The La Belle Daybook: Week of 2 June

My hour for tea is half-past five, and my buttered toast waits for nobody.
~ Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White

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unday. Whether you are religious or not, no one can argue with the necessity of having at least one day out of the week where peace and quiet, rest and rejuvenation can be found.

We live in a world of noise and cacophony, and the human spirit, even those of the most extroverted of us, needs to steal a few moments of silence.  A patch of tranquility where we can take a deep breath, re-focus, and re-center ourselves.

Once we have found that inner equilibrium, and only after we have done so, should we move on to making plans for the upcoming week.  How we reach that inner equilibrium is as varied as our personalities.

For me, making a pot of herbal tea, walking through the orchard, sitting at my writing desk with the window open, taking deep, measured breaths, and writing ~ all add to my inner peace.

Outside my window...a fallen trunk of one of our cherry trees.  My study window looks out over the orchard, which is dire need of a haircut and a trim.  Every day I gather as many ripe cherries as I can.  Once they’re all gone, I’ll chop  the tree, chip it into mulch, and let it mellow until next spring.  Since we don’t use pesticides, I can rest easy knowing my mulch is safe for my plants.

 

I am thinking...that for all the insanity that is my life right now, I don’t have it as bad some people.  So I should complain less, throw myself into what I can do, and say “To hell!” with everything else.  Now if I could just shut up that nasty inner voice. . .

 

I am thankful...for quiet Sunday mornings, when the sun is just peeking over the tree tops, and no one else is awake yet, not even the animals.  Just me, God as I know Him, and a pot of sweet tea.  The air just seems cleaner at that time of the day.

In the kitchen...a cutting of mums, and another of azalea and an ever present pot of tea (seeing a pattern here?).  Hopefully the plants root and we can transplant them.

 

I am wearing...a summery night gown and robe, my indulgence one day of the week.  I’ll get dressed soon. 

 

I am creating...cards for: a dear friend who lost her husband to cancer, three pen-friends, and two June birthdays.

 

I am going...dancing tonight ~ my Intermediate Lindy Hop class starts tonight.  I can’t wait to don my swing dress ~ swish, swish!

I am wondering...where the year is going.  June already!?

 

I am reading…The Nature Principle by Richard Louv.  Louv coined the term, nature deficit disorder in the book Last Child in the Woods, which is about how the modern child is severely cut off from nature.  With my interest in sustainable and organic living, I’m interested to read more.

 

I am hoping...to spend more time with friends in the next few months.  Three people I was close to died this year and that has hit home how we must cherish the time we have.  Relationships are so important.  And sometimes we don’t realize how much until we can no longer speak to that person.

I am looking forward to...reading more Blogathon blogs.

I am learning…that sometimes, leaving is the best form of love.  Especially when my last nerve has been worked!

 

Around the house...there are too many magazines.  From 1964.  Seriously?  They are not worth a hoot!  If only I could sneak them out to the trash. . . .

 

I am pondering...the universe.  Just kidding.  I’ve been on a Star Trek: NG kick lately.  Up to Season 4 now.

A favorite quote for today...see above.

 

One of my favorite things...are outdoor movies.  Would love to host one myself.

 

A few plans for the rest of the week:

1. Write in my journal 3 times

2. Finish up to Chapter 2 in Man’s Search for Meaning (yeah, that didn’t happen last week.)

3. Do a 7 day gluten-and-grain-free detox.  Day 1 today!!

A peek into my day...is this a typical day, or right now, today?  Because it’s Sunday ~ time to rest, relax, dance, and mourn the weekend!

Oremus pro invicem,
~ Mikaela

 

This post is part of The Simple Woman’s Daybook. What have you got planned this week ~ besides writing your little hands off for the Blogathon?

Abbey of the Arts Lenten Photo Party

To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one's self....
And to venture in the highest is precisely to be conscious of one's self.

~ Søren Kierkegaard

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ent is a great time to examine the resolutions and goals we made at the beginning of the new year, and assess where we are.  A place to stop, rest, and re-center ourselves.  An opportunity to refocus our energy and take care of our heart and our soul.

Personally, I could use forty-days of peace and quiet to figure out where the heck I’m going in 2013.  I feel a little like Persephone ~ stuck between darkness and light, passion and duty.  Here at the beginning, it is enough to observe the different paths around me.  Then I shall choose a new adventure to embark upon.

In that spirit of exploration, Abbey of the Arts is hosting another Photo Party. Details from Christine V. Paintner below. 

Welcome to the Abbey Photo Party!

I select a theme and invite you to respond with images.

Lent begins this week on Ash Wednesday, that beautiful ritual of acknowledging our earthiness and limitations, and responding to the call to enter deeply into this sacred time of prayer and practice. This week, go on a photo pilgrimage, holding the start of Lent in your heart, and notice what images are shimmering in the world around you.

You can share images you already have which illuminate the theme, but I encourage you also to go for a walk with the theme in mind and see what you discover.   You are also welcome to post photos of any other art you create inspired by the theme. See what stirs your imagination!

How to participate:

1. Go to the Flickr Group I have created. You need a free Flickr account first. When you go to the link it will ask you to join the group first before posting. Share as many as five of your images in response to the theme.

2. Leave a comment at this post to let us know you have joined the party and what your Flickr profile name is (you must include this to be entered into the drawing).

3. Please post the invitation on your blog or Facebook page and encourage others to come join the party!

On Friday, February 15th– I will draw a name at random from those who participate and the winner will receive a space in one of my Self-Study Online Classes (with a choice from Soul of a Pilgrim, Eyes of the Heart, Water Wind Earth & Fire, Seasons of the Soul, or Lectio Divina)

I will post my contribution here once I take the picture.

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

If you participate, share links to your blog here and on Christine’s page!

La Belle's Hobby Farm: Savoring the Silence After a Storm

Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise. 
~ Michael P. Garafalo

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iving off the grid is a tough choice to make.  We have been seduced into thinking we can control our lives with technology and can’t live without it, and have literally become addicted to it ~ myself included!

But those who were in the path of last weekend’s derecho know that it is foolish to put your trust in technology and that despite its best efforts, there is at least one thing over which we have no control: Mother Nature.



photo, June 2012, M. D'Eigh



Millions lost power as soon as the 80 mile winds roared into town, tearing up everything not nailed down, and several things that were.  Roads were impassable, cars crushed under trees and power lines.  Even cell service was disrupted, so besides being unable to contact loved ones, there was no tweeting on the smarty-pants phone either.  Friends who texted me on Saturday didn’t reach me until Monday.

One could almost hear the caged-animal-like wails as wild-eyed people moaned, “But what will I do without the internet or my laptop!?”

Savor the silence?

The underlying hum of electricity is like a drug; once it’s taken away, you panic and go through withdrawal.  You fancy you can feel the silence.  The air hangs heavy and your thoughts run around like frightened mice.  Ever drop of rain sounds like a waterfall and every cricket’s chirp is deafening. You must tweet or text or go mad.

But once you’ve been off the electricity drug for awhile, your crazed neurons settle down again.  You welcome the silence.  And the freedom that comes from living at a slower pace.  You may even begin to appreciate the people around you.  Although to be brutally honest: most of us use technology to hide from relational problems and pain.  So once it’s taken away, your options are to either confront the issue head on, or leave town!

Another way to enjoy life without electricity ~ pick up one of those eco-friendly, non-fossil fuel powered versions of the e-reader: the book!  I had electricity and still managed to devour at least five. 

Or you can learn new things to do outside.  I added sawing tree limbs to my repertoire.  Without a chainsaw.  Oh. Yeah.   And I found out that a truck and a really big heavy chain make a great substitute for Paul Bunyan when you need to clear a fallen tree out of the driveway. 

Now if only I could figure out how to chop the trunk and mulch the limbs off the grid. 

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

My condolences to all those who lost loved ones to the storm.  My thoughts and prayers are with you.