Introspection

Springing Forward, Feeling New

/ Ally Bean / 19 Comments

Birds are chirping outside our front door this morning.  They nest in the river birch trees that create a barrier between our front yard and the neighbor’s front yard.

Then, because the little birdies feel so safe, they like to flit and hop around on our bushes, concrete bench, front stoop.  Sometimes they even look in the window at me.

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They are cute, but not all that melodic.  No surprise.  They are little birdies whose primary purpose in life is to build nests and procreate.  And to not get eaten by the neighborhood cats.  I’m sure that figures into their nest-building.

I find their presence outside my front door to be the most immediate and clearcut sign that Spring is here.  Last week, Winter.  This week, Spring.  The change of seasons happens quickly and easily in this part of the world with Daylight Savings Time underscoring what is already going on naturally.

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I find March, and the shift into Spring, as inspiring and focusing as New Year’s Day.  For me, this is the time of year to start new things.  To say: “Today I will begin  ______.”  And then go out and do it.  Rather like NY resolutions, without the formality and fuss, but with the follow-thru.

So with that in mind I plan to start anew today.  To follow the lead of the little birdies who are happy as can be doing their own thing.  To embrace change.  And growth.  And adventure.  And fun.

Definitely fun.  Care to join me?

Stuck At Home On A Winter’s Day: Observations, Musings & Long Sentences

/ Ally Bean / 19 Comments

My world is covered in ice this morning.  Trees. Bushes. Sidewalk. Driveway. Deck. Mailbox.  They are all a mess.  The sky is gray with no sign that the sun even exists, so there’s no sparkle going on with this layer of ice.  Pity that.  Shimmering light refracted from icy tree branches is beautiful to look at.

However, that’s not what we have going on here.  Nope, what we have here is a gloomy, slippery mess.  Ick.

This is one of those days when staying at home seems like the sane thing to do.  I’m lucky that my lifestyle is flexible enough to allow me to do just that.  So home for the day, it is– even though I had some other things planned.

However, plans change, don’t they?  Often, in fact.

I’ve been putting off some boring cleaning projects.  Closets. Cupboards. Cabinets.  Not all of them, but some of them, could use a once over.  So, I suppose, that today would be the day to start on these projects.  The problem is that I dislike beginning things.  I’m good at maintaining things after I get a something going and I’m good at concluding things when I must.

However, starting something new makes me a bit crazy and discombobulated.  Always has.

That being as it may, I think that I’ve dawdled here for about as long as I can.  What is a blog for if not to share your life with the world and to take stock of who you are?  Granted, one hopes when one starts blogging that one’s life is so interesting and compelling that sharing it with the world becomes a moral imperative;  but one learns early on that when one faces up to the dull realities of one’s life, one is left with two options.  Either one must say nothing, or one can say whatever she likes using long sentences.

However, even long sentences can become tedious to write.  So off I go to do something more productive.  Probably.

Early Morning Light

/ Ally Bean / 12 Comments

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“I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.”

~ Hafiz of Shiraz

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Early the other morning a weird warm weather front came through our area.  It brought strong winds and unusual light with it.

When I took this photo I was trying to capture the almost full moon that was still visible in the early morning sky, but the rapidly moving clouds kept me from doing that.

Instead, I ended up with a photo of bare branches + purplish sky.  Not what I was trying to do, but beautiful nonetheless.

And perhaps a lesson to me: do your best, see where it goes & take joy in whatever you get!

The Stuff & Things Of Life

/ Ally Bean / 12 Comments

This year my desk calendar displays a vintage ad above each monthly grid.  January’s ad is for a Big Ben alarm clock.  The style of the ad is mid-century and the vibe of the ad is cheerful.  I smile when I look at it.

Unlike the nature photo calendars that I’ve had in the past, this one inspires me in a more creative way.  Suddenly I want to paint something– or bake something– or color something, even.  Funny how the imagery on something can influence me in such a way, but it does.

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I’ve always been fascinated by what objects people put around themselves.  I enjoy knowing what stuff a person finds important enough to keep on his or her desk– or on his or her kitchen counter– or in his or her magazine rack.  The little things that make someone smile.  Or be productive.  Or feel safe.

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I stumbled on this article about abandoned suitcases that were found in an old insane asylum.  It’s an interesting read.  The photos of the contents of the suitcases are amazing.  Plus there is documentation to explain who owned the suitcases– and why he or she was institutionalized.

There’s no way of knowing who put the objects into each suitcase.  It might have been the patient or it might have been the person who institutionalized the patient.  Or, I suppose, it might have been the nurse or doctor who came to escort the patient to the asylum.

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Looking around my home office I see the details that make it mine.  Like the calendar that inspires me.  Like the colorful Le Creuset mug that keeps my coffee handy.  Like the books in the old wooden bookcase that ground me.  And I wonder, what would I take with me if I knew I was going to an insane asylum… probably for the rest of my life.

Impossible to know the answer to such a hypothetical question.  Yet interesting to ponder.  On a Saturday morning.