Home Sweet Home – 9/14/13

As the week winds down, I’m ready to play in another round of Cynthia Lee’s Spirit Uncaged invitation The Scattered Life Collective.   A peek into what’s been up in my week.

Theme:   This week the theme home seemed to permeate my consciousness at every turn, both showing up for myself and so many of my friends.  We had discouraging news from our insurance company regarding the storm damage to our home.  Sigh.  But we also had an out-of-town friend visiting and that’s always an opportunity to see my house reflected through the eyes of someone else.  Sometimes I get so focused on the less-than-ideal quirkiness of this odd little house that I fail to appreciate how much I truly love it and how it truly is my beloved sanctuary.  This week felt like a huge dose of forgiveness –  forgiveness that we haven’t been able to infuse this house with huge investments of cash upgrades, and forgiveness that I periodically get caught up in that nonsense of thinking it matters if people actually judge me by my home.  All that stuff is just ridiculous crazy and I hate feeling out of balance with it.  And I felt a big rush of forgiveness from the house itself for all that wishing it were something it’s not.  So this week felt like a big shift back into peace and remembering what home really is.  Hooray!

For friends there’s the concern for one threatened by flooding; another wishing to move more quickly from one location to another than circumstances seem to be allowing; another friend celebrating returning home from the hospital into a new apartment they moved into just the day before her surgery – a literal homecoming into a new home.  Two other friends are thinking about where they want to call home next, and another is busy releasing old anchors so she can truly open her life in her dream home. 

current time:  5:15 p.m.

on the menu:  I have the oven on!  I’m taking advantage of hint of autumn with the cool temperature today to roast a spagetti squash and make a sauce with some heirloom tomatoes and a variety of peppers and mushrooms, and when it’s all ready I’ll top it off with some local organic Capriko cheese.  After a week where we had temps in the upper 90s and humidity that only swamp creatures appreciate, having the oven on is an unexpected delight.

out the window:   I’m sitting at a table where I can look out windows and see the flower boxes on I have on my front porch.  Another sign of autumn’s approach is the distinctive shift in the quality of light now.  The oak leaf crotons are wearing an autumn palette, but they look even more lovely in this autumnal light.  The light phenomenon is so interesting to me because it’s so obvious and so beautiful and yet I’m never able to capture it in photos. I actually love that.  It makes it all the more mysterious and seemingly for my-eyes-only.   But you can peek at the crotons anyway.  😉

reading:  I’ve just started The Red Chamber by Pauline Chen, a historical novel based in the Chinese Qing dynasty era.  I’m holding off on expressing an opinion right now because it’s too early, but I haven’t been hopelessly hooked yet.

listening:   Thanks to the always perfect magic of this amazing world I live in, wouldn’t you know a new-to-me song shows up perfectly themed to my musings about home and an awareness of the fragility of our precious lives?   So I’ve been listening long and hard to  The Cinematic Orchestra’s To Build a Home.

watching:  I’ve got Cloud Atlas queued up for another viewing.  I knew the first time I saw it I’d want to see it multiple times, and today feels like the perfect time.

good things:  

• Friends.  I am blessed beyond measure.

• Local varieties of grapes.  You don’t think of the Midwest as a grape producer, but this year I’ve discovered some marvelous varieties thanks to my CSA.  This week it was Jupiter grapes to accompany my Saturn peaches.  Who knows what’s next – are Neptune nectarines or Pluto plucots in the offering?

• A fascinating conversation with my husband influenced by a science fiction story he’d been reading.  In the story a character meets her future self, and it turns out she doesn’t like her future self, nor does the future self much care for the younger version.  Now we’re revisting our younger selves and wondering what they’d think of us as we are now, and what we think of them.  This is such a different conversation than the ones I usually have with myself where my future self is encouraging my present self. 

• Guidance to play more, especially encouraging kid games.  So it was marbles and paperdolls and card games.   Singing and dancing were also advocated. 

• Waking up to crows cawing good morning to me.

challenges and their silver linings:

• Too busy this week and blogging as well as othe things got pushed to the back burner.   Silver lining:  Reminder that I like blogging and want keep it a priority.

• Insanely high insurance deductible for storm damage.  Silver lining:  I met two of the nicest and kindest field claim adjustors who helped make the experience pleasant despite the disappointment.  Plus I was treated to a charming South Carolina accent – always a treat.  

around and about:

• Bridgette Guerzon Mills of Contemplating the Moon has a lovely post about redefining loss as letting go.

•  Artist/Animator Cale Atkinson created a wonderful animation entitled Lil’ Red.   I want a red hood, a trip to the forest and a wolf friend!

• Artist Nelleke Verhoeff of Red Cheeks Factory is keeping me on track with the house theme.

•  As you likely know ceremony is important to me, and I love this little guide created by the always amazing Pixie Campbell.

• I delight in beautiful language and in this guest post by Jamye Shelleby on The Word Cellar shows me she does too.  Loqucious Peach.  I rest my case.

Summary: 

This is week two of creating a quick card to summarize my week.  This week I’ve adopted the practice of Teresa Robinson of {stargardener’s} right brain planner whose weekly mission is to “document the keywords, colors, and/or lessons” on a playing card.  Check her week out here.

Here’s my card.  I’ve decided I’m also going to choose my favorite selfie of the week and add it to the back of the card.  This week I discovered the PhotoToaster app.

Now tag – it’s your turn.  What’s your week been like?  Notice an overarching theme?  Do something delightful?  Have a favorite song?  Playing along in The Scattered Life Collective?  Do tell – you know I love to hear.