Last Week of the Year

I extended my quiet Christmas into Monday. I feel like I've been running ever since. Jeff had two doctors' appointments and two physical therapy appointments. I had a doctor's appointment and took care of the NCNC Birds of Prey twice. On Tuesday one of the aviaries was locked from the inside, the Visitors Center was closed, and the staff was off. Luckily, I managed to find a key so I could care for Jasper. I also had my normal chores and errands, and Jace walks. 

I realize that I've been resisting writing, blogging, and working out for the past few weeks. Julia Cameron (The Artist's Way) writes, "Resistance always has meaning." I need to figure out my meaning. It's beyond being busy or preoccupied. 

I had a skin cancer removed about two weeks ago. I returned to the dermatologist yesterday so the surgeon could remove tissue around the margins. I'm not supposed to lift weights for two weeks. I had planned to hit the gym today and (maybe) tomorrow. I'm bummed I only made it to the gym once this week. I had hoped to be on a roll to start the new year. 

Cooking a duck breast for dinner tonight. I'm not hungry at the moment--we had a late lunch at Sedona Tap House--but will start prepping after I take Jace for his late afternoon walk. We do have all night after all. It's another quiet New Year's Eve for us. I don't need the parties and the fuss. No pressure. 

Self-Care in Small Doses

This post is almost a month old--I meant to write about it before. The timing coincides with some health problems with Lola which is probably why I didn't post then.

I have also bought daffodils at Trader Joe's and other grocery stores. I don't buy flowers every time I buy groceries, but there is something about daffodils and the longing for spring that is almost irresistible to me. 

I remember Julia Cameron writing about treating yourself in The Artist's Way. At one point, she and her husband Mark spent the last of their money on good socks because people deserve to have good socks. I also recently read this article about the pandemic and little treats. We can all benefit from little treats.

Spring brings other small pleasures. Yesterday I saw a Great Egret at Oyster Shell Park. Unfortunately, it flew away quickly, and I couldn't get a photo. It made me happy to see it. 

A Visit to Elephant's Trunk and the Merwinsville Hotel

Today I did a repeat of a trip I made 11 years ago. Although I'm not doing The Artist's Way--I gave up on daily pages about a year-and-a-half ago--I realized this was a perfect artist date for me. 

After I took Lola to Taylor Farm and we had brunch at home, I headed to Elephant's Trunk flea market. I arrived around 1; it closes at 2. I had hoped to get there earlier, but I was satisfied with my time there. I did maybe a third to a half of the vendor tables. I bought a few things. I saw a pair of shot/liqueur glasses that I liked--the tops were shaped like white wine glasses and the stems were metal and shaped like grapes and leaves. We have more than enough liqueur glasses, but these were really cute. Then the vendor offered me five for $5. Sold.

Next I bought a political button: Betty Ford for President for $1. I saw other political buttons (I collect them) but they were pins I already had or were for candidates I didn't know. 

My final purchase was a promotional container of Bourbon in the shape of Mount Rushmore. Oddly enough, after I saw a promotional Crown Royal barrel, I thought about the Mount Rushmore container I had bought for my sister in honor of our trip there. When I saw this one--I had to get it. 

My real reason for this trip was to visit the Merwinsville Hotel. I had received an email about the hunt for 50 spheres hidden in various places in Litchfield and Fairfield Counties in honor of the 50th anniversary of the hotel's restoration efforts. The hotel is open Sundays from 2 to 4 for visits. Plus after writing about the hotel for a class assignment, I remembered that I had wanted to write about Sylvanus Merwin. 

Now's the time to write a book about him. Yes, I'm writing a time travel book (stalled at the moment) but why can't I work on two? They're very different so each can be a good break from the other.

I went on a tour of the hotel, put aside a few things to buy (t-shirt, a wine glass, and two beer sampler glasses) and started looking for the sphere hidden there. I found it among the logs in the fireplace. I was so excited. I really wanted to find one. I imagined myself searching in the outhouse on the hotel property (ugh) and visiting all the other places on the list. Yay for me. Once home, I registered my sphere online at the hotel's website.

I also talked to a woman conducting a tour who knew a lot about the hotel. She will send me some materials, including a story by a Virginia Smith. 

It's weird Virginia Smith is the name of my grandmother. In a recent true-crime assignment for my writing class, the victim was George Smith--the name of my uncle. 

I hope this portends something good.

Personal Archaeology

I believe that Julia Cameron used the term archaeology in The Artist's Way about finding things in your past that hampered your creativity. I also remember the concept of mining your journals. A few weeks ago, I wrote that I found a box of things to go to Goodwill. I also found a small duffel bag of notebooks. I had previously found a matching bag (both giveaways from an Arizona Diamondbacks/Atlanta Braves game that Jeff and I attended back in 1998) with stories and pieces of novels that I had written. I had skimmed through those notebooks, tossed a few, but kept those with things that I thought I could use. 

In the latest bag, I found some journals of morning pages, as well as notebooks from various retreats and courses. I found some old poems that I typed up (including Ode to a Nike Commercial or Why I Love Tom Glavine.) I also found some phrases in exercises that I used to write poems. One was: the arm around my waist became a chain.

I've gone through over half of the notebooks. Some, I tossed outright. Some, I threw away pages and now have smaller notebooks. I'll type up some poems or use found phrases to generate new poems.

A few things are consistent in my pages. There is never enough time. Which means I have to find, make the time. I also need other writers around me--retreats have inspired and supported me. I guess my class gives me some support. I need to find more.

Books One and Two The Obsidian Chamber and The Money Drunk

I'm off to good start reading in 2020.

First up: The Obsidian Chamber by Preston and Child

The prologue in this book was the same as the epilogue in Crimson Shore. Pendergast is gone, presumed dead. Grief-stricken, Constance decides to retreat to her chambers beneath the family mansion. Then Proctor, Pendergast's bodyguard and chauffeur, is attacked and drugged. Proctor recovers in time to see Diogenes Pendergast kidnapping Constance. The chase is on.

As I mentioned in my Crimson Shore post, the reappearance of Diogenes was a bit much for me. I was predisposed to be critical of this book. It's still good: the story is complex and kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next.


Book Two: The Money Drunk 90 Days to Financial Freedom by Mark Bryan and Julia Cameron (1992)
Now called Money Drunk/Money Sober 90 Days to Financial Freedom (1999)

I bought this book about 20 years ago when I took a week-long Artist's Way program with the authors at Omega Institute. I'm not sure why.

Obviously I wasn't burning to read it; it sat on my bookshelf for those 20 years. On Monday, I was reading an online thread about New Year's resolutions. Many involved saving or budgeting money, so I finally read the book.

The first part of the book defines the money drunk problem as another addiction. The second delineates the various types of money drunks, and the third describes a 12-step 90 day solution.

While I have some issues with money, I'm glad to report that I'm not a money drunk and don't need the program. It was interesting how many of the steps for the various types were similar to those in Cameron's The Artist's Way.

20 Fun Things to Do

Listening to my Artist's Way tapes, I was reminded of this exercise: Name 20 fun things to do. 1. hiking 2. antiquing 3. going to craft shows 4. going to bookstores 5. going to museums 6. traveling 7. walking 8. swimming 9. doing yoga 10. watching classic movies 11. dining al fresco with Spike 12. wine tastings 13. trying new restaurants 14. beer tastings 15. walking labyrinths 16. dancing 17. listening to live music 18. reading 19. going to art galleries  20. going to retreats This list is a source for artist's date ideas.

The Artist's Way--Revisited

In the ongoing cleaning--organizing--de-cluttering I've been doing since January, I came across cassette tapes from the Artist's Way week at Omega Institute about fifteen years ago. I've been listening to them in bits and pieces over the last few weeks while driving.

I've taken the Artist's Way workshop as a weekend, a five-day and a twelve-week course (the preferred method). I've also used the book on my own and I still write morning pages. Obviously, I like the Artist's Way.

But...

Many people report brilliant results from the process. Novels written; awards won. I do not.

While listening to the cassettes recently, I heard Mark Bryan say something like--for some people the Artist's Way is just about making more creative lives for themselves.

I do have a more creative life than I used to:

I write morning pages every day

I have two pieces in a published memoir anthology

I write this blog

I am ready to submit a piece

I call myself a writer without feeling odd about it

I make artist trading cards and collages; I have an art journal

I notice little things more that make me happy: colors in the sky, full moons, flowers, fall leaves, winter branches outlined across the sky.

The last item sounds kind of silly and small, but it's big--a change of outlook. I also have to credit my daily walks with Spike for helping me to notice things more--to be more in the moment.

In her workshops, Julia Cameron talks about making small changes. I'll keep going down that trail.

Artist Date: Elephant's Trunk and Merwinsville Hotel

I didn't have a very productive weekend. I barely cleaned; I barely worked on my resume. But I still had a good weekend.

Today I went on an artists-date. I also did another thing that I've been wanting to do for a long time: I went to Elephant's Trunk. Elephant's Trunk is an outdoor Sunday flea market running from April through November.

After a cold start to the morning, the day turned sunny and warm. I spent about an hour and a half wandering up and down the aisles of jewelry, china, glassware, clothing, tires, musical instruments. I didn't buy much--a few political pins, a small carved wooden dog with his head raised in a howl, two sets of fork and spoons made from china. You can make a day of it at Elephant's Trunk--there are food trucks offering hot dogs, sandwiches, fried dough, pretzels, chili, and donuts with tables and chairs nearby so you can sit down to enjoy your food. But you can't linger for long; around noon, I saw the first vendor start to pack up his goods.

I left the flea market and headed to the Columbus Weekend Art & Fine Crafts Show at the Merwinsville Hotel. The Merwinsville Hotel is worthy of a post of its own. It served as a meal stop for passenger trains going through Gaylordsville from the 1840's through the 1870's.

Jeff and I found the hotel one weekend when we were exploring the area and made a wrong turn. I became fascinated with the place and we've gone back several times. Attempts to restore the hotel have been continuing since 1971. While there is still much work to do, Jeff and I have seen a lot of progress since we first found the hotel in the mid 1990's.

Today I purchased some hand made Christmas cards and a few souvenirs--a new Merwinsville Hotel tee shirt and a pair of wine glasses with the hotel logo. I previously purchased Christmas ornaments, tee shirts, a print of the hotel in its heyday and a trivet.

I'll be back in December for Christmas in Gaylordsville.

Back home, I picked up Spike for a long visit to the dog park. All-in--all a great fall day.

Why A blog? Part Two

In my first post, I talked about having something to say and being discovered. Being discovered is a long time fantasy of mine. On a trip to California with relatives when I was about 13, I joked that I would be discovered and made a star, a la Lana Turner sipping a soda at a Hollywood drug store.

Years later I fantasized that my beagle, Spike would be discovered in a visit to New York City, allowing me to quit my job to become his manager. My latest fantasy is being discovered as a great writer via this blog. (FYI, the most realistic of these fantasies was the discovery of Spike. Just look how cute he is in my profile picture and that is far from his best photo.)

But back to this blog. I started it to force myself to write every day. I'm not there yet. I do journal every day; specifically I write morning pages http://www.theartistsway.com/tools/. But morning pages are not real writing--Julia Cameron characterizes then as brain drain. Morning pages can jump start writing. I've also won Nanowrimo, writing 50,000 words in 30 days. That proves to me that I'm capable of serious output, but even then I skipped a day or two.

This blog will be a record of how well I meet the goal of writing every day--not just for a month but for a continuing mission.