I love the all-out fluffy puffiness of peonies. They only last a couple of days on their stems because the blossoms are so heavy--they topple right over like drunken sailors. So, unlike other garden flowers, I clip them and find a special spot in the house where they can really show off.
Peonies and ants seem to be a package deal, so I give the blossoms a thorough but gentle rinse with water before they're allowed indoors. Soon, they're "sitting pretty" in their vases. They're the belles of the ball, indeed!
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Today's the day! Early Bird Registration is now OPEN for my July e-course, How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You. No fancy camera is necessary (you can even use your smart phone) and this week only, you can save $15 on the course. Don't miss out!
With Memorial Day in the rear-view mirror, I've already plunged into summer--specifically, an old-fashioned, easy-breezy summer! If you're in the summertime swing already, then you're going to love these yummy summer recipes, fuss-free activities, and one inspiring read to get you out on the beach with confidence:
I know it's funny for a blogger to say this, but sometimes I really need a break from the online world. Not from my blog (which I still enjoy--and I hope you do, too!) but from the incessant chatter of the internet. It can be mentally exhausting, getting constant updates from every sector of your life and the world at large.
So I think it's important, from time to time, to step away from it. To take a digital detox.
That's exactly what I did this past Memorial Day weekend. Truth be told, it wasn't a clean break--I did check in twice, briefly. Not for FOMO (Fear of Missing Out); just to make sure nothing was terribly amiss. But I didn't engage.
I've finally learned that I don't need to answer every single question or comment immediately. I don't have to add my two cents to every discussion. Sometimes, it's better to just ponder. To let thoughts travel a natural course before automatically responding. Usually, the world can wait.
So this past weekend, if I got the urge to "check in", I checked out--outdoors. I got a LOT of gardening done. (Pulling up weeds feels really, really good!)
I treated the kids--and myself--to ice cream. (Dairy Queen never gets old.)
We visited one of the local farms, where we met this handsome hog...
Naturally, I took even more pictures of my dog. (Can you ever have enough pictures of your pet? I don't think so!)
I chipped away at Laundry Mountain. (I've come to terms with the realization that it will never be Laundry Desert.)
We gathered with relatives at a pretty French bistro to celebrate the interesting life of an aunt who had passed away. She was into yoga thirty years before it became "hot."
Back at home, naps were taken (not by the kids).
Books were read. (I'm still on my Anne Lamott kick.)
Life was quiet.
And now I'm back. Recharged.
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How 'bout you? Do you take the occasional break from online life, or are you completely plugged in? Do tell!
We're in the thick of "May Madness" right now: School is winding down and the end-of-year activities are winding up--waaaay up! I've turned into what Pamela Druckerman says the French scornfully call "Maman-Taxi"--the crazed mom who shuttles the kids from one activity to another. I can barely figure out how I'm going to get my son from after-school play practice to his baseball game, with my daughter's piano lesson sandwiched in between. Taxi-Mom indeed!
I really dislike the idea of over-scheduling kids (never mind myself), because I remember my own childhood as being relatively low-key. I took ballet and piano lessons, but I had LOTS of free time for playing outdoors after school. And yet, here we are today: Tightly booked.
But the good thing about being temporarily over-booked is that it helps us to see what can fall away. To see which activities give us the most joy and which ones are just time-drains.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with my daughter's dance lessons. She's been losing interest in ballet, but now she loves to play the piano. So, dance lessons will be dropped after the big recital in June.
My son gave up fencing for similar reasons. Took too much time and didn't give enough joy.
But he loves, loves, LOVES baseball, so that one's non-negotiable.
It's not just the kids with multiple interests and minimal time. On my way to find my son's baseball gear, I nearly tripped over the sewing machine that I'd bought for myself over a year ago. I've used it exactly two times, including once for a beginner's sewing class. While the class seemed interesting on the day I took it, I have to admit that I can't even remember how to thread the bobbin anymore.
If I have a free half-hour, nine times out of ten, I'll reach for my camera. Zero times out of ten, I'll reach for a new sewing project. I'm terrible at math, but I think that says something.
I thought I could read the small stack of books I'd taken out of the library a month ago--cookbooks, a couple of novels, a book of essays--but they're all due today and going back to the library, all but two of them unread. (When exactly did I think I was going to be able to whip up those vegan cupcakes, anyway?)
Then there's the Mad Men finale. Some day, I might get around to watching it, along with the four shows leading up to it that are waiting patiently for me on TiVo. Frankly, I'm just not that interested anymore. It's hard to fit in TV shows when I don't have time these days to blow-dry my hair. (Sending out a big thanks to whomever invented the ponytail hole in baseball caps!)
There are only so many hours. Our ongoing task is to find the essence of our days--the things we love, the things we truly need to do--and skim off the rest.
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How 'bout you? Have you simplified your activities or are you stretched to the limit? Let's hear it in the comments section!
I know that dandelions are weeds, the scourges of green lawns across America, but my goodness, they certainly do their very best to persuade us of their beauty! Just look at this dandelion in "its furry stage" above, which I captured with my trusty macro lens. Is it just me, or is that one gorgeous flower?
P.S. In the related articles section below, there are some great posts about the environmental and health benefits of dandelions--check them out!
This week has been absolutely GORGEOUS, between the balmy weather and the blooms abounding. I've been out-and-about every single morning with my camera. I just love how Bleeding Heart flowers are like nature's perfect little valentines! If you need some plants for shady areas of your yard, I highly recommend Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra). Here's what else I recommend to kick off your weekend wonderfully:
As a die-hard spider rescuer and bug-studier, I loved this New York Times opinion piece from Tim Kreider: On Smushing Bugs.
The Garden State is looking remarkably like the Garden of Eden lately (minus the nude couple and that pesky serpent, of course). The month of May in northern New Jersey is really something beautiful to behold--even more so after the scars of last winter. (I'm still thawing out.)
The official state color right now is definitely pink...
Everybody is out and about, a little giddy with the splendid weather. Kids on new bikes; parents out for long strolls before nightfall; dogs rolling around on their backs in the sunny grass, just begging for belly-rubs.
We're all breathing in the blossomy air as if it were the sweetest perfume.
So, contrary to what you might think (due to some unmentionable "reality" TV shows), New Jersey really is a beautiful Garden State. And, with springtime springing up everywhere we look, it's even more so.
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Joyful update: On Tuesday, May 19, I'll be taking part in my second Twitter chat with BlogHer editors about how you can take more professional-looking pictures. Join me on Twitter at 1:00 EST on 5/19/15 and search #BlogHer #Experts. It'll be fun!
This foggy morning, when I was walking the velvety-eared Delilah, I saw that my neighbor's tree--one of my favorites; I covet it!--was in full bloom. So, back home I went for the "proper camera" instead of just the phone-camera.
I have to take advantage of this single, perfect week when the trees are all decked out, before they shed their festive party outfits in confetti made of blossoms.
On Tuesday, May 19, I'll be taking part in my second Twitter chat with BlogHer editors about how you can take more professional-looking pictures. Join me on Twitter at 1:00 EST on 5/19/15 and search #BlogHer #Experts. It'll be fun!
There's a great post below in the "Related Articles" section, by BlogHer editor Jenna Hatfield, on how to take better pictures with your iPhone. Check it out!
Okay, let's get this right out of the way: Nobody really wants to hear how crazy-busy we are, with "craziness" being worn as a badge of honor, some sort of sign that we are "worthy." Because--let's face it--when it comes to busy-ness, we're all pretty crazy. We've all got our own stuff to juggle, and does anybody really know how to juggle (except circus clowns, who creep me out)?
There's good-busy (trying to do a lot of things you enjoy and are proud of) and bad-busy (trying to chip away at Laundry Mountain, paying a heap of scary bills, or--heaven forbid--checking in on loved ones at the hospital). Right now, I'm in the middle of good-busy (even though Laundry Mountain is threatening an avalanche). But I'm trying to take breathers here and there, so the good-busy doesn't start to feel like the bad-busy.
Enter the dog.
My dog, the velvety-eared Delilah, really knows how to take a breather.
But because she's a dog through-and-through, she's also acutely attuned to the Here and Now. Or at least she seems to be. Maybe she's really daydreaming about that handsome German Shepherd who lives up the block.
Anyway, the impression Delilah gives is that she's got mindfulness down to a science. She seems joyfully aware of every little creak and click, every flutter of a moth's wings, every crunchy stick to chomp, and all the tiniest little blossoms that are opening up right at this very second to release their blossomy scent.
She doesn't discriminate against weeds, either. They're all good.
So, as usual, when I need a breather, I grab my camera and attach the macro lens. It puts me into an odd-but-blissful mix of relaxation and hyper-awareness. Dog-Mode.
Like Delilah, I'm fascinated by bugs. Unlike Delilah, I don't try to eat them.
Getting into Dog-Mode, I get as close as possible to things and really check them out. Whoever said "God is in the details" was really onto something. The details I can see with a macro lens knock me right out with their awesomeness. And focusing on the tiniest little things helps me re-focus on the Big Picture.
So I'm channeling the dog, but with a camera and opposable thumbs. It stops me from running around in circles, chasing my tail.
How 'bout you? Are you good-busy or bad-busy today?
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BIG NEWS: Today, part of my good-busy is being featured as a guest writer on BlogHer, with a tutorial called 3 Simple Steps to Finally Learn Manual Mode on Your DSLR Camera. It's part of their BlogHer University month-long course on photography, and I'm tickled pink that they invited me to chime in! I hope you'll check it out during your next break from juggling.
If you found your way here from BlogHer (welcome!) and you enjoyed this post, you can check out more posts up the same alley, under the "mindfulness" and "macro" categories.
I grew up in this pretty little beach town--East Lyme--and I don't think I fully appreciated it until I moved away. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, tourists (whom we residents less-than-affectionately called "summer people") flocked here in droves to park themselves on the town's sandy-white beaches. As kids, we tolerated this seasonal population boom, but I'm not sure we really understood it. What was all the fuss about, anyway?
After college, when I lived in Manhattan (quite a different town!), I would occasionally take the Amtrak train to Old Saybrook, where my parents would meet me at the station and drive me back to our East Lyme home. It was on one of those train trips when I noticed that almost all the passengers in my train car stopped what they were doing--looked up from their books, their newspapers, their various diversions--to simply gaze out at the shoreline view. It was my town we were passing through.
I think that's when I fully realized just how good I'd had it, growing up in this pretty little beach town. I still go back from time to time, to pay my respects.
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How 'bout you? Did you appreciate where you grew up?
