Sidetracked Charley

  A friend of mine just stated she had put her bug out bag in the hallway just in case. Bag? Just one bag? I returned from evacuation last night and began the unpacking of the Explorer - a full sized SUV. First out was the 15 Orchids. Okay I will admit they were not a necessity for life. But happiness. Definitely a necessity for happiness. And of all the things I packed in a rush to get out of the fire's path they made me the happiest and that is definitely important. Maybe the most important. I have seen numerous lists of things to pack when evacuated (none of which fit in one bag) and nothing listed as for your happiness. In fact most lists do not ascribe a value for items. And in this modern digital era most are now unnecessary if you bank by computer. Insurance papers, mortgage documents, tax records all can be obtained on line with your smartphone or tablet. I also brought my laptop because, well, because I have one and find them more comfortable to blog on, and as it is ...

I was an adult of middle age before I encountered the phrase argue for your limitations and they are yours . Until that point I had seen my limitations basically as those forced upon me by others. If you are female you are most likely familiar with most of those beginning with nice girls don't do that . And I usually responded with, Who wants to be a nice girl?  And in my youth I wasn't even sure I wanted to be a girl.  Who wants to be labelled a second class citizen at birth. I was raised in conflict on so many levels from a father who told me I could be anything I wanted to a mother who sent me away on my freshman year in college to earn my Mrs. degree. I was encouraged by society to go along to get along. And it wasn't until and it wasn't until I was teaching adaptive skiing to adults and children with perceived limitations I encountered the concept of arguing against your perceived limitations. I learned to not see them in my students and in my role of teach...

  Been a busy month but not sure why it included no time for reflection. And I don't know if I have done anything really major. Too much social butterfly time. That is what my sister titles my meetings and having coffee with friends. But some of the friends have been four legged.  Boca has been here for two weeks and Avy joined me for just three days. And Carol brought over Emory for a romp in the fenced yard for a couple hours.  Happy Dogs. Avy and Emory My quiet time has been focused on the orchids which are beginning their blooming season. There are 13 orchids now. I figured I did not have this color but who remembers from a year ago and rehoming some orchids from others. The newcomer An orchid which is blooming again for me And then painting small watercolors of flowers to add to note cards. Making and sending these little creations and sending them to friends. But if I had to pick one word for the last month it would be Water. Seems I am alway...

Yes, I live at 8725 feet above sea level, a hardiness zone of 3.5 to 4. And a statistic quoted on a ski resort site says we get 210 inches of snow a year. Note: it is wise to remember never at one time and oddly not accumulative. It snows and it melts and then it snows again and that melts. The most I can remember at any one time was 72 inches over three days beginning the year 2006 with a whimper. And that snow hung around for a long time. I perusal of blogs of that winter reveals a lot of references to the Alaska TV series Northern Exposure, the Little House on the Prairie books, and blizzards in general. But that was a very usual year. Old timers said the worst in 70 years. Mainly what I dread about the approach of winter, thankfully late this year, is the approaching dark. I would not have to look at the calendar to know winter is coming. Like birds, who know when to migrate, locals instinctively know when to build up stocks of firewood, etc. With me there is also a nee...

Euphorbia take over First it was the dying geranium which took over my small pullman kitchen in my studio apartment my final year of college. It won me over by living and even thriving on my neglect. What can you expect from a senior in college? And then Aunt Zelma turned me on to African Violets. Small things which bloom all the time and come in infinite color and variety. But easy to move in boxes in the back of the camper shell on the pickup. She had shown me how to propagate new ones from a single leaf and so I became a leaf thief. In North Carolina I had over 75 African Violets. In the summers they lived on plastic shelves on my wonderful south facing veranda and I watered them with a garden hose. Something my neighbors never grew tired of telling me would kill them or at the very least spot their leaves. Never did either. Came time to move I only took ten or so. One for Aunt Zelma and the rest I gave away to those friends and neighbors which promised to raise them righ...

Playing around with orchids. I have access to some beautiful blooms at the moment. And I took a bunch of pictures just before my desktop failed to open my photo editing software. Frankly between eye surgery and desktop software issues I had forgotten I took these pictures. So this morning was a lot of fun. I got to try different processing techniques back to back and learned a few things I believe. At least I had fun with this very sculpted flower with amazing grace. Photographing them is not always easy because the slightest disturbance makes the spike of orchids more for it seems forever. And the flower itself has depth and the curvature of the stalk adds to that. I was very happy with the picture above because of the focus on the whole array of blossoms. But sometimes a bit of out of focus, like in the vignette treatment below, has its place. And who says we need the entire spike of flowers. Got up close with the ones below and then cropped it in some more. But becau...