back to my childhood when my big brother would pinch my forearm and make me say “UNCLE”!  Only today it was the technician saying “Let me know when this becomes intolerable”. 

Mammogram, checked off my annual list of things I must do.  I am thankful it's done for another year AND done without a single "Uncle" uttered. It doesn't count if you're thinking it but don't say it, doesn't it?

 

What My Face Looks Like Sometimes

 I thought I'd try a "Selfie", a word I heard on The Voice last season.  The winner apparently liked to use her phone and take pictures of her self!  I thought it was cute.  Normally, I hate getting my picture taken.  I avoid a camera like the flu.  I have worked at a university for 30 years and probably have my picture in about 5 of  the yearbooks.  The year before last my sister-in-law said, you know, we don't have many pictures of you!  Well, it was by design.  I've had my share of bad photos.  I'm not photogenic.  I read once that Abe Lincoln commented on a photo of himself:  "There are no bad pictures; that's just how your face looks sometimes."  Really??  Well, he was honest Abe.  Owe it.  Sometimes my face does look like this picture.  Right now, as a matter of fact, since I just took this picture.  My thoughts?  What was I thinking when I picked those frames?  Do I really have that many freckles?  Or are those……no, it can not be, ….AGE SPOTS!?!?!   I can't wait until I have to get another driver's license, because my last photo at the DMV proved I should shun cameras as much as possible!

 But, photos help me remember, and photos remind me of a time never to be again.   And sometimes never to be again is a very good thing.   I'm so thankful I don't have that perm that made my head look like a triangle, or wear mini shirts like everyone else in high school that showed my knobby knees.  And yet, I enjoy seeing my family and friends from years ago.  I still (sometimes) think of my nieces as the two little girls in the photograph with the blue and white matching sailor dresses.  I had that picture on my desk at work for years.  They now have children of their own.  I have a picture of my one-year old nephew with his arms open wide and the biggest smile with a little drool about to roll down his chin. He is now a freshman in college.  I have pictures from my trips to Europe, Hawaii, and Mexico.  Places I'll never forget, but places I'm sure have changed as I have changed.  Everything changes - that's the one sure thing in life, change.  Except photos.  Photos don't change.    And this picture of myself?  It captures a face that looks like me sometimes.  This picture will not change over the years, but I will.  I pray my next picture will be a photo of a women closer to God, wiser, and has great glasses.    

Autumn

I prefer autumn over the word fall.  It’s kind of like calling myself mature rather than old.  

Yesterday I pulled up the remains of frostbitten summer flowers from my planters.  The backyard looks blank, like something is missing.  The flowers were beautiful this summer and I enjoyed them immensely.  The starkness of their absence is softening by the beauty of this autumn.  The colors of the trees have been brilliant this year, bright reds, sunny golds and iridescent yellows.  As the wind outside my window is now making a kaleidoscopic dance of the leaves, I wonder what the winter holds.  I try not to think of it, because it’s not my favorite time of the year.  Snow is nice at Christmas, but other than that, I could do without it. 

I have tried to hold on to summer, because I love all things summer.  I’m still wearing sandals, but sadly I will soon have to put them back until another warmer day.  Denial won’t prevent autumn and winter from coming.   

Every season has it’s own beauty.  Whether I want to admit it or not, summer is wonderful, but autumn is a gorgeous time of year.  No other time of year has the color or sound of rustling leaves and crunch underfoot of them.   Did you know that the green leaves of summer have the colors of autumn in them?   You just can’t see that until the chlorophyll no longer does it’s job and the carotenoids and anthocyanin take over.  The chlorophyll “covers up” the colors.

I am in the autumn of my life.  There I said it.  If I had admitted that a couple of years ago, it would have been like pulling the summer flowers from their planter and mourning their loss.  It is easier to say and admit to my age than it use to be, because I’m enjoying the colors that have been there all along, but could never see.  Things aren’t important.  Relationships are.  And my relationship with Jesus.  It’s just one of those things I can’t really understand.  I only know that He shows new mercies to me everyday.  And blessings.  And that is amazing.  His grace and mercy was there all along, I just never saw it the way I do now.  That’s not to say I wasn’t aware-just as the green leaves of summer are beautiful, too, and have their purpose, His grace and mercy have been magnified by just knowing Him over the years and finding Him faithful.   I see Him differently than I did when I was in my 20’s, 30’s and even 40’s.  My relationship with Him has new colors, and they are breath taking.

Winter will come.   When it does, it will have it’s beauty, too, I just know.  I just don’t see it yet.   So for now, I’ll enjoy the autumn while it lasts.

                                                      

Okay, I know I'm cheating - more than one photo.  But, the trees are so pretty I just have to include them.   They are too pretty not to share!