Revolving Door

One thing that I have learned, because the lesson has been shown to me time and time again, is that no doors ever really shut in life.  Our existence involves continuous movement, an unchoreographed dance,  through a constantly revolving door.  The variables that impact where that door leads include how quickly the door turns, how we embrace our perspective at the present point of rotation, and who else is making their way through the door with us.

Today was bittersweet in that the revolving door of life turned in a new direction.  I closed on the sale of my dad's house in Delaware, the house that my grandparents restored in the early sixties and in which they and then my parents lived until my dad's death almost a year ago.  I was four when my grandparents moved into this house, so most of my memories of visiting them were formed there.  My parents moved in after my grandfather's death in 1998.  I made a few trips to visit my parents, but it all honesty, my most vivid memories of the Delaware house with regard to my parents is it is the place where they both died.  This, however, is not the reason that I chose to sell the house; it simply was not feasible for me to keep it.

 As a military brat, I am a master at blooming where I am planted."  As a child,  I was transplanted to many different places coast to coast.  Finally as a young adult, I moved to Texas and now have firmly established roots hereWeber and I have a simple yet wonderful life here.  My girls and their dad live close.  I have an amazing group of friends.  And, a job I love.  What I would have given up to move to Delaware and keep the house would have been far more valuable than what I would have gained by keeping it.  And, keeping it as a "summer home" was not fair to the house.  It was built in 1760 and deserves full time care and attention.  I am thankful that the men who bought it are not only willing, but excited to give it that.  I wish them much happiness as they make this house their home.  I trust that if I ever want to return for a short visit, that they would graciously extend a bit of hospitality.

So today, my last real tie to Delaware has been severed and life's portal has turned to face another direction.  And I am OK with that.  My family and my life are here in Texas, the place that I happily call home.

Lately I have been playing with a photo manipulation technique that creates abstract images from photos.  I thought today would be a good day to try it with the above photo of the house in Lewes, which I took over the summer.

Perhaps I should title this one, "A New Turn" as the revolving door of life has turned a few more degrees.   And, who is that now staring at me?

Jumping Back In!

The calendar says that fall will be here in two days, but for my creative self, it is spring that is dawning after a five month dormant season here.   Unlike the plants and animals who know that they need fall and winter to rest and rejuvenate, I was unaware that my spirit was longing for that time.  I have been doing other creative things, including other types of writing, but in the past few weeks, I have been hit hard with the realization that I truly miss this forum, my blog.  Yes, I have missed deeply the writing, but perhaps more importantly, I have felt strongly the absence of the daily thoughts, reflection, and wondering that were the spark for my my daily posts.

Several things have happened that, taken together, have spurred me on to begin again here.  First, people who were faithful readers have asked why I stopped posting and where I had gone.  They were even kind enough to say that the missed my offerings.  I am flattered, though honestly  I never thought anyone would really read what I write here; I started blogging as a personal discipline, as a means of accountability to no one but myself.  If others find a reason to smile, or cry, or experience a little piece of joy, or find a bit of insight in my musings, I consider those are an added bonus.

For many years, I have been a faithful follower of Julia Cameron and her daily discipline of writing morning pages.  It is through this practice, that I rediscovered my need to reinstitute writing regular blog posts.  Since going back to school a few weeks ago, I have also added to this morning routine a poem in haiku form.  I say in haiku form because in the traditional Japanese haiku, this seventeen syllable form contains a kigo,  a seasonal word drawn from a defined list of words.  The poems that I have written usually contain no such word, but do follow the 5-7-5 syllabic structure of the lines as well as the use of a “ exiting word.”

Here are a couple of these poems:

Uninvited thoughts
Coming and going freely.
Through my mind, they dance.   - KEB 9/14/15

Thoughts of things undone
Fester, surface, call to me.
Your attention, please!        - KEB 9/16/15

Imagination.
Tool of possibility
Or disappointment?   - KEB 9/21/15

As I reflected on my own words, I sensed a theme, one that was calling me to pay attention and to take action, a strong yearning to write….here   And so I begin again.  Even after all this time away, this is a comfortable place for me.  Writing this post is kind of like a much anticipated homecoming.

Oh, and today's Capture Your 365 photo prompt is "jumping."  Yes, the prompt was intended in the literal sense, but most often, I am not a literal person, so this post is my idea of jumping today.  Now to figure out how to photograph this.

One of the reasons that I have neglected my blog is because I have been writing in other places, new places.  That is not an excuse; it is simply to say that I have not done a very good job at time management and prioritizing.  I will continue to write in those other places as well as here.  And sometimes, it may be necessary for me to “kill two birds with one stone” and share the same material in two places.  

One of those new writing adventures is another blog that I am writing with a dear photography friend.  As is evidenced by its title, our focus is on friendship, photography and food.  If you are interested, it is here:

www.pixelsplatesandlols.blogspot.com

Also, Weber and I help our blue and orange furry monster, Blueper B, write about his adventures on his blog as well:

www.blueperbblueprints.blogspot.com

Neither of these other forums takes the place of the kind of posts that I have written here in the past and intend to share again, but those other endeavors do take time and energy, commodities which seem severely lacking in my world some days!

If you are still here and reading what I have written, thank you.  I am grateful for your presence on this journey.  As I did previously, I will continue to share my photographs and my daily thoughts.  I don’t promise that they will be worthy of your time and attention, but I do promise that I will do my best to share with honesty, integrity, and a little humor.

Thank you for stopping by!

99/365-3 Layers

"Twirly Skirt"

I grabbed my daughter this afternoon hoping to get a few practice shots for the portraits class. She said, "Don't you want to take pictures of me in my twirly skirt?" For a brief moment I was transported back to when she was three rather than twenty five. It was a fun few minutes that we shared. The photos aren't technically very good, because neither one of us was being too serious about the whole thing, but we had fun. When we looked at the pictures I decided they worked as well as anything for layers. Now I have been shocked back into reality as my girls are leaving tomorrow for a trip to Las Vegas together. No more feeling like they are three!!!

98/365-3 Cheers

"Amen"

Sometimes it is just a little comfort food and an "amen" to the end of a long day rather than "cheers." Simple things like a good cup of black coffee and graham crackers are a perfect end to the day as far as I am concerned.

97/365-3 April Where I Stand

"Where I Stand"

I am not feeling the camera love today, or any other love for that matter.  I have a ton of stuff on my plate right.  Life seems to be either feast or famine.  Right now it is feast, but unfortunately the fare is not comfort food!  And on top of that, I have done something to make my back really mad at me.  It is retaliating by causing me great pain.

Deep down I know that I am truly blessed, but right now I am having a hard time seeing and believing that hence the blurry phone shot of my "I am blessed." socks.

96/365-3 Bunch

"A Bunch of Good Advice"

I love it when the wisdom that I need in that moment comes to me while capturing my daily photo.  This little monkey is my inspiration for today.

94/365-3 Dappled

"Dappled Duck"

I went outside in the middle of the afternoon in the dappled light to shoot some photos of the newest irises to bloom in our yard.  I was surprised to hear this guy talking to himself as he strolled around the yard.  I'm not sure where he came from or where he was going.  The irises will be there tomorrow; I'm not sure about this dappled duck so he became today's POTD.

Here are a couple of shots of the irises, as well.