I pondered doing a “what I did on my blog-cation” last week… and I will share, soon.
One thing I did not do until late last week was open my laptop. Nope, I did not look at it once and it felt so good. I realized that in not looking at my laptop also increased not looking at my phone…another win, imo. I needed a dose of digital detox… ahh!
But here we are on a holiday (if you click this link, Google will remind you of the holiday, lol) … or at least the day of no mail delivery and on the cusp of summer solstice…as someone pointed out to me last week that I jumped the gun a bit in my thoughts that summer was starting last week but who was not ready to usher in summer early? Surely not just me, right? lol
I did spend some time pondering Juneteenth over the weekend. I read some poetry… and I rewatched this several times…a good reminder of how fragile freedom is. I also listened to this and I was reminded how much I appreciate Tracy K. Smith and so I tumbled down this lovely rabbit hole. I tried to stay in Digital Detox Land over the weekend but was not as successful as I was earlier in the week… sigh.
One thing I did discover was that a break from “normal” was a very good thing and I hope to bring some of those things with me into this new “back to normal” week…at least, that is my hope! And so I wish you all a very happy Monday!
Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds. — Regina Brett
Summer solstice officially arrives tomorrow and though it felt like we did not have any kind of spring, I am hoping that these next few months slow down so I can savor these long days.
One thing I am going to be entirely lazy on this week are blog posts and though I won’t be sitting on any branches… I will do a good bit of porch sitting where I can watch the summer sky!
Yep, I am taking a bit of a break here… I will be back soon!
Allergies to dust and grain, maladies, remedies and still these allergies remain. — Paul Simon
Spring is … wonderful … well, except for that little allergy thing that happens every year. I have some generally mild allergies to tree pollen and usually I can count on 5-7 days of itchy eyes, a scratchy throat, and – of course – a runny nose. This morning brings Day Fifteen of the most horrible spring allergies I can remember in … well … a long-ass time! So I did a quick Google search yesterday to see if my Off-The-Charts allergies were a one-off, or not… (really, I should have included a box of Kleenex™ in the above photo because we spent so much time together! lol)
So this weekend was all about not thinking about my allergy symptoms (and not rubbing my eyes, gah!)
My Mind Over Matter things… knitting, that water color class, and some Word contemplation (this month Ali Edwards is having us look back and look forward a bit, which is such an interesting way to consider my word at the “mid-year” point!)
First up… Knitting. In my Year of Never Not Gnoming, I began my June Gnome (a repeat of Gnombleberry that I had previously knit for Steve’s mom.) I have Gnombleberry’s body done… as well as the start of his “backpack”… which I am going to change up a bit and make it a cross-body messenger-style bag I think. Stay tuned.
Next… that watercolor class. I have watched the “make thumbnail sketches” video twice. The first time, I just watched what Rick Surowicz did. Wow, is he fast! LOL Anyways, the second time watching I picked up my pencil and managed to get two thumbnail sketches done in the time he did four. The first is perhaps too detailed for the watercolor process and the second might be a bit closer to how Rick did his four. The best thing about a video class… I can play the video’s over and over and over if I need to. I am working on letting go of my desire for perfection… but gosh, the struggle is real. Haha. Today I am going to watch the value study video … likely several times.
And that word work… I have made some notes from each month that fell into the “out of sight, out of mind” hole. A mid-year reflection is exactly what I needed to gather up some pieces I do not want to lose!
Finally, another list… and boy, I really wish that this would be the last ever list like this that anyone has to make:
Philadelphia, PA
Omaha, NE
Chattanooga, TN
Summerton, SC
Phoenix, AZ
Mesa, AZ
Socorro, TX
Chesterfield, VA
Macon, GA
Saginaw, MI
That’s right… 10 cities, 10 mass shootings, 15 dead, 60 injured…during the weekend.
Bring poppies for a weary mind That saddens in a senseless din. — William Winter
One of the most fleeting of things… my poppies… and yet, perhaps I love them so much because they are so fleeting.
One thing I hope is not fleeting… our outrage at the gun violence of the last two weeks. May our fervor burn red like my poppies and light a fire under those who think doing nothing is our best choice.
The best laid plans of bloggers… sigh. I had planned on giving you all a May Word update today. But Carolyn posted this weekend that word update would be next Monday.
Okay… that works, because it gives me a few more days to contemplate Four Thousand Weeks, which I will finish up this morning. I am enjoying it and I am adding bits to my Word Sheet for May. Last month, thanks to Kym’s encouragement, I signed up for Ali Edward’s One Little Word Year Long Workshop and I spent much of April catching myself up. I don’t plan on doing a separate Word Journal – a scrapbooker I am not – but I am loving the creative conversations that are inspiring new ways of thinking.
And speaking of Journals… someone brought this journaling opportunity to my attention yesterday. I immediately sent the link to my daughters… what a fun activity to inspire Genevieve, Winston, and Olivia as June begins. I am going to participate as well…and I am so excited!
As MacroMay is drawing to a close, I continue to learn how to use my pseudo-macro iPhone lens. This week’s wins:
An ant visits the primrose
I’ve got sunshine…
But here we are with another Monday, another week, another fresh page, another opportunity. And thinking about Monday in that way is exciting… don’t you think?
And it was with those thoughts in my head that I set about my weekly list which was not the same as last week’s … no carry overs… a true fresh page.
I leave you with my Beardy Attempts from yesterday… yes, I made two and I might make another one this morning, lol.
Happy Fresh Start Monday, everyone! See you all back here on Wednesday!
It’s been a week, hasn’t it? I have tried and tried to make sense of the senseless and I can find no simple answers… no complicated answers either. My heart is heavy for the citizens of Buffalo and for the Black/Brown/Indigenous American/LGBTQIA+/Non-Christian communities that are integral parts of the tapestry that is America. And so I this week, I picked up James Baldwin to settle into his world and listen for what wisdom he might share with me. And so I started The Fire Next Time….and of course, Baldwin has lots to share.
The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.
and
We, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are really to become a nation…
Both of those statements are true, but how do we move away from the first and become the second. And as I said… still there are no simple answers and while there might be some more complicated ones… it will take all of us together to be the complicated, yet simple?, answer.
This week we (America) achieved another major milestone on our COVID journey… one million persons have died (actually, more than a million as of this writing) and if that does not shock you I don’t know what, if anything, might. I think that the WaPo posted an incredible look back to our COVID journey. (I don’t know if this link is behind a paywall…sorry) I spent some time there this week remembering the lives that were.
And because in the midst of our, at times, painful reality…some escapism is needed. This week I settled in with my third gnome clue and watched Operation Mincemeat on Netflix. Oh.my.gosh! It was so good. The story (which is true) was just what I needed to move myself to another space for a bit. If you have not watched it, you absolutely should!
And finally, my above photo is the best of this week’s iPhone Pseudo-Macro attempts! Lambs Ear with rain drop remnants (with a side of again necessary weeding… it just never ends, lol)
I hope you have a good weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday with my word update!
