I pull into the driveway at 9 a.m. – no dumpster filling half of it, no portaJohn on the car pad. I have a lot of cleaning yet to do before the movers arrive. Many hours ahead of directing the crew, unpacking boxes and putting things away. Before the day begins, I want to just look … read more Azalea restored
Tag: 2007
Emotions for sale
What emotion are you selling? the webinar host asks us. That’s the question you have to answer. Good question. Another question might be, Why do you want to sell emotion? I’m watching the second in a series of free webinars about marketing your art. The host is selling us the emotion of happiness, the artist’s … read more Emotions for sale
Turning off Facebook
This morning I felt that my grasp of reality was slipping away. I had to do something. I identified a major source of my disorientation: Facebook. When you spend hours scrolling through your feed and reading comment threads, your thought process starts to work that way – unfocused, trivialized, random, contentious, fact-free. That’s not the brain I want … read more Turning off Facebook
Here and gone and still here
A couple of weeks ago, I was throwing a load of recycling into the condo community bins, and I was really tired. I sat in the car for a moment after I emptied the load, looking blankly out through the windshield. A point of light on the ground attracted my eye. Something big and white and round. … read more Here and gone and still here
The wind
Awake at 5 a.m., I curl up on the couch and listen to the wind hurling acorns against the house like bullets. There is a magical sound among the bangs and booms. It’s the heavy silver wind chime that my cousins gave us in memory of Mom. I asked my sisters if I could have this chime so that … read more The wind
It’s show time
Play time is over. Tomorrow is Oktoberfest, an annual event in my community that draws hundreds of visitors who drink beer and spend money. The artist’s group has a booth, and I will be selling my fused glass. I’ve got 20 necklace pendants and 26 holiday ornaments and 5 tabletop sculptures. I’ve spent eight hours … read more It’s show time
Jagged edges
As I stepped out onto the broken deck, I felt a shifting, an instability, as though the whole house was moving under my feet. Vertigo… the house weaving as though to spin and suck me down into the earth. Though I wasn’t there when the oak fell, the impact hits me whenever I enter the house. We … read more Jagged edges
Braced to walk
Braces – ugh. The word evokes jagged bits of metal and leather straps. Polio victims and adolescent teeth. And orthotics – ugly shoes with two-inch soles. Tom went to get fitted for a brace today. His ankle and tibia muscles are weak from the stroke, which makes it hard for him to walk correctly, so his physical therapists … read more Braced to walk
Packing it out
I already had tears in my eyes when the big box truck backed into the driveway. Every time I walk into my house since the tree fell on it, the sight of the damage makes me cry. We loved this house so much from the moment we first walked in, nine years ago. The open … read more Packing it out
Just another morning
[Thursday Aug. 11] Today, Dad would have been 96 years old. I begged him to help me get through the day. It’s been a week since the tree fell on our house, and six days since Tom got out of rehab. The days are too long, and not long enough. I usually wake up at … read more Just another morning