.beauty in nature.

Ahh. . . I LOVE this time of year! Autumn. It is a time of transition, color, and beauty. When I lack inspiration, all I have to do is look to nature. I altered this photo of a tree I had taken yesterday to give it a vintage feel. Mostly I did it to be able to enhance the lines and texture, as to not be distracted by the intense blue sky. And boy was it intense! There is such beauty in nature. During fall, as well as in springtime, I am left in awe by what wondrous lovelies there are to see around us. O, Autumn, the Muse of so many a-poet! I shall leave with you all today a piece from the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain,

with banners, by great gales incessant fanned,

brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand,

and stately oxen harnessed to they wain!

Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne,

upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand

outstretched with benedictions o'er the land,

blessing the farms through all thy vast domain!

Thy shield is the red harvest moon, suspended

so long beneath the heaven's o'erhanging eaves;

thy steps are by the farmer's prayers attended;

Like flames upon an altar shine the sheaves;

and, following thee, in thy ovation splendid,

thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves!

.writing for the soul.

Throughout my life, poems have always held a special place with me.  Not that I can say that I am in any way a poet.  Nor can I say that I have a vast collection of poets sitting upon my book shelf.  As a matter of fact, I only have two:  Robert Burns and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  The importance of what poetry is to me is that it has been an outlet to express oneself in such a way that it provokes emotion, not just of the writer, but moreso the reader.  Whether that emotion be joy, sorrow, anger, love.  There is no denying that there is a beauty in poetry.  If it were not the case, Shakespeare's plays would not hold as much weight and reverence amongst the masses if they had been written without meter and prose.   

So where does all this blabbering about poetry and such lead to?  Well, nowhere big really.  As some of you may know, with many of the life changes that I have had in just the last several years, I have become quite jaded with myself.   Numb.  Any fire, any creative, emotional blaze that burned within me has been dwindled to mere embers now.  Or so it seems.  I have been trying desperately to incorporate ways of creating something everyday.  ANYTHING.  It has been quite difficult.  Even a simple 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 card looks like a oversized canvas that I am to paint and there is no idea, no inspiration in sight.  So that is where poetry has, once again, made its way back into my life.  Pulling out the thoughts already cluttering my mind, and displaying them down on paper.  Perhaps, even as a drawing.  Not as a literal drawing with pencil or paint, but rather drawing with words, with metaphors.     

While on a break at work, I browsed through our poetry section.  I was actually on a mission to find W.H. Auden's works, but in the process found the above book:  Poetry as Spiritual Practice, by Robert McDowell.  I am just a few chapters into this book, and already I can sense that it has given me the encouragement that I need to write again.  Not that I was great by any means.  I just needed something that was going to help me to find ways to wake my emotions up.  And although my creative heart seems a little cool to the touch, those mere embers, covered up by ash and dust, will soon indeed spark a wildfire once more!  I hope so anyway. ;o)

.an experimental sunday.

It is Sunday morning. The world seems a little brighter outside, with leaves glistening in the early sun rays, dancing to a song carried upon the fall breeze. As I sat here, gazing out my kitchen window earlier this morning, I felt as if this was an invitation to join the outside for a little while. So I brought my camera along to see what I could capture.

Quite honestly, most of the images I shot seemed too "ordinary." I guess I was looking for something a little more unique to the eye. I looked up to the sun, as it shined through trees, and simply squinted. Yes, squinted. It's rather amazing how things take on a whole other appearance when you look at them through squinted eyes, like a nearly blind person, without their glasses, trying desperately to see...clearer. Ha! So I held up my camera, aiming it towards the trees then, ever so slightly, turning my lens out of focus, blurring the world in front of me. The sharp edges of branches, softened, so much so that they seem to disappear. Leaves, sky and reflections of light all transformed into orbs of color.

.a cup of chai.

If I had to choose my favorite "spiced" drink, followed by eggnog, my favorite would have to be chai. Surprisingly, there are many people that don't really know what chai is. I was introduced to the beverage, with origins that stem from India, by a co-worker while standing in line at a Starbucks. I remember the warmth of this slightly sweet, milky drink, laced with a wonderful collaboration of cinnamon, black pepper, ginger, cloves, anise star, and cardamom.

What we all refer to as "chai tea" here in the States, is actually called "masala chai" in India. The word chai, in most countries beside the Western world, actually means "tea." The word masala is an Indian term used when several spices are mixed together for a dish or drink. To prepare this drink, black tea and spices are added to warm milk and usually sweetened with sugar or honey. Here lately, while fighting the allergies and congestion in my lungs, due to the change of season, I've been drinking the tea without milk. The flavors of all the spices are more intense, especially the black pepper.

The wonderful thing about chai is that there are different combinations of spices that can be used to make up this drink. Although there are the usual ingredients, as shown above, some brands, such as Zhena's Gypsy Tea's "Fireside Chai" uses rooibos, ginger, cloves, orange, and nutmeg. Another spin on the drink, which I have recently been introduced to, is called the "dirty chai." Prepared the same way as the original drink, only with the added shot (or two) of espresso. While it is served at Starbucks, you don't have to stand in line there to enjoy a cup of Tazo's Organic Chai. Tazo, as well as several other brands, are readily available in the tea & coffee aisle of your local grocery store. So make up a cup and enjoy the invigorating taste of chai. A good tea book to add to your library: The New Tea Book, by Sara Perry.

.mmm...it's sundae.

Okay, so there's not too much to really write about today.  It is Sunday.  It's been a beautiful weekend spent with friends and family.  An outing and sleepover with the wee one and my "bff" Joani, a trip into Dickson, TN to check out some of the local shops, a powwow held at Leiper's Fork in Franklin.  And the weather has been simply gorgeous!  So what must one do to top off such a wonderful weekend?  For me, it was to make a stop to Maggie Moos and get a waffle bowl full of that yummy sundae goodness!  Mmmm. . . fudge. . . 

.autumn leaves.

I have to say that this is my favorite time of year.  Autumn.  The trees begin to put on their more colorful attire.  The air is crisp and full of the promises of change.  During a recent trip to the park, I decided to gather a few leaves that had fallen off a sugargum tree.  Today, in an attempt to add some creativity into my routine, I pulled out my embossing powders and made imprints with these leaves.  Mixing several different "fall colors" onto the same imprint, I thought the results were pretty lovely.  Then again, nature is always an inspiration for me, with its simple yet finely detailed beauty.  

.finding a balance.

I realize that it has been exactly a month since my last post.  Ridiculous, I know.  Hopefully, I'll be able to change that.  My struggle has been this search for balance in my life.  One thing I have found in my 30 years of being, is that time does go by so quickly, especially when you have children.  There is so much to do and yet there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get it all done.  Since being back in Nashville, I have rarely picked up my camera.  That comes as a shock even to me!  We're still living out of boxes and that in itself is quite frustrating.  Even as I sit here, there is so much that I want to say and yet my mind is so jumbled up with all these thoughts that none of it makes any sense.  Ha!  I know this isn't quite the best blog post ever written, but it is where I'm at at the moment.  

On a different note, the photo I DID take today, the one posted above, is a shot of the inside of a glass witch ball.  I had bought it several years ago at a little kiosk at the Factory in Franklin, TN.  Legend has it that these glass balls were created by glass blowers to "catch" mischievous spirits, or witches.  The unique glass threads in the center of the ball is what supposedly attracts these fiends to the point they become trapped within the ball.  Not quite the reason why I purchased one.  It was more decorative for me.  I have mine hanging beautifully in front of my kitchen window.  Maybe it will continue to help keep unwanted spirits from messing up my spice rack.