Still Life

It's blurry but beautiful. Like so many memories, no?

My friend Margo came over for a cup of tea. She admired the bowl, and I was entranced by the candlelight on the oranges, and we decided it was just a beautiful moment to capture. I didn't have a tripod and don't know which setting to use for such a scene, so this is what I got. And I think I like it this way, because the blurring of the boundaries adds to the effect of the overall unity of the moment. And adds a softness, a gentleness, which life certainly needs wherever there is still life. I think without softness and gentleness--with too many clear, sharp lines--life in its fullness can cease to be. Or can frighten with its starkness. Or distort with its exactitude.

I'll take it blurry and gentle.

(I just realized that this likely sounds terribly like what an INFP or INFJ might write. Was reading about personality types today [based on the Meyers-Briggs system] and reminded that I can come across as probably nonsensical to a lot of people. So be it. I think in symbols and metaphors, and my mind is always seeing a bigger picture than can fit into words. Maybe I sound blurry!)

Merry Christmas

With candles.

And a really wonderful book of readings for Advent and Christmas.

And candles again. Can't have too much light in December.

The oh-so-cute bag in which Someone placed the oh-so-lovely gift he gave me. And in the background one of the oh-such-fun new water glasses I bought the other day, with the word "water" in several languages around the glass.

Fascinated by the bubbles on the baking pan as I rinsed it.

Steamed cornbread and other bread crumbles, onion, celery, etc., waiting to be made into dressing, baked along with a sweet potato casserole. And the makings for a green salad with oranges, cranberries, and pecans, eventually all packed up and loaded in the car.

And then the drive to Arkansas. More on that to come.

I hope your day was merry and full of light. And of the Light.

Otter! And I Won! (Sort of)

Part One--The Otter

I confess to impulse shopping occasionally. Very occasionally, actually. My more frequent tendency is to see something I like, but do the "wise" thing of saying, "Well, if I leave it and go home and am still thinking I want/need it a week or two from now, then I'll come back and get it."

Over time I've learned that that is often a very wise thing to do.

And over time I've also learned that you can lose the chance to get something you really wanted, because it's not there anymore when you go back!

So, when I saw this otter mug for sale at the Memphis Pottery Guild show, I thought it over and decided I really did want it, and it was much easier to get it on the spot than to drive to Mountain View, Arkansas, for it later.

Why an otter mug? Because years ago when I took a little personality "test," I came out mostly otter, with golden retriever as a strong second. Over the years, the otter in me (fun-loving, enthusiastic, etc.) has frequently struggled to keep swimming!

One time when I was out at St. Columba retreat center and had a pair of binoculars (an unexpected and thoughtful gift from my husband!) with me, I was looking out at the lake and saw something I'd never seen . . . an otter! And I could see how they'd gotten the reputation for playfulness and energy. I had more fun watching that little guy swim and turn and flip and float! I'll never forget it, and it was that otter sighting that reminded me of the test taken years before and how I needed to bring more "otterness" back into my life.

So, the otter mug is to remind me that there is more to life than being a golden retreiver, important as that may be. Sometimes you just gotta have fun, and seeing this mug in the morning is a great way to start the day with a smile.

Part Two--Why I Won (Sort of)

Well, obviously, I figured out how to get photos on my blog again. So I "won." But the "sort of" is because it still makes no sense to me why the thing did what it did to begin with, and why what I did fixed it. And I don't like the change I had to make in order to get it to work.

But I confess to being proud of myself for at least going on my hunch and trying what I did (relabelling a photo file). I just wish I could talk to somebody and understand it.

Technology and My Dad

Technology is often on my mind, because you can't get away from it, and because for me it becomes more and more challenging.

My dad is often on my mind because--well, just because he is my dad, and I learned a lot from him. And continue to.

Tonight the two converge.

I sat down to share a photo and write about it, but for WHATEVER reason, this program, or this computer, or this webpage, or SOMETHING will not let me access my photos. A box is popping up that I have never seen before, saying something that makes no sense to me whatsover. By that, of course, I do not mean that I do not understand each word and the grammatical correlations of the words, the syntax, etc. It's just that all put together it is meaningless to me because it's addressing a problem I don't even understand, let alone understand how to follow the directions for the solution.

And now the screen is telling me in red words, "An error occurred while saving," so who knows if even these words are going to be publishable?

Hmmm. Apparently they were publishable, because with my limited technological savvy I pushed "Publish Post," as I always do, and it worked.

So, how does my dad fit into this?

It's that I remember a time many years ago when he said, in the context of comparing a newer car to an older car, something like, "The more fancy little things they put into a car, or into anything, the more things there are that can go wrong." I think at the time we were talking about having automatic windows versus the kind you literally rolled up and down.

And a few years later I recall his remarking that he missed the days when, if he had a problem with his car, he could open up the hood and have a pretty good chance of figuring out what was wrong, and even a good chance of then being able to fix it. But that once they started putting computers into cars, it became impossible for people to do their own diagnosing and repairing, because the technology was beyond what could be handled with basic tools and knowledge.

So now I can't put photos on my blog, and I do not have the technological know-how to even understand why, let alone do anything about it.

Ugh.

And I don't want to spend my time learning all the in's and out's of the technology, because it will just change in a month or two! I want to take pictures, and I want to write.

But for now I guess I'll just "Publish Post" and see if I can find someone to help me....