Summer Road Trip Memories

Hubby's chain saw will be picked up today. His agenda is crowded with errands, however, so even though he might drop by the store and pick the saw up later in the day, I doubt he'll actually be able to fire it up until Thursday. Then it's "watch out" time for insects, logs and neighbors.

Although I never was on a road trip to Monument Valley, Arizona with my
parents, my Hubby and I have been through there. It's an outstanding and
totally amazing place to visit and I still have friends among some of the
Navajo who live in the area herding their sheep. 

It's summer here, and school is finally out. Some schools went really late this year, but travel season is starting to hit and people are crowding into their cars for their annual trials by fire - the family road trip. I remember driving up to Aspen with my mother and sometimes my Dad. Often Dad had to stay behind and it was just Mom and me driving over Loveland Pass and on into the greater mountains of the Colorado Rockies. I'm quite sure I drove my mother crazy by shouting "Waterfall!" each time I saw one spouting down from the melting glaciers and year-round snowpack on the top of Loveland Pass.

Here is the Loveland Pass road - Highway 6 - as it goes from the
summit towards Arapahoe Basin ski resort. This road is above
timberline and very gnarly in the winter. Want some more pictures? Here's
a great website on dangerous roads and Loveland heads the list. 

The road behind us would get thinner and thinner and there were times when I could look over the whole valley that we had passed and see our road zig-zagging up the peak. In winter the road was horrific - chains required on the tires and plenty of very slick spots with a very long way to fall if the driver lost control. In my late teenage years the Eisenhower Tunnel was built and completed. It give an entirely different aspect to winter travel through the Rockies and eliminated a lot of the danger, but it also eliminated a lot of the beauty from the eyes of travelers. Some of the romance of my mountains left when the Tunnel was bored and opened.

The Continental Divide runs down the spine of the Rockies. Snowmelt and water
from the right will flow west toward the Pacific Ocean, and snowmelt and water
from the left will flow toward the Atlantic Ocean. 

I remember the roads as they were, though, and you can still find roads like this in other parts of the Colorado Rockies, just not on what became Interstate 70 stretching across the state from east to west. I remember driving through Vail when it was a quaint village without any skiing. I remember Aspen when it was still more populated by abandoned miner's homes than people actually living there. I remember the beauty of the mountains that will always remain mine in my memories.

Tunnels make me nervous - all that earth above. I guess I would make
a terrible dwarf - I need the open skies and the blowing breezes to be
happy. The Eisenhower Tunnel is massive and it has been a life saver, but
large trucks still have to drive the pass, even in the winter. 

Change and 'progress', in this case, altered my mountains forever. Suddenly people flocked to the steep slopes to play and ski in the winter, and hike and explore in the summer. The pristine meadows and amazing hidden lakes and valleys were suddenly overrun and private property became more common than public lands. I don't want to turn back time in most cases, but I really wouldn't mind pushing a few million people out of the state of my youth.

Have a wonderful Tuesday. I'm hoping to get some serious work done today, but who knows if that will actually work out. Whichever way it goes it will be, right? Now to find some pretty pictures for all of you.

Yesterday Was Hectic

Yesterday was a hectic morning followed by a busy but more relaxing afternoon and topped by a lovely conversation with Aearwen in the late p.m. Frankly, it was just about perfect. Today, however, it's back to the grind for me with product to pack, things to get out onto the sales floor, customers to help, and the general stuff required to operate a business. I didn't get a chance to write at all yesterday, so I'll have to try and get some miracles going. I had one excellent day that got me at least half-way through my SWG challenge for the month, but time's ticking and I leave town in less than two weeks for the Bead & Button Show.

This photo, from a previous year, shows the crowded ballroom for the annual
"Meet the Teachers" event. Previously always held on a Wednesday night
before the show sales floor opened, this year it has been moved to
Friday night, right in the middle of the market days. It will change the
dynamics a bit for this event. 

I'll be taking my laptop along with me because it's mandatory - I have to have it just in case something comes up at the shop. Although I'll be in classes each day and will also have a peppering of evening events to attend, I will still be working on-line because I have stories that have to be worked on and possibly submitted while I'm in my hotel room, exhausted. It's not the best solution to my deadlines, but it may be my only choice. I'll try to roll with the punches.

I'm starting to look forward to my road trip. I really need the break
from the shop and customers, and I need some time to myself to
get my personal balance back. Plus - I love driving all around the
countryside. It's always a lot of fun for me. 

My car passed yesterday's appointment for oil change, recall work and general check-over with flying colors. That's a good thing because I don't want to be driving across states without a reliable car. It's the little things like "no mechanical issues" that I like to have happen when I'm going on a trip. Taking everything into consideration, things are starting to line up.

"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted." - Aesop

So today it's back to normal in a world that seems to be quickly going insane and reaching its tipping point. I'm delighted to join my 5:00 am group while we wait for the YMCA doors to be unlocked. Have a wonderful Thursday, think positive thoughts, and as always, remember that one small deed of kindness can ripple farther than you might ever imagine.

Plots Are Like Ocean Waves

As I write my last blog post for more than a week, I was indecisive about my subject matter. I thought about discussing vacations, travel or road music, and at the end of all of those thought tendrils, I came to a conclusion - plots are like ocean waves, one crashes against the beach and the next one is already poised to repeat the process.

Ocean waves are restless and never-ending. They come in a
variety of shapes and sizes, but the ocean is always in movement. 

OK - where are ocean waves coming into a drive across one state with no ocean in sight or even within 1000 miles of me? I have no idea, but I like the simile. Just think about plot for a small moment of your morning. You have a character or a couple as the centerpiece - the Main Dude. This Main Dude (or Dudette if you prefer) will have a starting point and an ending goal and in the process of the Main Dude working toward the ending, he'll get buffeted by many waves.

Waves (and plots) can crash against cliffs in a spectacular fashion. 

Those waves will be small stumbling blocks, or massive cliff-climbing crashes of water and foam. Somehow your character must persevere in his walk toward the conclusion, pushing through the saltwater and finally reaching a safe haven.

Huegette Clark is a prime example of a person who had everything but
enjoyed none of it. Heir to the Clark copper fortune, she was a deeply
disturbed young girl who grew up secluded from others and died
in a small room with no true friends and houses across the country
that she never visited. Interested in her story? Read "Empty Mansions" to find out more. 

Isn't life rather like that too? There is no such thing as a free ride, there are always bumps in the road. You would think that if you had everything - no fears about housing, food, money, safety or acceptance, you'd be super happy and live life to the fullest. Yet, time after time it seems that those who have everything are really those who have nothing.

Huegette Clark was raised in a huge mansion on Fifth Avenue in
New York City. It was filled with treasures including original paintings
by Rembrandt and more than one Stradivarius violin.
Here's a short article from the NY Times on Huegette Clark. 

So as I leave for a week sharing the wonders of beads and the company of good friends, I'll consider myself lucky. I've worked hard, but I've had a pretty fabulous life so far. There are bumps in my road that I've gone through, and others that are still to come, but we pull through them, and all in all, I'm very lucky.

One of the classes I'm taking will teach this lovely beaded starfish. I'm just
taking it to play and have fun - isn't fun an important thing in life? 

I hope all of you have a fabulous week. I'll be checking into my LJ and email accounts regularly, but I doubt I'll post again until I return from Bead & Button Show. Happy Saturday!

The Clock is Ticking

I have less than two weeks left before I leave for Bead & Button Show - in fact, I have ten days before I'm on the road. Although my car is sounding a bit creaky, the mechanics have assured me that it will make the trip to and from Milwaukee just fine and I'm hoping they are correct. It's not a huge trip - between five and six hours of driving each way - but a breakdown could guarantee a poor start or end to my one and only annual vacation.

Road trips are such fun. I love driving around the country and
there's nothing better than being behind the steering wheel
as I travel through our incredible landscape. 

Next week is looking busy, busy, busy. I am looking forward to spending several hours with an online friend who will be coming to town to visit family. We're going to the Science Museum to see the "Ultimate Dinosaurs" exhibit and, if everything works out the way I hope, we'll also be allowed behind the scenes to see the archives, storage, and exhibit planning rooms that normally aren't open to the public. I'm crossing my fingers that my friend of a friend will come through and make this a truly memorable visit for my on-line friend.

The "Ultimate Dinosaurs" exhibit at the Science Museum
will be our playground for a few hours as I meet a great
internet writing friend for an afternoon of fun and frolic. 

Whew! Lots of "friends" in the above paragraph. Those of you who taught me about repeating words in writing, aim your cannons and fire off your fusillade. It is well-deserved and I gave you many targets.

The cannons are aligned and ready to shoot me down for overuse
of a single word. But this is a blog, not something I'm submitting
for publication, so I am keeping my editing to a minimum. 

We have two steaks in the freezer waiting for the weekend's grilling. Monday is a national holiday and we have the day off since we're closing the store for the Memorial Day observance. That actually gets me Sunday, Monday and my usual Wednesday off next week - three out of four days. Wow! That's absolutely amazing and I'm going to enjoy every bit of it.

DH has two Porterhouse steaks in the freezer waiting for his
Memorial Day cookout. Guess I'm eating beef again - twice in
two weeks! How unusual - but yummy. 

So as we wrap up the week and look toward the week ahead, mine looks pretty bright. But...I'd better get to work on some writing. I'm behind and I know I won't get as much done next week and the week after as I usually would, although I always travel with my laptop so I'm still able to work and keep in touch with friends and family.

Happy Friday to all....

Artistic Thoughts and an Upcoming Road Trip

I've been writing, and writing for several years now, not really producing much artwork. But I do love it when I dream of projects dealing with metal, chemicals, flame and glass - my media of choice. Something popped into my head in the early hours of the morning today and I want to see if I can get it to work in a way that would make it cost-effective. That's the problem with many of my jewelry and art designs - they take too much time to be able to ask a proper price for them.

Isn't this enamel leaf brooch lovely? A leaf motif was part of my dream
last night, although it wouldn't take this form. 

This particular project would use gemstones that I purchased several years ago for a similar design, but expand the design with more depth and some color. I'm not really sure where this will go, but at least I finally have a direction of possibility with my metalwork, and I've been at loose ends with that for too long. Will it work? Maybe. Maybe not. I'll have to try some samples to see. And given the current state of my kiln, I may have to torch fire or use my mini kiln instead - not as effective or fast, but fine for a trial version.

I love working with faceted gemstones. They're like little pieces of
color that fall down just to be admired by their owner. They
sparkle, they gleam, and I can look at them for hours on end. 

I had my car into my mechanic yesterday for a full check-out and check over. I wanted to know whether it would be safe to drive it to my conference at the end of May, or whether I needed to push buying a new car into a very tight time frame. Fortunately, I got the report that my car is in pretty good shape and perfectly fine to drive to and from my conference. I had to put some money into it, but it was within the budget I allowed before it would be "too much". So I fixed up Grape and she and I will go on one final road trip before I look into replacing her by the end of the summer. I want to trade her in while there is still some value to her, and she's a great car, but there have been some serious safety advances since she first came on the scene.

Although this is not my car, it is a close cousin - same year, same color.
I really love my PT Cruiser. There's a lot of great design in this car, and
it is totally a retro classic and the first cross-over made - starting
an entire category of follow-up cars. I've never regretted owing
my Cruiser and will be sorry to say good-bye later this summer.
At least we can have one last road trip together. 

I'm quite happy, though. I didn't want to be pushed into purchasing the new car just yet. I wanted to take my time, discuss the financing options with DH who will help me figure out the best way to go about it, and I want his opinion on the new car too. I think it is a very good alternative, and he is resigned to the fact that I'm going to upgrade this year. I know he's relieved that I'm not backed into a corner either, though. The pressure is off :-)

Shruti does wonderful mandala drawings. I searched
for one of hers, but wasn't able to find one to show
you. This one, however, is quite close to the type of
wonderful work she produces. 

For those of you who had asked me - my registered letter that caused my schedule to go so haywire, was a small letter and packet from my dear friend in India, Shruti. She's a phenomenal artist in her own right, and was sending me a sample of her newest offerings to see what I thought and what pricing she should ask for them. It was wonderful to hear from her again, as well as getting the ability to hold some of her art in my hands again. Hopefully my answers to her questions were what she was looking for. Next year, if all goes well, we'll room again at Bead & Button Show - she's a really fun roomie.

Look at this completely amazing mandala by Kathy Ahrens. You can
see some really magnificent mandala art on Deviant Art if you follow the link. 

So, as I get ready to go back out into the cold and rain (I hope the snow stopped north of us, although it is cold enough that we might have received a dusting), I'll be thinking of all of my friends around the world who are experiencing sunny, warm days today. Please send some of that warm weather my way. I want a warm spring filled with flowers and chirping birds, not one that makes me want to crawl back into bed.

Oh, a bit more snuggle under the blankets time would be so
welcome, but no ... I have to get going in fifteen minutes. *sigh*

Happy Tuesday!