I have my own October ๐ ritual paying homage to the beautiful show the trees put on- one pic a day of the most beautiful leaf I see on my walk or run-it reminds me to โlet goโ.
Filling the well. Sometimes it is hard to do. I think that is one of the reasons I love working in the illustrated journal. I want to fill that page with images so I find Iโm much more present in the moment, looking and listening for things to draw. It feels like a gift to myself.
You asked about a Little Debbie memory and it took me right back to when I was little and weโd come to the states to visit my grandmother. She always had a box of Yodels for me. They were my favorite.
I think Iโll add that to my journal this week.๐
I appreciate the perspective on working in an illustrated journal. I agreeโฆ. It encourages us to look and see and recognize the wonder in our days. I love the memory related to your grandmother and the Yodels. The Little Debbie that came to mind for me was tied to a grandparent as well. And yes! Thatโs the perfect kind of memory connection to land a Yodel in your sketchbook this week. Thanks for reading!
Conundrum! Calliope. As always your writing fills my soul, its like having you sit beside me and tell tales of your week. Is the Little Red Hen a fairy tale? Not sure but I like it. I live rurally in New Zealand and the last bird I saw was our lanky native Pukeko. I love seeing there wee black fluffball chicks and Pukekos always bring back memories of summer on the farm. P S i loved your Zither notes. I love to put random things like that in my travellers notebooks. I cant let an opportunity go to learn something new when the spark catches me
Thank you, Lisa! I love that the Little Red Hen came to mind for you. The Pukeko! I am glad to have looked up a new-to-me bird. Thank you for mentioning the zither notes!
Ding dongs from my childhood. Zebra cakes I associate with my second oldest child and the year we worked in the same store. I saw the same vulture twice yesterday; first when I took my second oldest to the airport (after a visit) and second when I returned home. No plans for October for the first time in awhile, probably because this is the first October since the second oldest moved out and we often did challenges together. Either poetry or sketches, not always the same thing, but sharing and being accountable. So I think this time around Iโll just go with the flow, doing whatever strikes my fancy. Though as I type that I feel the urge to start out with a series of harvest/Halloween sketches... Guess Iโll just have to see what appears on the page, ha ha.
Canโt say I have a favorite fairytale as I love reading all of them. I even attempted to illustrate some once.
I am enjoying reading your writing and it is interesting to "hear" the words in your voice as if Iโm listening to a podcast. It makes me wish I could hear some of my favorite authors read their works.
I love that Little Debbie straddle your own childhood and parenting. Those two feel generational even. I remember in the past when you would mention you and your child working on October art together. I am sure this October feels very differentโฆ.. I am glad though that you plan to do an October project on your ownโฆ. Halloween sketches sound like a great way to jump in. Thank you for the comment about โhearingโ the writing. That means a lot to me. Have a great week, Lee.
I donโt remember my first Zingers experience, but I do have some youthful memories during the height of my addiction to those sugary snacks. Letโs see, there were raspberry Zingers, and my favorite โyellow-frostingโ Zingers (which I do occasionally find on one of the end isles at the Rite Aid). Outside of the Zingers realm, however, there were apple or cherry moon pies, mini donuts sprinkled with coconut (the powdery white ones would do in a pinch), and Jack-in-the-Box hot apple pies.
When I was perhaps 11 or 12 years old, a friend and I would ride our 10-speeds to the local shopping mall some Saturday mornings when our parents just wanted us out of the house. I donโt know why we went to the mall; we never had much money to spend. But we always had a few spare quarters each, and on the way we would stop at the โday-old-breadโ store to pickup supplies. Remember those? I guess theyโre still around. Hostess had these outlet stores which sold baked goods rapidly approaching their โSell Byโ dates. I donโt remember prices in the early 70s, but they were so low that for a dollar I could buy a half-pint of milk and enough sugary junk food to send three grown men into comas. They even had a โDaily Specialโ bargain isle where they placed items that were literally within hours of expiration. I always checked there first.
We stuffed our pockets full of those artery-clogging cholesterol bombs then headed for the mall where we walked around for hours visiting all the stores, checking out stuff we couldnโt afford. I wonder where we got all that energy from? I remember my friend was the worst bicycle rider I knew. It annoyed me to no end that he could never keep a straight line. It wouldnโt have been so bad had he rode ahead of or behind me, but he always wanted to ride side-by-side so we could chat. Many times he nearly took me out, randomly steering into my path or entangling his pedals with mine.
In hindsight, maybe it wasnโt just him. I donโt know how long it takes for the liver to process the 100-plus grams of sugar we must have consumed on those Saturday mornings, but Iโd say it was a safe bet we were both spinning under the influence.
What a wonderful train of memory, James! Iโm laughing about your friend who couldnโt keep a straight line, but so charmed that he wanted to ride next to you to chat. In hindsight, itโs really wonderful. I never ran into one of those stores, but I really love this storyโฆ. And the string of pastries and treats that came to mind for you. Thank you!
My favorite childhood fairytale was (and is) Sleeping Beauty. I have identified strongly both with the princess Aurora and Maleficent. In my lifeโs journey I am still waiting to wake from sleep, and I have the power to do so. Itโs the Maleficent part of me that can awaken me from my slumber, not a prince. I am newly turned 69 so hoping I wonโt always be in the somnambulant state.
CHRYSALIS kind of goes along with Sleeping Beauty. In a state of waiting to become.
CTHONIC darkness of the underworld, which also relates to one of my favorite Greek myths involving Persephone
Adan - thank you for the words and for your poignant connection to the idea of Sleeping Beauty. Wake! I hope you find ways to move from the feeling of sleep and into the world around you. Thank you for reading. I hope you have a good week.
When we grandkids were over at our grandparentsโ house, we could have almost as many snacks as we wanted. But we had to ask if we could have the Little Debbie cakes---Granny had to have enough to last the week for Grandaddyโs lunch. He had one of those gray metal lunchboxes in the 1970s that he carried to work as a welder. Grandaddyโs favorites were the Star Crunch and Nutty Bars (which switched to Nutty Buddy in 2016). I still buy them for my lunchbox.
I saw a Blue Jay this morning pecking at a tree branch while I was waiting on my husband to get in the car. A squirrel was shaking its tail at the Blue Jay from the roof of the house next door before that streak of blue flew across the yard.
I always liked Little Red Riding Hood. I think about how there are so many different endings to that one, maybe something new might happen if I hear it again.
Thank you, Jen, for the words, the memory, and the fairy tale. When the zinger came to mind, it was with a grandparent memory for me, too, and even though there have been Little Debbies at times in the house through the years with my kids, I felt like it was a dated reference somehowโฆ.. I really love that your story, too, is rooted, wonderfully, in history. That lunchbox! Blue jayโฆ.. very nice (and noisy). As for little red riding hoodโฆ.. great pick. I really appreciate your words that different possible endings! (Years ago, I did a thesis that includes long poetic portions related to that one.)
A cabin in the cold is the start of my most recent dulcimer story. My mom used to play the autoharp, I find the the sound of a zither entrancing. Last spring we had a vicious cold snap the weekend we were ready to visit the โliving historyโ presentation at a historic property here in Alabama. We bundled up and faced the freezing wind to watch people use ploughhorses and shear sheep out in the cold. Imagine my delight when we heard the historic homestead was open and warm due to the staff cooking fried bread on the cast iron stove. We trundled in and the house was not only snug and warm, but the living room was full of a group of eight or so folks playing dulcimers all in tandem. It was transportive. It felt like a moment out of time and space- hearing the music, being in that old house looking out the old window onto the old property.
Oh, Lauren! Wow! That these instruments have personal resonance for you is awesome. I *think* that something my grandfather played was a version of an autoharp, but I didnโt realize that until I started researching the zither and ran into the autoharp. The dulcimer story is surreal and wonderful. What a wonderful experience for all of you!
All I have for you this time is a northern flicker and a chewy cookie, preferably oatmeal raisin.
Thanks for your beautiful post. Iโve been secretly ashamed of the repetitiveness of my illustrate your week pages: a book Iโm reading, something I saw in the garden, etc. I appreciated your discussion of this topic, and your encouragement to add in things that arenโt necessary literal pieces of our week.
Thank you for reading, Rebecca. Northern Flicker is always a wonderful sighting. I love the โcโ words. I think the approach you take with your journal is wonderful โ we each have (and evolve) an approach that really is true to us as individuals. I hope you never feel bad about what you includeโฆ. We owe nothing to anyone in terms of what makes our pages. What you read, what you see in the garden, what the cats doโฆ. All of that results in a beautiful capturing of your days and life. Some have even a smaller circle. I think it is also okay when people want to include other things. That may never be a comfortable approach for you, and thatโs okay. But definitely just push out any concern over repetition! I might draw my hand from fifty different angles over the weeks - or even the same. Itโs valid. (And if you decide to try a larger sketchbook, you might find you really enjoy it!)
Like you, I grew up with zero as 0ฬธ and Z as ฦต to differentiate as well as seven as 7ฬถ and I still like to do that! Collage and cobalt. This month I'm doing my abstract version of inktober, ink on w/c paper. Hope your Inktober project is magical and a good change of pace!
Yes, absolutely, 7's too. It makes a lot of sense to me still! Thank you for the C words. I am glad to hear you are doing abstract ink pieces again.... I always love seeing that! Thanks for commenting!
I donโt have a Little Debbie memory...when I was little I wasnโt allowed to have anything with sugar in it, especially a store bought treat like a Little Debbie snack! But I remember my grandmotherโs next door neighbor, Fran, secretly giving me Oreo cookies over the white fence between their houses. It was a delight!! I can remember that flavor like yesterday...standing there in the summertime air, that neighborhood filled with cozy little houses, the scent of fresh cut grass as lawnmowers whirred in the background along with the sounds of kids on big wheels zooming around the pavement and the tinkling of those little plastic beads kids put on their bike spokes... Culpable Cookie. ๐ Thanks for all the inspiring drawing ideas!
I have my own October ๐ ritual paying homage to the beautiful show the trees put on- one pic a day of the most beautiful leaf I see on my walk or run-it reminds me to โlet goโ.
That is a wonderful October ritual! I hope you find a stunning leaf today to photograph.
Filling the well. Sometimes it is hard to do. I think that is one of the reasons I love working in the illustrated journal. I want to fill that page with images so I find Iโm much more present in the moment, looking and listening for things to draw. It feels like a gift to myself.
You asked about a Little Debbie memory and it took me right back to when I was little and weโd come to the states to visit my grandmother. She always had a box of Yodels for me. They were my favorite.
I think Iโll add that to my journal this week.๐
I appreciate the perspective on working in an illustrated journal. I agreeโฆ. It encourages us to look and see and recognize the wonder in our days. I love the memory related to your grandmother and the Yodels. The Little Debbie that came to mind for me was tied to a grandparent as well. And yes! Thatโs the perfect kind of memory connection to land a Yodel in your sketchbook this week. Thanks for reading!
Conundrum! Calliope. As always your writing fills my soul, its like having you sit beside me and tell tales of your week. Is the Little Red Hen a fairy tale? Not sure but I like it. I live rurally in New Zealand and the last bird I saw was our lanky native Pukeko. I love seeing there wee black fluffball chicks and Pukekos always bring back memories of summer on the farm. P S i loved your Zither notes. I love to put random things like that in my travellers notebooks. I cant let an opportunity go to learn something new when the spark catches me
Thank you, Lisa! I love that the Little Red Hen came to mind for you. The Pukeko! I am glad to have looked up a new-to-me bird. Thank you for mentioning the zither notes!
Ding dongs from my childhood. Zebra cakes I associate with my second oldest child and the year we worked in the same store. I saw the same vulture twice yesterday; first when I took my second oldest to the airport (after a visit) and second when I returned home. No plans for October for the first time in awhile, probably because this is the first October since the second oldest moved out and we often did challenges together. Either poetry or sketches, not always the same thing, but sharing and being accountable. So I think this time around Iโll just go with the flow, doing whatever strikes my fancy. Though as I type that I feel the urge to start out with a series of harvest/Halloween sketches... Guess Iโll just have to see what appears on the page, ha ha.
Canโt say I have a favorite fairytale as I love reading all of them. I even attempted to illustrate some once.
I am enjoying reading your writing and it is interesting to "hear" the words in your voice as if Iโm listening to a podcast. It makes me wish I could hear some of my favorite authors read their works.
Cacophony, chitter.
I love that Little Debbie straddle your own childhood and parenting. Those two feel generational even. I remember in the past when you would mention you and your child working on October art together. I am sure this October feels very differentโฆ.. I am glad though that you plan to do an October project on your ownโฆ. Halloween sketches sound like a great way to jump in. Thank you for the comment about โhearingโ the writing. That means a lot to me. Have a great week, Lee.
I donโt remember my first Zingers experience, but I do have some youthful memories during the height of my addiction to those sugary snacks. Letโs see, there were raspberry Zingers, and my favorite โyellow-frostingโ Zingers (which I do occasionally find on one of the end isles at the Rite Aid). Outside of the Zingers realm, however, there were apple or cherry moon pies, mini donuts sprinkled with coconut (the powdery white ones would do in a pinch), and Jack-in-the-Box hot apple pies.
When I was perhaps 11 or 12 years old, a friend and I would ride our 10-speeds to the local shopping mall some Saturday mornings when our parents just wanted us out of the house. I donโt know why we went to the mall; we never had much money to spend. But we always had a few spare quarters each, and on the way we would stop at the โday-old-breadโ store to pickup supplies. Remember those? I guess theyโre still around. Hostess had these outlet stores which sold baked goods rapidly approaching their โSell Byโ dates. I donโt remember prices in the early 70s, but they were so low that for a dollar I could buy a half-pint of milk and enough sugary junk food to send three grown men into comas. They even had a โDaily Specialโ bargain isle where they placed items that were literally within hours of expiration. I always checked there first.
We stuffed our pockets full of those artery-clogging cholesterol bombs then headed for the mall where we walked around for hours visiting all the stores, checking out stuff we couldnโt afford. I wonder where we got all that energy from? I remember my friend was the worst bicycle rider I knew. It annoyed me to no end that he could never keep a straight line. It wouldnโt have been so bad had he rode ahead of or behind me, but he always wanted to ride side-by-side so we could chat. Many times he nearly took me out, randomly steering into my path or entangling his pedals with mine.
In hindsight, maybe it wasnโt just him. I donโt know how long it takes for the liver to process the 100-plus grams of sugar we must have consumed on those Saturday mornings, but Iโd say it was a safe bet we were both spinning under the influence.
What a wonderful train of memory, James! Iโm laughing about your friend who couldnโt keep a straight line, but so charmed that he wanted to ride next to you to chat. In hindsight, itโs really wonderful. I never ran into one of those stores, but I really love this storyโฆ. And the string of pastries and treats that came to mind for you. Thank you!
I love reading your weekly missives. Thank you.
My favorite childhood fairytale was (and is) Sleeping Beauty. I have identified strongly both with the princess Aurora and Maleficent. In my lifeโs journey I am still waiting to wake from sleep, and I have the power to do so. Itโs the Maleficent part of me that can awaken me from my slumber, not a prince. I am newly turned 69 so hoping I wonโt always be in the somnambulant state.
CHRYSALIS kind of goes along with Sleeping Beauty. In a state of waiting to become.
CTHONIC darkness of the underworld, which also relates to one of my favorite Greek myths involving Persephone
Adan - thank you for the words and for your poignant connection to the idea of Sleeping Beauty. Wake! I hope you find ways to move from the feeling of sleep and into the world around you. Thank you for reading. I hope you have a good week.
The vulture looks on as
the curious child takes his first,
tentative bite of a zebra cake
resultant smile brighter than the glowing jack o'lantern
on the porch behind him.
Grab your wolf mask
and your three little pigs
run giggling through the neighborhood
full of witches with sugary treats.
Perfect! I love seeing what you will spin. I missed you last week in the comments! So I am grateful to see you here with a wonderful bit of poetry.
Curio, chime
When we grandkids were over at our grandparentsโ house, we could have almost as many snacks as we wanted. But we had to ask if we could have the Little Debbie cakes---Granny had to have enough to last the week for Grandaddyโs lunch. He had one of those gray metal lunchboxes in the 1970s that he carried to work as a welder. Grandaddyโs favorites were the Star Crunch and Nutty Bars (which switched to Nutty Buddy in 2016). I still buy them for my lunchbox.
I saw a Blue Jay this morning pecking at a tree branch while I was waiting on my husband to get in the car. A squirrel was shaking its tail at the Blue Jay from the roof of the house next door before that streak of blue flew across the yard.
I always liked Little Red Riding Hood. I think about how there are so many different endings to that one, maybe something new might happen if I hear it again.
Thank you, Jen, for the words, the memory, and the fairy tale. When the zinger came to mind, it was with a grandparent memory for me, too, and even though there have been Little Debbies at times in the house through the years with my kids, I felt like it was a dated reference somehowโฆ.. I really love that your story, too, is rooted, wonderfully, in history. That lunchbox! Blue jayโฆ.. very nice (and noisy). As for little red riding hoodโฆ.. great pick. I really appreciate your words that different possible endings! (Years ago, I did a thesis that includes long poetic portions related to that one.)
A cabin in the cold is the start of my most recent dulcimer story. My mom used to play the autoharp, I find the the sound of a zither entrancing. Last spring we had a vicious cold snap the weekend we were ready to visit the โliving historyโ presentation at a historic property here in Alabama. We bundled up and faced the freezing wind to watch people use ploughhorses and shear sheep out in the cold. Imagine my delight when we heard the historic homestead was open and warm due to the staff cooking fried bread on the cast iron stove. We trundled in and the house was not only snug and warm, but the living room was full of a group of eight or so folks playing dulcimers all in tandem. It was transportive. It felt like a moment out of time and space- hearing the music, being in that old house looking out the old window onto the old property.
Oh, Lauren! Wow! That these instruments have personal resonance for you is awesome. I *think* that something my grandfather played was a version of an autoharp, but I didnโt realize that until I started researching the zither and ran into the autoharp. The dulcimer story is surreal and wonderful. What a wonderful experience for all of you!
All I have for you this time is a northern flicker and a chewy cookie, preferably oatmeal raisin.
Thanks for your beautiful post. Iโve been secretly ashamed of the repetitiveness of my illustrate your week pages: a book Iโm reading, something I saw in the garden, etc. I appreciated your discussion of this topic, and your encouragement to add in things that arenโt necessary literal pieces of our week.
Thank you for reading, Rebecca. Northern Flicker is always a wonderful sighting. I love the โcโ words. I think the approach you take with your journal is wonderful โ we each have (and evolve) an approach that really is true to us as individuals. I hope you never feel bad about what you includeโฆ. We owe nothing to anyone in terms of what makes our pages. What you read, what you see in the garden, what the cats doโฆ. All of that results in a beautiful capturing of your days and life. Some have even a smaller circle. I think it is also okay when people want to include other things. That may never be a comfortable approach for you, and thatโs okay. But definitely just push out any concern over repetition! I might draw my hand from fifty different angles over the weeks - or even the same. Itโs valid. (And if you decide to try a larger sketchbook, you might find you really enjoy it!)
Like you, I grew up with zero as 0ฬธ and Z as ฦต to differentiate as well as seven as 7ฬถ and I still like to do that! Collage and cobalt. This month I'm doing my abstract version of inktober, ink on w/c paper. Hope your Inktober project is magical and a good change of pace!
Yes, absolutely, 7's too. It makes a lot of sense to me still! Thank you for the C words. I am glad to hear you are doing abstract ink pieces again.... I always love seeing that! Thanks for commenting!
I donโt have a Little Debbie memory...when I was little I wasnโt allowed to have anything with sugar in it, especially a store bought treat like a Little Debbie snack! But I remember my grandmotherโs next door neighbor, Fran, secretly giving me Oreo cookies over the white fence between their houses. It was a delight!! I can remember that flavor like yesterday...standing there in the summertime air, that neighborhood filled with cozy little houses, the scent of fresh cut grass as lawnmowers whirred in the background along with the sounds of kids on big wheels zooming around the pavement and the tinkling of those little plastic beads kids put on their bike spokes... Culpable Cookie. ๐ Thanks for all the inspiring drawing ideas!