THERE'S SO MUCH TO SEE

Frost alert last night, so my olive plant came inside from the deck.  A freeze warning is in effect again tonight.  The temperature now is 42 degrees.  Sweatshirt weather is here, and I couldn't be happier.  

Last night was another movie marathon night for me.  Watched two movies that lasted until 3:30 a.m.  My brain was on a roll, so I had to talk myself down to where I could fall asleep.  That leaves me today with little desire to do more than watch  the murder trial that's going on down in Georgia.  Yesterday the forensic pathologist testified, and I was able to see photos of the scant remains of the victim's burned body.  A bullet was found lodged in a piece of a rib bone.  The defense is trying to take the blame off the wife and nail it instead onto one or both of the sons.  Watching these trials makes a person aware of just how many problems exist within prominent families and how well they're kept hidden from public awareness.  Shakespeare said it best, "All the world's a stage." 

Going back to our trolley the other day, here's a photo of a tree standing along the river in a campground.  It's a serene spot for campers who enjoy canoeing and kayaking.  My heart silently wished we were sitting in our camping chairs watching the leaves fall.    

It's interesting how we tend to photograph the parts of Nature that are unique in their own right.  Maybe it's the gnarly character of this tree, its obvious strength, endurance and imperfections.  It's still serving a purpose....wearing the arrow pointing to the area set aside for tents.  

I can't help but wonder how many birds have sat on its branches, how many squirrels have scampered up and down its trunk.  When and how was it first planted?  How many cuddly nests have its branches held?  How many baby animals were born in those nests?  What storms has it lived through?  And, imagine the campers who have sat beneath it drinking beers and roasting hot dogs.  Every single part of Nature has its own story, but it is only us humans who have a voice with which to share ourselves with the world.  In order for us to appreciate every single part of Nature, we have to slow down, explore, discover and respect.  I wish this tree could know that someone truly values its existence enough to write a blog about it today.

BEAUTIFUL NATURE

 

Sumac grows freely along the country roads in our part of the country.  This time of year it's crimson color adds a hint of 'fire' to the world.  I mean that in a good way, sort of like the term 'spit fire' when pertaining to a personality.  As you can see, there's nothing special about the bush, except that its beauty deserves to be admired and shared.  

I've received comments from my readers about our trolleys, and how lucky we are to live in an area where we can drive around safely, without the threat from the haters.  Those comments make me happy, yet they also make me feel sad that we all can't enjoy the outdoors and driving safely.  

I'm hoping my pictures give others insight to what Mother Nature is up to with her paintbrush.  The leaves turning color is a miracle like the rainbow that appears in the sky after a rain.  And, how 'bout the Northern Lights that have been gracing the night sky.  

Debbie and Sheila shared pictures of the Lights, and both gave me permission to post them here.  My thanks go to both of them......

~Taken by Debbie's neighbor~

~Taken by Debbie's neighbor~

This next one was taken by Sheila.  Please note how she not only captured the Northern Lights, but the Big Dipper, as well.

Northern Lights and Big Dipper

"Everybody needs beauty.....

places to play in and pray in

where Nature may heal and cheer

and give strength to the

body and soul alike.

~John Muir

AN AUTUMN TROLLEY

Yesterday after picking up our WM order, we took a trolley to a town known for its chimney rock bluffs along the river.  The temperature was autumn perfect, a titch on the cool side.  I managed to snap a few photos along the way.  There were sights that I passed up, simply because the views were many.  They usually are this time of year when Mother Nature paints the leaves in elegant shades of burnt orange, gold and crimson.  The best part for us is that we don't have to drive far to take in the colorful parade of trees.

For an extra treat, we stopped at Culver's for a picnic lunch that we ate in the car.  My choice of food was their Cranberry-Bacon-Chicken-Bleu Cheese Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing.  Truly delicious.  The boyfriend chose the Cod Sandwich with a Vanilla Shake.  Autumn picnics are such fun.  

Today the clouds are dark and heavy-looking, crawling across the sky.  The temperature is 50 degrees, so it's cooled off quite a bit.  The leaves are floating downward as they detach themselves from their life source.  The cycle of life presents itself everywhere we turn.  One definitely senses the seasonal changes that happen annually, as if they had made reservations a year in advance.  Mother Nature on one hand is very predictable, yet can be very unpredictable.  She definitely lets us know that She's in charge.  She can host a Garden Party in one place and a Demolishion Derby in another.  She is as sweet as She is brutal.

~My favorite photo from yesterday's trolley~

LAUGHTER

Maybe it's just me, but I think people need to laugh more.  Here's a quotation from a 1922 New York Tribune......

"When you are jovial, your health is good.  Laughter is the greatest of all physical exercise.  A good, real, unrestrained, hearty laugh is a sort of glorified internal massage, performed rapidly and automatically.  It manipulates and revitalizes corners and unexplored crannies of the system that are unresponsive to most other exercise methods.  There is not the remotest corner or little inlet of the minute blood vessels that does not feel some wavelet from the convulsion caused by good, hearty laughter.

"'Laughter,' says Dr. Hudeland, is an external expression of joy:  It is the most salutary of all bodily movements, for it agitates both the body and the soul at the same time, promotes digestion, circulation and perspiration and enlivens the vital power in every organ.'

"Laugh every day.  If you can't do it naturally, do it as a matter of duty, or conscience.  Laugh without cause and the cause will come.  If you can't laugh, smile.  A smile is a young laugh, a bud of a laugh, a laugh in the kindergarten stage of development.

"Let us have more robust, full-blooded, whole-souled, clean laughter of the kind that a man can share with his family as he would a pie--laughter that lapses into a long trail of reminiscent chuckles like the faint dying away of an echo."

BUCKET LIST

 I don't really have a Bucket List anymore, cuz most things have been crossed off.....except I've added one more.  What is it?

GO KAYAKING.  Yup, that's what I gotta do next summer.  This may require manpower to get me in and out of the kayak, but I think I know the right people.  (giggle)  All my life I've loved the water.....went fishing as a kid.....boating, water skiing and canoeing all my married life......but never went kayaking.  It only stands to reason that this should be on my Bucket List.

It's good for the soul to have something to look forward to.  My personality tends to lean on the side of caution these days, but I can think of nothing more fun than to get back on the water.  The ideal place would be on an Up North lake, but we have awesome canoeing and kayaking close to home, plus a couple of man-made lakes within easy driving distance.  

APPRECIATING FRIENDS

Bloody Mary

Dessert

 

Invitations to join friends in their homes for drinks and dinner are, to us, the finest way to dine.  Nothing is better than spending time with friends who share and care about each other.  

SELF-HELP

 "If it is out of your hands,

 keep it out of your mind, too."

This morning my FB feed brought these powerful words to me.  Best advice ever.  Working to discipline one's mind is far from easy, but is possible.  How do I know?  'Cuz I've had to do it in order to survive.

For years I read self-help books that introduced me to powerful and fresh paths of thinking.  Knowing I had to save myself from situations that were out of my hands, I turned to Barnes & Noble's Psychology section for my therapy sessions.  This may sound depressing, but my family was not and is not kind to me, with only two exceptions.  

Every story has two sides, I'm aware of that.  So many untruths have been told about me in the past years that I don't care anymore.  Rather than allow others to tear me apart, I made sure to build myself up, strengthen my inner source however I could/can.  We all respond differently to kinds of therapy.  Self-help is the idea of treating one's own emotional or psychological problems without the assistance of a therapist.  It is said to absolutely be something you can practice on your own to work on anxiety or depression.  I know it's possible, 'cuz I've done, and continue to do, it.

When one (myself) endures family alienation, a suicide, a murder, verbal abuse, plus other tragic and traumatic events, one needs something to lean on.  For 30 plus years I journaled.  Ordinary inexpensive Walmart notebooks that go on sale before school starts in August.....those were my journals.....I called my journaling 'puking on the page.'  Sadness needs a place to be dumped, no different than household garbage.  If we keep sadness and anger penned up within us, only we eventually buckle under the heavy weight.  Another useful tool was keeping a gratitude journal.....where every day I listed things that made me happy, focusing on the positives in my life rather than the negative.

After years of self-help, I finally reached the goal I was looking to attain.  Yup, I got to where I one day told the boyfriend, "I'm done.  My family will never hurt me again."  That's when I put an unbreakable and invisible wall around me.  That was the best day of my life.  Letting go is not like getting a divorce.  Getting a divorce still requires a couple to maintain some form of civility for the childrens' sakes.  My kind of letting go is more like cutting a ribbon that can never be re-tied.  When I said I was done, I was done.

When one takes such a major step, it's the only way we can no longer allow hurtful thoughts to erode our minds.  If those kinds of thoughts accidentally seep into my mind, well, I change gears and immediately start thinking about something positive.  That's self-help in a nutshell.

Do I still get upset over stuff?  Of course.  Do people still drive me crazy?  Of course.  I just don't give them any space inside my head.  I don't believe it when someone says, "I can't help it."  Oh, yes, you can.  If you truly want to.  We have an immense amount of self-protection built into us.  The master's degree comes when we achieve the level of strength it takes to be done once and for all.  

In my blogs, I often refer to self-help, but don't think I've ever explained myself.  Shakespeare said it best, "To thine own self be true."   Each of us really only has our self.  In the end, we're all we've got.  It makes only sense to take care of ourselves as best we can.  Other people are our greatest stressors in life due to jealousy, greed and what I call 'nastiness.'  If we fall prey to these people, they own us.  And, I vowed never to allow that to happen.  And, that my friends, is what I mean when I write about self-help.  I live by the mantra.......For every minute I am upset, I lose sixty seconds of happiness.  

The interesting part of my story is the fact that the people I shut out of my life....they could have cared less.  We think people have feelings for us, when, in fact, they don't.  We are experts at thinking ourselves to be more important than we actually are in others' lives.  

When we moved to Venny, one of the hardest things for me was parting with my self-help library.  No way could I bring all my beloved books with me, so I chose only a few of the ones I could not part with.  As for my 'big' box of written journals?  Well, I packed them up in a copy-paper box, duct taped them shut, and they went to the landfill, where I watched a big machine bury them amidst the garbage.  That, too, was a healing act, I got rid of all those emotions once and for all.  For the last sixteen years I've written a blog, and that's my therapy.  Each year my blogs get published in a hard-cover book and added to my late-life library authored by myself.  After I die, there will be no one who will want them and most likely they'll end up with my journals in the landfill.  But, you know what?  That's okay.  I'm used to it.  I'm immovable, as I like it.

CORN CRIBS

Corn Crib

Old structures that have been left to ruin are actually quite fascinating to those of us who are within a couple of inches of life's 10-inch ruler.   There are days we feel just like this old corn crib that's still standing, but no longer cared about.  It has served its purpose and is now in the way.  

We had a corn crib on our farm back in the 1950s.  I remember going in there for ears of corn, then taking them to the corn sheller.  

Corn Sheller

 When we come across these old structures, memories of childhood come from out of nowhere.  Rats were known to spend time in corn cribs, and farmers would tie the bottoms of their bib overalls with twine.  Why?  To keep the rats from running up their pant legs.  Yup, that's a fact.

These dilapidated buildings will one day soon topple over and be no more.  The old boards will be burned so something new and better can be put in their place.  It doesn't matter if we're human, animal or plant.  The cycle of existence is the same.

The trout hatchery was the first place I asked the boyfriend to stop the car so I could capture the structure of this tree.  Its branches (or bones) stretch across the road making an arch to drive under.  The road then leads back to a small bridge east of a natural spring waterfall.  The bonus of the photo is the blue-sky background.

Oh, I know, it's just an ordinary tree.  But, I see so much more.  To me, the tree looks tired and worn out, yet it puts all its strength into doing its part in the world.  Its leaves on top are thinning and some of its branches have already fallen off.   

Our grocery pickup time was scheduled for 4:30, which was a perfect time of day to drive around and capture the magic of the western sun.  Late afternoon highlights lighten up Mother Nature's seasonal attire.  House yards were decorated with pumpkins, bed-sheet ghosts dangling from branches and some scarecrows.  A big part of driving around is observing the personalities of the homeowners, which are reflected in their outdoor decorations.  Some homes are elegantly decorated, others with a definite sense of whimsy.  One does not have to travel far to see glorious sights that keep changing with the times of year.

In about a half hour our door bell will ring, and little Miss Buffy will arrive for a 3-day stay.  We're invited out for supper tonight, so Buffy will go visit her Gramma while we're gone.  She's one lucky little Yorkie....so many of us love her to pieces.  It's kind of a big deal when she comes to Venny for a stay-cation.  

One of the neatest things, for me, is to talk to a puppy.  Just look them in the eyes and talk.  Honestly, they seem to understand the universal language called love.  That's another one of life's absolutely amazing elements......this business of love that exists between species.  

Best get ready for the little girl's arrival.  Have a fun day, cuz that's what we're gonna do.  Ta-ta.

BALANCING OUR CHOICES

Today we're doing online grocery shopping.....my favorite.  Our order will be ready for pickup at 4:30.  I've had exceptional luck with this way of shopping.  Honestly, for me, it's easier to compare prices online, cuz it shows all that's available.  Grocery aisles are menacing to me.  Just don't enjoy being cuddled by grocery carts and indecisive shoppers.  Then there are those who go to the grocery store not only to buy groceries, but to talk to other shoppers.  Funny how we're all different.  The last place I care to visit is when I need to concentrate on restocking the cupboards.

The prices of groceries are just sickening.  My frugal nature demands concentration on bringing home the best bang for my buck.  Of course, this is with a lifelong money perspective that started in 1967 when I bought a shopping cart full of groceries, including meat, for $15.  Today I'd be hard-pressed to fill a cart for $150.  

It's that business of keeping things in balance.  Buy the sale items, veer away for the name brands.  Like all else, budgeting is a life skill, one that is more necessary now than ever.  Balance is the foundation to everything, in my world.  I've learned that one must be moderate in order to enjoy life in abundance.  We can't have everything and do everything we may want.  I learned that when I was a little girl.  

PUPPY and FISH

Gotta share something that feels almost spooky.  Here is a zentangle that came into existence by me simply adding one doodle after another.  Then I took a closer look at my drawing, and I saw a side view of a puppy's face.  Honestly, there was not one thought of creating other than a tangle, yet look how the eye is positioned and also the ear.  The bottom spiral even looks like a puppy's paw.  

A voice inside my head told me to turn the sketch book sideways, and when my eyes settled on the tangle they saw a fish.  The puppy's ear is a fish's pectoral fin, the puppy's muzzle is a fish's dorsal fin, and the puppy's tail is the fish's tail. 

This is 100% accidental.  This is what I call the fun of creating.....sometimes we surprise ourselves.  What I considered a meaningless doodle, actually turned out to be a duo doodle.

Yesterday I took my brain on vacation.  My brain and I watched 2024 Hallmark Christmas movies on You Tube.  Even movie theaters are a thing of the past.  What a luxury to lean back in my retirement recliner and watch movies on my Chromebook.  Who'd ever have thunk that the day would come when I'd be surrounded by such comfort.  I don't take anything for granted, if possible.  

They say (whoever they are) that we can offer our ordinary daily actions up as prayers.  When I crochet, when I doodle, when I work on any project, I offer each stitch and doodle as a prayer of gratitude.  Rarely do I pray to ask for anything, but mostly thank for everything.  Maybe the puppy and fish are the result of prayer doodles.  Something more to ponder.

TOPPINGS

In keeping with autumn, we're having chili for tonight's supper.  Actually, the season has nothing to do with chili, cuz we eat it year around.  For me, it's not only a bowl of soup, it's the base on which to add cheese, diced onions, black olives, green olives, sour cream, hot sauce and Fritos.  

For some, food plays important roles in the seasonal holidays.  It's part of the human celebration of life and special events along the way.  Sadly, there are places on earth where people aren't as fortunate.  And, that makes me extremely sad.  What would that be like?

During these times of uncertainty.....it's good to remind ourselves of just how much we are gifted, rather than let our minds get swept away with political brooms.  If someone would ask me if there was ever a day in all of my years that I didn't have food to eat, my answer would be NO.  Every day of my life I've had food, shelter, water, and never one day did I wake up and not feel loved by someone.  If that isn't being blessed, then I don't know what is.

Life wasn't designed to lavish us with glitz, glitter and glamour.  If we have the basics to sustain life comfortably, that's being blessed.  Every single topping beyond that is a luxury.  All we really need is less.

GONNA MAKE YOU HUNGRY FOR A NECTARINE

• 
  October's birth flowers are the cosmos and marigold.  Cosmos are colorful flowers that bloom in the summer and continue into early autumn.  Marigolds are the ultimate deer-repellent plant.  
• Jack-o'-lanterns were inspired by the Irish folk tale of Stingy Jack, who was doomed to roam the earth at night after making a deal with the devil.  To guide his way, he lit a piece of coal in a carved-out turnip.
• One of the pleasures of October is putting on one's favorite hoodie.  My closet has several hoodies, cuz it's probably my favorite attire.  It's sweatshirt weather!
• 
  October's birth fruit is the nectarine.  The word nectarine means sweet as nectar.  Like peaches, nectarines were first cultivated in China and were also cultivated in ancient Persia, Greece and Rome.  Trade routes took the nectarine through Greece, where residents thought nectarine juice was so tantalizing they called it the drink of the gods.  Nectarines are not a hybrid of anything.  They're simply smooth-skinned and have been around as long as fuzzy peaches.  Nectarines are identical to peaches with the exception of one gene, and that difference makes peaches fuzzy and nectarines smooth.

THE POWER OF PERSEVERANCE

Fifty-seven years ago today, the boyfriend and I vowed to devote our lives to each other in the Catholic Sacrament of Matrimony.  Yes, 57 years ago..........yes, seen through youthful eyes, we are ancient souls simply taking up space.

Ahhhh, the memories we've accumulated in the last 57 years..... uncountable.... unbelievable.  Two youngsters joined forces that day, promising to live the remainder of our lives together.  No matter what life would accost us with, we'd face it together.  

Looking back and looking forward ..............all I can say is............what's it all about?  Back in 1967, we vowed, we promised and we took our vows and promises seriously.  Fast forward to 2024, marriage vows are spoken, but the expectation is not to celebrate 57 years together.  If newlyweds can co-exist for five years, they're lucky.  The average wedding in 2024 costs $35,000 (low end) and for what?  The Sacrament is no longer meaningful, nor sacred.  

Fast forward 57 years from the day daddy walked me down the aisle.....the family chain has been broken with the passing of beloved family members.  I now stand as the matriarch of the generations after me.  They don't care to think of me as their matriarch, but it's only a description of one who is the last one standing.  That's a serious thought, but reality isn't necessarily kind.  It is what it is.

Today is a beautiful autumn day, just as it was in 1967.  The word "beautiful" refers not only to the beauty of the season, but more about the beauty of two souls who have successfully found their way through the happy times, sad times, hard times, tragic times.....everything from family picnics to funeral eulogies.  Together, two people created a Book of Life that belongs only to them.  That's what being married 57 years means.  We never were for big celebrations, where scads of people gather to re-celebrate our marriage.  We would rather celebrate privately.  It's just the way we are.  

Each of us is given one life to live.  The older we get, the more we reflect on our life decisions.  Of all the positive attributes, I would choose perseverance--the persistence in doing something despite difficulty.  Whether it's a marriage or friendship, undertaking a challenge, or making it through a difficult day.....it's perseverance that gets us from one chapter to the next.  That's how I've dealt with my life and its uncountable challenges.  We can't get through life without our own set of confrontations and provocations.  As I've written before, "Patience Attains all it Strives For."  PPP....perseverance, persistence and patience....are the three keys to the doors that sometimes lock us out.  

The boyfriend requested a haircut, so that's gonna be my gift to him.  He picked me a bouquet of gold fall flowers from his garden, and he's preparing me a special dinner tonight.  We're celebrating, just the two of us.  I think it's good that after all these years, we like being together, just like if we're still dating.  We've settled down over the years.  We no longer have to be racing around from place to place.  All that is behind us.  Now, we're ever so satisfied living in our late-life nest.  We watch the world around us change, we maybe don't agree with others, but we simply live and let live.  

And, that's what it's like to be 'old.'  I use that word jokingly, cuz the two of us don't feel old.....we just look old.  When we were young, we didn't understand what that meant.  Some things you just have to wait to understand.  The answers to life and relationships can't be found in the first few miles......the answers become clear when we near the last miles of our earthy hike.  We find it sad that so many young married couples aren't able to see a marriage through.  We all have to wait for the seed to grow before we can pick a beautiful flower.

ZENTANGLE

Today I'm sharing a website of a short You Tube video showing the basic idea of zentangle.  The basic idea is to immerse oneself in a state of tranquility and allow one's creative spirit to take over.  There is no right and no wrong.  There are all kinds of patterns one can use, and one can make up his/her own form of doodling.  The finished project gives one the feeling of accomplishment, a nibble of talent, and a darned good feeling overall.  I love zentangle cuz I can take it with me wherever I go.  There are all sizes of sketch books.  

Last evening we sat outside on the deck, sipping our 5 o'clock cocktails.  Zentangle was the ideal pastime, while the boyfriend worked a sudoku puzzle.  Then we were accosted by a herd of no-see-ums, those blasted teensy-weensy black bugs that bite like a lion.  Both of us came back inside with bites to scratch, plus there were six of 'em floating around in my drink.  One has to wonder what the purpose of the no-see-ums is.  Come to find out their purpose in life is to be a food source for birds and bats.  

This website shows the basics of zentangle, and there are many more out there to watch and learn from.  I chose this one cuz it's a short video and very self-explanatory.  The video shows the person working in black marker, but I personally use pencil, cuz it's easier for me to shade in the white spaces.  Personal preference.  It's the only therapeutic art form that requires nothing more than a pencil, sketch pad and a mind that needs calming.  In my experience, it's the ideal mental therapy.  It came to me from a friend following Shawn's suicide, when I was nearly down for the count.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOlxG3yjZQ8  I share this for anyone interested.  Part of my fun in life is sharing.  Nothing on earth belongs only to me (except the boyfriend), and I share him with others up to a point.  

A Zentangle tile is meant to be a surprise that unfolds before the creator's eyes, one stroke at a time.  Keep creating, it will change your life. 

THE LETTER "F"

I should re-tell my "art" story since I'm taking a drawing class.

Rewind life back to when I was a sophomore in high school.  I chose to take art, because I wanted to learn how to draw and paint.  The art teacher (her name is branded on my brain like the brands on a cow) was a tiny person, one might say she was pretty.  I remember her taking us upstairs and teaching us how to draw a focal point in a room.  That was so cool.  One day she sat some fruit on a desk and told us to draw the fruit best we can.  This was early on in the class.....before she actually taught us anything.  Well, I thought that my completed picture might end up in the Louvre one day, but instead it was returned to me with a big F.  Yup, right out of the gate I had failed terribly.  Never, since primary a/k/a kindergarten, had I ever gotten an F in anything.

I panicked, cuz this would damage my chances of getting on the honor roll.  I quickly went to the principal's office and asked if I could drop out of the class, explaining that Mrs. ____ had just given me an F.  Back in those days, students had no say in anything, but the principal was kind enough to agree to let me drop out of the class.  And, that my friends, was the end of my drawing.

Fast forward to today.......Some sixty years later I'm taking this online drawing class, it's free, has no grading formula, nor do I have to worry about competing with someone who was born with a knack for art.  They say it's never too late, and so this is why I'm going to try to learn a few things so I can dabble with a pencil and sketch pad. 

Deep down inside of me, I admit to being revengeful.  Never will I forgive that pretty little sawed-off witch for demeaning me the way she did with that grade.  I wouldn't say anything if this was at the end of the school year, but this was right out of the gate.  Bless Me Father, but I hold grudges.  Yup, cannot help it.  Grudges are heavy and can wear a person down, but there are a few in my backpack.  Am not proud to admit this, but it's the truth.

In yesterday's online class, the teacher showed us how to draw cubes, cylinders, cones and domes.  The project was to draw a combination of those shapes connecting one to the other, like drawing a cube (box) and drawing a cone-shaped glass on top of the box.  This is the kind of easy-peasy art class that suits me to a T.  

Am working on my second zentangle.  The boyfriend went through his woodworking supplies yesterday and found a couple of sketch pads and a pastel-chalk kit for drawing.  Man, that really got me excited to see what this Flunky can come up with.  Those who know me well, can imagine the F word I'd take great pleasure in calling that teacher face-to-face.  

Ta-ta for today.

FIRST DRAWING PROJECT

At 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon, I began my drawing lessons.  Mainly learned the two methods of moving one's hand and moving one's arm when drawing straight lines, wavy lines, parallel lines and spiral circles.  The individual project assigned was to use those kinds of lines and spirals to draw an abstract piece.  She compared our project to zentangle, and I love zentangle. 

Zentangle is an art therapy that helps one relax and focus.  It's not only great for one's mental health, but it's fun and brings out a creativity in us we may not know exists.  A friend of mine introduced me to zentangle a few years ago, and I was amazed at the concept.  I personally think of it as meditative.  Actually, when I started with this drawing class, I totally forgot about zentangle.  My plan is to buy a sketch pad that will be strictly for doodling tangles.

I'm attaching a picture of my first drawing project, using wavy lines, parallel lines, spirals and straight lines.  The art teacher told us to use our imagination and have fun with it.  So, that's what I did and this is what I came up with.....

Project No. 1

One thing for certain, there's no right and wrong with doing zentangle.  It's basically a form of doodling that relaxes the mind and body.  One gets pulled into it, to where nothing else matters.  I guess that's the whole purpose of our creative spirit.....and we all have one, we just have to find it and bring it alive.  

REMEMBER DRAWING AS A KID?

 

Here is a link to a free course on learning to draw for beginners.  I watched the first video and feel the gal presents herself in a simple, understandable manner.  That's an important quality in any teacher.  Just thought maybe there's another like me who'd like to privately fuss around with a sketch pad and pencil.  I'm still at the level where I draw stick people, trees and little houses with peaked rooftops with smoke coming out of the chimney.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ing1x95WZ_I&list=PL-i_GDP6hCKlHXwGiguwu5z3xtYPhjrQK&index=3

My daddy's auntie was an artist, having painted quite a few pictures.  I was never privy to any of them.  My daddy was a lefty and he'd draw for me little horses and rabbits.  Obviously, he had an undeveloped talent, maybe a titch of his auntie's artistic ability.  It's my thought that just maybe there's something inside of me, too, that may respond to the teachings of someone who draws.  I have an unexplainable interest in art, not the abstract stuff, but rather the likes of Van Gogh and Seurat, the inventor of pointillism.  One day I just might do a blog series about Seurat.  I'm intrigued mostly by those who have a style of their own.  

It's wise for us oldies to find ways to occupy our minds, in ways other than listening to the world's woes.  Turmoil is contagious, and watching and listening to the media can pull us into the sewers.  That's just not an acceptable way for us to live out our days.  It's that business of taking charge of what we feed our minds so we are able to live at a higher level of thinking.  

The construction workers across the road are busy as ants moving dirt in preparation for the new addition to the growing campus out here.  It's interesting to watch a project that starts out as a cornfield and will eventually end up being a top-draw home for the aged.  I'm not getting into the business of aging, cuz that's another train of thought that can lead to the business of waste management.  Get my drift???

In a way the boyfriend and I are hunkering down and are not going to be socializing with bigger groups, cuz of my upcoming surgery.  I swear I've waited over a year and cannot and will not jeopardize myself by catching the Covid critter that cancels any surgeries.  My cautious self is kicking into gear.  We've learned that it's better to be safe than sorry.  Another phrase that's come to us from the wisdom of the past.

Last evening we enjoyed happy hour on the deck, along with the boxelder bugs and bees.  Boxelders are attracted to the warm sunny side of houses. They're around all summer, but come out in late fall to look for places to hibernate.  While sitting out there sipping a vodka-tonic-lime, I finished reading J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy.  Gotta say that J.D. gives the reader an honest look into his life.  The key word for me is "honest." 

GRAIN-STORING STRUCTURES{

Silos fascinate me.  I've posted silo photographs taken in the past, and this is the most recent one.  It's on Cuddy's daddy's farm.  The vines add an extra layer of autumn beauty to its well-kept brick structure.  

The word 'silo' comes from the Greek word siros, which means 'holding grain.'  Silos were originally used to store grain and keep it safe from bugs and moisture.  

The first silos were made of stone as far back as 1700-1800 BC. 

This one pictured is in exceptionally good structural condition.  Wouldn't it be cool to make it into some kind of a silo house or tree house, or whatever might come to mind?  I can't help but wonder how they stacked the bricks in perfect circles?  This was back in the 1800s or early 1900s. 

Stone Granaries - Portugal

Pictured on the right are stone granaries located in Lindoso, Northern Portugal.  Aren't they about the most fascinating ever?   I'd give anything to see them up close in person.  Talk about a chunk of super-cool history.  I've never seen anything like them before.

Not one day passes anymore that I don't find something online in some corner of the world that is positively mind-boggling.  Having lived the first 8 years of my life in an old 3-story stone house, my interest and appreciation for stone structures just cannot ever get satisfied.  When we're driving on our trolleys and I spot a house or barn or out-building made of stone, we back up the car so I can take a picture home with me.