fo fall

I love it when the leaves change into their vibrant autumnal finery and want to capture the warmth of their colors to hang onto for as long as possible; I'm not sure why my photographs of trees seem to look like one big blur of saturated color. I've abandoned taking pictures of them this season but on my morning walk, I took to looking into last nights' rain puddles to see what I could see..

When I was in grammar school, I remember an art project that required us to press leaves between two sheets of wax paper then iron it to seal them in. It was nice to collect my favorite ones then preserve them to enjoy over the winter months. To this day, I take time to scour the ground for pretty or unusual fall foliage that has fallen. Last year I collected magnolia leaves based on size, shape and curl, pulled out my acrylic paints and practiced artistic license painting several with mixtures of whatever colors I fancied. I left a few in their natural state covering them with polymer medium (gloss) to keep them from browning or tried to mimic natural coloration by combining paints that came close to matching nature. They actually look quite spectacular; I have given some away as gifts or used them as ornamentation when wrapping a present...

Lately I've been pressing leaves with either interesting color patterns and/or shapes between magazine pages, letting them dry then painting a very thin coat of the polymer on both sides to help them retain as much color as possible, I even brought back a few from Sacramento. I have the feeling they along with lots more I picked up in DC are going to find their way into a goddess collage, I feel her coming so...

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composition

This past week has presented me with so much to contemplate! Thoughts running every which way, tripping over each other in tangled knots. Unfinished exclamations full of emotion falling flat onto rational jargon as I hit save for composition ahead.

It started with the public unburdening of the unthinkable…

                ...gotta sit with it, run it, sort it, spit it, compose it so…

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easy sweetie

Prior to all travel, I begin to take an assessment of what’s in the fridge that might spoil if not consumed before departure. Last week, I noticed something wrapped in foil…a little sweet potato I had baked with every intention of eating until I went out to dine instead rested on the top shelf. What to do, what to do I thought as I stood with the door ajar cool air pouring out over my feet. Mouth wrinkled in a perplexed frown, I looked around and there in my fruit bowl on the counter was one lonesome banana. Ah, yes! My palette recollected a recipe I created a few years ago when I had these very two ingredients ready for the spoil; I mashed both to use in a bread pudding which to my delight made it moist and extra tasty. Perhaps I’ll share that recipe another day, but for now here’s what I made for a breakfast that was not only quick & easy but also comforting and satisfying.

Recipe

1 small baked sweet potato
1 small ripe banana
Cinnamon
Ground white pepper
Honey
Chopped pecans (optional)

1) I chose to remove the skin of the potato. Slice into thick wedges/strips. Place in your favorite bowl.
2) Slice bananas over the potato.
3) Sprinkle with cinnamon and a little white pepper.
4) Drizzle with honey.
5) My potato had been in the fridge so I popped the dish in the microwave to just warm up…do not let it get hot. If your sweetie is fresh baked, skip this step.
6) Sprinkle with chopped pecans if you desire.

Of course this can be made and eaten for any meal, snack or even a guilt-free dessert. So the next time you’re headed off for a few days, see what you can come up with before you throw out the refrigerated goods. As my mother and grandmother used to say, there are starving children somewhere who would appreciate that food and hard as it was for me to believe back then there is nothing further from the truth!
 
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embodied

…in the dream I was walking towards a porch furnished with sturdy dark wicker, a fan whirling at slow speed, people I knew or at least felt so familiar with that it felt inviting to sit down with them. Settling into a sumptuous cushioned chair, before me was the most spectacular sunset of blues, violets, yellows and oranges in hues never seen in my waking state. I quickly jumped up excusing myself as I bolted towards wherever I had come from with an urgency that sped my feet while voicing the words, “I must get my camera,” to the unknown. Midway to that place I realized I needed to go back and just enjoy the view. I turned -- it had all vanished. Porch, people and sun were not where they had just been replaced by an entirely new scene. I walked forward in disbelief, kept blinking my eyes hoping that as I drew closer to there, it would miraculously reappear; it did not…

Early on my first morning in Sacramento, the park across the street from the hotel beckoned for me to take my morning walk. I first thought that this city would be hot but found out that it has seasons much like what I was accustomed to on the east coast. I donned the lightweight cashmere sweater I had packed, a cotton scarf casually strewn about my neck and headed out to stroll under the bluest sky accompanied by the most gorgeous autumnal weather. Of course I had camera in tow but, remembering my dream, was careful to absorb moments as they unfolded not only on film but in body. There was so much fascinating plant life to meet…

I got lost with a multi-species family of very tall kinfolk each with their own distinctive personality; though I did not take the formal tree tour, there were over 100 of them to be seen noted by their identification tags…

 
When I woke up from that dream I had a deeper understanding of staying, living in the moment. Sometimes I will be able to visually record things, other times I will not which keeps me open to note taking in my mind, scribing on my heart, making etchings in my soul. I have stayed quite grounded on this trip, excited to take pictures while at the same time rooted in a stillness that lets me deeply take in the details of all that surrounds me from minute to moment. So on this chilly rainy Sunday, rather than call room service, I threw on some knock-about clothes, grabbed my umbrella, and used that extra hour we got to embody the city as it bathed. It felt good out there as I walked back to the hotel a salted caramel hot chocolate to warm me (OMG…sublime!!!). I did not take the camera but as I sit here typing, Pat Metheny in the background, I’m still tingling from each second of that short journey. And with contentment and certainty I write the words it will be easy to find my way back any time I desire... after all it’s all in me.

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something new

Tomorrow I will once again board a plane only this time I’ll be headed west on a business trip. I don’t know if my hotel room will have views quite as picturesque as the ones from the balcony of the Cairo Hilton…

…but I’m a little giddy wondering what I will see outside my window and beyond since I’ve not been to Sacramento before. No, it won’t be Cairo but like everything I saw while on holiday everything in view will be something new to my eyes so…

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