The importance of one little 'e'.

Yes, I am a newbie blogger, yet I am also a writer and an editor.  I am, generally, a bit of a nitpicker with a somewhat 'Monkish' need to take care of the things that are slightly out of kilter: difficult sentences, misspelled words, awkward graphics, tilted frames...

Well, quite unnoticed by me, an extra 'e' wandered into the URL of my blog.  I now realize why people were having a hard time finding my blog when I told them the address.  A very ungrammatical and somewhat overused exclamation would fit here - Duh!  I feel as if I am wearing a rather large and heavy set of donkey ears.  The misplaced 'e' has now been sent on its way and my URL reads as it should have from the beginning.  

Hopefully, I have learned my lesson.  Check, check and recheck (and check again just to be sure).

Summer Doldrums

Wow!  This summer has passed by so quickly, I've hardly had a chance to really enjoy it.  I have had some wonderful evenings sitting outside, feeling the breeze, reading, chatting, and just watching the world go by.  We have taken a couple of trips.  Laughed and ate wonderful barbecues.  Had a wonderful hour on the beach during one of the rare misty cool days.  Basically, I have been working, dealing with nasty humid days, and looking back fondly on the days of youth when humidity and heat didn't make a person feel like a limp noodle.  Much as I try to ignore age - this summer has made me realize I am no longer a 'spring chicken'.

Looking forward now to the cooler days of late summer/early autumn.  Less tourists on the beaches, the changing colors of all the plants, new animals migrating through (including the geese grazing in the middle of the traffic circle), and the rich scents of the coming season.

Yipeee...Spring

A long-awaited day.  The first truly warm day was yesterday.  Sun in the morning, a bit cloudy in the afternoon, warm breezes, and gentle showers during the night.  I fell asleep to a soothing chorus of hundreds of little frogs, with a warm gentle breeze just brushing across my legs.  Mmmmmm...wonderfully relaxing and more than welcome after a rather difficult winter.

While autumn is my favorite time of the year, spring is next in line.  Watching the world wake again is magical - from the brave crocus pushing through the snow and the fulling leaf buds to the male pigeon's mating dance and the scampering of tiny baby squirrels.  As someone who deeply observes my surroundings, this unfolding, rushing, stretching time of year brings me awake as well.

I wish great spring awakenings for everyone out there.

March Madness???

There are a lot of descriptors for March.  New ones, old one, trite ones.  We've heard them all, but maybe it is time to bring in an antidote to that 'madness'.  This year, March has rather lived up to its name - wicked weather, earthquakes, and tsunamis are at the top of the wild list followed by much less threatening, but annoying irritants.

I say "Time to Knit".  As a fiber artist, doing anything with fibers is calming.  Knitting is one of those wonderful occupations with rhythm and repetition that can become a meditation.  Calming the mind and body while producing something tangible.  The act of creating itself is a tonic to the late winter blahs, regardless of whether you are making a functional object (hotpad, tea cozy), an item of clothing (scarf, sweater), or piece of art (wall hanging, sculpture).

So pick up some needles to knit or hooks to crochet and get your fiber on!

Life Is Complicated

It's been said before and it will be said again: Life is Complicated.  Yes, it can be complex, difficult, messy, inconvenient, tiring, seductive, interesting, awe inspiring.  Sometimes it is too much to handle and sometimes it is a breeze.  One person's simple life is another person's complex life.  Another trite saying is "that it is all in how you view it".  Maybe...

I think that the current trend in American society is toward the over-the-top complicated.  I'm not trying to be a luddite, but there are a LOT of behaviors that are very common and probably really not necessary.  Just to throw a few examples out: Do we REALLY need to be in touch with everyone we know, every single minute of the day and night?  Is it REALLY necessary to tell those same people and millions of totally unknown people that your lunch wasn't a good idea due to the intestinal twinges you are having?  Do we REALLY need to have the absolute latest update in every technological item invented?  Will everyone REALLY think less of us because we can't make amazing napkin origami or have all our rooms look like a magazine?  Will the world REALLY stop if we let those little lines around the eyes stay there?

Those are just a few of the many questions we should be asking ourselves.  Ultimately, this complexity has to be paid for.  Quite literally.  So often people are working such long hours and are unable to truly enjoy all of the 'stuff' they have accumulated.  I sometimes think that Americans are trying so hard to stay in touch with so many people that they forget to stay in touch with the people that really count: their families, the beings that are sharing an abode with them.  No gadgets needed, just walk into the room and say "Hi".  One step to de-complicating our lives.