The sun in hiding.

Hide and Go Seek

The Departure of Trees

Monday night when the storm hit our area one of our trees came crashing down at 4:00 in the morning. It wasn't our first tree to have fallen or to be removed.  We had two taken down because of disease but they were bordering a neighbors yard and we knew they would have damaged property.  The ones in the back yard were old ash trees and slowly were dying, becoming  home to families of woodpeckers, squirrels and we think a small owl.  So when some random large branch fell we would try to leave them to decay naturally and give a home or favorite play area to something. 

   The neighbor behind us told me how he and his wife liked to watch the squirrels playing on the one enormous dead branch now totally devoid of bark. It arches over the far back part where we don't water.  It has been taken over by the bindweed and the wild grape that manages to hold on between Kay's yard and ours (Kay is our wonderful next-door neighbor).  I secretly call it the "Arch" and think about encouraging the grape vine as well as the weedy little bindweed growing wild every year into covering it  a bit more.  In reality I know it will have to go away soon as the remaining part of it looks more and more like it will fall on our storage shed of dubious quality.  I check on it regularly and had checked on both trees early Sunday morning, when I became fearful of the quality of the root system of the now fallen ash. 

 On Thursday night we had snow so Friday the University was closed, allowing me an extra day off to do something - ideally work on sleeves for a costume, work on art or generally straighten the house.  Instead I prowled out in the back yard and looked at my fallen friend.  I hadn't realized how hollow it was.  From the ground up to slightly below where it broke was a tunnel.  I'm curious if it got used by anyone - the random squirrel, the wayward opossum, a group of trooping fairies going through the neighborhood  When I was young I would have been sure and left offerings to the tiny spirits that lived in it.   I will miss it - not for the shade but for the inhabitants and visitors that would use its branches to share the back area of our house.  I will miss my friend, he greatly enriched my life.

The Kindle!

I admit I'm a luddite or at the very least I should be a Luddite.  I find technology is first somewhat daunting and second sometimes unnecessary. I have a cell phone but rarely use it and often let it get discharged.  I use my computer but honestly still don't know what RAM means, what the difference between a worm and a virus (and don't care).  Still I'm not such a complete Luddite that I don't recognize the value of modern technology... rather I think people over use it.

So I'm not certain why I became enamored with Amazon's Kindle.  The idea of being able to take a book in my already over weighted bag that serves as book bag, lunch box and purse, without adding extra poundage is very appealing.  So after considerable thought and encouragement from my Significant Other, I bought one.

I have to say I'm enjoying it very much.  Currently I'm plowing through the free books you can find.  I'm reading (for the first time) The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling and plan on several other books I seemed to have missed.  Who knows where it will lead to (not that I don't read alot anyway.)

Changing me - or New Year's Resolutions

Everything changes.  One of my friends told me once that you could either control the changes around you (and that includes being aware and learning to accept change) or resist it and let change overwhelm you and defeat you.  Either way, change happens and it's up to you whether or not you accept the change and roll with it.  I try to be in control of change and slowly I'm learning to accept it when it's imposed on me from outside. It's hard and especially since I'm an impatient person who has trouble being active.

This January, I'm facing multiple changes at work - a new office building we moved into late December and we're now transitioning to a new Supervisor.  One of my co-workers is replacing my current boss.  Their style of operating is vastly different from each other so it will be an unsettling time especially since I spent over 10 years with my current Supervisor.  Along with my added insecurity of myself... I suspect it will be difficult.  So I'm trying to focus on how I can adapt and accept the bits I can't change --i.e. change myself to be a little more fluid at work. 

Along with that, it being January and the New Year -- I have decided to adopt a couple of Resolutions to further this new creation of me.

1. Pay more attention to my health and physical well-being.  I suspect by doing this I will affect my mental well-being as well.  I am, at best an indifferent athlete and at worse a devoted couch potato.  So I've begun eliminating "bad" or unhealthy amounts of things from my diet.  I'm also trying to do more physical exercise of some sort. 

2. Work at doing art.  Everyday - somehow no matter how small the amount.  The more you do the more you do more.  I'm happier when I do art so it stands to reason doing more or more consistantly will be advantageous to my well-being.

3. Get my ETSY shop going.

And 4. (the big one)  Go to the Doctor and Dentist.

Just 4 and we'll see how well I will do.

Happy New Year!

This year I've really decided to work more.  Both in this here blog -poor thing- and at home on art.  I have loads of good intentions but never get past that.  Too many wasted opportunities to do something.

And my poor blog.  Really I'm a terrible records keeper. 


All one can do is try.   So let us try.

Happy 2011.  May it be better than 2010 and more productive!

Dia de los Innocentes

I hadn't planned on not writing much or the gaps getting so far and in between posts.  I have great thoughts for writing here.  Often, when I visit other peoples blogs I'm amazed at their thought - the depth of the ideas and sentiments often help me explore new vistas. 

So when my best friend sent me his new blog I realized I needed to perhaps commit to writing on a more regular basis.  At least once a month if not every week I will be writing.  I tend to be a more visual person rather than a tactile person - i.e. I have trouble framing thoughts with words and not pictures.  But the routine and practise of writing in this blog will help me become a better writer.

Today is Dia de los Innocentes or Dia de los Angelitos. -- or in English -  Day of the Innocents or "little Angels" .  In Mexico the souls of children who have died are remembered on November 1 and tomorrow or All Souls' Day is the day whereby we remember our adults who have died. The veil of the worlds of the living and the dead is thinnest this time and we remember them for two reasons.  The first that if we let the Dead we remember them we can keep them at bay so if they wish to be harmful we can aknowledge our awareness of them.  The second reason is that we can also tell loved ones we remember them and still in our hearts love them.

In some parts of Texas and the United States, it's more widely celebrated than here in Austin but I have gone to the cemeteries and found graves colorfully decorated with windchimes, and flowers, photos and toys. It is perhaps one of the holidays I prefer more primitive and for me, a comfortable holiday.   I have a big bunch of African Marigolds in my kitchen and bought a loaf of Pan de Muertos, a sweet bread with grated orange peel and anise which I love.  Maybe next year I will make my own.  Dia de los Muertos reached a more personal note this year for me as well.   My boyfriends mom lies in the hospital gravely ill, after she went into cardiac arrest so we are more part of this holiday that I expected or truly desired. 

The Great Adventure

Well I signed on to do an art project so now I'm forcing myself to do more. You would think as much as I enjoy it I would work on things all the time. It's just I'm incredibly lazy and will put doing what I have to do. If I have to do dishes I will sweep the floor. If I'm expected to draw I will reorganize my file cabinet.

I think it's so I don't succeed --- hence I've started this project due in January 2011. http://arthousecoop.com/ My subject I picked was "dirigibles and subversives" - a great place to start. It's a great project and I"m going to log in and keep a record of what I do. Starting this week I'm going to do one drawing a week to get it going. Who knows maybe it will get me going in different areas as well.

I don't know anything about either subject really.... I mean I understand what the word means but have never incorporated them into artwork. Once the sketchbook is finished I will send it back to the arthouse and it will become part of a library of sketchbooks for people to check out and look at.

So watch this space.