art is where you find it

walking home last night, slowly, in about second gear, and the quality of all the lights, the light in the sky and and the taillights of the cars, the various lights in the laundry, just struck me as so very painterly... a kind of Edward Hopper view... I've been seeing this wash-n-dry every since I moved here, and finally managed to capture the vintage feel of the place

wishful Wednesday

mostly wishing for energy and inspiration, been a mighty great lack of the above round here lately...

Not that all is unwell, mind you, healing is proceeding slow and steady, sleep when she chooses to grace the cottage comes peacefully and without the nightmares that have troubled me for many years, and there are signs of springtime rising all over the neighborhood.

The last few walkabout days were also time to practice with Complex Camera, like driving a car vs riding a bike, it allows greater possibility than Easy Camera, but with much greater input. Still figuring it out, and remembering how very difficult I found learning to drive. Required much time behind the wheel, and for years I could not even listen to the radio while driving. Of course, eventually it did become easier, and now, even without a car of my own, the activity of driving is mostly on automatic reflex, allowing attention to be on what is happening around the vehicle, with tiny amounts for music and passenger talk. In time the new camera will become a similar extension of my intent. Whenever it seems that I will run out of things to see on my limited walkabouts, I invariably find something new...

ivy dreams of spring ...

patina pathways

old and new red

mosses and lichens living in harmony

words to live by...

'tis important to know
which way the wind blows...

"...you decide which is real
and which is an illusion..."

~ : ♥ : ~

Many good folks have shared books and movies, to keep me from going quite mad while convalescing. Nicole not only has brought me tasty food leftovers, but also a bag full of "books for the journey" which is proving very useful indeed. I am currently partway through the way of transition, which is speaking directly to the very odd state of mind that I find I am living inside of.

"It is as if you had let go of one trapeze at the circus and then discovered that there were not yet any provisions made for sending another trapeze swinging toward you. But the transition process does not depend on there being a replacement reality waiting in the wings. "

~ : ♥ : ~

In additional really good news, yesterday the errant knitting needles turned up, after being put away Someplace Safe two months ago; not in the tattered and cracked black case from a set of socket wrenches that I remembered, and that they had lived in for decades, I somehow decided pre-surgery to put them in a pretty basket-box. And to hide leave said box at the bottom of a pile of similar but empty boxes. What was I thinking? Nonetheless, all the borrowed knitting gear can be returned to my generous friends. Pictured above is "choco-bun", a whimsey made from scraps of wool yarn and two hematite beads - because sometimes it is is necessary to just be silly and knit something kawaii.

slow and unsteady, but progress nonetheless

a very small lion - March did indeed come in like a lion: after the most soft and warm of northwest winters, several days of cold wind and this morning there was a dusting of snow all round the yard...

a morning walk to the backyard...


snow adds sweetness to kale...


hens are not thrilled by the snow-covered ground...


Hmmmm, dunno if it is okay out there...
...definitely strange, no matter how you look at it...


go out in that white stuff... you have to be kidding!...

a tiny simple repair - the double hook on the back of the bathroom door, waaay up at the top edge, not easy to reach, (and there is already a shaker-peg-rack across the back that holds towels-n-such) has been transferred to the bathroom wall. I'd been thinking about this switch for at least a year and a half, having a handy spot to hang a robe and a towel seems very civilised. Given that I am cleared to attempt daily activity, this seemed like a small enough project to not cause too much pain. About fifteen minutes with the drill, the racheting screwdriver, and the step-stool, et voila! Showering will be much improved.

At some point, once the year is farther along and the air warms, the bathroom just might get painted (have had paint for all the rooms in the house for several years), and the door will need to have the empty spots where other hardware once lived primed before turning some other color than landlord white. I am so very tired of having all the rooms in the house white.

an unexpected treat - got a call from my pal L, who was gifted with two tickets to the Portland Symphony from one of her church friends, did I want to go with her... why sure! Last night we made our way downtown for an evening of music. Was just delightful to spend time just sitting quietly and letting the music make pictures in my head. Felt a little odd to find myself at the "donor appreciation concert", but I surely do appreciate that someone who was a donor felt like sharing the joy. On the way home, I remembered that through Arts for All, I can get a pair of discounted tickets for various kinds of performances (once I am back working and have extra dosh for suchlike) and that some of my pals, like L, would be happy to join me in such adventures...