DOES IT GIVE YOU JOY?

Have you been hearing the buzz about the latest book about decluttering and organizing? This one is from the Japanese point of view, and is called The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. The basic premise is that you have to do much more than just hide all your "stuff" in attractive organizers. In fact, she calls storage experts "hoarders." No, she believes that the only way to get one's home into shape permanently is to get rid of everything in it that does not give you joy. I have not read the whole book yet, but that alone got me to thinkin'. It got me to thinking about this wooden tray I bought to hang on my wall a few years ago.

My original intention was for it to be a place where I could bring all my bits and pieces of vintage ceramics, which I had scattered about the house, together in one place. I figured they would have more impact that way, right?

The only problem was that there were a lot more spaces in the tray than I had ceramics, and we know what people tend to do with empty spaces, don't we? Fast forward a couple of years and you'd find that every single niche was now filled with so much stuff that it was impossible to dust, and most of it wasn't even ceramics. Instead of giving me joy when I came into the room, it gave me anxiety attacks. Usually, I avoided looking at it altogether! Finally I decided it was time to do something about that. Enough was enough. In fact, it was way too much!

Know what happens when I enter the bedroom now? I find myself pausing just to stare at it. And smiling.

A PLACE WITH NO SEASONS

The View From Our Porch As Newlyweds

Every August I ask myself why we still live in Texas. However, as soon as we get that first tiny hint of cool weather in September, I find myself thinking "Ah yes, that's why. If August hadn't sucked so badly, I wouldn't be nearly so euphoric over this tiny bit of cool breeze!"  As they say, you've got to experience the bad to fully appreciate the good. You can trust me on that. After all, I did live in paradise for many years.

When we lived in Indonesia, the sun came up every morning at 6:00 AM. The sun set every evening at 6:00 PM. Every afternoon we had a brief rain shower. The high and low temps stayed pretty much the same year round -- never too hot, never too cold. Know what? You can get really, really bored in paradise. Which is why, come Christmastime, we'd usually find ourselves cranking up the AC as high as it would go, just so we could put on a sweater and pretend it was winter.

And, no, I'm not a huge fan of the periodic ice storms that paralyze this whole area, or the flash flooding and gale force winds that can pick your entire roof right up off of your house. But one thing I gotta say for them -- they sure have a way of reminding you just how great it is to be alive! 

artDRIVEN

You'll never guess who stopped by our house this morning! This guy...

Grayson Harcourt -- executive VP at artDriven. If you are a female living anywhere in the Wimberley area, you've probably spent time with, or at least heard of, his mom Sue Ellen Stavrand. For many years she owned the Old Oaks Ranch fiber arts center, home to all those adorable alpacas. Like many people who have spent time in Houston, Sue Ellen always wanted an Art Car. Now that she and her son have partnered up to open artDRIVEN, her wish has finally come true!

When I forwarded my hubby the note talking about their new enterprise, I might have made a casual comment along the order of "this would be fun to do to the Mini." Next thing I know he's already set up an appointment with the guy, and says to me "Oh yeah, they can even use some of your own art as inspiration for the design, so you might want to sketch something up."

Grayson's Dashboard

Talk about pressure! Anywho, I was doing my morning walk yesterday, watching the sun come up, when I thought about this truck we're always seeing around town, painted the colors of a Hill Country sunset. That got me to thinkin' about something like this.

What if I wrapped the Mini in ombred watercolors, one bleeding into the next?

On the "warm" side of the car, you could have something like a pen and ink sketch of our favorite balcony corner, where you can watch the sun come up.

The rear end could become my Seasonality business card.

On the "cool" side you could have a sketch of someone toobin' down the river under some huge bald cypress trees. Then you're back where you started.

Alas, the cost was a good bit more that we had anticipated, and it's hard to justify investing that kind of money in a car that's already eight years old, and coming up on 100,000 miles - especially when we've got two kids getting married in the coming year.

But, wouldn't it be a bloody blast to drive a car like that in the Wimberley Parade each summer?

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY: ISLAND VS. VILLAGE

Alexis And Her Buddy Chase

My best friend and I had our first babies three months apart. I remember one day, when they were a bit older, how we got to talkin' about why they had certain character traits, and not others.

Paula has worked in early childhood education her entire life, and feels like she must be the most highly-trained person around, what with all the seminars they are forever sending her to. That day she shared a little exercise with me, which she had done herself in one of those seminars. 

Mr. Austin Joins The Party

She had me take a piece of paper and list at least 10 or 12 qualities which I felt were important for my children to have. When I was done, she had me circle the first four or five I had listed. "See those traits in that circle? That is your child. I bet they describe Alexis to a tee, don't they? Why? Because those are where you spent most of your time and effort. Sure, it'd be nice to have a child that was neat and tidy, but there are only so many hours in a day, so you focused your energy on what was most important to you."

Know what was up towards the top of my list? Strength and independence. I needed to be sure that she could handle whatever life threw at her, even if we weren't there to help, which could explain why she was a Little Miss Bossy Pants.  With Austin I may have eased off on that, knowing he was my last baby, a boy, and had a big sister who always looked out for him. I also wanted my kids to have a great sense of humor and of adventure -- to be willing to step out of their comfort zone and experience new things. I wanted them to be kind and creative and lovers of books. They are, in fact, all of the above. They are most definitely not neat and tidy.

I've thought about those lists a lot over the years -- especially about what might have been on Paula's own list, since I never actually saw it. From the very few things we have differed about over the years, I'm guessing that "independence" was not at the top of her list. For instance, when we sent Alexis off to college without a car the first year, Paula thought we were a bit crazy. When I told her it was because we didn't want her coming home every weekend, she was pretty much sure of it.

Nope, that's not me doing the hugging. That's Alexis!

It got me to thinking about our parents and our own upbringings, and it had me wondering if this might not have something to do with being country people vs. city people?

My family has been in the big city for generations, where it was each man for himself. We were on our own as soon as we got out of high school. If you wanted to go to college, you put yourself through. My dad finished high school early, just so he could get a job and stop being a burden on his single mom. No one ever lent him a hand with anything, so why should we expect a helping hand? Once we left, moving back home just wasn't an option. Our jobs have made us very mobile, taking us away from friends and family time and time again, forcing us to learn how to tough it out alone. We are "island" people, and maybe that's why I felt the need for my kids to be so strong and independent.

In Paula's family, however, no one ever really leaves home. She comes from farmers and ranchers who grew up in a small, agriculturally based community -- where neighbors and family had to rely upon one another, because it was simply impossible for any one person to do it on their own. You might say they're "village" people -- as in "it takes a village." Sure, kids may go off to college, but it's usually somewhere close by, and they usually do come home on weekends, to help out. Daughters may marry, but if it doesn't work out, they tend to move back home. Paula's father did actually move to Houston to work, but they alternated going home to his people and to his wife's people every single weekend, and moved back home to the country the minute he was eligible to retire. Although we met Paula and Tim while living overseas, they too moved back closer to home at the first opportunity. They have never been farmers or ranchers themselves (they don't even grow houseplants!), but that homing instinct must have been genetically imprinted on them, and on their son. Everything Chase does is about family and tradition, and there's nothing our friends love more than to be needed and relied upon.

So, in the end, I guess we both got what we wanted. Paula and Tim still get to see their son almost daily, talk to him on the phone several times per day, and have created their own little village to help raise their grandson.

We see our kids almost daily too...on Facebook.

Hmmmmm. Perhaps I should have thought this through a bit more thoroughly.

A MOTHER-DAUGHTER ADVENTURE

My friend Pam posted this week about the wonderful little apartment in Paris -- near the Eiffel Tower and Rue Cler, my favorite foodie street -- where her family goes to stay about once a year. It got me to thinkin', about the time I offered to take my daughter to Paris, and she turned me down! I realized that we hadn't done a mother-daughter getaway since I took her to look at colleges, and here she is 31, and fixin' to get hitched! So I made the offer again. And she turned me down again -- but with a legitimate reason this time, since the wedding itself was going to use up all of her vacation. Soooo, I told her to think of someplace fun that wasn't so far away, where we could go for a long weekend. Guess what she came up with?

One of the top foodie towns in the country, and totally walkable, with everything close together. Almost European, in fact. Surrounded my water -- and dolphins! Squee!

Years ago, when I still took Southern Living magazine, I tore out a bunch of articles about Charleston. Fortunately, they were still in my files, so I've already been making lists of things to do and places to eat. Now I'm off to the library to check out some books set in Charleston -- one of my favorite things to do before heading to a place I've never been. It gets me in the mood!

Now Hubby and son Austin need to start planning where they want to go for a father-son getaway, before Austin's nuptials the following fall. Let's just hope they don't choose something like Burning Man. My hubby could get into waaaaaaaay too much trouble there!

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY: A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

I've decided there are mostly two kinds of people in the world. There are your talkers, and there are your writers.

Hubby and I are both writers, while his big brother and his wife are both talkers. They talk and talk and talk, about every little thing under the sun, but not us! Our relationship was fairly stagnant the first year and a half. There were none of those all-night-gab-fests, and telephone conversations were brief and to-the-point, sometimes bordering on awkward. Plus, there was a good bit of miscommunication, with each of us just guessing what the other was thinking and feeling. It wasn't until he graduated, moved away, and started sending me letters, that we really got to know each other, and things finally got serious.

I got to thinkin' about this when I noticed the way my friends and I communicate, or not, these days. The talkers are all phone-people, while the writers love e-mail. I have a smart phone, as you can see above, but the only time I give it a thought is when it's making such a ruckus that it can't be ignored. Then I make every effort to get out of the conversation as quickly as possible. I much prefer e-mail, which gives me the opportunity to think about what I want to say and, thankfully, delete that which, upon deliberation, might be better left un-said. When I feel pressured to say something, anything, just to fill the lull in conversation? Well, there's just no telling what inanity will pop out of my mouth!

Many of my favorite people, however, are talkers, and most definitely, phone people. They keep their phones with them constantly -- not buried in their purses like me, but in their hands. All calls seem urgent to them, but they can go several days without checking or responding to their e-mails. Sometimes, I'm afraid, we made each other a bit nuts. Finally I realized that, what we had here was a failure to communicate, and what we needed was some kind of compromise.

Which is why I finally learned how to text-message!
 

HOW TEXANS SURVIVE SUMMER

Well, the dog days are here my friends. We'll be heading into a string of triple digit days by the end of the week. Here in Texas, we enjoy summer right up until the 4th of July weekend. After that, we all start dreaming of fall! Seeing some of the photos my friends have been posting on facebook lately got me to thinkin' -- about some of the coping mechanisms we employ to deal with extreme heat, drought, and too many cloudless days. Fortunately, they were generous enough to let me share them with you.

Friends Heather and Marc have taken to hosting most of their parties, not just near the water, but IN the water, right behind their house.  They had one heckuva Independence Day celebration there!

Friends Phil and Julie do their aerobics exercises in the Blanco river.

Outdoor Woman and her fellow volunteers have even been known to hold business meetings there!

Of course, we've been awfully lucky this year, with much cooler temps and more rain than usual up to this point. There have been times when the creeks and rivers have all dried up by mid-summer, and then what do you do? Well, my friend Eric, who is a teacher, said their plan for coping with Texas summers is usually to get the heck outta Texas!

See, I told you there were mountains in Texas!

Which is why they sent me this photo from Balmorhea, a spring fed swimming hole in far west Texas -- their last stop in Texas before heading off towards cooler parts.

The luckiest sons-of-guns have friends in cooler climes who invite them to house-sit during the summer. Our friends Sherri and Ken just got back from a three week gig in Hawaii, and Teri and her hubby managed to land a two-month gig in Colorado. Some people have all the luck!

Me? Well, I've given up my long mid-day treks at the hike & bike, that's for sure. Instead I run outside as soon as it's light enough to see what I'm doing, and speed walk around the hidden part of our driveway -- in my nighty!

What about the rest of you Texans? How do you cope with the dog days of summer?

HURRA POR HIERBAS!

You see these raised beds? They're just sitting here going to waste this summer, for I didn't even bother with planting any veggies this spring. For one thing, my results were never proportionate to the time, money and water invested. Veggies are huge water suckers -- water we really can't afford to waste since our whole house relies on rain water, a scarcity during Texas summers. For another, those covers are already riddled with big holes, and would probably need to be replaced if we want to keep the critters out. I've thought about growing herbs there instead. I'm good at growing those. Plus, deer don't like plants that are strongly flavored and/or fuzzy, which describes most herbs, so I wouldn't even need those ugly covers.

The thing is, I've already got four windowboxes filled with the herbs I use most often in my cooking, not to mention huge heaps of rosemary just outside the front door, and more herbs scattered throughout my front porch pots.

So why plant more of what I already have?

But then I started reading Death Come Quickly, the latest China Bayles mystery by Susan Wittig Albert. They happen to take place here in the Texas Hill Country, in case you aren't familiar with them. In this one the mystery centers on a collection of Mexican Art and the private museum where it is housed. In order to get her nose in the door so she can poke around, China volunteers to plant a Mexican herb garden in their courtyard -- a garden which would include things like Hoja Santa (aka root beer plant)...

and Mexican Oregano...

two plants I have grown for their beauty alone, regardless of their culinary uses.

Suddenly I'm thinking "By jove, that's it! I'll plant a Mexican herb garden there." Heaven knows, we love our Mexican food! Who knows? Maybe it will even encourage us to branch out beyond the traditional Tex-Mex that we usually eat.

If you think you might like to try growing a few Mexican herbs yourself, here are China's suggestions:

Marigold

Prickly Pear

Lemon Verbena

Cumin

Mexican Oregano

Cilantro

Epazote

Papaloquelite

Mexican Tarragon

Basil

Hoja Santa

Mexican Lime

Provecho!

 

OOOMMMMMM

I keep thinking that I really oughtta give the infamous (locally) Helen Stutchbury's yoga classes a try. Everyone raves about them, they're geared towards the 50+ crowd, they're dirt cheap (only $3/class!), and they have a fantastic new studio in the revamped sanctuary of the old Baptist church, right at the entrance to Blue Hole Park. And, if that isn't enough, they are even beginning to do fun stuff as a group, like making videos, and organizing trips -- to San Miguel de Allende!!!

The only thing that's holding me back is time. I'm already struggling to balance doing workouts at Curves as often as I should, doing my morning pages and continuing to write good blog posts, meeting up with the Muses once a week, having my Friday Adventure Days with Hubby, making time for art every day, having time to read every day, and now, finding time for a long walk every day, so that I can reach my 10,000 steps per day goal. (notice I didn't even include housework and gardening in my top priorities) How on earth would I squeeze in a couple of yoga classes per week, on top of everything else?

But! Then I remembered a conversation I overheard the other day. They said the owner of our Curves franchise has been looking for a buyer, so she can retire and move to Panama or someplace exotic. Basically, I go to Curves to ensure that muscles in all parts of my body are being strengthened, and to maintain my sense of balance for as long as possible. Doesn't yoga achieve those same goals?  Then why would I need both? I do feel a sense of loyalty to the current owner, and do not wish to pull my membership on her. But, if she ever did decide to chuck it all and head off to parts unknown? Well, then, that would be the perfect time for me to segue into a new yoga practice, now wouldn't it? Plus, by that time, I should be at least 20 lbs. lighter than I was when I last took a stab at yoga, with all those young, Gumby-like gals. Maybe I won't hate it quite so much if I'm with people my own age, and if my legs, though still too short, are just a wee bit less chunky.
 

LOOK UP

Had a wonderful time with The Muses here yesterday. We managed to get through our lunch without any contractors barging in to demolish my kitchen. In fact, we had so much fun, it was almost dinnertime before the party broke up! The only upsetting part came after everyone left, when I realized that, once again, I hadn't remembered to snap a single dang picture to share with you here on the blog. DOH! This, however, got me to thinkin', and I've come to the conclusion that my forgetting to take pictures at almost all of the really important stuff? Well, that's probably a good thing. 

You see, just a couple of days ago, after seeing a little YouTube video called Look Up, I wrote this in my morning pages: "I've been thinking about how much I hate seeing an entire table in a restaurant these days, where everyone at the table has their faces glued to their i-phones, instead of looking at each other. Or, seeing a little kid trying to talk to a mom or dad who is paying more attention to their phone than to the kid. Then there was that family with three kids who came into the cafe where we were eating lunch not long ago. As soon as they sat down the dad pulled out three tablet gizmos, passing one to each kid. All possible conversation nipped in the bud before it even had a chance to begin! To tell you the truth, it made me want to cry. I couldn't help but remember how hearing our kids talk at dinner each evening, and thinking of ever new ways to draw the details of their days out of them, was pretty much the high point of our lives for about twenty years. Gawd! How we missed it when they left!"

After I wrote that, I started wondering if, perhaps, my blog and my camera might be keeping me from being fully engaged in my life. Fortunately, yesterday's no-photo episode reminded me that I almost never remember to take pictures when I'm having too much fun with friends and family. I don't even have a tablet or an I-pod, and though John did make me get an android phone, I'm probably the only person around who doesn't do anything with it, other than answer calls. So, I guess it's fairly safe to say that gizmos have not yet prevented me from being present when it really counts.

What about you? Are you remembering to "Look Up"?

WHAT WILDNESS IS THIS?

First I spotted these guys, creeping across my path at the Hike & Bike. They looked kinda like itsy-bitsy strawberries, but had the wrong kind of leaf.

Then yesterday I spotted these fellows climbing up through the middle of some generic shrub, out in the center of a Wal-mart parking lot!

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say these were blackberries. And, if blackberries can reseed themselves this easily from who knows where, and manage to do this well, then I'm thinkin' I should probably try growing some in the Cantina Garden, 'cause this is my kinda plant!

What a fruitful spring we are having!
 

DOIN' IT GANDALF STYLE

I went to the Blue Hole nature trails early yesterday, expecting to have the place to myself. Boy, was I surprised!

It seems Wimberley was playing host to the American Volkssport Association this weekend, and their walking trail wove in and out of my usual path. I noticed that many of them were using walking sticks, and that there seems to be two schools of thought regarding those.

A few were doing it Gandalf-Style, with a single large wooden stick, much like the beautiful, hand-carved stick son Austin purchased at the Renaissance Festival years ago, and which we inherited when he left home.

Others were sporting the Tyrolean look, using two sticks that looked kind of like ski poles to me. Still others used nothing at all. It got me to thinkin' that perhaps I should look into the matter -- see what the pros and cons of each style were, or whether it was worth using a stick at all. Come to think of it, that big one might come in handy if I ever came face to face with a rattlesnake, or an overly amorous buck. Fortunately, that hasn't happened yet.

The very best part of sharing my walk with all these strangers yesterday was getting to hear little snippets of their conversations as we passed one another -- to hear their oohs and ahs when they reached the overlook and caught a first glimpse of the Blue Hole itself. It's always good to look at stuff through someone else's eyes now and again, don't you think? It leaves one feeling so enormously grateful, to actually live in such a beautiful place, to get to walk these trails almost daily, and to know that you'll be floating in that blue, blue water in just a few short weeks, with your oh-so interesting friends.

Am I lucky, or what?