A Tiny Bit of Serenity

Drizzly garden fun.

This day was not an easy one. A bit emotionally taxing, if you will. Decidedly so. One of the nicer parts of being here, however, are the cute little tiny gardens everywhere. This is the organic vegetable garden. I didn't get shots of the goodies in the garden, but will soon.

I was wandering around trying to quiet my head and am so glad I did. This has all been really hard but fruitful, but... well, hard. The green spaces make it for me, though. A lot. Knowing that I can always find a bench or seat somewhere amidst the buzzing bees, butterflies, and humming birds while surrounded by plants and flowers is so important to me. I value outdoor spaces. I need to feel connected and rooted in that way. It feels very right. It may not be a cure all by any means, but does it ever help! Just the little bit of reprise I get from the people and walls are so beneficial to me.

Where do you find your serenity?

Fun and Free (ish) With a Rant in the Middle

I love the views here!

 Many times in your life you will hear the old saying, "the best things in life are free," and you know what? It's absolutely true.

I am a little spoiled to live in a veritable paradise, I will admit, but island life does have its own set of downfalls. Will I dwell on it? Not usually. I find it much more pleasurable to remember the happy times and to enjoy the simple things. Sure the traffic on the waterfront may be atrocious, but the views are spectacular. You're stuck anyway so enjoy the scenery.

Regardless of geographical location, however, one should still be able to enjoy all the little things.
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to go with a friend for a little ride around the island. Well, we covered the WHOLE island, but it's not very big. What was so special about a day cruising? The scenery was spectacular as always and it's easy to forget that. It the whole not seeing the forest for the trees. Yes, some of the houses are wrecks; yes, there is litter (which maddens me, but baby steps help); yes, there are strays; too many power lines; bad crime... whatever! When you just step back and take a good look, as a whole, it's amazing and beautiful.


Yes, I can spend time dwelling on the bad, but there is already so much of it in the media. NEWSFLASH: Politicians were never honest, not even in "your day." Crime was always bad: it was just usually across racial lines and "back then" it was okay to beat up coloreds, communists, Jews, fags, cripples, women, spics and what have you. You know, all the people with no rights so they couldn't really call the police anyway? Don't pretend it wasn't true.



Fighting with pirate statues.



Now that I made my statement for all the elderlies reading my blog.... glad I got that off my chest... let's get down to the point! ENJOY THINGS!

nifty vest

Yes, enjoy. I had so much fun just seeing the island from a slightly different vantage point. I enjoyed playing with bubbles and scoping the scenery and watching the pavement zip past and feeling the wind in my fingers and having easy conversation. I liked pretending I was a tourist and then freaking out. I enjoyed seeing the flowers and butterflies. I had FUN. It was great. I got some sun. I had a big ole grin on my face. It was free (ish)... gas did need to be bought. I didn't drink, I didn't need to spend all kinds of money, I didn't need a bunch of fancy things to do it. It was nice.

Plus I got to wear this nifty vest for a second. Shhhhh....

HECTIC!

I was writing my calendar out for the next two weeks and I realized I am pretty much done for. The closest thing I have to a day off coming up is the day after a concert I am doing. I think I may be able to sleep. Sheesh. Really, I should do laundry that day. I should also maybe paint stuff. Oh well. I am going to be a slacker and take my day off as I can. I don't really have one til sometime in April! Who knew this could be such a busy time of year?

How are you guys holding up?

What a Week!

I did 3 shows and did pretty well, if I do say so myself. I also did a mural at the Butterfly Farm and painted a bit. I'm exhausted. If that weren't enough, my car broke down today. I know that sounds bad instead of good, but hear me out. My car broke down so I had to walk to the Marriott (where the hubs works) to get his car to move my inventory out of my car. Well, usually this is easy as many people hitch on island. Today, not too much luck. And it rained.

The good part? I ate some genips off a tree, saw some iguanas and chickens, got some exercise (the hills here are brutal!), and took some time off. If my car hadn't died randomly, I would have just proceeded home to paint more. I have been wearing myself out a bit though, so it was nice to have a little time for me. I collected my thoughts, reworked my schedule in my head, and really felt quite happy by the time I got to the hotel. Odd how the universe knows when you need a break. Sure I could have been upset, but I am glad. I needed a break and was given one. I guess it is how you look at it.

I will post pictures of the mural as soon as I get my camera! I'm a dork and left it at the Butterfly Farm! I am really quite pleased with how it turned out. Nothing to fancy, but the butterflies are fantastic. I may be a few hours behind painting now, but am I truly ever going to be ahead? Not likely. In the end, it really is all perspective. I had a great day!

Downtime...

I shouldn't really be blogging right now since I have things I could be painting, but It's so nice and breezy today that I am enjoying sitting in front on my computer enjoy the view from my window. Taking a little downtime away from my work isn't too bad. It is just so hard to get motivated when it's so pretty out. I enjoy looking out over the harbor an reading on my porch. It's one of my favorite downtime activities.

Do you get easily distracted? What's your biggest distraction? How do you spend your downtime?