A few flowers along a city path in Somerville. Have a good Friday, folks.
Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category
urban beauty
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, city walks, colors, flowers, Inspiration, landscape, nature, Photography, plants, Somerville Community Path, urban on May 17, 2013 | 6 Comments »
Porches Revisited
Posted in Inspiration, tagged family, home, Inspiration, memories, porches, storytelling on May 16, 2013 | 5 Comments »
I have learned that my brother and I have been independently dreaming of front porches. We live in homes now that have porches of a sort but not the porch of our childhood. Each of us is feeling that call that comes at this time of year to make ready the porch. Paint and put out the chairs. Hope the maple tree next door will provide enough shade. Try to grow some potted plants. And so on. In honor of those memories, I share this link to an essay I wrote not long after moving up north from down south: Sitting on the Front Porch.
By the way, when I wrote this essay, my brother still lived in the house. He now rents it to an older lady who likes to grow tomato plants in all available space including along the front porch. And the elderly lady who appears near the end of the essay is still alive. I visited her during a trip back to Virginia. She was very welcoming from her front porch and even took us inside to sit for a bit where her children had to remind her at some point, “Mama, you are 99 not 89.” Her response was “Is that right?” And so it goes. 
the mind as a cathedral?
Posted in Inspiration, tagged childhood, creativity, Creativity Portal, education, imagination, Inspiration, Michael Michalko, opinion, Photography on May 15, 2013 | 1 Comment »
Stained Glass Window, Trinity Church in Copley Square, Boston
I hope my five-year old friend doesn’t stop seeing the fairies in the dandelions after she starts school. Maybe, in part, it was that thought that made the following article catch my attention: In Your Mind Was Once a Cathedral by Michael Michalko. I am a generalist and so I have been privileged to work with people across many different fields of interest. One thing many have in common is a concern that young people entering the workforce seem to have an increasing inability to think outside the box. They are extremely facile with social media tools and especially texting and yet at the same time seem less capable of using their hands. If answers can’t be found in a printed manual or Wikipedia, they don’t know how to take out a blank piece of paper (or lined yellow pad) and sketch out alternative ideas. Or even how to ask questions. Perhaps an oversimplification but I’ve seen enough examples firsthand for Michalko’s article at the Creativity Portal to resonate and make me want to share. Many other interesting articles there as well. Enjoy.
fairies
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged children, dandelion, fairies, imagination, Inspiration, landscape, nature, Photography, plant, seeds on May 15, 2013 | 4 Comments »
I had picked the two dandelions while walking home in the rain. The seed heads were wet but still intact. They looked like rain-soaked baby chicks, all spiky and glistening. I remember my goal that day was to get the stems home and photograph them before they fell apart. A piece of black slate formed the background. I’ve yet to sort through the photos. I was surprised to see the next day that the seed heads had not disintegrated but had in fact puffed up.
When I showed them to a small friend, who’s big into science these days, I started to describe the dandelion anatomy. But when I tried to talk about the seeds and the “parachutes” that allow them to sail across the sky, my little friend became quite adamant. “No, no, no,” she said. “These are fairies and the white, wispy parts are their wings.” We stared at each other for a while and then I said, “Well, my dear, let’s go set some fairies free then.” She cupped the dandelions in her hands and we went in search of an open window.
dinner ingredients, basking in sunlight
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged beauty, dinner, food, food photography, Inspiration, light, menu, Photography, shadows, sunlight on May 14, 2013 | 10 Comments »
Got home late yesterday so decided to fix a simple dinner. Here are a few of the ingredients basking in sunlight.
My Late Light Dinner Menu
* day-old bread, slice, drizzle with olive oil, toast and then rub with garlic
*fresh broccoli, slice, toss into oiled frying pan with chopped oyster mushrooms, scallions and more garlic
* add bit of chicken broth, salt and pepper. cover. turn down flame.
*sit down. take a breather before standing to peer in refrigerator — I found last pieces of smoked salmon.
*find a big plate. pile on flavored veggies, a few slices of bread, and the salmon.
*retire to big comfy chair in the living room. hope you didn’t forget fork else you’ll have to get up again!
and once the sun is set …
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, blue, color, creativity, dandelion, imagination, Inspiration, nature, Photography on May 9, 2013 | 6 Comments »
like sunset arranged on a plate
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged appetizers, colors, food, food photography, imagination, Inspiration, peppers, Photography, tomatoes on May 8, 2013 | 3 Comments »
Actually, just a simple appetizer of sliced yellow peppers and tomatoes, caught in that magic late afternoon light.
when you can, please pause and …
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged creative writing, essays, Inspiration, literature, nature, nature writing, Photography, poetry, storytelling, Talking Writing, writing magazine on May 8, 2013 | 5 Comments »
check out the Spring 2013 issue of Talking Writing Magazine. There’s just some darn fine writing and imagery appearing in that publication. Start with Editor Martha Nichol’s reflections on Why I Love and Hate Nature Writing. And in Green Among the Bones, Marc Schiffman presents a moving recount of his travels in Cambodia in an essay illustrated with photography by Mary Dineen. More of her work can been seen in her Image Essay. I’ll be honest I almost titled this post “my butt hurts,” a line taken from Patricia Dubrava’s Me, Writing. I’ll stop there. Hmmm, okay, two more words: treat yourself.
lucky mistakes at the flower market
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, flower market, flowers, Inspiration, nature, orange, Photography, plants on May 7, 2013 | 4 Comments »
We were strolling through the flower market. He pointed over my shoulder and suggested I photograph the orange flower. And so I turned, spotted orange, and photographed this one.
But he’d meant this one. Glad I got ‘em both.
There were many other lovely finds at the flower market that day.
just random thoughts …
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Arnold Arboretum, beauty, compassion, family, Inspiration, landscape, love, nature, Photography, random thoughts, storytelling on May 6, 2013 | 3 Comments »
… inspired in part by reading Tattoos on the Heart The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle. An excellent read that highlights the power of compassion, the strength found in families (however family is defined) and the impact of telling someone “you matter in this world.” The book is composed of nonfiction stories. I suppose that’s why stories keep bubbling up in my mind.
My brother remembers it as the “rumble in the jungle.” I remember it as the school bus ride from Hades. The short of it is that I was in the 8th grade and he was in the 6th grade. I don’t remember how the message was communicated but somehow during the school day I was told that he was going to get jumped on the bus ride home that afternoon. And he was. And then he remembers me saying, “Get your hands off my brother.” Luckily our older brother had taught us how to make fists ’cause there were plenty of them flying. Eventually the school bus made it back to school, the older boys were suspended, and my brother remembers that no one ever tried touching him again. I remember the principal saying to me, “Cynthia, what were you thinking? How could you get yourself into a fight?” I didn’t reply but the answer was easy. I wasn’t thinking. There was no thought at all involved. No one was messing with my brother but me. Family ties, right?
But what tied my aunt to the girls who wanted to mess with her granddaughter? There was an incident where my aunt had to sit on her brownstone stoop to bar entry to this gang of girls. As I wrote in an earlier post, she said to them, “I do not know why you did what you did to my grandchild. I do not care what you say now, that you want to play and not fight. You shall not enter this house without removing me first.” The girls looked at her, how frail she was. My aunt returned the look and shook her head. “I love my grandchild, do you hear? I love that child and,” she added without hesitation and with great sincerity, “I love you too.” The girls, all of them, walked away without further word. My aunt did not know those girls and yet she did and does still love them. Why?
Other random thoughts flutter through my head like butterflies (in shades of gold and gray and a bit of blue). But I must stop and get up from this computer and head out into a sunny day. Where ever you are in the world, I hope you are having a good Monday.
