The Blog: Spellbound by our own imperfect lives...

We have a small plot in the community garden this year. The garden had a rough start with snow until mid-April, high winds and 100 degrees in May, then weeks of torrential rain in June. Somehow we got most of it planted and we're doing a fair job of keeping down the weeds. Two or three small ones come on Sunday mornings to help with weeds and other chores, but I try not to make it torturous. I want them to remember it as fun. Today, Ella and Elliot counted the tomatoes and peppers that are developing. I'm not sure it's what a guy would call a bumper crop, but it's a crop. In other news, Regis and I celebrated our 19th anniversary by going to Pet Expo to buy dog and cat food and cat litter, then stopping at Boulder Tap for lunch. We like their food a lot but I hate the televisions. When they ask where we would like to be seated, I always say away from the tvs. Haha. There is no such place. My dinner plans for today included cooking on the grill. Doesn't look ...

For a flatlander and a non-traveler, I've had an unusual fascination with paths and bridges. I suppose a guy could attach some meaning to that, but I'm not sure what it would be. I've often thought if it had been up to me to blaze a trail into the new world, I'd still be sitting by the farm in the sod hut in Norway. I had my third drawing lesson yesterday. My teacher calls herself my mentor which is probably accurate because our conversations are far reaching and as much about life as art. Michelle encourages, through her home and her person, an artistic view of the world. I printed several path and bridges photos I've taken so I can practice drawing this morning. I've found that if I sketch something then set it aside for a few days, it looks different. I take photos of sketches, too. I see many comparisons to writing in the process of creating art. I suppose that seems obvious to some but it was a surprise to me. We've had a string of many, ma...

For today, at least for this morning, I quit getting dressed or being mobile. I'm glad it rained this morning because it is more acceptable to be slothful on days when it pours and thunders. I'm going to work at 3, so I will be dressed by then. It's been very interesting to live each day through a lens of quitting. Some of the quits are good ones. I'm trying to quit worrying and I am trying to quit feeling responsible for everybody's everything. I've explained it this way. All of this is valuable real estate...in my head and in my physical surroundings. Why do I let that stuff live here, in my head and in my physical surroundings...mostly rent free. It's a good perspective. The other day, I told someone that I had quit holidays. She responded: How did you get by with that? Whoa. I could ask her: How did you get stuck with that? And there is the tricky part. Much of those kinds of things are enjoyable. There was a time when I loved all my holida...