Insanely Happy Looking At The Morning Moon

May 22, 2014June 2, 2022 / Ally Bean / 29 Comments

This past Tuesday morning was unusually clear so that when I looked up into the sky around 7:30 a.m. EST I saw the waning gibbous moon. I was aware that I might see the moon in the morning after I read this, and I knew from a similar event last year that if I had my camera with me I might get a photo of it.

Above is the best photo that I took. Too cool for school, huh?

I like the moon more than the sun. For one thing I don’t have to apply any sunblock or don a hat before I go outside to see it. But the real reason that I like the moon is that the gradual changes associated with its rotation keep it fresh and fascinating.

Nothing stodgy about it. A bit eclectic, even.

Seeing this moon photo I remembered a quote by Paulo Coelho about the moon. It is in Veronika Decides To Die, a novel which I read years ago but have to admit that I don’t remember much about. All that stayed with me from the novel is this quote which, I feel, makes a perfect ending to this post.

“She didn’t quite know what the relationship was between lunatics and the moon, but it must be a strong one, if they used a word like that to describe the insane.”

In Which I Attempt To Spring Clean & Am Thwarted By Motherly Advice

May 20, 2014 / Ally Bean / 22 Comments

Order out of chaos.

It’s that time of year. Spring. And my half of our clothes closet is a mess. As usual. Just ask Zen-Den.

So I’ve decided to be strong, be decisive, be ruthless… and sort through my clothes. And accessories. Because it’s not doing me any good having all this stuff piled up hither and yon.

I crave a calm, organized closet. Angst-free.

Encourage or discourage?

But here’s the issue, when I start to organize anything in our home I hear my late mother’s voice telling me three of her stock phrases. The woman was nothing if not consistent. And cautious.

Waste not, want not.
Be careful.
Think it through.

So then after acknowledging that these phrases are bouncing around inside my mind, I become so filled with doubt that I do not do that which I set out to do. And the closet… or the basement… or the junk drawer remain messy.

Stumbling over the past.

It’s the oddest thing. I can let go of outdated ideas with ease. I can move on from rotten relationships as needed. But when it comes to objects that I’ve bought or inherited, I have difficulty deciding what to do with them.

Begging the question: how do you un-program that which a well-intentioned mother who grew up during the Depression programmed into you?

There must be an override switch somewhere, right?

My Report On Periwinkles, A Spring Flower That Is Often Overlooked

April 11, 2014April 11, 2014 / Ally Bean / 24 Comments

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I call these vines, which are growing in the shady area around the base of our deck, Periwinkles. Currently the lavender-blue flowers, which contrast so beautifully with the dark green leaves, are in bloom.

Aren’t they pretty?

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“Originally a native of southern Europe,… ‘Periwinkle’ is thought to be an old Slavic word, pervinka, meaning ‘first’ and referring to the early spring flowers.”

~ C. Colston Burrell

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A few years ago when the landscapers put these Periwinkles around the deck, a little plastic gardening tag embedded in each of the plants told me that they were called Vinca minor, not Periwinkles. Since then I’ve come to realize that sometimes these trailing vines + flowers are also called myrtle.

Such a humble plant to have three names.

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“Periwinkle vines gently embrace one another, clinging gently to their surroundings, and therefore are associated with fidelity in folk magic.”

~ Feri Tradition

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According to the Victorian language of flowers, Periwinkles mean early friendship. This makes sense to me because they bloom early and because they look approachable & non-threatening.

Who doesn’t feel comfortable around simple little flowers on sturdy vines?

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“Through primrose tufts, in that green bower, The periwinkle trailed its wreaths; And ’tis my faith that every flower Enjoys the air it breathes.”

~ William Wordsworth

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I’m glad that I snapped a photo of these little flowers. They’re easy to take for granted. I imagine that it’s difficult to be a periwinkle, especially when you are surrounded by showy daffodils, pushy tulips & spazzy forsythia who get all the springtime attention.

Makes me adore Periwinkles even more.

Fuzzy The Squirrel Finds A New Home In Tree #3479

March 11, 2014February 24, 2015 / Ally Bean / 13 Comments

{Subtitled: What the heck is that little bugger doing now?}

ONCE UPON A TIME…

The Lady of the Suburban House looked out her kitchen window while she was drinking her morning coffee. In a strange moment of self-awareness, she realized that she was not alone. What she saw was her frenemy, a squirrel, who last year she had named Fuzzy. [More about this squirrel here.]

Say “hello” to Fuzzy.

Watching Fuzzy frolic outside in the trees that form the forest that is The Lady of the Suburban House’s backyard, The Lady of the Suburban House realized that Fuzzy, who never seems to leave her property lines regardless of the weather, had found a home of his own in a large tree back there.

Look! It’s the front door to Fuzzy’s home.

Staring closely at this large tree, The Lady of the Suburban House noticed something that she had not noticed before. Perhaps she had not been caffeinated enough when she looked out the kitchen window previously. And this is what she saw: the large tree had a number on it.

Here is tree #3479.

The Lady of the Suburban House could not explain why this tree was numbered. It seemed peculiar to her, but then many things of late had seemed odd to The Lady of the Suburban House, so she shrugged.

This is Fuzzy’s tree.

And then she came to the only logical conclusion that one could come to: Fuzzy had put the number there on the large tree so that his friends and relatives would know where he lived in the forest, that is The Lady of the Suburban House’s backyard.

~ THE END ~