Those demons lurking in the darkest corners of our rooms and minds – they grow from seeds we plant unknowingly.
Hone a scythe with fearlessness.
Take ‘em down. Tear up the roots. And the salt from all the tears past - sprinkle it down and around – they’ll never grow back.
I hit pause and refreshed. My daughter & I went to Pocatello (barely an hour away) for a Grrls Getaway. Just an overnight – but we packed a lot in to that Friday evening/all day Saturday.
Pocatello is Idaho Falls hipster cousin. It has a college town feel to it which I love.
We stayed in an artist owned Air BnB. A Western artist whose work was displayed throughout our two bedroom floor of the house. I bought five of her cards for 20 bucks – they go to my “A List” ;)
The trip was an early celebration of my daughter’s (only child) 39th birthday. We did what we do best; talk, dine out on Asian food, talk, Escape Rooms (2), talk, Bargain Hunt, talk, Sing Along to the Radio (her perfectly on-key/me a disaster) – did I mention TALK?
We live in the same house, but she’s busy with her vocation, a full-time job, and she runs a non-profit that she created for a cause near and dear to her mother’s heart.
Lately, we’ve only had time to speak at the dinner table. That’s a precious half hour.
The trip did us both a lot of good. My heart and spirit are refreshed.
Hope you had a pause that refreshed recently – or one coming up.
Second day of walking. I restrained my self from attempting to do another lap or two. It’s been a while and I’m adding half a mile a week after the first two weeks till I’m up to five. And I want to walk those five miles a day every day I’m in residence till fall.
I walked in the morning to beat Idaho’s noon sun. Everyone here says Good Morning to you which is nice. And I met a white-footed tabby sitting in front of their home like royalty.
The kids are out at an event. The house is quiet. My home-made split pea soup is simmering away on the stove. In an hour and a half I’ll remove the ham bone and add diced potato and baby carrots. I’m making cheddar bay biscuits with garlic butter to go with it.
The house is quiet.
I’ve started pen pal letters in my notebook. Once I’m one with the rhythm the stationery and cards come out.
A real routine is forming here. And I need one for when I’m in residence in Idaho. The whole day just slips away too quickly without some structure. My writing is important to me – I hadn’t realized how much. And it’s appreciated, which kinda blows my mind.
An affirmation came to me today. The circumstances were annoying, but I got this, so we’ll say it was worth it.
Healthy am I Happy am I Holy am I
To be said in the morning & evening. I’m going to write them down twice a day because the act of the pen moving across the page centers me.
I remember being so inspired by Sachidananda’s translation of the Bhagavad Gita that I copied the entire book into a notebook.
I also enjoy writing as well as well as chanting mantras.
Funny how a post begins and ends. Til Later
The next New Moon is April 1st! Awesome. My project will be done by then. The first is a powerful birthdate.
One of my favorite writing teachers is running a (free!) masterclass. Today was the second day of five. My writing is surprising me. We have just a few minutes and no real time to think before we begin the prompt.
My hand seems to disconnect and just go off on it’s own. When I re-read what’s on the page, it takes me by the hand and leads me down old paths. But these days I face things much differently.
A bit uncomfortable. Necessary though. I think.
Speaking of uncomfortable – it’s time to get out paper and my workbook and do drawing exercises. I remember how carefree and easy it was as a child. Drawings & doodles would rapidly appear on any random paper. I loved fanciful fish. Very geometric. The assignment is not fish, but maybe I’ll sneak a small one into a corner of the page. ;)
I’m going to do a tape before I begin. The one for confidence. It helps.
Til next time.
Day off. And it’s all about me. That means hanging out at Facebook Groups, listening to the first day of Nadia Colburn’s latest writing challenge, and catching up with the workshop replays I’ve pinned to my phone’s Home Screen. I spent quite a bit of time scribbling in my notebook off and on this morning. Speaking of which, I found a few small notebooks/softcover journals that are perfect for dedicating to specific workshops, classes & challenges. I should start keeping records. Destroying my journals and Morning Page notebooks is a habit of thirty years now. I should keep a few dedicated books. Josie might be amused looking through them one day.
Yesterday was the first day of Spring – and it snowed! But it’s going to be 60 on Thursday so we’ll say that was winter’s last hurrah.
Speaking of Thursday, I’ll be donning my purple mask and heading for a look-see/buying expedition through Walmart.
We didn’t have stores like Walmart when I was growing up back in Manhattan. Macy’s is a full square block – that’s the largest a store can really get in the city. And that’s a lot of store.
We did eventually get a Kmart. A big event – no foolin’ It’s the smallest one in the country, but it does non-stop business.
When I went to visit my daughter in Falls River she took me to the local Walmart Superstore. I was blabberflasted. We walked for miles in there. The aisles were big enough for two lane car traffic.
When we all moved to the Cape together going to “Wally World” became routine. We needed so much for the house we rented, and it was all available at Wally’s for really fair prices. Remember, I’m from New Yawk ;) where price tags look like telephone numbers.
Amazing, I lived in Manhattan 50 years, the same NYC apartment house 30 years, and then in ten years time I moved seven times. North Jersey. Cape Cod. Cross Country to Idaho Falls where we all live now. And there was always a Wally World or two waiting for me. Oh, and Subways. Those sandwich places are everywhere. Our local Wally’s has one in the store. Maybe I’ll have an Italian sub after I shop.
Ok, back to my day off.
Til next time.
I almost started this off with the story of my dysfunctional childhood yadda yadda. There’s some of that in the memoirs I’m working on, but the majority is actually about getting past it all. Thank Goddess.
This new blog is titled Constant Writer because that handle brought Bestie into my life. Another Thank you to the Goddess.
Right now I’m sitting in my bedroom in Idaho. I’m an old-time boroughbred (born and raised in Manhattan) who followed her daughter & son-in-law across the country. I spent seven years traveling between Bergen County, NJ & the Cape Cod countryside before moving out West. I still can’t drive.
More people lived on our block in Manhattan than live here in Ucon, an agricultural community and official city right outside of Idaho Falls. For USPS purposes we actually use an Idaho Falls address.
This is my first public blog in a couple(?) of years. I religiously posted to several blogs for about 17-18 years – then a break was in order. What kind of blogs? Personal, photo, audio, micro, mobile, and group.
What makes me want to public again? My gut spoke to me – and I listened. My biggest mistakes have mostly all come from ignoring my gut. Bet if you think about it you’ll agree.
So I’m Frances D, female & feeling oh-so-fabulous at age 60. Food & conversation are my drugs of choice. I love films of all kinds. I’m a Julia Cameron devotee. I don’t wear make-up and generally wear the most comfortable clothing & shoes possible. I’m a BBW and could care less about anyone’s disapproval of the fact.
Is this going to be any particular type of blog? As yet undecided. For now I’ll post some day to day stuff, a bit of creative writing, movie and book reviews, I love movies of all kinds, and maybe an opinion or two.
Definitely no politics.
So thanks for dropping in. Hope to see you again soon.