On the Road Again...

Is it any wonder that this is one of my favorite Willie Nelson songs?


I love to travel. This is a love that only came to me in the past few years, but, better late than never. I love seeing new places, eating in restaurants that can't be found in my part of Mississippi, and, best of all, meeting new people!


Tomorrow I head out with my best friend and longtime sidekick, Teresa to Mackinac Island, Michigan. This is the beautiful place where the movie "Somewhere in Time" was filmed. No gasoline powered conveyances are allowed on this island. People get around on bicycles and foot power. Fortunately, electric scooters are for rent and are allowed in this small slice of paradise.

One of the things I am anticipating the most is the opportunity to meet another member of my Weight Watcher online group. She will be number 11 if I am counting correctly. I have enjoyed every member whom I have had the pleasure to meet face to face from this group, and I am sure that Sandy will be no different.

Most of all, this trip is a chance to get away from the everyday things that can drag me down and will give me time to reconnect with myself.

And, to quote a popular ex-con, that is a "good thing."

Artist Date

I am currently participating in a book study with my Episcopalian friends. It is called "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. The focus of this book is on getting rid of the things and attitudes that block creativity and keep one from achieving one's creative potential.


One of the suggested activites each week is to make an "artist's date." This can be any activity that feeds the soul and promotes the flowing of creative juices. Last minute cancellations of other activities today led me to drive to nearby Clinton where Wyatt Waters has his gallery.


Wyatt Waters is a watercolorist. His paintings of subjects that range from mailboxes to the Mississippi River are absolutely amazing. Most of his paintings depict local subjects. His use of color is unique and his technique has an impressionistic quality. The artist himself is a whirlwind of constant activity, while his wife, Vicky, is the practical, down to earth half of the enterprise.


In this gallery one is encouraged to pull up a chair and chat while pictures are pulled from drawers and brought in from the back room to be perused at leisure. There is something for every budget, from the originals that sell for $1, 400.00 hand framed all the way down to postcards that sell for seventy cents (my budget!).


After feasting my eyes on Wyatt's works, I peeked into a new independent bookstore across the street. It is a lovely place with an emphasis on Southern literature. Then, at Vicky's suggestion, I ended my morning at a nearby coffeehouse, called "Gravity", where a gentleman with a voice that sounded like a cross between Jim Croce and James Taylor (can it get any better?) crooned songs from my era while I enjoyed pimento cheese on homemade bread.


This day appears to have pulled me up from my recent bout of doldrums. It reminded me that as I remember to properly nourish my body with healthier food, nourishment of my artistic soul is equally important.

One More Day?

Tonight, my husband comes in from Pennsylvania. I love him, of course, and I am glad he is coming home.


But, I wish I had ONE more day alone. I am trying to clean out my office (also known as a natural disaster area). To clean out things here, I have had to put stuff in other rooms until I can sort it out and decide what gets to come back, and what can be donated to charity or simply thrown away.


Things like this take time. And I am not finished. I don't have the energy to get it all done before he comes home. I hate for him to come home to a mess. But, I don't want to put it all back in here before I sort it out.

I need ONE more day...

Mr. Grumpy

This is a nickname I have for my husband when he is being a grouch. I don't call him this to his face, just in my head. Some weeks it seems like he is grumpy more often than not.


This week has been such a week. I know part of it is having to work nights. I have done that and it makes me a grump too. Another part of it is his anger over his dad "inviting" himself along on his trip to Pennsylvania, which he had planned to take alone. My husband is not assertive enough to tell his dad this, so he is grumpy.


I know I probably do things to add to the general grumpiness. For the most part, I try to stay out of the way when he is like this. But, with my disabilities, I don't always have the energy to go somewhere.


My professional counselor self tells me that I need to be able to keep my own equilibrium, even when he is grumpy. Let him HAVE his grumpiness. For the most part, I can do this. But, some days, I allow HIM to get ME down. Like today.


My counselor self does not have any magic solutions. Today, I felt good enough to drive to the next town and get away for the afternoon doing pleasant things. My inner self tells me that when I love people, their moods are inevitably going to affect mine at times.

Hope this is a less grouchy week.