Thinking About the Past

Sketch Along Route 17

     The black storage hassock isn’t as useful to me for the stack of stuff on it as it is for the stuff inside it.

It has been months since I open the lid to get anything in there. My down sizing push put a bead on donating the hassock because I do not use it other than to out stuff on. Put stuff on aka clutter station. 

The other day I went through the notebooks and such stored in the black vinyl box (also serving as my knitting needle stash). A rush of memories bloomed in my heart thinking of what part of my past what I found there means to me. Sketches and watercolors I barely remember doing. And the best part is that I like them. That stuff was put there because it was my current (then) focus, handy to access. 

But something happened. The current became buried like soil on dinosaur bones. 

As I remember the little robin puffed up against a chilly wind, I think about my project to sketch more often. I even found the plastic envelope with my sketchbook and supplies. 

Why does that happen to us? Be enthusiastic about a goal and have it end up fading under the weight of whatever? Depression can’t be blamed for everything. 

Hmmm?

A watercolor sketch dated 2017.

I know I’ve opened the storage hassock plenty of times in the last 7 years. That is proof there has been a change of stuff put in there.

 Okay, discovery made, now what to do about it? 

Get back to the good things that were once important. That is the benefit of thinking about the past.

Choices

 

Rosemary Flower

One day I happen to see something on the Rosrmary plant I brought inside last fall. The plant stays green so long that it is not easy yo know if it is still alive when I bring it indoors.

To my surprise, there are little lavender flowers blooming. It lives! What a thrill to finally have proof of life.

At one point, I was going to put it in the hall thinking it is not going to make it. Instead I chose to continue to take care of it until the leaves turn brown. 

A good choice.

So here I’m sitting questioning myself about a choice to make. Should I read a book written by somebody else or read and edit a novel I’m writing? Both will bring me enjoyment. Only one has the potential to bring me money.

Answer: I can do both. Choices do not have to only be yes or no, this or that. 

Birds Are Slobs!

This season during a freezing cold spell, I am shocked to see a carpet of seed trash all over the deck. I mean everywhere! No nook or cranny is safe from being strewn and stashed with bird seed. What slobs, I'm thinking. There are as many pieces of sunflower hulls as bird tracks. 

Birds peck and hop away to crack the hull and eat the seed inside. In doing so, the seed trash scatters where they scatter. Spreading compostable materials is what birds do. Mother Nature, I'm sure is pleased with the services birds contribute. Using a container or bird feeder helps, but it doesn't stop the scattering.

For a few days I didn't put out new birdseed. I want the avians to finish whatever is left in the mess they made. In that time the deck was tidied up. The wind does help blow the lighter pieces away.

Male cardinal in Winter