Midwest Love & Images

I went to the Midwest to see my Mother for the last time. I have a friend who tells me that my Mother will be with me always. I know it’s true. She is in me and around me.

I spent my life growing up with her in the midwest before I married, moved to California, and raised my own family. Ironically she grew up in California and went to high school in Hayward, CA – near San Francisco.

I love the midwest and I love the flat, open spaces, the sky, wheat fields, combines, grain elevators that look like massive Kent cigarettes, oil rigs, hay bales resembling giant shredded wheat cereal, the peaceful song of the meadowlark. I love the click and buzz of cicadas at night, a giant, booming thunderstorm, the rain. I love having these childhood images along with the memory of my Mother.

Cowboy Road

Bison in the Field

Oil Rig

Road to Somewhere

Fence Post

Old Stone Barn

 

That part of the country is, within itself,

            as unpoetical as any spot of the earth;

            but seeing it .  . . aroused feelings in me

            which were certainly poetry.

                                                  –Abraham Lincoln

The Saddest Day

My Mother died unexpectedly on Friday, June 18.

I flew across the country, got to talk to her and hold her sweet, soft hand although she could not talk to me. My Dad, my brother, his wife and I were all there with her.

My Mother's Hand

There will be an empty space never to be filled by another human being as long as I live.

She was an English teacher, loved literature and poetry. We found a journal of hers and only the first page had writing:

Alas, how easily things go wrong!

A sigh too much or a kiss too long,

And there follows a mist and a weeping rain,

And life is never the same again.

 

And things can never go badly wrong

If the heart be true and the love be strong,

For the mist, if it comes, and the weeping rain

Will be changed by the love into

sunshine again.

 

This was written by George MacDonald, a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister.

12 Years Ago…

Call me Howard Hughes.

Call me the most sentimental Mother on the planet.

I am among them.

I own it.

Twelve years ago, nearly to the day, my 11 year old daughter got her first Chemo treatment to treat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

We knew it wouldn’t be long until she … yeah, lost her hair.

So, we did this:

My Daughter's Little Ponytail

Today, she is one of my best friends and she is the sweetest, old soul …

She wrote a book about her experience while going through cancer. And she illustrated it. And I predict that someday she will get it published. She has a gift for words. She is destined to do something very creative. As one of her high school teachers told her … You are NEO!

Japanese poet Otomo no Sakanoue Iratsume from the eighth-century wrote of the all-encompassing nature of a mother’s love for her daughter:

More than gems in my comb box shaped by the God of the Sea,
I prize you, my daughter

Gorgeous Girl

Believe in Yourself!

Love you! Mam

Artwork, Paintings, San Francisco, Luna

I do love color! I could not have a home that was the all white or pale ivory scheme. For me it would just be boring. Maybe I could have the pale ivory, monotone background with huge pops of color.

I do have a pretty good size oil painting that is hanging in my home and I could not resist the vivid colors and the old world feeling of the scene. It was a steal!

Hunting

My dogs were rescued but I think they both have hunting blood in them. This morning Luna was playing with something furry in her mouth and I crept closer. It was a little furry ball of baby bunny! I opened Luna’s mouth, grabbed her collar and surprisingly, the little tiny baby bunny hopped away. No damage done, thank goodness!

Was I a Bad Girl?

But anyway, back to artwork…

I went to San Francisco earlier this year and walked past a gallery at night with paintings gently lit behind the glass. I was mesmorized by a couple of paintings, the colors, the softness, the sheets of music in the background, the flowers, the elegant sophistication. I would love to have this hanging somewhere in my home, or a different home someday. Again, my things with birds…what can I say?

Woman with Flamingos

Here she is again in blues…

Woman with Magnolias and Hummingbirds

So just the other day in my backyard, the most memorable thing happened. I was watering the tomato plants and suddenly a hummingbird appeared. I stood very still and kept spraying. It came a bit closer, it stopped in mid-air, and as I continued to stay fixed, it flew into the edge of the water spray. It was timid at first, but then it totally went for it and flew directly into the spray for a proper, thorough shower. Then, it perched on the tomato plant wire tower and rested for a few moments. The whole episode did not happen so fast … I really got to see this little bird like never before. I got a big smile on my face and thought “I just gave a hummingbird a shower!” It made my day.

But anyway, back to artwork…

I walked back to the hotel where I was staying in San Francisco and I fell in love with the greeting room adjacent to the lobby. I totally loved the feeling in this room. The gentleman reading the paper offered to leave but I insisted that he stay. He was obviously enjoying the room as much as I.

The World at Hand

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”

~Albert Einstein~

Ending the Day With Color!

Although I personally loved learning about bird feathers, I realize the blog could be a little dull for some. So, I’m ending the day with some COLOR!

Here's Looking At You

I took a picture of this little guy in Hawaii. I swear, every time I tried to take his picture, his eyes ended up exactly behind the bars. Finally I got him!

Use whatever talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sing the best.
~ Henry Van Dyke ~

If Only It WERE Water, Not Oil

Like Water Off A Duck’s Back! A fancy way of saying don’t worry about it, just let it go! In our personal lives, maybe we shouldn’t worry so much. In the case of the Gulf oil disaster, I think we better worry.

Every bird has feathers and everything that has feathers is a bird. Think about it…

Feathers not only provide insultation, allow for flight, but control what a bird will look like. Feathers supply the bird with colours allowing for camouflage and secondary sexual characteristics and sexual display (think peacock).

Feathers look like this:

The basic form consists of a central hollow supporting shaft called a ‘rachis’ and a number of fine side branches. The side branches are called barbs. Barbs also have side branches of their own called barbules. The upper part of the barb contains a series of hooklets (sometimes called ‘Hamuli’) and the lower part is hookless, but slightly convex in form to catch the hooklets of the barbules from the next barb along the shaft. Make sense? Take a look. Birds are waterproof because of how the feathers are positioned.

Preening means the bird is carefully aligning each feather into its proper position. This tightly woven system helps to keep water out and provides insulation for the bird and buoyancy in the water. Living outside, the insulation is vital. 

When birds encounter oil on the surface of the water, the oil causes the feather structure to mat and separate, exposing the bird’s skin to temperature fluctuations. Being overly cold (hypothermia) or overly hot (hyperthermia) can mean death. Preening the oil covered feathers is instinctive and results in ingestion of the oil. Internal organ damage may result.

Preening is so important to a bird that it overrides other behaviors like feeding and keeping safe from predators. Secondary problems like dehydration, weight loss, anemia and death may then occur. Many oil soaked birds loose buoyancy and beach themselves to flee cold water. Fortunate few are captured and cleaned. No wonder we have endangered species.

Click on the picture below to see it larger.

Floating Feather

Can We Keep Afloat?

The tidal wave that’s coming
is coming much too soon.
It’s rising uncontrollably
unaffected by the moon.

This wave that has been building
for quite a long, long time
is carrying with it many tears
flowing silently with the slime

that oozes out among the cracks
from man’s inhumanity
to each other, to the earth
and its mad insanity.

Can we keep ourselves afloat?
Only time will tell
by respect for every living thing
that chose this earth to dwell.

EDWINA REIZER

La Casa de Palomas – My House of Doves

I have always loved birds…I am so very sad to see images from the Gulf. It breaks my heart because the problem goes on and on and on. You’d think if we could get Apollo 13 down from space, we could plug up a giant hole on our own planet! Call in the guys that solved that problem!

Growing up I had a parakeet named JuJu. She sat on my finger and kissed me and I did not keep her locked up in her cage. She freely flew around my bedroom as she wished and got pretty upset when I did close her door.

The home I live in now has 3 aviaries that were built here years ago. They were once filled with birds, but for now, I have 6 doves (palomas). I wasn’t sure if the cooing sound they made would become monotonous and annoying. It hasn’t. It’s oddly comforting and sweet.

The Dove Cage

The doves were here already when we bought the house and I told the previous owners we would keep them if they wanted us to. They did. They can be so amusing to watch.

Ready

Set

Go!

What a sweet couple! Shortly after we moved in, we actually did have a baby hatch. At night, they cuddle up in pairs and sleep in the same spots, side by side. I walk into their cage to feed them and change their bird bath. They let me take their pictures and seem to like it when I visit.

Primping

Yesterday, I saw something I had never seen before. One of the doves was laying down in the bottom of the aviary, on it’s breast, with it’s wings completely spread out on each side warming itself in the sun. I wish I had had my camera then!

“We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

My New Models, Jenifer Jordan’s Horses & Homes

I just got all my old negatives turned into digital. I am SOOOO excited. As I heard someone say today “It grooves me”. My life of pictures before digital includes so many life events, I can’t wait to share some of the old with the new.

Today, I’m just puttering around the house. I am definitely a home body. I need people but I savor time alone. I do have two dogs, a cat, 6 doves and various people that pop in now and then (like my husband, daughter and son).

The dogs are now about 10 months old and have become my new models. Big Bear is the best and Luna comes in 2nd, ha ha. I imagine my life as Jenifer Jordan, my favorite architectural/interior photographer whose dogs have been in her photography for years. The two of them were like a pair of bookends. I saw one of her photos lately that only had one of the dogs and I am very sad.

Mine might not match exactly, but at 8 weeks old, they were little kennel buddies and we just would not separate them. Here they are in my entry…the Fleur-de-Lis mosaic delivered to me from Lebanon.

Big Bear & Luna, My New Models

Like I said, Big Bear is the best model. She is more compliant. Luna is sometimes the lunatic!

The Biggie

CALM

Jenifer has a book out called Horses & Homes (her two passions). I have loved her photography and her own homes, in various magazines, for years. I think it is wonderful when someone finds their passion and talent early in  life. I wonder how that’s done because in my next life, I want to know very early. However, since I don’t believe in multiple lives, I better get busy!

In honor of Jenifer…

SILHOUETTE - First Place

We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults.  Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment.  ~George Eliot

The Master Bathroom Remodel

I have always loved homes, nesting, and creating my own personal spaces.

I have lived in my current home for about a year and a half. Without any experience in design or (much less) contracting, I took on a HUGE, GI-NORMOUS project. The home was sad, very neglected and crying out for love. Sign me up!

The biggest problem was that there was only one bathroom on the main floor and it was in the master bedroom! Not a good scenario for having guests over. Originally, there was a powder room that was turned into a kitchen pantry. I wanted both.

We were prepared to go for it – but don’t EVER ask me to go there again.

Here was the master bathroom before:

Corner tub took up half the space in the room

Outdated shower

The sinks were not even in the same room! So, out it all came…

Corner where the old tub was

Expanded the room, switched the toilet area with the shower area, going to add a vanity

I wanted a walk-in shower, no glass

 

I always wanted a cast iron slipper tub! My vision came together like this:

 

 

A peaceful retreat

Bathroom corner now

My favorite stained glass

Sinks in the bathroom, what a concept!

Adding the details I love

Mixing the old and new

A collection

Bottle with Bee

I recently read a new commandment:

 “Thou shalt indulge in a milk bath once a week,

this will nourish and soften your dry skin like nothing else!”

I’ll show you the new half bath on the main floor another time . . . I’m worn out just looking at these pictures and remembering.