SIXTY SECONDS

 

Commuting has certainly changed with Covid-19, hasn't it? Many of us are now using Zoom to work and meet and otherwise commune with others.

Is this helping with the negative impact other things Covid-related are having on our planet? Sadly, kinda doubt it.

Maybe we could take some of the down time and think of how our individual actions impact--climate, environment whether land or sea, and more. What might each of us change when this is over? Or will we be so desperate for a return to what we call "normal" that we will hop in a car or on a plane, travel, consume, etc. that it will just start up all over again.

Can we, in fact, save our planet? Hopefully, this election will go some distance toward a return to working on that. We'll see.

(Have had a lot of fun with these silly frogs in art cards lately. Thought this was gonna be a fun blog, but what was on my mind seems to have taken over. As Reese's says though, "Not sorry.")

THE GREAT WALL

 Covid-19 brought with it a lot of changes to how we all spend our time. As those who read this blog already know, vegetable gardening became one of my go-to activities.

The problems were several, though. The slope of the yard. The really poor soil. water run-off. Crows and other critters wanting to partake. Measures were taken to do the best possible and good crops were harvested (and some in pots still are coming on strong.) 

Still, big changes needed to be made. Thus, the Great Wall of Laguna began to be formed. The wall will actually be several levels when complete, but the low first wall is now in place. The work has crowded all the pots to the sidewalk against the house, but they are thriving still...and the wall system continues.

Fun stuff. More posts on this as we go forward to keep you abreast. It's all kind of exciting...and certainly useful going forward.

DONKEYS AND ELEPHANTS POUND ON MY HEAD

So glad that was the last of the debates.  Head hurts. Tried to keep up with staccato speech on the one hand and fact check on the other and just overwhelmed. Kristen Welker did a great job though of keeping on track. Kudos to her.

Now it is just a waiting game. Art play will hopefully work for sanity through it all.

Fingers crossed, anger in check for now, breathing.

Calm

ZOOMING AROUND

 

The screech of the hawk reaches my ears as it circles overhead on a cool fall morning. It seems to be asking, "What will this day bring?"

Well, I can't speak for that predatory creature, but for me it seems that a lot of Zoom time is on the agenda.

Whatever would we do without this marvel that seems to have reached its apex with Covid-19?The uses seem endless and, while not all of the ways that it gets used appeal to me all that much, it has definitely opened doors that might not have otherwise even been known.

While the creative play continues here and the birds screech and hoot and titter around me, the Zoom opportunities open the world as well. All good and somewhat of a distraction as we wind down to the final days of this vital election.

Don't forget to vote!

SEVEN BREATHS

 

Seven breaths.

Reading the book Air Mail by Pam Houston and Amy Irvine, just out today. It is made up of letters between these two wonderful writers from March through May of this year of Covid and deals with not only the pandemic, but politics, environment and more.

At one point Irvine speaks of a video that deals with brain changes that take place when anger or fear or anxiety are triggered. "...the reptilian brain takes over...we cannot resolve conflict, cannot feel compassion, cannot create solutions." It goes on to state that taking seven deep breaths can put one back in the frontal cortex--area of reasoning, calm and empathy.

Wow! Knowing this in the past didn't matter. Reading it in the moment stopped me in my tracks. Too often of late I and so many others have been thrown into that reptilian goo by the daily news updates. Seven breaths. Could it really be this simple? Can the heart pumping upset be stilled so easily? Can I really let go of comments that send me into orbit?

This election year has seen an increase in that heart pounding angst like never before. Sure, it's tripled and then some by dealing with a pandemic, but.... OK. Seven breaths. Seven more, if needed. And even seven more. Would that others around the nation could follow this example...PLEASE

A TRIP TO MY LIBRARY

 

Always a heavy reader, this pandemic seems to have pushed the usual parameters. Piles of books. Two or three going at once. Going on Zoom webinars for book discussions. And more.

Reading and books have become a seemingly larger part of each day. And my library extends waaaaaay beyond the piles. There are books on my Kindle. There are books on computer. There are books to be read on my tablet. And on it goes.

Mysteries. New authors. Books on gardening. Book recommendations from friends. On and on it goes.

And here's my big recommendation out of all this (nope, not a particular book.) Watch the Thursday evening series from writingxwriters.  These authors hosted by Pam Houston are wise and wonderful. The questions are interesting rather than the often heard trite questions of author series. And these hour and a half webinars are FREE. You may donate to help out with scholarships, but, otherwise, these great talks will cost you nothing. Sit down with a cocktail or do you stretching or....but definitely tune in. You will find everything from poetry to nature to travel to fiction to a bit of politics.

Gratitude to authors and others fills me up when realizing how much the many books enlarge life.

TA-DA! AT LAST A GET TOGETHER FOR ART PLAY

 Well, it took a bit of planning and schedule changing here and there, but at last an invited group of friends who had been deemed "safe" were able to get together at an acceptable social distance for creative time. It was awesome and seemed oh, so necessary. In an abundance of caution two of the planned participants stayed home after coming up with congestion and a fever, so we were just five. This made it exceptionally easy to stay six or more feet apart. We talked books, politics, state of the world, climate, and more and just generally had a great time.

Each participant had an array of pre-cut watercolor postcards, a selection of magazines, five paint colors, glue sticks, brayers, and more to work with.

Whimsy followed.

    GOOD FUN!!!

DAY 10 THE FINAL DAY OF BITS AND PIECES AND FULL OF FLOWERS

For the final day of the self-challenge here is a flurry of flowers. Now it is time to finalize prep for an upcoming workshop where we will do nothing but create postcards to send. (Well, we will also laugh and talk a lot after not seeing each other for such a long time. 😀)