Places to Go

(An old bicycle on Block Island, RI)

I planned to paint this weekend.  I hate painting.  I thought I would dedicate the whole weekend to painting one room. I hate painting.  I can't handle canary yellow walls one month longer.  I've said for two years that I would paint them.  I hate painting.  This weekend was going to be THE weekend.  It's filling up.  First up, Native American Festival tomorrow in Ocean Springs.  Maybe, I'll paint half the walls?  I do hate painting.

(Here is an example of how imprecise language can be.  I truly dislike painting things like walls, houses, etc.  I truly enjoy painting on things like canvases, paper, odd items that sit still long enough to be painted, etc.)  

Miscellany

Things I have spent hours photographing:

Forgotten Places  
Cemeteries
Open Doors
Gates
Windows
Ruins

What these things say about me:

Let's skip the symbolism shall we and just acknowledge that I have enough material there to pen the next great Southern Gothic Novel.

What catches your eye?  


Photo Above: Forgotten Gate, Pascagoula Ms.

A Different Day, A Different Season

Last May, my Favorite Pilot took me flying around Long Island. I can't remember the goal of the flight but we did fly over an estate where my pilot would play a band job the following day. This particular stretch was on the way. In reality, I have no idea where this is, apart from Long Island, but I know a guy that knows the island, and I have no doubt that he could tell you.

Today, a co-worker and friend (a woman) told me, "Girl, you have good legs." Now, in my mind the reality is that I'm a short round female closer to 40 than I want to be and pushing the envelope with black footless tights and a black mini-dress most likely more appropriate to someone literally at this point, half my age. Yet, I have to admit, that kind and spontaneous comment had this 30-something shorty walking tall. So today, thanks to complimentary co-workers that help keep the hounds of age in check.

Distractions

This week, on Wednesday the FinMan asked me twice to call him during my lunch break. I not only forgot, I REALLY forgot. He called me.

The thing is, I get distracted. The more time we spend together, the more I hope the FinMan understands that these lapses are not a reflection of my feelings but simply symptoms of a brain moving too many directions at once. A brain that occasionally only occupies the present moment.

This morning, with fifteen minutes to go before we should be in the car and headed to church he found me camera in hand, clad in warm snuggly Christmas pajamas, standing at the sink in the kitchen. "What are you doing" he asks. "There's a leaf frozen in the water from Copper's water bucket" I reply, as if this explains everything.



Fin sat down in a chair at the dining table. "I've decided I don't care if we're late", he said in the manner of one repeating a mantra. In fact, over the next few minutes, I heard the same more than once.



Thankfully, I even think he meant it, or at least, he wanted to mean it.

Self Portrait

Well, I am back in Mississippi. I just had an excellent visit to Long Island and upstate New York. I know I've been scarce on the blogging scene but as some know, I've experienced a few technical difficulties. Mainly, the keyboard on my laptop went kaput. Thankfully, the replacement keyboard was waiting here for me and with the help of a repair manual I was able to install it first thing last night when I got back. I even ignored the call of blackberry picked and yard wandering... I must have been desperate.

Of course, I miss Fin dreadfully and am looking forward to a long visit with him here in Mississippi over the summer. It must truly be love for someone to leave the moderate temps of a Long Island summer for the sweltering, soul sucking, humidity of a Mississippi summer.

Hopefully, I'm back online now for a while and I can jump back into the blogging string. Thank you all for your comments on my post about Tennison, they were appreciated.

The photo above was taken while I wandered the estate of a Long Island eccentric. Sounds interesting doesn't it? This spot was right next to the Llama pen. Fin reunited with his Dixieland Band Buds for a memorial picnic to honor the passing of this incredibly interesting woman. It was wonderful to see him play with the band.

Tail Over Teakettle

Tomorrow's library storytime will be Silly, literally. There will be books about being silly, silly songs, silly crafts, silly, silly, silly. Milton agreed to help set the mood by rolling "tail over teakettle" in the backyard. (Notice he's also sticking his tongue out at the blogging world. Not very respectful, is he?)

Here, in the southern US spring is well underway. That's gotten me out and about in the yard and on the bicycle. In fact, twice last week I made the five mile (one way) commute to and from work. I truly enjoyed the ride as the world looks quite different and much closer from a bike saddle and the weather was just about perfect.

Sadly, on the way home during my second day of bicycle commuting I had the most spectacularly bruising tail over teakettle crash. As the old-timers say, I've been "stove up" and recovering from an impressive collection of road rash and blue marks. Mind you, there were no bones broken and thankfully the bike was not damaged but yours truly has truly been a patchwork of bandages.

The bandages, oh the bandages! Although I tried at first to conceal them, the concealing did not last long and the bandages led to a barrage of questions at the library. It's important to know that I live in a rural community. By venturing out on a two wheeled, non-motorized conveyance I have broken a fast and unspoken rule within most rural US communities, adults DO NOT bicycle simply for recreation or to commute to work. It is not done. This unspoken rule is especially applicable to adults owning working vehicles with combustible engines.

So, to begin with I am way outside of most of my community's societal comfort zone. In fact, my being seen on bike will lead most other adults to believe that my car is broken. Who knows, one of the local churches might even take up a collection for that poor Ms. Bethany down at the library.

All of the above being the case, most people are bit incredulous that my bandages were earned in a bicycle crash. For everyone's sake and comfort, I'd really like to jazz the story up with a fossil fuel burning machine but those are the kind of tales that put you in awkward situations later when the truth leaks out, and somehow the truth always does leak out. So yes, I've had to tough it out and explain time out of mind that "I had a bicycle crash." "Yes, you heard me correctly I did say bicycle." "Yes, the non-motorized kind."

This admission, led one 12-year-old young lady to proudly proclaim that, "My mother hasn't ridden a bicycle since she was four." This was said with much pride and obvious satisfaction, as certainly adults riding and crashing bicycles falls far outside the realm of acceptable adult behavior. (The exception of course being Lance Armstrong.) I think perhaps, some of the library patrons may even believe that I've had my comeuppance for venturing out at all on a bicycle and stealing a few precious feet of roadway from the gazillion horse powered trucks and SUVs that are king of the road in the south.

Imagine how horrified they're all going to be to hear that I didn't learn my lesson and that "Ms. Bethany WILL ride again."

Flying the Coop

Today, I'm headed to a week long school in Jackson about librarianing. I'm definitely looking forward to the week but it is always such a wrench to leave home. I know I'll enjoy the school, meeting new people, and getting out of the routine but home is just so comfortable. Also, they assign us roommates from other library systems, that is always a gamble. The time I went to the first part of this class two years ago I had a great roommate and we had mucho fun. Hopefully, this year will be the same.

Yesterday, Milton and I had a beautiful day watching birds. You can see from the photo that Milton toyed with the idea of mowing the lawn. In the end he decided it would be much more relaxing to sit under a pine tree with me. So we, both pulled up a patch of grass and I watched birds while Milton watched me. Milton is much more interested in watching the exotic watch bunnies and squirrels that wander into the yard than watching birds. Birds, aren't his thing. We added three new birds to the many seen lately.

After such a beautiful and peaceful day in my own backyard it makes it especially difficult to leave.

So Much to Learn and Only One Lifetime

Tonight, I'm missing a training meeting about how to identify local frogs by the sound they make. The training is to prepare folks to go roam the roads and participate in a frog watching program. As I've come to proudly embrace my own inherent nerdiness I will admit with pride that I think it sounds fascinating. Sure, I know a Friday night trolling the back roads to hear frogs gettin' it on, flirting, and partying doesn't appeal to everyone but if you bother to get in touch with your inner naturalist you might think it sounds better than dinner and a movie. Sadly for me, I'm kind-of maxed out for the week on my ability to tackle new ventures.

That's the thing that I find frustrating this week, time and energy. I must work. I have to keep food on the table and the lights on. I have the great blessing of actually loving my job. Yet, this work-a-day life is really cutting into my time, my "there are only 24 hours in a day to accomplish so many things" time.

Yesterday, I got interested in bamboo bikes after reading about a program in Ghana to help the people of Ghana build cargo bikes out of bamboo. I thought, "I could build a bamboo bike" but then I remembered that I have beehives to build, bat houses to build, a house to paint, a garden to plant, trees to plant, and a farmer's market to organize. So actually, when I look at it, learning to build a bamboo bicycle really is out of the question this year. Also out of the question, at least for the foreseeable future; that yogurt maker I want to make, the yurt I'd love to build, the wood strip canoe that I've dreamed of building, chicken tractors, etc, etc. You get the idea.

There are just so many interesting things in this world. So many things to experience and learn. So many new things to try. I just don't know how I'll ever accomplish or learn "hands on" half the things I want to.

This means that I have to work diligently on balance because things catch my interest so quickly and always I'm fighting that devil "time". As I said, so much to learn and only one lifetime. Let's hope it's a long one.

**The flower above is my lovely Christmas and housewarming Amaryllis from my friend Jane. Thank you Jane

Yes Darlings, The Queen Has Invited Me to the Ball

Tonight, I'm attending a ball, a Mardi Gras Ball. My friend and former co-worker Kim was elected this year's Queen and our library manager is the Grand Duchess. This is the first Mardi Gras ball I've attended and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

I had a difficult time deciding what to wear. I didn't buy anything new but over the years I've accumulated quite a collection of satins, silks and taffetas, thanks to various weddings and parties. I did have a few things to choose from.

I can't decide if I'm pleased or disappointed that I can still wear a iridescent blue taffeta number that I wore when I was 19, a mere 16 years ago. On the plus side I haven't gained a lot of weight. However, on the down side of things it definitely proves that the svelte and athletic physique I've desired the last twenty years still eludes me. SIGH.

Oh well, I'm still excited to be off to the ball. I've decided on a flirty little silk chiffon frock. So Darlings, as I said, I'm off to the ball.