Back in action

Slowly but surely, I find my heart on a new but familiar path. Each day I find a bit more of my former self emerging, strengthening, stepping more fully into life.

I returned to my studio for the first time in weeks and made some cards using paper I had painted quite some time ago:

I made a series of these, each with the same overall format but a different word and embellishments. I love the soft edges and colors in my painted background paper. To me they suggest a bank of dreamy hydrangeas in the summer dusk.

I've been enjoying new music too, continuing to expand my collection of country and Americana music with this set by Court Yard Hounds, a duo formed by Emily Robison and Martie McQuire of the Dixie Chicks:

The two sisters crafted storytelling songs and easy melodies. The overall effect is mellow, and many of the tracks sound a bit like Sheryl Crow with some twang. There's a nice collaboration featuring Jakob Dylan as well.

I've also been seduced by a book that most people have already heard of and many have read. I may be the last to the party here, but I tend to favor non-fiction and poetry, so when I jump into a novel, it's news. The book I'm reading is The Time Traveler's Wife, an intriguing and inspiring love story that follows a couple whose relationship unfolds in multiple dimensions at once. Its premise is fresh and original, as is the writing and the structure. The story is touching without being sentimental and is told from the point of view of the two lead characters. The film, with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, is worth watching as well.

Behind the scenes, I have some professional work unfolding that I'm excited about. On the homefront, we're enjoying a lull in the kids' activities as the spring sports seasons have wrapped and the school year is drawing to a close. Soon there will be tennis lessons and summer camps and travel, but for now, there's a chance to catch our breath and recharge and there's no finer place to do that than at home. My Man is a gardening guy and he has outdone himself this year. The yard is incredible, bursting with flowers and foliage, color and texture. He has plans to install a lighted pond with a waterfall in the landscape--his next big project. He's happiest when he's outside with a hoe or a shovel or a hose or a pair of canvas gloves, and lucky me, I get to enjoy all the natural beauty he cultivates all day, every day. It's a gift that keeps on giving.

What's good in your world these days?

Comments

[Shirl Grrrl]

So happy to ready this! I've got a big ole smile on my face right now! You pegged the colors on your card perfectly.... hydrangeas. So wish mine would bloom blue this year like they are supposed to! Sending you happy virtual hugs! <3

[Neil]

Glad to see you gaining strength and creativity. (Although you did forget the "g" in Dreaming -- ha ha.) I know.

[Lynn]

You're so right about the background looking like hydrangaes! They're one of my favorite flowers - I like all the classics, like gardenias, azaleas, dogwoods, camellias, daisies... And how nice for you to live in a botanical paradise and to reap the rewards of the Man's work!!

[Nance]

I love my pond! Will you have fish, too? They are very restful to watch as they swim about. We have comets, sarassas, and goldfish (huge ones). Ours winter in the pond and are very low-maintenance. One lived almost 10 years (we lost him this winter, sadly). There is something very calming and welcoming and Zen about a pond and waterfall...AND FISH!

[Slow Panic]

I LOVED The Time Traveler's Wife. So much more than I expected.

Looking forward to Court Yard Hounds -- kinda loved a lot of the Dixie Chicks music.

Right now I am loving my refurbished office/sewing room.

[Peace]

Ah, you nailed it. Hydrangeas was exactly what I saw, just beautiful. You inspire me on so many levels V.

[RD]

Good to see you up and around! The card IS dreamlike, so pretty. We thought spring had arrived in Colorado over the weekend, but we're expecting up to 2 feet of snow in the mountains and foothills tonight and tomorrow. Enough with the snow already! All the gardeners were out on Mother's Day planting and mulching and trimming; tomorrow it's back to snow shoveling. I've been reading Barbara Kingsolver--Animal Dreams and High Tide in Tucson. That woman's a wonderful writer. And I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society--really enjoyed it and now I don't think I'll sit still until I visit Guernsey Island. And that's what's been going on here!

[Lynn]

Oh RD, I just LOVE Barbara Kingsolver - she's a really great writer! Those were two of my favorites that she's written, but I've read them all and liked them! Our book club read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and really enjoyed it - there's actually some website that shows you a google map of all the locations in the book! One of our members shared it at our meeting, so I don't have the URL to share, but it was really cool!

[V-Grrrl]

Lynn, you gave me High Tide in Tuscon years ago and introduced me to Barbara Kingsolver. I later read Prodigal Summer, a novel that appealed to my geeky science and biology side as much as it did my writer side.

[RD]

I think BK has the ability to so intuitively describe the relationship between us and our natural world in a way few others can. Poisonwood Bible was the first novel I read by her, and it's still my favorite, but I love the essays in HNiT, and I'm so looking forward to reading her latest, Lacuna (which was a finalist for the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award). And, Lynn, thanks for the tip about the Guernsey map--I'm off to find it online. Very cool!

[V-Grrrl]

Nance,

Yes, there will be FISH!

[Chris]

I haven't read The Time Traveler's Wife yet, but it's in my stack [literally] of books to read. I read fiction as much as non-fiction, just haven't had the time.

I imagine your yard is beautiful. I'm hoping to work in ours a bit this weekend. The weather hasn't been cooperating, but I think spring is finally here.

I'm looking forward to a new Plot Shop for a fiction project, and work-shopping my fiction project/proposal this week. Almost ready to put a stamp on it. Such a long process. Anxious and nervous...

[Amy]

Veronica, I am enthralled with your entries. I had no idea that you are an artist and a poet. I love your observations of daily life and the spiritual quality that you are able to find in every day things. And I have a garden with a pond and fish and a waterfall, too. I feel like we have much in common and I am tickled to discover that! I look forward to “following” you.

[simon]

I liked Time Traveller's Wife a lot more than I expected to. I daren't watch the film.

[Donna L. Faber]

I'm gonna echo what's said above ... that background is beautiful and does invoke hydrangea's! I just love your backgrounds, and I'm digging this string of art journal entries. Very neato. Do glad you're feeling much better, really. D<3