Last night I started a journey towards improving my writing. I recently joined a small band of women who will meet weekly and work on each other’s projects of the pen.
Last night I started a journey towards improving my writing. I recently joined a small band of women who will meet weekly and work on each other’s projects of the pen.
This morning, my son – who knew I left the family circle last night to retreat to my office to start my 5 pages that are due this Friday – asked how it went. I told him I was pleased with the piece I had started but that, so far, I was falling one page short of the the 5 page minimum. I am too old to play the “adjust the margins” game or to pretend I didn’t hear the “please use 1.5 spacing” and resort to double spacing. Clearly, I have more to do before deadline.
Upon hearing this news – being short a few hundred words – this was my son’s advice, and I quote: “Mom, just go back and start adding in the descriptive words. Like the ‘deep brown walls’, not just ‘walls’. That will help.”
Portrait of My Genius
After all these years of letting loose with this blog and scribbling in many journals the ideas for my “Great American Novel”, I was finally taking the jump towards opening myself up to the power of other women writers from my own community. This was going to be challenging and thrilling and difficult. I was ready.
I obviously could have just turned to the 15 year old and my thesaurus. And saved myself the extra work.
Last week I went to my niece’s art fair at her school. It is for the students in grades K thru 8, and it encompasses all pieces from their year in art class.
Last week I went to my niece’s art fair at her school. It is for the students in grades K thru 8, and it encompasses all pieces from their year in art class. I went to this show for nine years when my son was at the same school, and it is my favorite event. Children pull their parents – tugging really – to their artwork. God help the parent that has more than one child, because they risk bone dislocation.
This year, this piece was my favorite in the entire show:
The colors weren’t captured well in the softly lit gymnasium. It was captivating and is the work of a 4th grader. I don’t know what the process was, but it struck a chord. And what’s not to love when mounted to colored construction paper?
This was my niece’s favorite in the entire show. Clarification: her favorite that wasn’t of her own hand.
Her favorite of her pieces is here:
She called me out on the fact that my favorite wasn’t one that she had labored over. I talked myself deftly out of that by letting her know I had to take her pieces out of the running in able to even be able to vote at all. I didn’t go into the ethical practices of jurying an art show – something I use in my work on occasion.
Our mother has a gentle, giant dog named Lily. She sent me this photo recently with the title “Lilypads”. This is what my daughter was spending her time with Nana doing, “decorating” Lily.
I have never really liked the “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade” saying. It has always bugged me, and it doesn’t sit right.
I have never really liked the “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade” saying. It has always bugged me, and it doesn’t sit right. I like a good motivational saying – my Pinterest board “Sayin’ Something” is full of them. But that one, not so much.
Yep. The camera is on the roof of the car. The only way to get a good family shot!
When life, parades, business and commitments stepped in a few weeks ago and blew the plans my family and my sister’s family had made for Spring Break, we didn’t pout; we just changed our plans. Well, the youngest among us cried her eyes out, but the rest of us remained relatively calm. We were to have skied in Steamboat, but, instead, we took a road trip to Dallas. See? Nothing like lemonade.
My view from inside the huge Richard Serra piece at the Nasher Sculpture Center.Great art placement at the Nasher Sculpture Center.My favorite shot of my husband at the Nasher Sculpture Center.
And it was fantastic! What a great American city. The night before we were to leave, I typed my new favorite combination into Google “boutique hotel in (choose city name)” and happened upon the Belmont Hotel. Just over the Trinity River from downtown Dallas, and the view from most rooms was unstoppable; the view at night from the pool was a picture postcard.
We did our part as tourists – and those who like to spend money with locally owned businesses – and stayed in a locally owned hotel, ate meals in 4 locally owned restaurants, and, visited two tourist destinations located downtown. The Dallas World Aquarium and The Nasher Sculpture Center have found happy homes in urban settings.
Everything about the Hotel Belmont was understated and well appointed. Even the courtyard.My sister and her daughter takin' in the views of Dallas from the second floor.Too good a shot to pass up.
We left much to go back and see, but that has been the way we’ve traveled with our son. You must always leave one thing undone in a destination so that you always have a reason to go back.
Lookin' pretty good after 8 hours in the car!
The Dallas World Aquarium was nice. The best part was when my husband decided to call it a terrarium after we had walked through the three floors of animals, spiders, and cougars, and finally made it to the lower level…where the aquarium part was. The whole building was packed to the gills with humans – never the best way to view nature – so we paced ourselves and took it all in. However, there really wasn’t enough sea life to put aquarium in the name.
I live with a funny man, and every time I think of the aquarium/terrarium comment I smile.
Extras and details:
My son turned 15 the day before we left for Dallas. He thought this trip was his birthday gift.Too many breakfast choices at Bolsa Mercado. Decisions, decisions.Sh*t eating grins at the Nasher Sculpture Center.
On March 10th we had the time of our lives. Again. For the 10th year in a row.
On March 10th we had the time of our lives.
Again.
For the 10th year in a row.
The Brookside St. Patrick’s Warm-Up Parade is a Kansas City tradition that is equal in its grandness to the main parade held downtown every March 17th. Over 125 entries were in this year’s parade, and the crowds on every block were huge. The weather was amazing, and small business was shining throughout the parade. Another example of the small businesses in and around Brookside giving it their all…strutting their stuff and making magic for children and families.
One of our greatest fears as a small business in a global economy is that events like this parade will cease to exist if small business falters. Who will walk in parades showing off a 1964 Ford F100 pickup? Who will hand out over 100 pounds of candy? Who will hoot and holler and respond to every “shout out” from the crowd?
We saw the most amazing floats this year – dogs in wagons, rainbows over pots of gold, giant lawnmowers and shopping carts. A motorized potato. People on stilts. The list is endless and wonderful. Target didn’t have a float, Walmart didn’t have a float. PetSmart didn’t have a float. But Noah’s Ark did. And The Roasterie, and Cosentino’s.
The St. Pat’s Parade in Brookside was another reminder for us of why we work so hard to keep the neighborhood cultures alive. Because we love what we do, and we don’t want small parades in great neighborhoods to go away.
Please continue to shop with small businesses. You make pots of gold appear in all the right places and for all the right reasons.
Last night we said goodbye to sweet Emma. She passed peacefully surrounded by family with her head on my lap and my daughter’s arms wrapped around her. The room was full of our loving family. I am heartbroken today. So is my daughter.
