Yesterday's Rain Walk

As I was walking downtown, I noticed that my feet cross many different types of walks. It kind of intrigued me. So I took photos of the various types of sidewalks as I went... here's what I got:

I also noticed that many people have started decorating for the season at hand...

Fall has only just begun... but here and there are brightly colored trees, ahead of the game...

I love when I walk into the grocery store now, it smells like cinnamon and spiced apples! It's such a heady fragrance.... it makes grocery shopping a delight, except for the crowds. It seems that now that I'm working, I tend to get to the store when everyone else is! Here, it's the time for pumpkin treats, apple cider, cinnamon scented pine cones and hot chocolate. What a delectable time of year! Also, I'm preparing for our now annual Pumpkin Carving Party, and plan to make some yummy treats for it...  more on that afterwards!


I hope you're all staying cozy and enjoying what nature has to offer, whether you're on the east coast, west coast, the tropics or down under!!


xox

A Peek Into My Work Day

A day in my work week goes kind of like this... 


I get up in the morning, meditate for 20 minutes, make my coffee and then sit at my computer reading some blogs and sipping my morning cuppa. By the time I've gone through all my favorite blogs, it's time to grab Jimmy Boo and hang out on the back porch with him. It's become our routine, and we both enjoy it. My coffee comes with me if I haven't finished it yet. Beckham is typically sleeping or laying in a window watching the world go by. Since he doesn't allow me to hold him in my lap outside, he doesn't come out.


I might have some breakfast, then shower. It depends on whether or not I'm going in early or later. If later, I push breakfast into brunch, and then figure out what to bring for my dinner. Then I get ready for work and start off on my walk. You've heard about my walk, and know that I stop at least three times to take a photo of something along the way.

There are still lots of flowers blooming since we're pretty much still in the summer season. It's starting to turn, though... the air is cooling down, and some of the leaves are falling in shades of red, yellow and mixtures of red & green. But when you look up, you still see mainly green foliage up in the boughs of the trees. 


This walk has turned into a kind of mantra for me. I review all the things that I'm grateful for while I walk. It's a ritual that I don't want to give up, as it gives me some early morning clarity about my life and my choices. I try to be very present while I'm walking, and not get too lost in taking photos or following the tracks that my mind might try to take off on. It's very easy to get lost in mind-noise.

As I near work, I allow my mind to switch over to work mode. And when I walk down into the lobby, I feel calmness and know that I am helping in this place, and that they want me there. I've connected with a lot of the employees and clients, and it's a place of positive energy. The scents and the lighting create a relaxing atmosphere that calms. The cleanliness is helpful in keeping that calm around me. My day has started. I answer phones, schedule clients, do laundry, clean, enter data on new clients into the system, and chat with coworkers while they wait on their clients. I also enjoy chatting with the clients. They all start out like normal people, then they get their massages and they practically float back into the lobby with messy hair, lines in their faces, and dreamy expressions. It's awesome!


I love the morning shift, as I get to leave at 3 pm, and walk home while the sun is still out. People here still greet each other in passing, for the most part. I like to notice the little bits of whimsy that people have added to their environment. You only have to pay a little attention to see things like this...

The imprint of a leaf in the concrete. There were several, but I share with you the best one that I saw. I wonder at who might have done this... a child? An adult? A man? A woman? When did they connect with their inner child and decide to dress up a boring slab of concrete with their tiny transgression? I love that they DID. The area where this leaf imprint lies is not near a private home. It's on the corner of public building, and there were several leaf prints, though this one was the best. They had to push pretty hard, you can tell. The displacement of the concrete shows that it had already started to harden, and thus was forced out in thicker waves when the print was made. Determined and naughty!


On my way home yesterday, when I took these photos, I decided to stop at a little antique store that's connected to an antique book store. I wanted to buy an ink well for painting with inks. There was a real ink well, but it was made for quills. I needed something I could use with my calligraphy pens, as that's the way I make my ink drawings. I found something that would work... a tiny little bottle.

I took it home for $3 and found that it worked perfectly! Much better than the $39 antique ink well would have worked. It suits me better, also. After I got home, did some dishes, and changed clothes, I started working on a new piece. As I had drawn Beckham the other night, I decided to draw Jimmy Boo. The photo I chose to work with has Jimmy drowsing on my table, with the sun hitting him and one eye half closed and the other fully closed. It was probably not the best photo to use. He turned out looking rather demonic, yet sleepy. He's the least demonic of my two cats, so this isn't an accurate representation of him. I'll share it, anyway.... I worked some watercolors over the ink drawing... It's okay. It's not the best. But I need the practice, and this was my first watercolor of a cat. The next one will be an improvement! So that was my typical day.

Jimmy Boo looking a bit weird.

Not bad as far as days go, right? Not bad at all.

Hearts All Around

Lover's heart in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Seaweed heart on a beach in Northern California

Tide pool heart in Santa Cruz, CA

Wood chip heart on West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, CA

Heart opening at a cemetery in Fremont, CA

Heart stones found in Yosemite, CA

Seaweed pod heart

Heart-shaped face

Latte heart

Cloud hearts in Stresa, Italy

Two hearts in Monterosso al Mare, Italy

Graffiti heart in Italy

Fallen leaf  heart

Little leaf heart

Hawaiian beach heart within a heart

I am always seeing hearts (love?) everywhere I go. I wanted to share them with you in anticipation of Valentine's Day. Maybe to remind you that love is all around, if only you keep your eyes (and heart) open...

Love and blessings.

xoxo

Green Shutters

I don't know why, but green shutters make me happy... the first ones were the best green. Unfortunately, my phone camera didn't quite get the color right. I think because it was such an overcast & rainy day. But I love that the shutters here in Bethlehem are REAL shutters, and they actually close up to protect the people inside when the weather is really bad. Or maybe when they want to get a bit more sleep. Or for the vampires in town. Haha! Just kidding... there are no vampires in Bethlehem.... right?

More fallen leaves

And the last picture I just threw in because I really like to see the fallen leaves... the colors are always so harmonious! Happy First of October, Everyone!

Happy First Day of Autumn!

Taken on Sept. 19th

New at my Etsy shop

For those of you craving some fall foliage... here is some "Welcome Autumn!" themed photos for you! Enjoy!

Monocacy Creek - Reflections & Impressions

Fall is on its way!

Leaf Palette

Spring leaves with explorer ant

So this photo was actually taken by my sweetheart in the spring. But I pulled a fall palette from it, rather easily.... New maple leaves strangely have some fall color to them! Can you tell I'm getting really excited about fall? In Northern California we had some fall color, and it was very exciting, those few trees that turned colors beautifully. I would go out of my way just to see those trees when I was driving somewhere. Just like how I will go out of my way to step on a crunchy leaf when I'm out for a walk! 

Brandi Girl has inspired me to make all these color palettes, which has inspired me to start being more creative again. Thank you, Brandi! This has been so much fun! And I'm not quite done yet... I have one more that I wanted to do, which is the Book Inspired palette. That will be next!