A Series of Questions About The Calendar

I'm so very grateful that it's Friday, because I really need one of these days coming around every week. But it does make me wonder about questions that have been raised throughout "history" - probably more often by kids but questions, nonetheless. 

I guess I'm in a questioning mood today. Here are some
questions for all of you on this early Friday morning. 

Like why do we have seven days in a week? I know how the basic span of annual days arises - it's hard to fight (successfully) with Mother Nature, and the celestial calendar is pretty sturdy and somewhat reliable ... yeah, that! LOL But weeks don't really have to be seven days long. 

Want a more detailed explanation of the seven-day
week as well as a dive into one time period when
it was abandoned? Just follow this link. 

I understand the basic 24 hour structure, or at least the basic concept of splitting time into discrete segments stretching from sunrise to the next sunrise. Of course, sunrise is always changing, days could as easily be made from a format of 30 hours or 20 hours or even 18 hours. Why 24? Some dude in power somewhere probably decreed this and everyone else followed like little mice because you don't want to piss off the ruler. 

Why are there 24 hours in a day? It hasn't always been that way.
Interested in a more in-depth explanation? Follow this link. 

Seasons are pretty straightforward, especially for agricultural societies. You plant in the Spring, grow throughout the Summer, harvest in the Autumn, and starve and prepare for the next year in the Winter. Food shortages are dependent on the previous year's harvest, the number of mouths to feed, and other factors such as how harsh the winter is from year to year. 

Seasons are harder because they are location dependent. In the USA we
are focused on a calendar to tell us when a new season has started. Other
areas of the world depend on other factors such as temperature. Find
out more by following this link. 

Which brings us to the year - the annual run of days which, in many places today is stretched and altered by adding a few days every so often, allowing us to stutter-step back into synch with the Universe. Hmmm - rather arbitrary, but necessary to keep May in the Spring and September in the Fall. 

Fridays are usually pretty good days, all told. I'm going to
try and enjoy this one. 

So my question still stand. Why Friday? Why only seven days instead of a different number. Why, why, why? The questions that occur under fire to an exhausted mind. Have a wonderful Friday despite the questions and I'll return tomorrow unless I freeze into a pillar of me in today's cold snap. Stay warm, stay happy, and enjoy the day! 

Memory - It Waves To You

Yesterday's post was number 2950! I'm getting towards post number 3000 and should hit that before the end of the year. Maybe I should bake a cake? LOL No, of course not. I'm just rather amazed that despite life and all it can throw, that I start my day out by jotting random thoughts down and putting them out there in cyberspace just for the heck of it. Crazy! But it's a good way to start the day and at least I'm still writing something, even if it is random thoughts of the day. 

Since today is my "day off", I have a thousand things to do. That's the way it rolls. One of the most important things, however, will be settling down for some serious research and comparison of health plans for DH's Medicare. Although prices won't be live until mid-month, the plans themselves went live on October 1st, so I can finally compare plans with more information than I could earlier. Himself is chomping at the bit - he wants this figured out and resolved. No problem, but it does take some time and a clear mind. Today I have some time - not sure about the mind's clarity, though. 

Wavelengths of time and the seasons in my mind
are like this quick drawing. The top is winter - slow
and seemingly never-ending, the center is the
fall and spring seasons - even keeled and
hopeful, and the bottom is summer - rather
frantic, but lots of fun. 

It's hard to believe that it's October already. The summer seemed to just fly by. Although time progresses in marked segments - one second, one minute, one hour, one day, etc - at a time, when you look back at time, it's wavy. Good times compress in memory, they have the same length, but instead of stretching out interminably, they bunch up and the length becomes sine waves instead. 

Winter is cold here in the Frozen Northlands. Here's an Ice Palace
from 1986. We don't get an Ice Palace every year - some years aren't
cold enough and in others the funding isn't there. They are pretty
when they are built, though. 

My winters are like the top line. Things happen - Winter Solstice, DH's birthday, the New Year, and lots of shoveling and snow blowing the driveway to get to the gym on time, but winter is rather boring, and it's cold. Spring and Autumn are like the center wave - it's interesting, it's changing and speeding up (or slowing down in the case of Autumn), and there's just a bit more urgency. For Spring, we have to plan the next summer's goals for the garden and start getting things in order. Fall requires a lot of leaf blowing and raking while enjoying the skeletons of the trees. 

Summer always ends with the Minnesota State Fair and the Renaissance
Festival (which just ended this past Sunday). Summer is heat and sweat,
travels and people, food and sounds. Summer rushes by like a train
at high speed, barely stopping to allow memory to make notes in her book. 

Summer rushes by in a frantic huff of air. It displaces schedules, changes habits while creating new ones, and offers lots of opportunities. The trick is getting through the summer safely so that the upcoming slower seasons will be smooth and easy. No pointed or jagged waves for summer. Smooth, easy and fast-moving is the key for that season. 

Life is like that in memory. You don't remember things as a single straight line. You remember groups of things, you jump from highs to lows, and the time itself compresses. It's actually really hard to remember events from start to finish without your brain pulling you forward to other memories or backward to older ones. Try it sometime - those sinuous lines of memory try to trap and trip you up every time. Too often you'll meander from the memory to find yourself on a path less traveled in a totally unexpected memory. 

On that note, I'm calling it a done deal for today's post. I have tons to do today, so I'd better get started. Have a wonderful Wednesday and I'll return tomorrow - hopefully a bit wiser about Medicare plans in my area. *sigh* 

Thinking About Time

Today is my "day off" and my plans are five loads of laundry, grocery and sundries shopping, cooking dinner, restringing a necklace for a shop repair, and maybe, after I get all of that finished, a little time for my own beading. Or not. Time does seem to slip away from me. I know that Aearwen won't be able to chat today, and next week is the 4th of July, so we'll have problems hooking up next week too. *sigh* Life happens. 

Time slips away. No matter how hard we may want to
hold onto the moment, it's already gone before the
thought has passed through your mind. All you
can do is celebrate each unique moment as it comes. 

DH has been heavily involved in the eastern bank portion of the Backyard Project. We had some stiff rains yesterday, which enabled him to see where erosion was happening on the new bank, and where he wanted to move the waterflow. A few hours of no rain enabled him to put down a section of black dirt and some sod, as well as reshape another portion of the bank into a steeper grade. It's getting there. Once the bank is stable and secure and the waterflow has been stabilized and controlled, he can get to work building the wood shed. 

I think DH should use some of these for parts of the bank. The
city and county use them when they reconstruct the water
catchways along roadways and they work really well. 

I can't believe how quickly this summer is rushing by. I'm certainly not ready to see the 4th of July in my immediate future. The 4th signals the half-way point of our summers up here in the Frozen Northlands, and within a few weeks thereafter, we'll be attending Renaissance Festival and getting ready for Sharon's annual visit for the State Fair. Then comes Autumn and Halloween and cold weather once more. Ick! The cold weather is easier on me in many ways, but I adore swimming outdoors in the summertime. 

Our greenery is fully green now, and our lakes are
hosting all kinds of wildlife. I get to see an egret
or two in various ponds and lakes almost every day
now. It's a high point of my day whenever I do. 

Of course with yesterday's storms, the outdoor swimmers had to be moved to the indoor pool. So after a half-hour of being able to have a lane to myself and practice my lane turns, I suddenly had a much faster swimmer next to me. It's the way things happen. I'm not a fast swimmer, but I am constant - once I hit the water, I don't stop unless I'm putting on or taking off equipment. I suppose that's a look at general life too - we pick things up and put things down 1000's of times in our lives, but we never truly stop moving forward. 

We don't have a choice, we have to keep moving
forward because that's how time flows. Still, we
can make that movement positive or negative. I try
to concentrate on the positive. 

Here's hoping your Wednesday is marvelous and terrific. I'm just hoping for a minor miracle - that I won't forget something important when I'm at the store later today. Last week I forgot my calcium supplement tablets. Fortunately, I don't run completely out until tomorrow, so guess what's heading up my shopping list? LOL I'll be back tomorrow! 

Spring is Trying to Spring - Happy Thoughts

A new credit card will be in my hands sometime next week (then I can start the rounds of changing and updating my auto-pay accounts from one number to the next). I'm progressing on my B2MeM stories - got K posted late last night during Project Runway All Stars. Work is really slow - that's NOT a good thing, but something I just have to deal with, and the corporate income taxes were accurate and will be released for filing today. So not bad. Things could be worse.

I love it when the trees get fuzzy or furry once again. Early
spring trees, just coming back out into their glory, is one
of the happiest things I know. 

I'd rather stay home and write or create right now. It's the beginning of seasonal change here and that always pushes me towards making instead of tearing down. I'm looking forward to the trees looking bushy again, seeing my flower pictures posted by friends while I sigh with envy, and I'm hoping the new growth won't be killed by a late season snow. It's possible around here.

White Nose Syndrome is a fungus that attacks the bats, causing all
kinds of problems and resulting in high death rates. There's
a nice article about it here from National Geographic. 

Of course, with our mild winter will come repercussions. We'll have an increased tick and mosquito population because the die-off wasn't as extreme as usual. That will cause health issues for people and their pets, as well as wild animals and birds. The mild winter has also been responsible for an escalation of the mold that causes "White Nose Syndrome", an infection that kills bats. We need our bats - they help keep our mosquitoes in control. Bats are pretty cool all around - little flying mice using sonar. Awesome!

We're not quite there yet, but these daffodil
shoots remind me that Spring is on the way!
I wish it would hurry up! 

The snow is almost gone now, just a small pile remaining near my front door. All in all it was a really wonderful winter and I'm hoping we'll have a great year to follow. It's only March, we can still get a dump of the white stuff, but spring is in the air and I'll be damned if I just sit under a rock and wait for the flowers to bloom. We might not be there yet, but the signs are there! Happy, happy me! Have a great Friday!

The Slippery Slope of Summer

So it's July! Well. Who would'a thunk July would ever come around? But the earth keeps moving and we keep grooving and progress through the seasons happens whether we want it to or not. Nonetheless, it was a great first half of the year and I'm looking forward to the second half.

Summer is racing away from us.

The upcoming Fourth of July holiday (for the USA) has pushed many of my friends to say how quickly the summer is passing. It's amusing to note that we rarely say that about the winter. Winter drags on, days of cold weather, snow shoveling, and icy streets. Summer, on the other hand, races by like a young child who is there and then gone. People are already talking about the State Fair, and that doesn't even start until close to the end of August. SCARY!

There's something about "The Lake" that draws people from the cities
to drive hours on Friday nights to spend two days next to the water. 

I think part of the problem is how late summer really starts. Summer, in terms of temperatures and outdoor activities, actually starts much earlier than the 21st of June. By May, we here in the northern hemisphere are already planting our gardens, bringing the boats out of storage and looking forward to going up to "the lake". By June 1st we're already swimming in "the lake", the vegetables are growing, and we're attending innumerable outdoor concerts, vying with the mosquitoes for the shady spots and the twilight hours.

Peanut Butter on each side protects the bread from the jelly. 

July, within that mind-set, is smack-dab in the middle of the summer - not just a week past the solstice. July is the summer month that is the jelly in the peanut butter sandwich. Pushed between the two butter-covered pieces of bread, and happy in its exclusivity. But when July is over, we are on the ever-increasing slippery slope toward another very long winter.

It's a slippery slope on the back side of summer. Enjoy the fine weather
while you still can. 

So I say, "Universe? What's up with that?", and I return to my schedule for movie watching, cat tending while Chickie is out of town later this month, and looking forward to Renaissance Festival next month. After all - July will be a memory before we know it! Happy Thursday everyone...

Update and A Celebration of Seasons in Photos

I'm short on time and in a mood for photos, but first a quick update. Yesterday's breakfast with my long-ago friend actually went pretty well. We'll try to get together again next month sometime, but I certainly won't return to the weekly routine that we had been on for more than 15 years. Nope - not happening! But, I'll see her a few times a year. Now for some pictures.

I was looking for something to indicate the passage of time, and found a lot
of these trees as seen through four seasons montages. I thought
that might be something really fun to share today. 

I asked for "Seasons of the Year" and found these images. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

I really liked the composition of this quartet. The person
seated in the upper photographs also adds a nice touch. The
moon and stars over Winter make it just that touch colder. 

I really enjoyed this one. The subtle changes from spring through winter
are really nicely realized. 

I really love this. It's called "Tree of the Four
Seasons" and is painted by artist Josephine Wall.
For more of her art, follow the link.
I've sold greeting cards with her artwork in my shop over
the years. She does some beautiful color work. 

Finally, I really enjoyed this more fanciful version of seasonal trees. It is
a Deviant Art piece, but I couldn't read the artist's name so I'm unable to give credit
 or a link. I love the way the sky moves over the entire piece, pulling it into
 cohesion, and the undulating ground also contributes to
this uniformity. It's cheerful and a bit whimsical. 

So there you have it. A celebration of seasons for all of you as autumn moves into the foliage with speed. Fall is almost here and winter is not far behind. The Autumnal Equinox is Tuesday - time's a fleein' quickly. Have a fabulous Friday!

The Seasons in Pictures

I saw my first patch of green grass yesterday as I dropped mail off at the post office. A real patch of green nestled among the melting snowbanks! *sigh* Spring is truly coming and even though it is likely we will see more snow this season, I have hope that my neverending views of dirty snowbanks will melt away to green leaves, blue skies and flowers - lots of flowers. I'm in a mood to look at seasons in pictures today, so here are four wonderful pictures to help you celebrate the seasons, no matter where you live.

Spring is my second favorite season - a time of renewal, promise and growth. The
bright colors of flowers, the intense yellow greens of new growth. I adore
spring and look forward to it every year. 

Summer is heat, growth, mosquitoes and kids on vacation, lazy days, hot
nights and sun-baked foliage. Although I like summer, it's only
my third favorite season. 

My absolute favorite season of the year is autumn. The colors, the
harvest, and joy of sharing the bounty of the season with loved ones.
Even though winter will come soon, the beauty of autumn almost makes
up for the cold white still to come. 

Winter is beautiful, but my least favorite season. I suspect that when
I retire, my opinions on winter will change. As long as I don't have
to go to work through the snow and only have one property instead of
four to care for, I suspect I'll love winter. After all, firing up my kiln
in the winter is a wonderful, warming experience. 

No matter where you are in the world, you also have a seasonal calendar. Here's hoping that your weekend is perfect and that you always look for the beauty in every scene and person. Happy Saturday!

Fun Sunday, But Busy

We had a quiet Easter. We stayed home because we really didn't have the money to go out for a lunch or drinks, but we had a nice day. While I edited stories and put them up on my archive on Fairie, DH watched The Masters golf tournament and the baseball game while playing Lord of the Rings Online. I even joined him in an orc killing spree later in the afternoon to continue working on increasing a trait that my hunter wants to achieve.

We treated ourselves to Bar-B-Qued ribs for dinner while watching Bubba Watson win the Masters with a shoot-out on the 10th. It was a wonderful tournament. I love watching the Masters, it's always the beginning of Spring for me. Usually I look out my windows and see a snowy and monocolored environment that I'm still dealing with. But not this year. This year our spring came so early that our grass already needs mowing. How wonderful.

And Sunday, amidst all the Easter celebration, I didn't want to lose sight of the fact that it was also the date of the Buddha's birth. Since Easter is a moveable holiday it isn't too often that two major religions celebrate life-changing experiences of their titular heads, so I thought the fact that the Christians were celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ while the Buddists were acknowledging the birth of the Buddha was an interesting juxtaposition. Walk in beauty today.

Thanks for the Wishes

We had a very nice, low-key anniversary. I picked up sushi on the way home, so we had a nice dinner and a relaxing evening. I still can't sleep lying down, so I'm still stuck sleeping in the recliner, but at least I am getting sleep. Not enough to get over this bronchitis, but sleep. I have two more pills to go on the antibiotics and then I supposedly should be cured. I'm not, but it's a LOT better. Tomorrow we have Ren Faire again, and hopefully it won't be too cold and windy. We only have three weekends left and as we go along now, it will be more into autumn and colder.

Here's a lovely autumn pic for all of you. It is my favorite season and I love the colors and promises that autumn brings to us.

Picking Up Anotther Beta

As I stated earlier this week, although to many people Betas are beautiful fish, for me betas are people who I help authors with their writing.  I picked up a new girl yesterday.  It will require time that I really don't have, but I see a lot of potential in her writing and she really needs the additional help.  Again, she is a writer for whom English is a second language.  This time she is Brazilian, not German, but the basic issues are the same.  I really enjoy helping these authors fine-tune their work.  The imagination and visions are all theirs, all that I do is polish the flow, correct the word order and occasional incorrect words, and check the spelling.  After work with their pre-beta they send the story along to me for a look-over and correction phase.  Then, after one more back and forth look, they can post their story.  I don't like to do this without them having a pre-beta working for them also - changes are just too major otherwise and it's too time consuming, too much work.  But when the authors have a pre-beta I can commit.  She is asking me if I would be willing to do her next story that has 20 chapters.  I'll finish this little 3-chapter story first and we'll see if we can work well together.  If so, I might just agree, although I am crazy to want to fit anything else into my crazy schedule. 

I love these beautiful Halloween witches.
Happy Halloween

Tomorrow is Samhain, a day of celebration and renewal, thanks and gratitude, and prayers.  It is a day when the borders between the living and the dead weaken and communication between the realms happens with greater ease.  It is a day for reflection about the value of life and those who have passed ahead of us.  It is a day to spend with friends and family, enjoying what we have and thinking about the future as well as the past.  I will think about my parents, two wonderful people whose presence I miss in my life.  But I will look ahead into my own future also - it is a bit clouded and very uncertain at this point.  I am grateful for this last Sunday off for several weeks, though, and plan to enjoy the day even if I will probably spend most of it raking leaves. 

Accomplishments

My long list to be accomplished on my Studio Day actually did get knocked down a bit.  I managed to get everything except the sewing projects done.  Of primary importance was that I get my boxes stripped.  That's because I have to do this outside and I need to get this done while the weather still allows for outside work - i.e., before the snow starts falling.  I still have many boxes left to strip and refinish, but I now at least have seven boxes stripped and ready for refinishing and then decorating with enameling.  One of these boxes will become a gift for Sebas at some point.  I know how it will look at the end, and I have all of the materials for it, I just need to find some construction time for it.  That will happen.  Now I am researching high-gloss enamels.  I want a laquer-look for the finish on some of these, so I'm looking into various options to give me that look.  It does seem that every project I choose requires me to learn more things.  So far, for this project, I had to learn how to strip paint from wood, and now different refinishing techniques and materials.  I learned interior construction techniques earlier this year for my box "When Anor Rises", and I will carry those skills through to Sebas' box. 

A recent picture of Sebas on an
outing at the lake near his
new home in Michigan.  I miss my boyfriend!

This is the six-month anniversary of the blow-out on the BP oil rig; one of the worst environmental disasters of recent times.  It is one more example of how badly mankind acts as a steward for this land.  I fully admit that I'm an old hippie with the viewpoint that one should walk lightly on this earth.  I remember walking to support the very first Earth Day and I try my best to be kind to the earth within the parameters of my crazy life.  I know that I could do better, but I certainly could do far worse.  I am most certainly no paradigm of environmental virtue but at least I think about it as I live my life.  Do you?  Try to bring the environment into your creative life today. 

Weekend Looming

Our weather has been fantastic for October.  So we, in hope of a good Sunday, pulled steaks from the freezer yesterday to defrost.  If all is well and the weather cooperates, we'll grill those steaks for dinner on Sunday.  I'm already looking forward to it although I always put on a pound or so when I eat beef.  I eat beef rarely, usually only once every two weeks or so, so I don't go overboard on my beef intake. 

Tad Bowman took this beautiful picture
of Aspen trees.

This is the kind of autumn that I dream about in other years.  We've had perfect weather for the trees to turn spectacular colors.  Driving to and from work daily, I see so many instances of gold and russet leaves.  It's just stunning.  Autumn is my favorite season - the harvest is in, people are settling in for the upcoming winter season, and we get the last, glorious clothing of the seasons in the varied colors - from deepest olive green to scarlet red.  We don't get the fields of gold that the aspen trees gave me while I was growing up in Colorado, but we get the reds that I always wanted from our maple trees and sumac bushes. 

Just look at these glorious colors that
the maple trees give us in the fall. 
I love these colors!

I find that my art and my life are both influenced by color, and the autumn colors are the colors that I consistently choose for my clothing and my art.  Although I try to break through the boxes every once in a while and use pastel, spring colors or the rich full bright colors of summer, or even the muted neutrals of the winter, I always come back to the autumn pallette and those that I love the most.  What colors do you find yourself using time and again for your artwork?  What season inspires you the most?  Make something this weekend to celebrate the changes of season that make our lives rich. 

Fall Has Arrived

I hope that all of you had a great equinox.  In my area of the world, Autumn has now arrived.  That means I'll soon be seeing snow and shoveling again, and that comes under the heading of NOT my favorite thing to do.  But, it is at least some exercise - LOL.  I do love autumn - the fantastic colors that we get up here are magnificant.  We usually peak around the 11th of October, so the next two weeks should be ever increasing splashes of crimson and gold.  This is the time of the year that I love driving out to the Renaissance Festival - the drive out there goes through some of the prettiest countryside and I love seeing it change through the colors.  It will also be time to avoid the acorns.  The many oak trees that we have out there will be beaning people on the head and I usually get at least one bouncing off mine as well. 

The colors of autumn.  Can you build them
into your latest piece of artwork? 

Congratulations to my Minnesota Twins for winning the Central Division.  The Twins were the first baseball team this year to clinch their division.  Now we can look forward to the playoffs.  This area is sports crazy, and I'm fine with that.  But the publicity keeps being heavily for our football team - the Minnesota Vikings.  I've followed the Vikings for more than 30 years from the sidelines, since I'm a Denver Broncos fan.  The Vikings tease, but never pay off.  All of that fire and flash, and they have never come through to win the big one.  The Minnesota Twins, on the other hand, have won the world series three times - once in the 60's, and twice since I've lived up here.  They keep coming through for their fans in a quiet, understated, and classy way.  Go Twins! 

This is an older logo, but so appropriate!

And my cousin Emailed me last night.  My neice, who I met as a baby and again as a young child of maybe 12 or so, is getting married next year.  I've been invited to the wedding (as has my DH).  I'm not sure if I can afford this, but I'll really try.  Money is getting extremely tight, but I'll keep saving in my cash jar and hopefully things will pan out.  I would really love to be there for my cousin and her husband and to see my neice once again. 

Finally Friday

I'm exhausted.  The nights have been cool and the days have been quite tolerable - temps in the upper 70's and lower 80's (that's F for all of you C people).  That's really nice for summer temps.  The leaves are starting to turn, and the acorns are starting to fall on people's heads.  Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year and the Minnesota State Fair always is the last burst of summer before the arrival of autumn.  But even though I have great sleeping weather, I still can't seem to get enough sleep.  I really will have to re-evaluate my schedule one of these days.  I can't squeeze in the exercise that I need and I still don't get everything that I need finished in the mornings, even though I work on my laptop when I get to the shop.  I'm just a bit frustrated. 

This is one of my two books - Enamels of the
World from 1700-2000.  Yummy!

I broke down and ordered two different enamel books yesterday.  One was an instructional by the teacher of an on-line friend whose work I admire a great deal.  The other was an exhibition catalog/book covering more than 300 years of exceptional enamels that came highly recommended.  As much as I dislike Amazon, I did end up ordering one of them on Amazon because it wasn't available on Barnes & Noble.  The other one I was able to order at B&N.  I should have looked for my HOME Vol 12 at the same time but forgot.  I'll have to see if I can locate a copy and get that one going also.  It'l like my last bang - the last bits of my money before I enter into a wasteland of pinching pennies until they cry.  It's the end of summer....

Flame and Glass

Is there anything better on a crisp autumn day (actually evening/night) than havine a nice, warm studio and a high-firing kiln? I don't think so. Having my DH on the road for a few days has allowed me to branch my evening activities out to include my studio work. It's a delight to have fired the basic enamel coats on my copper so that I can cover them with silver and gold foil tonight and start placing the cloissonae wires. I really want to do this project over the next day or so. If I work on it for the day on Sunday, it will probably be complete. But I really want to get outside on Sunday, plus I have to try and fix my mailbox.

The Post Office, in its' infinite wisdom (NOT) has decided that my mailbox must be stabilized or replaced by next week or they will stop delivering mail. The mailbox is just fine, just angled because of snow from the last major spring storm. I looked into a new mailbox, but they are SO ugly. I found one style that I liked that didn't cost an absolute fortune, but DH would also have to approve it before I ordered it. I am appalled at how much money mailboxes cost, but I'll take a sledgehammer to the post on Sunday and see it I can straighten the post out and tighten the screws and bolts. Then I may treat myself to a Sunday drive afterwards. So, enameling Sunday night will be the plan and the pieces won't be finished until mid-week. Have a great weekend - draw something to express your feelings about the upcoming season - (that would be winter for us in the north and summer for my friends in the south - LOL).

Tuesday - Creativity Sinkhole

What is it about grey skies and drippy weather than dampens my creativity? I know wonderful artists and creative people in the Northwest US who aren't affected by this type of weather. At least, if they are, it spurs their creativity on. But me? No. My creativity flourishes under blue skies and wonderful sunshine because I am a child of the open skies of the Southwestern US. And even though I live in the cloudier skies of Minnesota now, I still do better under sun. Have you noticed that weather affects your personal creativity? Or are there some types of projects that you seem to do better under some types of weather or some seasons of the year?

I keep dreaming of the day when I'll be retired and can work in my studio on snow days and rainy days and never have to poke my head into the great wet outdoors unless I want to. Unfortunately, I don't have the money or current ability to indulge in this type of behavior, so it's "Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's Off to Work I Go" - blech!!!! I would much rather be working on any creative project instead of packaging and labelling new beads for my shop. Then again - new beads....pretty shiny things....they have their own magic to pull me out of the grey sky doldrums.

October

Welcome to October. It's hard to believe that the summer we all looked forward to has gone by so fast. I have one final weekend at Renaissance Faire and then it's finished for another year. Yesterday was the final day for a fantastic fabric sale at my favorite local store, so I dropped by there and picked up wool for two additional cloaks. A lovely olive green for me and a black for DH. I'm planning for these to be unlined, so they'll go together quickly. He wants embroidery on his - something Celtic - so that will be a nice project down the tubes here.

I spent yesterday working on getting a personal website up and running. If you are interested, I invite you to take a look at my very bare bones website (it will be updated and the appropriate bells and whistles will happen as I can) at http://isisrising08.com . I am extremely honored to be the featured artist on my YahooGroups Metal Clay board and I had promised that I would have my personal website operational in time. I was surprised and amazed when I was asked to be the featured artist, and I am totally humbled by the idea that anyone would be that interested in my small amount of artwork. All I can do is tell people that I would produce a LOT more if I didn't have to work at the shop so many hours each week! So - make up for my shortcomings and create something wonderful today to celebrate the first day of October!

Welcome to Autumn

Autumn is currently arriving. Historically, it is the favored season for several reasons. Primarily among those reasons is that the crops are ready for harvest and food availability is at a high for the only time in the annual cycle. This was the time of year when harvest feasts occurred and people worked very hard to bring in the crops and put aside what would be needed for the upcoming starvation times of winter and spring. If the harvests were not good, or if insufficient was put aside, people would die of starvation. We've had an exceptional year of wonderful weather here in the Upper Midwest, so I expect that our harvest will also be exceptional.

Autumn is a time of color. Celebrate the rich colors that nature provides by making some time to look carefully at how the light can intensify color. When I drive to Ren Faire in the early mornings, the early morning sun shining over the meadows and fields of autumn color is absolutely masterful. The paintbrush of creation. Don't believe in a deity? You don't have to - you just have to be amazed that such a wonderful pallette of colors and textures have been put in front of you for your amazement.

Here's a goal for your week. Make, sculpt, paint, draw or otherwise create something in a physical form that describes your autumnal joy. Allow that joy to pass through you into your paper, clay, tools, needles, or torches. Close your ears to the negatives and celebrate the fruition of the positives. Celebrate Fall in your creativity.

Celebrating Beginnings and Endings

This is my favorite time of the year. The end of summer and beginning of fall is a time of topaz, garnet and olivine - some of my favorite colors. It is the promise of the year having come to fruition, and the promise of rest to come. The only difficulty with that future promise is that in Minnesota, it is generally accompanied by cold temps and lots of snow . But right now the trees are just starting to awaken to the fact that they will turn soon (we usually peak right around Columbus Day - mid October to my overseas readers). I saw the first splashes of bright red leaves driving home from Renaissance Festival yesterday. Small patches of scarlet amidst the carpet of green. Stunning!

I will be taking a short vacation later in the week when my friend Sharon comes to visit. I'll post for the next few days and then play at the Fair and the Fest for several fun and exhausting days. For today - why not look around you for color in nature. Man is great at adding color (or subtracting it) to his surroundings, but nature is the teacher. Look carefully around you. Are there areas of great constrast that you can add to your work? What colors do you love and which do you dislike? Why? Answers to these questions can help you expand your artistic focus.