Springing Forward, Feeling New

March 11, 2013November 19, 2015 / 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?

The Last Snow Of The Season… Or So I Imagine

March 9, 2013March 9, 2013 / Ally Bean / 18 Comments

On Wednesday we had what I imagine will be our last snow of the season.

It was the kind of snow that covers everything it touches with what appears to be wallpaper paste or cotton balls. This snowfall didn’t slow things down like early and mid-winter snow does. In fact, by mid-day Thursday the streets and sidewalks were clear.

But while it remained on the trees and bushes, the heavy snow made for some pretty photos. There are times when the grayness of winter is quietly stunning.

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{ maple leaves on a snowy branch }

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{ snow-covered rosemary in a pot }

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{ view outside through the front door sidelight }

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{ moss + snow on the trunk of a tree }

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{ a view into our ravine from high above }

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

February 22, 2013 / 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.

A Mid-Winter Sunday Morning In The Park

February 10, 2013July 1, 2025 / Ally Bean / 19 Comments

“Many people don’t realize that it’s in what you think are the limitations of a certain form that you can often find your own rhythm and space.”

~ Isabelle Huppert

Sunday was one of those monotone, nondescript days that was neither lovely nor lousy. Not too cold. Not too wet. Not too bleak.

I had almost no energy. Whether it was because of the weather or because we ran around all day on Saturday, I don’t know. Doesn’t matter because I had no pep.

But I thought that we really should do something, so I talked the hubster into going to a city park that we hadn’t been to in years. I remembered that it was flat, paved and had decent parking.

At first I wasn’t going to take my camera with me thinking that without vibrant color outside there’d be nothing to take a picture of. But then I realized that taking photos on a winter day that offered neither sunshine nor snow would be a fun challenge, so the camera came with us. Just in case I saw something I wanted to photograph.

Here’s what I saw…

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