Suburbia

Me, The Morning Star & The Muse Of Practicality

/ Ally Bean / 12 Comments

“Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.”

~ Henry David Thoreau, the end of Walden Pond

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The other morning I woke up at 5:30 a.m.  This is much too early by my standards, but there I was AWAKE, not worrying about a thing.  So I got up, made a pot of coffee, poured myself a mug,  grabbed my camera and went out on the deck to sit, waiting for the sun to come up.

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It didn’t take long for the first rays of sunlight to sneak across the lawn heading for the wooded ravine behind our home.

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Nor did it take long for me to become bewitched by the path of the glittery sunlight, following it with my camera into the darkest parts of the woods.

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At this point I’d love to tell you that my early morning photo shoot was some sort of transcendental awakening.  That the course of my life was permanently altered because of my experience watching the morning light illuminate the woods.

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But there wasn’t anything spiritual about my early morning on the deck.  It was all very practical.  A way for me to learn about using my camera in various light.  And the opportunity to ponder why it is that I can remember the last line of Walden Pond– but, for the life of me, can’t think of the first one!

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Revenge, I Now Know, Is Lime Green

/ Ally Bean / 27 Comments

A few years ago I attended a good-bye party for a woman who lived across the street.  At this party were other neighbors who I met for the first time.  One was a nice woman who, until not too long ago, lived up the street.

During the party this woman got talking about her husband who feared color.  She told me that he would only allow her to have pure white walls and trim in their house.

Fear?  Allow?  Say what?!  What decade is this?

Naturally I was curious.  So I asked her how fear of color manifested.  I mean, I dislike certain shades of color but I do not fear them.  They are not my enemies.  I do not cower in their presence.

She told me that for her husband seeing anything that wasn’t uniform made him uneasy– so much so that different shades of any color, including white, were anxiety producing for him.  She also said that they had nothing hanging on the walls because that made him crazy, too.

I asked her if she, too, feared color.  But she didn’t.  In fact, she volunteered that she liked all colors a lot.

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Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I was out for a walk and saw a For Sale sign in the front yard of this couple’s house.

Not surprisingly, they had divorced.

She had kept the house for a while after the divorce, but now had put the property on the market using a realtor who always puts photos from inside the house on the For Sale sign outside the house.

When I got a close-up of the For Sale sign I almost couldn’t stop laughing.  On the sign was one large photo of the interior of this modern, open-concept house which features 14′ cathedral ceilings on the first floor.

And what color were these large dramatic walls inside this house?  They were a shade of citrus-y lime green so glaringly bright that parrots would look pale standing near them.  Bold + loud.  A decidedly in-your-face color.

Yes, that’s the color that this newly divorced woman painted the walls after all those years of living with a color-phobic husband.  And, damn, do those walls look good.  Finally.

Way to make a statement, girlfriend.  Way to go.  😉

The Good News Is That The Neighbors Are Getting A New Roof

/ Ally Bean / 20 Comments

I cannot catch a break lately.

Last week as I watched my life get rather wonky, I decided that on this Monday, when I had nothing scheduled, I’d hang out on our screened-in porch.  I figured that I’d take my laptop out there and set up camp for the day.  To do this, all I need to do is to move the round glass-topped side table in front of a wicker lounge chair, add a few pillows for back support, reposition a smaller wooden side table for my mug of coffee– and I’m good to go.

And considering that the weather today is finally sunny + clear + mild, you’d think that I’d be out there, wouldn’t you?  Doing my own suburban take on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Walden Pond lifestyle.  Finding spiritual inspiration sitting next to the trees with the birds chirping and the squirrels squirreling.  Being all peaceful and such.

But I’m not.

Instead, I’m in my home office with the French doors to the foyer closed, shades on windows down, trying to ignore the loud ruckus that is going on next door– and in front of my house.  This is because my peaceful screened-in porch sanctuary looks out upon the chaos and mess going on next door as a new roof is being installed.  Meaning that I am not feeling passionately at one with the whole world a la RWE, but I am feeling passive like a victim of Lemony Snicket’s Unfortunate Events.

However, be that as it may, looking on the brighter side of things, the neighbors are getting a new roof that they need after theirs was done-in by some hail damage last summer.  So this is necessary.  And when this is all finished I’ll be the one who gets to look at the prettiest roof in town.

So there’s that.

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~ Pretty Pillows Not Being Used By Me Today ~

~ Pretty Pillows Not Being Used By Me Today ~

In Which I Staycate & You Questionate

/ Ally Bean / 11 Comments

This week Zen-Den and I are taking a staycation.

We are planning on doing projects around the house [paint stair railings + bannister] and around the yard [replace perennials that didn’t survive the winter].  Plus we hope to go out to eat a few times… maybe go to the zoo… perhaps check-out the deals at an outlet mall… see a movie.

You know, do stuff.

So this week instead of writing about anything in particular, I thought that like Carol Burnett I’d turn up the house lights and take questions from the audience.  Then next week, on a subsequent post, I’ll answer your questions making sure to let the world know who asked me each question.

Deal?  Okay then, let’s get things started in here.

Just remember that the success or failure of my next post rests on you, my gentle readers.  I’m counting on you to questionate like a pro!  Please leave your questions in the comments below.  And thank you in advance for your kind attention to this matter.

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Updated late in the afternoon to include…

HEY! Look at this:

“Carol Burnett, who became famous for playing a variety of characters in sketch comedy routines on her namesake television show, was named the winner of the nation’s top humor prize on Tuesday.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said Burnett will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Oct. 20 in Washington. “

AND WHO POSTED ABOUT CAROL BURNETT TODAY BEFORE THIS PRIZE WAS ANNOUNCED?  Could it be me?  Why yes it was.  Is that a trippy coincidence or what?

[Source article here.]