New Look for Spring

The blue was depressing me. Maybe it was just me, but every time I came here it felt all dark and gloomy, like the inside of a cave or something. And the tree was scary looking. Ick. It just felt all wrong and "not me."

So, I perused other blogs for inspiration, heading to Rachel's at Blue Algae Creative. She just rocks. Her photos, her prose, the entire feeling of her blog is a soothing balm for my soul. Always has been. The sheer beauty of it makes me want to linger. The colors are soft and inviting and subtle, like sea glass. Sea glass. That's exactly what her blog reminds me of. When I visit there I feel as though I'm walking on a beach at sunset, soft twilight colors of sky and sea and sand. Shells and rocks and sea oats and the sound of gulls. Driftwood and seaweed. I can smell the ocean, the salty air, the briny scent, and hear the waves crash, feel the sea foam cross over my toes as they sink into the wet sand.

I digress. Sorry. As usual, Rachel has tweaked her blog with a new banner and I just love it SO very much that I borrowed her concept. Mine is not as good as hers as she is a true artist. Everything in her blog flows together like a river, but I like the size for a change of pace. I also love that Bird Girl exhibits her camera, so I added my own like she did. When one isn't capable of being creative, one mimics their mentors. It's a compliment.

So, thank you Rachel for your inspiration. Thanks for sharing your talents with us. Enjoy the Pacific Northwest for me, okay? Thank you Bird Girl for giving me the idea for the camera.

Creative Slump

I cannot seem to shake this creative slump I'm in. I've no interest in taking photos or writing. Part of the reason is that my car is sick and we're not going to repair it because it's old with high mileage and the repairs would be in the thousands. So, I'm trapped at home unless the hubby or daughter are home and I can use one of their cars. Long story. I love my house on the water so at first this wasn't much of a hardship. However, over time I've started feeling trapped. I'm used to taking spur-of-the-moment adventurous road trips in my trusty All Wheel Drive Subaru Forester (love that car) and discovering places I've never seen. I can't do that now. Yes, I can take photos of the water and sunrises and all that stuff but I've "been there, done that" and am feeling the call of the wild. I can't even go see the pelicans or drive to the dam and watch the cormorants. I'm home bound. It's messing with my mind and my spirit.

I was whining recently to my artistic road trip buddies, Carroll and Bobbie, and one of them threw me a challenge. She basically kicked my butt and told me to start photographing things I'm not used to photographing. Mundane things that normally hold no interest for me. Be creative with the mundane. Yeah, yeah...I know, I know. Preaching to the choir. She threw down the gauntlet. "Send me creative photos of SHOES."

Well, I didn't do it. One morning she sent me this missive; "I've rushed to my computer every day, anxiously awaiting shoe photos. I imagined a shoe in a tree, a shoe peeping from beneath a big rock, empty, ragged shoes walking down the middle of the road, and on and on. Where are they?? Come on, Debi, show some sole! If shoes don't spur your creativity, find some lizards :)" I laughed out loud!

It was raining, but I immediately donned my rain jacket and L. L. Bean dog-walking shoes and went outside. This oily puddle beckoned. In 5 minutes I was back inside downloading the first spur-of-the-moment photos and sent it to Bobbie. My first thought was "good, now she'll stop bugging me," but I really want her to bug me. She wrote back "That is so great! Debi, do you see how the scalloped-like trim on the shoe matches the patter of the water? And the face is incredible! I know you see the face at the toe of the shoe. Turn the photo upside down and the shoe becomes the "hair" of the face. The face in the water reminded me of someone, and THEN I remembered -- looks strikingly like Wilson in Castaway!!! There is a lot of stuff in that photo and it's all good." Bobbie is a painter and has a wonderful sense of color and playfulness. She saw something that I didn't see.

Creative people need coaches and cheerleaders. Artists, photographers, writers, designers, gardeners, cooks, weavers, quilters, sculptors, architects and managers - all of us create on some level. We each get into creative slumps and need people to shake us up. One cannot create in a vacuum, one needs input and fresh air, new surroundings, and occasionally a kick in the pants. Thanks, Bobbie, for a must needed boost.

Snow Day

Goldfinch

March roared in like a lion - literally! Local weather prognosticators were predicting a Winter Storm Warning Saturday evening into Sunday. Yeah, right...like we haven't heard THAT one before. Southerners are not used to winter storms so whenever the weather dudes say SNOW that means run to the store and stock up on toilet paper, milk and bread. Every. Time. Oh, and get a bottle of wine while you're at it, honey. Just in case.

Cardinal

Waking Sunday morning to several inches of pristine white snow covering everything, while large fluffy cotton balls continue to fall for hours ... well ... it was like Christmas in March. We can't drive on the stuff and sure can't walk on it and don't have the right clothing for it, but still... we slipped around and took photos and fed the birds and sat with warm cups of coffee at the windows just watching the show. And what a show it was. A snow show.

Mourning Dove

The birds appreciated the sunflower seeds and thistle and even the crappy cheap seed I had left over from something. A gazillion goldfinches swooped in to gorge themselves and would flit back into the trees when it came time to refill the feeders, looking like little yellow Christmas ornaments in the bare branches.

My northern friends understandably get sick of this stuff and I am positive I would, too, if I had to deal with as often as they. However, here in our neck of the woods the sun was out and the snow was gradually melting by mid-afternoon. There are still icy pockets hither and yon today as the temperatures remain in the 20's. We enjoyed our day of snow fall and bird feeding tremendously. It was the perfect day to just sit and be, read and meditate, or crunch around outside in the wrong shoes getting all wet and cold then coming inside for hot chocolate. It's the stuff that makes memories.

Northern Cardinal

Although the signs of Spring are everywhere winter still blows her icy kisses this weekend. The cardinals and other song birds are all puffed up staying warm in the chill and the bird feeder looks like the lunch rush. I can't keep enough seed out for them - it's gone in an instant, and then they flutter about and cheep loudly and look at the window practically tapping their little feet, probably thinking..."hey in there...where's the grub?" Whenever I'm in a glum mood all I have to do is sit still and watch the birds for a bit and all is better. Their cheerful demeanor reminds me that nothing is important enough to ruffle my feathers. So I sit when I can, take deep breaths, relax, lower my shoulders, watch the birds and do not think at all.

Red Buckeyes

Spring is just around the corner and I'm so excited! The narcissus are peeking up through the mulch, yellow heads waving in the breezes. Forsythia is beginning to bloom.....again. The red maples are already blooming. There are plump buds ready to burst open on both the sweetspires and the red buckeyes.

These red buckeyes are on our bank - the riparian zone between our house and the lake. They are critical deterrents to erosion, along with other native foliage. As well, they offer brilliant red blossoms every spring. Our bank looks like it's on fire, there are so many red buckeyes that we've kept and maintained. The hummingbirds love them and seek them out immediately when they return from points South.

Red buckeyes appear rather alien at the beginning, much like Invasion of the Body Snatchers pods or something. As beautiful as they are at springs first blush, they appear awkward in the budding stage, with gangling fingerlings of new leaves unfurling and a brainy looking mauve bud slowly emerging from the center. The buds burst into candles of bright red blossoms which last well into the first of summer. By mid-summer the leaves are already turning yellow and dropping off, which makes them questionable specimen plants for a front yard but perfect for riparian protection. These are one of my favorite native plants. They can become a small dogwood-sized tree or can be pruned into shrubs. Red Buckeyes. Lovely.