Pothole

“I got the key to the highway, and I'm billed out and bound to go I'm gonna leave here runnin', cause walkin' is much too slow” ~ Eric Clapton

I was cruising down the road Saturday morning maintaining a respectable speed, and listening to music on my iPod that would make my son, who was arriving any moment for spring break proud. My little Jetta diesel was humming along when it hit a pothole and started to shake. In that split second, I remembered not to slam on the brakes and lose control. Slowly, I drifted over to the side of the road to inspect the damage. The right front tire was obliterated.

Next, I did the least gender-bending thing I could think of and called my husband. So much for all those women's studies classes in the ‘70’s…sexism reigns when there's a flat tire. He was about 20 minutes away at the hardware store – his Saturday morning home away from home.

After about a half an hour, a very pleasant police officer pulled over and surveyed the damages. I explained that my guy was tool ogling and would be by shortly. The nice cop and I discussed how to deal with the broken highway. He said he’s seen a sharp rise in pothole vs. car incidents these last few weeks. He had no idea when the highway department would get around to making the repairs on all the potholes. After a short discussion about our mutual love of rockin' to Clapton while driving, he bid me farewell and said he would check back in about an hour - just in case my knight in shining armor forgot about me. Ha, cute cop.

As it turned out, I did have a bit more time to think about the pothole situation.

If the highway department fails to deal with the craters before they eat up tires and rims, we might need to find a swifter, slightly more subversive alternative. I had written a post over on Planet Green that might be the key to the highway…Go Bomb Something With Yarn - Knitting Over The Edge.

Credit: Flickr - Pothold Project via CMYBacon

All You Need Is Love

There's nothing you can do that can't be done. DIY Love Headboard – Style Files

Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.

Pom Pom Flowers – Domesticistuff

Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.

Love Match – Interior Design Houses

It's easy.

Ceramic Hearts - Remodelista

There's nothing you can make that can't be made.

Alexander Girard Heart - Curbly

No one you can save that can't be saved.

Tea Three Ways - Design Sponge

Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time – It's easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love,

All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

Armchair Creative

Do you read your horoscope? You don't need to answer that. I believe many of us do and won’t admit it. I'll confess to reading those snippets of monthly predictions, and of course at the time of the reading, my horoscope (Gemini) always seems spot on. Then I forget all about it and get on with the month.

Today I clicked onto the February horoscope from The Sister’s Project, a companion blog to A Way To Garden…

"We live in very modern times and many of the old rules no longer apply. One of those changed rules is a very important one for you to remember—“it’s OK for an artist to be an intellectual and it’s OK for an intellectual to be an artist.” In other words, do acknowledge and nurture the many wonderful dimensions of yourself and allow your creative and intellectual energies to work together."

OK, knowing that my month will now be in sync, I deleted the post and headed down my long, snowy driveway to retrieve the mail. I grabbed a packing envelope that I immediately knew held the dimensions of my creative and intellectual energies.

A Twilight Zone moment? A celestial success story? An alignment of the stars? A serendipitous coincidence?

Whatever the reason, the Spring issue of Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces Of Extraordinary Women hit the newsstands (and my mailbox) today, and I am elated to be one of the profiled women that will "nourish your soul and inspire the creative process."

Now, you may ask…How did an environmental writer/blogger end up in a magazine about the work spaces of creative women?

The short answer is…A fateful phone conversation with the fabulously energetic and passionate editor, Jo Packham led to an invitation to submit my story of reinvention with pictures of my work spaces.

My thoughts about it at the time…No way this will happen. I may be creative, but I'm an "armchair creative." It's not that I sit and watch others work, my work takes place within the confines of a chair and a computer. Where Women Create profiles famous (and not so famous) artists and crafters.

An Armchair Creative's Story

Reinvention is a buzzy word that seems to coincide with life shifts. In my case, a bunch of eco "re" words like: reinvention, recreated, reworked, renovated, repurposed, reimagined, were playing out simultaneously in my life. I did not lose my job. I chose to leave it. That is what I wrote about.

Three photo shoots later with the talented Jen Kiaba, which included many images of my work spaces (dining room table, couches, one of my kid's repurposed bedrooms, comfy chairs, a window seat…), I can now share with you the humbling acknowledgement of the convergence of the creative and intellectual.

Thank you Jo, it is a true honor to be among the creative women profiled on the pages of Where Women Create.

It would make me so happy if my lovely readers picked up a copy of the magazine and read my story.

Photos: Jen Kiaba for Where Women Create

Snow White Morning

As far as the eye can see everything is white. Viewing the snow this morning, I am reminded of John Steinbeck's, The Pearl:

"It was a morning like other mornings and yet perfect among mornings"

Go White…

…and drink warm.

…to ponder the possibilities.

...because you can.

…for good measure.

…to keep moving.

…because it’s hot.

…to feel good about your neck.

Credits: Main Image: Juliet Harrison Photography, White Tea Harney and Sons, Porcelain Skateboard via Dudecraft, Flask via Swissmiss, Ballet Dancer via PVE Design, Pearl Pin via Swissmiss, Glass Tea Pots via Life.Style, Knitted Cowl Jared Flood via Juniper Fiberworks

Living Inside A Snow Globe

There is a simplicity to winter when a snowstorm casts a shadowy blanket of calmness onto the woods around our nests. Its quiet stillness is like the insulated caress of living inside a dome of snow. The storm at my home arrived right after the barreling in of far-flung children, presents and all the holiday festivities. In its wake, the storm left us a winter wonderland, but no chance to fulfill our travel plans to drive to my mom's on Sunday. Instead, the four of us unplugged, unwound and reconnected as a family. It is in this calmness that I hope you also had a moment to step back and enjoy the wonderland of your life.

Make and Shake Snow Globes

I had a small childhood collection of souvenir-type snow globes. They are long gone, but those tiny window wonderlands pop into my thoughts each winter.

When I was a teacher, I created snow globes with the school kids for holiday gifts for their parents from this adapted Martha Stewart project. It was my way of sharing everything I love about winter (which you can read more about here, here and here).

Materials:

A jar (baby food or olive jars work well)

Ceramic figurines

Small evergreen tips or flowers from craft shops

Glitter or fake snow

Distilled water

Glycerin (available in drug or health food stores)

Clear drying waterproof epoxy

Small piece of sandpaper

What to do: 1. Sand the inside of the lid until the surface is rough. 2. Adhere the figurine to the inside of the lid with epoxy and let dry. 3. Fill the jar almost to the top with distilled water. 4. Add a pinch of glitter–not too much or the glitter will stick to the bottom of the jar when it is flipped. 5. Add a dash of glycerin. 6. Screw on the lid tightly, being careful not to dislodge the figurine. 7. Shake the jar and watch it snow!

Photos: Materialicious, LA Times,  Martha Stewart