I’m Polar Vortexing Here

January 28, 2014January 28, 2014 / Ally Bean / 19 Comments

AS YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW… this part of the USA, the midwest, is experiencing arctic temperatures. Records are being broken. Schools are being closed. Furnaces are being taxed. Prayers are being said. Et cetera, et cetera.

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BECAUSE I’VE DECIDED TO STAY AT HOME DURING THIS WEATHER EVENT… I am now in charge of:

running water through all sink/shower/tub faucets so that the pipes don’t freeze;
opening and closing blinds/curtains to allow sunshine + warmth, when available, to come into the house; and
monitoring the thermostat, so that I can fret over the furnace’s every clink and whoosh and thunk as it continues to heat the house.

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NOW THAT I HAVE A BIT OF UNEXPECTED TIME ON MY HANDS… I’ve started reading three books:

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance, by Edmund de Waal. After inheriting from an uncle a collection of Japanese netsuke, the author researches his ancestors and their involvement with these objects. Fascinating.
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd, by Jim Fergus. Using a few pieces of real history, the author creates a novel about a white pioneer woman who, courtesy of the U. S. government, goes to live among the Cheyenne, with the express purpose of helping the Cheyenne assimilate into white culture. Compelling.
Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life, by Shauna Niequist. By examining the details of her days, the author writes a charming personal memoir filled with gentle guidance for living a better life. Uplifting.

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OF COURSE LIFE ISN’T JUST SERIOUS PURSUITS… which means that I’m playing Candy Crush Saga as often as the game will let me play. By using this cheat, I reigned victorious over a particularly difficult level 77 in Easter Bunny Hills, but now I’m unable to progress past level 80, waiting to complete my 3 quests so that I can move across the lake to level 81 and the next episode. Stuck in the game, stuck in the house. 😉

Winter Beauty: A Simple Lesson In Perspective

January 23, 2014January 23, 2014 / Ally Bean / 10 Comments

Yesterday as I was going through some photos of winter scenes that I shot a few weeks ago, I was taken with the following simple lesson in perspective.

It’s a lesson that applies to photography as well as problems.

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Sometimes the simplest things look complex & confusing when you see them up close. For instance, here is a tangle of brown tree branches covered in white snow.

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Step back, add a bit of a blue sky and the snow-covered brown tree branches begin to look less chaotic. In fact, from this angle the tree branches appear more organized & interconnected.

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Expand your perspective again and the snow-covered brown tree branches in the foreground become incidental to the clear blue sky that forms the background.

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The simple lesson here?

By putting a little distance between you and whatever, you’ll see the big picture. And from that vantage point, we can only hope, you’ll understand what’s really going on.

Hello 2014…

January 2, 2014 / Ally Bean / 18 Comments

January. A new year. Snow.

Time for resolutions? Reconsiderations? Regrets, even.

Who to be. What to do. And why.

Stay curious. Learn something.

Keep moving. Be healthy.

Play nice. Have friends.

Get organized. Be productive.

Pray daily. Don’t panic.

More like guidelines, really. Not quite resolutions. Yet worthy of consideration.

Can do. A good way to live + love. This year.

And perhaps, forever.

Assorted Monday Morning Botherations

December 16, 2013December 16, 2013 / Ally Bean / 20 Comments

Tweeted by me earlier today, December 16, 2013

:: All I can say is thank goodness that over the weekend we were smart enough to get to the grocery & stock up on a few things. Not that this morning’s snowfall is all that deep, but it is slushy and messy. And I dislike putting on hiking boots, which are high enough to protect my ankles from the snow, so that I can trudge from the car in the parking lot into the store where my feet get too hot as I shop. This way, shopping ahead of the snow mess, my tootsies have not been inconvenienced at all.

Yeah!

:: I’ve spent most of the last week suffering from some stupid eye problems. I have rosacea in my eyes, which sucks; but most of the time I’m able to not think about it because of all the prescriptions I use to reduce the inflammation. [For me, Restasis is like meth. Gotta have it.] However, this last week I managed to chap my eyelids which means, in practical terms, that they itch like heck + they are flaking like flurries before a big snowstorm. Today, in fact, is the first morning I’ve awakened without my eyelids itching so much I want to scream. Yep, now I’ve progressed to a point where I want to mutter quietly about my eyes.

Huzzah!

:: Did I tell you that the overhead light in the laundry room stopped working? I was carrying a couple of baskets of dirty clothes into the room, hit the switch with my right elbow– and nothing happened. No noise, no sparks, not smoke. So, I put down the baskets and started checking the electrical outlets in the room. They all worked, meaning that our overhead light had wornout and died. Whoever heard of such a thing? Overhead lights last forever, right? Yet, here I am doing laundry in the dark.

Oh goody.