restingmotion

Elements

I wrote (started writing) this post a couple of weeks ago.  Life intervened.  It seems I'm busy but not in a connected, world-wide-web kind of way.  I'll work out the details in time.

 

In the meantime there's this:

A couple of recent acquisitions that have become wardrobe staples that I wear again and again and can no longer imagine not having them in my wardrobe.

 

Wendy Brandes Black Swan Ring.   Wendy was wearing this design when I met her in February 2011.   I knew I would order it someday.  I finally contacted Wendy this past spring, although I didn't actually finalize the purchase until this summer.  

 

I've had the ring now for slightly over a month, which I suppose, is a relatively short period of time in which to know something is essential.  And yet the ring just seems like it was meant to be on my hand.  I love everything about it:  the detail, the workmanship, the size, the weight, the color of the gold.  It makes a statement and yet it doesn't shout.  I love it even more wearing it than I did when I saw it on Wendy's hand.  It is not quite what I imagined; it is more perfect.

 

Ferragamo Varina shoes.  

 

When I was young (in my 20's lets say) I would have told you that I would NEVER wear Varinas.  Well, in the intervening decades I've learned to never say never.  

 

I love this particular color as it is very soft and feminine, and completely neutral with my pale pale legs, a perfect summer color.  But it is not the color that is so important here; I have another pair, a darker caramel, which I will probably wear far more often come fall.  I just love the shoes.  They are comfortable.  They go with everything from jeans and a tee to a skirt, although this summer I have been more inclined to wear them with jeans.  I can move quickly and decisively in them.  They make me feel simultaneously firmly in control and softly feminine.  Quite a feat that.

 

Anyway, I haven't really worn heels since my back went bad early last spring.  So far, these are my heels.  I haven't addressed the shoe problem yet, or decided what to do with my collection of heels, but I have grown accustomed to speed and comfort and the Varinas are here to stay. 

 

Added:  Decisive is a good word.  I like that idea of moving quickly and decisively through life, when I'm not moving slowly and thoughtfully.  I don't need power shoes, or power anything really, just things that make it easier to bridge the divide and integrate the contradictions.

Watch This

Watch This. I have no words.

 

 

Weekend Fun

Its been a busy few days here and I am amazed at how quickly life just jumps in and fills up the space once you give it just a little bit of an opening.  And no I am not complaining.  I haven't figured out if this past weekend was the last summer weekend, or the kickoff of fall.  Certainly my fall schedule begins in earnest this week, and the often empty days of summer have been banished.

 

Friday was filled from dawn to dusk, beginning with my daily walk, watching the sunrise and barely making it home in time to get to work:  volunteer work answering phones, but on a schedule nonetheless.  In the afternoon I rushed home and started baking in preparation for an evening social event, a picnic/potluck on the lawn, a chance to meet new people, and a local band playing favorite songs from my youth.  What can be better than sitting in the grass staring up at a cloudless September sky, with a glass of wine and new friends?  

 

I think I spoke to more people than I probably had in months.  All the baking paid off as well. There is nothing like a batch of chocolate chip cookies as a conversation starter for those of us who are small-talk challenged. 

 

The band continuing playing until ten.  Just as darkness fell, the band played Black Water, that 1974 hit from the Doobie Brothers, and it reminded me of another outdoor concert long ago.  I had my first real kiss dancing outdoors in the dark to that song, with a boy from another town, a boy who didn't know me as the girl in the Milwaukee brace...   Of course I'd been out of that brace for a year that summer evening, but I grew up in a small town, where it is hard to escape the backward pull of history. Even a late start is a start afterall and that song always reminds me of the joy and wonder of new beginnings.

 

And yes I danced a bit this weekend as well; I couldn't not dance after all that. I'd forgotten what a joy it is to just forget oneself and just dance.

 

But that was just the beginning of a weekend filled with friends, family, food, and fellowship.  But not to worry, amidst all the hullaballoo there was also some quiet time, time to retreat and just let my mind wander, to read a book, to enjoy the silence. Perhaps not quite enough time, but sometimes it is good to let abundance overflow.  And then of course, there was baseball.  There is nothing quite like watching very small boys playing their first baseball game:  the eagerness, the determination, the joy.

 

Life is good.

 

Cutting Room 3

Well, here I am working on too many projects at once as is my wont.  But I see actual progress and that is encouraging.

 

The cutting table, or more properly, work table,  is finished:

The plywood is covered with batting and a heavy cotton twill that has been printed with a 1-inch grid and I am very happy with the final result.  And although you can't see it in this photo, the last Billy Bookcase went up yesterday, so now the major elements of the room are in place.  

 

I still have unpacking and sorting and storing, as well as getting a sewing machine up in the other room.  But it is all a start.  If you want more detail about the surface of the work table, you can find it here.