Light Up My Life

We have had over 40 inches of snow this winter……so far.  There is more on the way this weekend.  We have started the day with temperatures below zero more than 10 times.  It’s not our usual winter – thank goodness!  I keep the heat in our home a little lower during the day.  I keep the blinds closed in the rooms that are used less often.  It’s cold.  It’s dark.  It’s lasting forever!

It is a good thing to look for bright spots in a long, brutal winter like this.  There are plenty if you pay attention.  Even though it is -5 right now, the sun is coming up and shining brightly.  The snow that has piled up sparkles like it has been dusted with glitter by Martha Stewart.  It streams into my workroom window and makes it warm and bright.  I am cozy and fully aware that I am lucky to have a comfortable, safe home – and that, when it is sleeting or treacherous outside, I don’t have to go anywhere if I don’t want to.

I can keep my eye on the neighborhood from here.  On a blanket of white, it is easy to spot any new “visitors” that happen by.

 

Sunday morning brought this pileated woodpecker to my sister’s feeder – a giant in our neighborhood as far as birds go!  Along with him,  a few cardinals decorated the trees  looking for something (anything) to eat.

 

Chickadees, doves, sparrows, juncos, hawks, squirrels, rabbits – they are busy scavenging for food.  Any berry, seed or nut will do.

Inside has it’s joys too.  My orchid has brightened up each day with it’s amazing display of new blooms.  This is the first time I have been able to get an orchid to re-bloom  so I feel like I had something to do with this incredible specimen.

 

Dinner with friends, projects with “the kids”, UD basketball, my yoga friends, my painting class friends, special projects – they all warm up the winter.  Thank goodness for these bright spots in this cold, frozen season.

Pumpkin Parade

Where did October go?  Maybe the beautiful warm Fall days we have had this year have made us forget that the days were marching by.  We’ve been shaken back into reality the last week with our first snow, multiple frosts and the arrival of the fall color show put on compliments of Mother Nature.  Next weekend we will set our clocks back an hour and then it will really feel like we have stepped into a new season.

Every year at this time, my painting class decorates pumpkins.  We don’t cut or carve – we just let our imaginations go wild and decorate them with paint, glue, sequins, dried flowers, old glasses, ribbons – just about anything goes.  The result is a roomful of chattering, giggling, ooh and aahing artists – surprised at the creativity and the silliness that isn’t normally apparent in the class.

Last year I decorated my white pumpkin with Sharpies.  A not-too-scary raven sat on the buffet well into December without showing any sign of aging. This year I decided that, if the pumpkin lasted that long – why not make it appropriate for Thanksgiving too.

Inspired by the label on a can of pumpkin, I tried to duplicate the scene on a jet black background of chalkboard paint.  I masked and sprayed the background, painted the pumpkins and then wrote my message in chalk. My message can change as I want it to.  This week it says “Happy Halloween” but  I can see a “Happy Thanksgiving” in it’s future or  maybe just an announcement that Harvest time is here .

(Retired) Life Is Good

Some of my friends say that they are afraid that they will be bored once they retire.  If your life revolves around your job, that may be true.  If you have other interests, if you love to learn new things, if you can see what is special about the every day, you’re going to LOVE retirement!

One of my favorite quotes is “It’s not what you look at, it’s what you see”.  Likewise, it’s not what’s available, it’s what you actually choose to do!  When you have time to pursue your interests and investigate new things, every day can be filled with new adventures and special moments. Trust me, painting, yoga, keeping an art journal – it’s all new to me – and it’s all good and now I have time to enjoy it all.