I continue thinking about  the happiness I find wherever I happened  to be in this world.

 

“Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there.” — Gary Snyder

Typical Tuesday: A Day at River Road Studio

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

 

 

 

I slept in a little longer than usual this morning. I threw back the soft and comforting yellow quilt. As usual, I paused a moment to be sure that I did not step onto Miss Dixie Tulip, who sleeps in her little doggie bed right beside my bed.

Usually, she is already awake and sitting at the top of the stairway waiting for me to take her downstairs. But not today. Somehow, I managed to get out of bed before she did. That is rare.

When I entered the bathroom, I turned on the ceiling light so I could see the clock. It was 4:30, and I was amazed that we slept this long. Miss Dixie usually wakes up between 2:30 and 3:30 am. Once she is awake, our day begins.

 

We walk down the stairs, and Miss Mitchell comes running from another room to join us. The first thing we do each day is getting the two dogs ready to go outside. I buckled each of them into their harness and snap on the leashes. I walk to the closet to get my jacket because I know it is still cold in the mornings. I make sure my Guardian Security pendant is around my neck. I know that at any time, I could have an accident and might need to call for help. Bob is still asleep upstairs, and I reach for the little flashlight to see where we are walking as we cross the porch and down the four steps onto the sidewalk.

We will move down the walk, past the Zen Meditation garden on our right, and the bird feeder hanging from a branch in the Smoke Tree. I make a mental note to come back outside later this morning to fill the feeder with seeds. There is a lot of bird activity right at this time of year as the birds are preparing for their annual search for the perfect place for  nest building . I  think about the beauty we experienced last spring as we  watched a pair of house wrens building their fresh green mossy nest in a hanging geranium plant on our porch.

We move up the ramp and cross over the stony gravel driveway. We step into the grassy area, where the dogs usually spend time sniffing for the best spots to do their morning business.

I listen to crows in the treetops in the woods, and Mitchel stops to bark at them like they are intruders in her world. I know the crows have been here for generations and centuries – and that the dogs and I are the intruders into the crow’s habitat.

 

 

We returned to the house. It was now time to feed all dogs and cats the first meal for today.

The dogs will share a can of nutritious food that is made without grains. The six cats will have a bowl of wet food, as usual. Once they have all eaten, they will be happy and relaxed.

They scatter about the house and take naps, and I take that step down from my kitchen and enter my office. I hold my first cup of coffee in my left hand as I open the latch on the gate to step down into the office. It is still dark outside, so I turn on a lamp as I set the coffee down on a nearby table.   As the computer lights come on, I realize that this is now the beginning of my workday.

 

I’ll go through the incoming e-mail messages – and delete all of the advertisements and mail that I am not interested in.

 

Today’s top priority is to select two more photos sent off to the editor who is working on my new book.   I spend some time considering which photographs will work best. I narrow it down and eventually send them out via e-mail.

I included a paragraph about the philosophy behind the inclusion of photos in the new book. I view the photos  as a body of work, a cohesive set of images similar to taking a fresh breath of air.  My readers will come to each picture  nestled among  the poems and texts. I don’t select photos as an illustration of the text. I select them as an independent group – as an art show on a gallery wall. They are  pictorial art, and they have an unspoken language.

 

Around 10 am I’ve been working for nearly six hours. I decided I would take a break and go have a leisurely bath upstairs. I run the water, and I put a generous amount of bath in as the water is streaming into the tub. I reach a nearby shelf and take the jar of M. Psalm, Vino gold Tightening Body Cream that is very gritty. I use it to deep clean my feet and entire body today.

This is part of a set of 2 different body creams that my daughter gave me for a birthday gift last year. This is one of those treasured gifts that keep on giving for a long time.

I relax  in the warmth of the bubbly water today. I close my eyes and say a prayer of thanks for this century-old bathtub.  I think of the bodies of people who have enjoyed this bathtub over  the century it has occupied this room.  I always joke that this tub is my prayer closet. It is a place where I just stop whatever I have been doing, and I ease my body down into the soothing water and begin to count the things I have to be grateful for each time. Today, as I closed my eyes, I saw the bathroom disappear, and in its place was a deep blue sky like you would see at midnight in December on a clear night. In this sky scene, I was far away, in the third heaven, and I saw the earth and the second heaven from this distant place. I saw them both in motion, the giant orb to the right and the lesser world beneath it to the left. I realized this was probably a vision of what it would be like to look out of a window in God’s home and view the universe from such a distance. The picture lasts only a few seconds, just long enough for me to have a good look at it, and then it slowly disappears, and I return to where I am in the bathtub in my home.

 

I hear some noises and realize that Miss Opal, my cat, is in the bathroom with me. She comes over to see me and to just stare into my eyes for a few moments. While I continue my bath, she explores the bathroom and opens the door to the towel closet. Later, I hear her cleaning herself, and her licking made so much noise I was surprised by the sounds.

Around 11:30, I return to the office, and Bob takes the dogs out for their noon break. He came back and announced that “it’s not so cold outside.” I was surprised, for it was frigid earlier this morning.

 

Bob brought in the mail, and I received a little gift from an old friend. Edna sent me a book of poetry by a western PA poet, Linda Brandon Randy. This chapbook is called  Apple Butter Afternoon: Growing up in a Small Town. I looked through the book and noticed that she is also a graduate of Slippery Rock University, PA. I think I have to get to know her – a fellow resident of western PA, a graduate of SRU, and an author. I will go online later today to see if I can find out more about her. I’d like to send her a note because she inscribed this book to me.

 

I fixed some lunch and took a break with Bob. I had an onion bun with longhorn cheese from the deli. I also enjoyed a small serving of raspberry Jell-O with some fruit cocktails in it. I made a little root beer float in a crystal coffee cup and put in a scoop of vanilla ice cream Delicious.

 

At 12:30, I returned to my office and went through the mail – all of it was for the shredder. Now, I look around at the room and think of what I need to do next.

 

I started doing a severe reorganization of my entire office space. This is the second week of working on this project. I’ve managed to get almost everything sorted out and put it in the proper places on shelves.

I am looking at what remains to be done. I decided that this would be the goal to finish it by the end of this week.

I have today, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to get it completed. I won’t be able to work much here on Friday for Miss Dixie Tulip has a doctor’s appointment, and Salome will take us there. After the appointment, we will drive to New Castle, leaving all of my income tax documents with my accountant who does my yearly tax report. I still have to finish gathering all the documents and details for that yet. Realistically, I will give up another day to devote to getting the tax papers together before Friday. This all means I have only today, tomorrow, and Saturday to put the office in order.

 

I look around and see that I still have about five more piles of paperwork to go through and decide what to do with it all. I’m feeling like I am beginning to be getting too close to my deadline for completing this job. I can’t allow myself to even consider not having it done by next Sunday morning. That is not an option I will even think about.

 

I look at one of the piles and walk over to begin working on it. I have picked up five binders that hold knitting patterns. Each pattern is on a protective sheet. Each binder holds one kind of design.

Sorting through the patterns and purging out the pages of finish patterns that I know I will never attempt to make.   I am saving into just 3 binders. I removed the unwanted knitting instructions from the transparent sheets to protect other papers in the future. Patterns and binders go into my garbage bag. I am glad that the trash pick-up will come tonight.

 

Around 2:30 pm, I walk the two dogs out into the sunshine for a bit of break. According to the thermometer on our porch, I discover that this sunny day is up to 68 degrees. The dogs and I stand in the sunshine for some time. We just stand there feeling the sun’s warmth and thinking of nothing else but how good it feels after a long winter.

 

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day.   I’d love to wear the beautiful green dress I bought in Berchtesgaden, Germany, one summer afternoon. With my green flowered address, I would wear  a green lace shawl. But I won’t be going anywhere to get dressed up  this year.  I  pull my shoulders back and slowly release the air, and I relax.

The only sound in this room right now is the ticking of the clock over my desk. I look up to see that it is now 2:30. I am glad that it is so early because that leaves me a nice space of time to begin working o on another pile or binder near my feet. This leaves only 2 more piles of paper materials to deal with. I feel more positive as I look down at the floor to see more empty space. I am making progress!

By 4:15 pm, I have decided on changing a couple of the photo spots in my manuscript that is now being edited and designed for publication. The editor likes the photos I sent and had a suggestion as to where to place them.

Bob and I have our dinner together in the dining room. We turn on the television and while we are eating, we can listen to music or a good conversation on the Christian network.  This   is a nice way to begin to walk away from the work that we have been doing all day. Bob gathered up his drawing materials and papers before I put out the food. After dinner he will do the dishes while I got back to wrap up a few more things for this work day.

This day has been satisfying.

*

 

© 2021. Lynda McKinney Lambert. All rights reserved.

 

See all My Books here

 

 

Week 1  – January 10 – 16 – Take a WALKING TOUR of my PRIVATE FIBER STUDIO – Here

 

Week 2 – January 17 – 23 –  I shared  a few photos of the paintings that are on the walls of my Fiber Studio. Here!

 

Week 3 – January 24 – 30 –  Lynda takes visitors on a little tour of  some of the 3-D Objects that are in her studio. Here.

 

Week 4 – January 31 – February 6…POETRY BOOKS on the Studio Shelves   – Here

 

Week 4 – BONUS – February 7 – An Interview with Lynda – by  American Printing House for the Blind. Here

 

Week 5 – February 7 – 13 –  Publications  and    Winter Wonderland    updates- Here!

 

Week 6 – February 14 – 20 – Valentine’s Week SALE – my chapbook on SALE  now..  Here – ONLY 5 AVAILABLE THIS MORNING

 

Week 7 – February 21 – 27 – Inspirations from LOOKING at ART  and ART  BOOKS.  Here.

 

Week 8 – February 28 – March 6 – I face the Clutter Dragon~ March Madness

 

 

 

 

March Madness