Quotes + Sayings

Another Sunday, Another Walk In A Park

/ Ally Bean / 12 Comments

“I know nothing.”  ~ Nancy Botwin, Weeds

Years ago Zen-Den and I went to a garden show that was held in a city park.  I’ve always wanted to go back to that park and see what else was there beyond what we saw during the show.

I was convinced that the entire park was a nice, manicured city park which would be a lovely place to go for a stroll on a gorgeous fall afternoon before we headed to the grocery to do some shopping.  So on this past Sunday afternoon Z-D and I made our way back to that city park where we quickly figured out that I was wrong.  There was a lot more to this park than I realized.

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Despite appearing on the surface to be civilized, it turned out that many parts of this city park were more rugged than paved.  In fact, in some places it was almost creepy with a dirt path through overgrown vines + shrubs + HUGE trees blocking out all the daylight.

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Just about the time that Z-D and I were beginning to wonder what we’d gotten ourselves into with this walk, we came back around a trail loop and found ourselves walking through this stretch of well-maintained park.  Looking at the colorful leaves was mesmerizing, and made the effort to get there all the more worth it.

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When we got back to our car we realized that we’d wandered, trudged & walked for over one hour and had seen HALF of this city park.  Apparently this park is quite large.

Our Sunday afternoon in the park might not have been the adventure that I thought we were going to have, but it was fun nonetheless.  Turns out that sometimes [many times?] not knowing where I’m going, works in my favor.

Autumn Sustains Me

/ Ally Bean / 22 Comments

“A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.

~ Proust

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I’ve never seen a season appear on cue quite as perfectly as Autumn did on Saturday.  In the morning during Summer’s last hours the weather was warm + humid around here.  I remarked to Z-D that our lawn looked so green that it seemed like Spring.  As the morning progressed, I wondered if I should have worn shorts instead of capris.  It was that warm.

And then, Summer exited stage left.  Enter Fall.

By mid afternoon the wind was gusting and the air had a chill to it.  The sky was blue + leaves were blowing all over creation.  Pulling into the Kroger parking lot we watched as the wind knocked a Mr. Coffee coffee maker off the bottom of a shopping cart as a woman pushed her shopping cart to her car.  It was that windy.

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For me, Autumn is the beginning of the year.  I find myself relaxed, joyful and mellow during this time of year.  I let go of striving and enjoy the results of what I’ve worked on throughout the winter – spring – summer.  I review what has succeeded, appreciate what I did, enjoy where I am & prepare for what is to come.

Grounded in the colorful reality that Fall is known for, I’m comfortable thinking about possibility now.  Much more so than in January.  There’s something about this time of year that helps me get it together and be happy for the chance to embrace change.

Autumn sustains me.  Does it do the same thing for you?

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The Deer Ate My Pansies

/ Ally Bean / 8 Comments

Last week on this day I wrote about how I was happy and pleased because we had planted some true blue pansies by the sidewalk leading up to our front door.  Today I am saddened to tell you, my gentle readers, that last Friday night the deer ate 70% of my special, pretty pansies.

Apparently the deer were having their very own T.G.I.F. party out in front of our house.  And they didn’t even invite us.  SNOBS.

This experience reminds me of a Bible verse: “Pride goeth before Destruction, and Haughtiness goeth before the Fall.”  

[Don’t know where that is in the Bible, but I know it’s there.  My mother used to say that every so often.  While not a church lady by any stretch of the imagination, she knew all sorts of Bible quotes that she used, along with French phrases + literary quotes, to keep me on the straight and narrow.  Or to confuse me, thereby slowing me down as I sauntered along the crooked and wide.]

So yesterday morning Z-D and I went to Lowe’s to buy some average, run-of-the-mill pansies.  We bought one 6-pack of pansies with yellow/brown faces and one 6-pack of pansies with purple/white faces.  We came home and planted them all mixed-up with the remaining true blue pansies that the deer were too full to eat.

THEN Zen-Den gave the whole mess of pansies a thorough spraying with Liquid Fence, Deer & Rabbit Repellent.  Or as I call it– the deer stink stuff.

All of which means that our flowers look lovely from afar, but smell icky when you walk by them.  I believe that Fernando Lamas would approve of this solution to our deer/pansy problem.  In fact, I can imagine him saying that it is better to look good than it is to smell good.

Yes, my pansies: “You look MAHVELOUS!” 

[There’s more to the story.  Click here.]

What We Didn’t Do Over The Weekend

/ Ally Bean / 34 Comments

The weather was supposed to be clear and warm over the weekend.  THAT’S WHAT THEY SAID.  So I planned accordingly.  I thought that we’d take the weekend off from our usual home improvement projects and goof-off instead… but that was not to be.

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I thought that we’d go to a rural county park on the other side of the city.  We go there a couple of times a year.  We like to walk the trails which take you through groves of wildflowers + into farmlands + beside horse paths + near a stream.  But we didn’t do that.

Then on Saturday night I thought that we’d have a cookout for the two of us with burgers + grilled veggies, cold beer and perfectly toasted marshmallows courtesy of moi.  I figured that we’d kick back and enjoy our deck for a few hours.  But we didn’t do that.

On Sunday morning I thought that we’d go to an outdoor antique show (which is more flea market than an antique show) at a county fair grounds.  We like going there because it’s filled with all sorts of old stuff and costs only $3.00 per person.  It’s a fun way to get lost in time.  But we didn’t do that.

Then on Sunday afternoon I thought that we’d spend some time sitting down in The Spoon [the lowest level of our terraced forest backyard].  I figured that we could just do nothing or read our books or play some backgammon or whatever.  But we didn’t do that.

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All of which leads me to the real point of this post that: PLANS CHANGE OFTEN.  And that instead of grumbling about this truth, I’d do well to remember the following Rules of Life by Robin Patricia Williams that I keep on a sticky note on my desktop because, well— they are the rules of life.  And because, clearly, I need to refer to them often.

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As some of you have figured out already, I’ve had quite a bit of difficulty getting the following to show up here on this post.  I’m going to try it one. more. time.   Then if it doesn’t work, I’m going to go drown my sorrows in a cold adult beverage.  Of course, if it does work, there’s a good chance that I’m going to go celebrate my victory with a cold adult beverage.  From my point of view, this last attempt at posting The [Revised] Rules of Life is a no-lose proposition.