HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We all have so much to be thankful for, each and every one of us. I am making a mental list right now and I imagine if each and every one of us did exactly that, we would be amazed at how long the list really is!!

Here's hoping that your list is long, that it continues to grow, and that you never forget to keep adding to it!!

THE AMAZING BIONIC MAN

Do you remember that commercial on television about The Energizer Bunny who just keeps ticking because he is fully charged with an Energizer battery? Well, I equate B to that same Energizer Bunny. He is the Amazing Bionic Man who has surgeries and just springs back better than ever. Perhaps you remember when I posted this photo of the implant he had placed in his finger.

 Or this photo of the knee replacement he had a while back when his knee was really bothering him. All those years of climbing trees for a living started taking their toll on his body and the pain was no longer an option.

Fast forward to last Friday, November 16. We had spent the entire week doing things around the house that we have been putting off because we watch our granddaughter every day. It's pretty hard to devote time to her and also to the house so we choose the one that's the most important: the granddaughter. 

Our community has a great program where they let you bring pine needles to the transfer station FOR FREE and they will haul them away for you. It alleviates the smoke that seems to linger in the air and I don't really want to contribute to air pollution any more than I have to. But, they are only open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. So Friday was our planned day to load up all the needles we had raked from the previous storm and haul them in the trailer and pick-up truck. Everything was loaded except for 4 last piles at the very end of the property on our way out.

We stopped, B got out (I stayed in the truck waiting) and he started to pick them up and throw them into the bed of the truck and trailer. All of a sudden I heard him yell. When I opened up the door and asked him what was wrong, he said that he had fallen and he needed help. I went to the rear of the pick up and looked and by the grimmace on his face I knew that something was really wrong. He proceeded to tell me that he thought that he had broken his leg. He had tripped over the tongue of the trailer and came down with all his weight on the left leg. I ran to my neighbor's, called 911 and waited for the fire truck and paramedics to arrive. Soon, the ambulance arrived and they loaded him up on the gurney and took him to the ER. Hours later, he was told that yes, he had indeed broken his hip and would need an entire hip replacement. (Not a very good photo of the hip but I think you can see the break)

I am always amazed at how quickly things can change. You can never be prepared for what in one second can change an entire life, an entire week or day, or plans that you had made for the coming week. Nothing in life is ever guaranteed. So we have to grab every moment we can and appreciate those around us while we are in the moment. As I have said before (and heard so many times before) we only have NOW. How clearly that was made to me on Friday.

Moments like this really make you keenly aware of who in your life is really important to you and who really cares about you. We have received so many phone calls from friends that would be here in a moment's notice if we needed them. Of that I am sure. And we have received emails and messages on Facebook from people all over too, not just close by. Friends in Australia, on the east coast, in Oregon. These are people who really care because they took the time to make a phone call or send me a message. That is all it really takes. A couple of seconds out of a life to really give of yourself. 

Life is all about choices, isn't it!! We can choose to be kind and thoughtful, we can choose to be silent, we can choose to share our love and our friendship or we can choose to hold grudges and perpetuate the hatred and animosity that has come before us. When I watch current events on television it is so painfully obvious to me about how easy it is to just quit fighting, love one another, and not be greedy or hateful. The little children that I see being carried out of bombed buildings make makes it so obvious to me. 

I think of all the things in life that we all choose to argue and fuss about: politics, religion, money, land, employment, material things...how important are ANY of these things if you don't have a life to enjoy them? Going through this emergency with B has made me painfully aware of how unnecessary it is to "fuss and fight". 

Remember that Beattle's song where the lyrics say: Life is very short and there's no time, for fussing and fighting my friend. Just a few short words in a song that make such a poignant statement. Why waste so much time when in a second everything can be taken away from you? Why not make that phone call, send a card, write that letter, send an anonymous gift while you have the time? This is the month for being thankful. 

On Thursday we will all celebrate Thanksgiving. Why not only be thankful but also exercise the second part of the word and be giving? We only have this one life (and sometimes we are only given one chance) to really make a difference. My friend Lela has been gone for a few years now (November 18) and she helped me in more ways that I can ever say in words. I am thankful for the friendship that she showed me all my life and B's accident on Friday has helped me remember what is really important to me. You can't just hope that people know you care: you have to show you care. The Amazing Bionic man has made this painfully clear to me. I have the X-ray to prove it!!

OPEN AND CLOSE

I wanted

the past to go away, I wanted

to leave it, like another country; I wanted

my life to close, and open

like a hinge, like a wing, like the part of the song

where it falls

down over the rocks: an explosion, a discovery; 

I wanted

to hurry into the work of my life; I wanted to know

whoever I was, I was

alive

for a little while.

                                          Mary Oliver  Dream Work

COLLABORATION

I feel so lucky to have a piece of my art published on Seth Apter's blog thealteredpage.blogspot.com. Seth explains what the collaborative art project is better than I can explain it here but basically, he sent an open invitation to artists to contribute to his project with certain perameters. Some entered all 3, some did not. And some were selected for the magazine article that was published (and available on bookstands currently) and some did not. I was not one of the ones selected for the magazine but what a thrill to see my piece on his blog this morning! Just a different level of acceptance I suppose. I am so thankful to Seth for all that he does for the art community. If you haven't been following him or don't know anything about him...go check him, his work, and the work of others he supports each month at his blog. He is currently holding an auction for Hurrican Sandy victims! Thank you Seth!

 This is the piece that I entered. It is nice to see it on his blog since one of the requirements of entereing his "call for art" was that we would not get the piece (s) back. I guess I have always had a hard time "releasing" my art. I tend to want to hold onto it for some reason (I think I know the reasons but too long and involved to discuss here) so this was a great project for me to do because I had to relinquish everything: the art, the possibility of "acceptance", the meaning of the art itself, and on and on. In more ways than one I thank Seth for this opportunity.

Highway 49 (North)

For some reason I cannot figure out how to turn my photos around in Blogger. Anyone have any help? 

Anyway, last Sunday I drove up to Nevada City for an Altar show that had been going since October 27th. This altar show called Renewal and Remembrance, is an annual exhibition inspired by "Day of the Dead" and primarily honors departed loved ones. Some of these were absolutely wonderful and full of imagination. They ranged from serious to playful, and some of them provoked laughter while others brought tears. No matter what they were insightful. It was a free show and many of the makers offered blank pages for the viewers to write there thoughts, hopes and dreams. 

Some of the writings on this specific altar were quotes from Einstein and Chief Seattle.  Very thought-provoking, it referenced what we, as humans are responsible for in the Tree of Life. "May we learn to protect, cherish, nourish and preserve "The Tree of Life" so it may grow in peace and harmony."

The altar below was by Kathryn Eldredge and it was titled: Mon Pere. She merely states that it is "another piece in a continuing, on-going series about my father, Kelly Eldredge. It was made of wood, plexi-glass, photo transfers on silk tissue, thread, and gauze. Very thought-provoking, to be sure!

There were altars to GMO label laws, altars representing hunger in Nevada County,brain-injury support group, children's altars, Eggs (representing life, creativity and transformation). There was an altar to breast feeding and even an altar to bad art!

This time of the year is filled with things to do. I often have to make a choice between so many things that I am afraid that I will miss something spectacular. But, there is only so much time in a day, so much time in a weekend. And, ultimately, what you choose to do or see is exactly what you are meant to see or do I suppose. You need to keep your eyes open and experience the small details that arise. There are often some of the most remarkable things to see once you open your eyes and just look. It's all a matter of perspective, right?

HIGHWAY 49 REVISITED (SOUTH)

CENTER OF SUTTER CREEK

FALL SEEMS TO HAVE JUST ARRIVED IN THIS TOWN

MY HELPER, MY FRIEND, MY LOVE

WE WALKED THE LOWER PART OF SUTTER CREEK, AMAZED AT ALL THE WONDERFUL HOMES WE SAW ON THE QUIET STREETS.

AROUND EVERY CORNER WE SAW HOME AFTER HOME THAT "CALLED" TO US.

THIS WAS JUST ONE WEEKEND AFTER HALLOWEEN AND THE REMNANTS OF THE HOLIDAY WERE EVERYWHERE TO BE FOUND.

QUIET FRONT PORCHES, SHUTTERS, FALLEN LEAVES. NOTHING MAKES ME HAPPIER THAN THESE SIMPLE PLEASURES.

AND DID I MENTION WHITE PICKET FENCES AND ARBORS?

THIS HOME HAD HISTORICAL VALUE. IT WAS BUILT IN THE EARLY GOLD HISTORY DAYS  IN THE TIME OF LELAND STANFORD. 

THE LAWN WAS COVERED IN A CARPET OF LEAVES AND THEY WERE FALLING FROM THE TREE AS I STOOD THERE PHOTOGRAPHING. NOTHING MAKES ME HAPPIER THAN THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. I WAIT ALL YEAR FOR THIS "SPARK" THAT NATURE PUTS INTO PLAY. I SUPPOSE IF I DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG FOR AUTUMN, I WOULDN'T APPRECIATE IT AS MUCH AS I DO WHEN IT FINALLY ARRIVES. 

I KNOW THAT IN MANY PARTS OF THE COUNTRY, AUTUMN HAS ALREADY COME AND GONE BUT HERE IN THE GOLD COUNTRY, IT SEEMS TO JUST BE REACHING ITS PEAK. ON SATURDAY WE WERE SOUTH ON HIGHWAY 49 AND ON SUNDAY I WAS NORTH ON HIGHWAY 49. I CAN ATTEST THAT BOTH DIRECTIONS WERE GLORIOUS. NORTH PHOTOS WILL BE POSTED SOON. HERE'S HOPING THAT WHEREVER YOU ARE, THAT YOU ARE ENJOYING WHAT NATURE HAS GIVEN TO YOU IN THE MOMENT.

..."The world was beautiful when looked at in this way---without seeking, so simple, so childlike. The moon and the stars were beautiful, the brook, the shore, the forest and rock, the goat and the golden beetle, the flower and butterfly were beautiful. It was beautiful and pleasant to go through the world like that, so childlike, so awakened, so concerned with the immediate, without any distrust."  (page 38---Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse)

WORDS OF WISDOM

This from "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse:

"When someone is seeking," said Siddhartha, "it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, beccause he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose."