31 day Blog Challenge: Day 3 the trip that started it all

Washington DC

My husband Donald died in January 2001.  It was very sudden and a shock to the system.  We had spent years traveling to Toronto, Tennessee, and on various Caribbean Cruises.  In fact we had plans to go to Hilton Head in at the end of February of that year.

I tried to find ways to fill in the time and space that was left with his absence.  I started writing poetry again after many years.  I submitted one of the poems to a "vanity" book.  The one where your poem is picked and published in a book along with thousands of others.  I was invited to attend the National Poetry Conference in Washington DC in July 2001.  I decided to stretch myself and go.  I would be traveling by myself for the first time.  I took the train because I absolutely love train travel.  We traveled the Shenandoah Valley and it was breathtaking.  As I departed from the train I heard someone call my name.  I look around and thought how ironic is this to travel all this way and see someone I know.  A friend from work Teedie Richardson and her grandson were traveling by train to the same event.  So we spent the whole time together and it was so much fun.

I was so proud of myself.  I had traveled many miles from home on my own.  Spent 4 days among thousands of strangers, got a blue ribbon, became closer to a co-worker I had know for years and toured a City that I have come to love.

Here is one of the poems I submitted:

Life's Highway

Life's highway is tricky; full of pot holes and curves.

I trudge along dodging dead ends and detours.

As I  make the journey, I look over my shoulder,

Just a quick glance

to make sure you're still there.

Because as I travel this long road

I often think how lonely the trip would be

without you.

Yes, this trip started a love affair with travel and stretching myself.  Providing wonderful memories and happiness.

see you tomorrow

31 days of Blogging day 2

Meatballs in Venice

First Meal in Orvieto - Hearty Soup 

Pizza with Truffle

To say I have no real plan for each day's post would be putting it mildly; but, I have a treasure trove of things to share so it should be a lot of fun.  Anyhoo, when I traveled to Orvieto, Italy in 2012 to take part of an Adventures in Italy art retreat I had no idea what to expect.  The backstory to this trip is pretty interesting.  I was originally supposed to take this trip in 2011, but was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and had to cancel.  The operators of the program allowed me to roll my deposit over to the next year and I was able to attend a class taught by Tracie Lyn Huskamp.  I travelled alone to Philadelphia, PA and met up with Tracie. One of my classmates Maryann met us in Rome. She showed up how to keep visual record of our meals.  Did I remember to take a picture of every meal, no.  However, I did capture a lot.  Today I am showing three.  

Picture number one;  Meatballs in Venice.  Oh my they were so yummy.  The bread was toasted with Olive Oil and the tomato sauce was sheer perfection.

Picture number 2:  Hearty bean soup with boar sausage was the first mean I had in Orvieto.  After nearly 24 hours of travel this soup soothed my very soul.  It has white beans, carrots, onions and sausage with a thick broth.  I wanted to lick the bowl.

Picture number 3:  We had a free night in Orvieto and went for Pizza.  This one had truffles something I had never tried.  I immediately fell in love with the earthy taste.  I smile now at the memory.

It was fun capturing my meals visually.  Another form of art.  The photo's do not have to be perfectly staged, they do not have to be National Geographic worthy; rather, they just have to record a memory.  

As I write these words I realize that I had 15 years of travel, stretching myself and doing things I never dreamed possible.  Maybe tomorrow I will tell you about the first trip that started it all. 

see you tomorrow.

Welcome to the New Year

Floating down the Yangtze River

Welcome to 2017.  It is the first day of the year and I am writing a blog post.  This bodes for a good year of writing.  I think, and I just thought of this now, that I am going to initiate 31 days of blogging.  I do not do vlog's (video's detailing your life), but I do have a blog that I have been neglecting.

My word for the year is actually two words "Pay Attention".  You might wonder why these words are fueling me to be my words of the year.  Simple, I have gone through most of my adult life seeing and yet not really seeing.  For instance, the photo above was taken by me.  There are times when I look through my photo's and cannot believe that I am the photographer; that I captured this moment in time.  Some of my photo's have an ethereal quality such as the one above and some have straight on beauty such as this:

Rose in an Orvieto Garden

I love taking pictures of flowers, standing up close capturing their essence.  The photo's may not be perfect, my rose has been cut off at the top, but there is something about it that calls to me and says pay attention, not to perfection, but to the essence.

So that is how I plan to spend the next year, 2017, paying attention to life.  Not the the perfection, but to the very essence that fuels each day and makes me want to embrace more.  

See you tomorrow.

Secret Sister Happy Mail from Galina

Gel Prints from my Secret Sister

Small book, Watercolor paper, Chinese Watercolor paint kit and Rice Paper

A few days ago I a wonderful package.  It was from my Secret Sister Galina Kariean.  It is so exciting to get a package such as this.  Two or three times a year the Friends in the Box have a Secret Sister exchange.  While I love sharing with the sister I am assigned, I love getting a box from the sister assigned to me.

This box reminds me of my trip to China, the Chinese watercolor pit with Chinese paint brushes is exceptional.  The Japanese Rice paper is perfect for use with the watercolor kit; and the Canson Watercolor paper is also perfect.  I received a book made by Galina and some really colorful and lovely gel prints that I will use in my art journals and on post cards.

Thank you so much Galina for being able to know what I wanted and providing a great surprise.

Merry Christmas everyone, especially Galina.

#Nanojoumo Day 11 Finding Beauty in Chaos

Finding Beauty in Chaos

Given the events of the past week I decided to exercise creative license and not use all of the prompts for Nanojoumo and do things that talk to me.  I have been very tentative when it comes to collage and abstract painting thinking it had to be perfect and this week has taught me that no matter how hard I may try to put things in place that seem perfect, there will always be something to change my trajectory.

As a result, I am going to spend some time practicing with collage and the art of abstract painting.  Again, this is a way to find ways to express the feelings I have inside of me.  I have struggled for years trying to figure this out mainly because I was too literal.  A tree must be a tree, a flower must be pretty, a face with perfect shading.  I see it clearly now, no one has to see what I see, they can have their own interpretation.  I just have to create it.  whew, the weight of a 10 ton whale just lifted off my shoulders.  Who know where this will lead.

Year 67 is going to be great.