Thursday, June 19, 2014

STATUS REPORT

Well, officially speaking, spring has all but taken its final bow, as summer waits impatiently in the wings—though if you proclaim your seasons based on the practicalities of looks and feel, and not some invisible astronomical milestone, summer displaced spring some time ago here in the pastoral hinterlands of southwestern Ohio. Temperatures the last few days have exceeded 90˚F, and we've had mid-80s˚F and above for weeks. 

That's summer in my book and I don't care what the almanacs claim about when seasons come and go!

The past week has passed by in a heated rush, like a highballing freight train zooming across a Badlands prairie. And I've sweltered and sweated and stewed my way from one job to another like a cantankerous old buffalo because between writing tasks and post-flood cottage repairs, there's a mountain of work to do and only so much time and energy in which to get'r done. Time for cooking and eating is problematic; fishing and photography nigh impossible. At least not without feeling guilty. 

However…

I'm still head-over-heels thrilled and in love with my sweet and delightful and beautiful granddaughter. She's gained upward of a pound already, and is doing just dandy. And yes, I insist on photo updates daily.

The leg is pretty much healed. The rest of me is seriously sore and battered from all the carpentry and lifting, the bending and banging around—and my masculine psyche has been so discomposed that I now dream about things like building closets and laying subfloor. But otherwise, all is well with me, Myladylove, and Moon-the-Dog.

I did make a brief photographic expedition onto the deck yesterday, where I made the two shots of one of the orange summer lilies that grow by the steps leading down to the river. Same flower…one with a darker foliage background, the other with the river at midday beyond. I couldn't decide which I liked best so I posted both.

And FYI, these two images constitute the creative sum of my photographic output for the week. Sheeeeesh!







                   

4 comments:

The Solitary Walker said...

Exquisite lilies!

But do try to cook, eat, fish and take pix. You know it makes sense :)

Grizz………… said...

Solitary…

Thank you re. lilies…and you're right on the making sense business. And there's really not much to fear about my failing to cook and subsequent starvation. Nor is there any way around making deadline on my various columns if I want to purchase those items to cook and eat. Fishing, well between the leg injury and spring rains (the river is again high and muddy thanks to heavy thunderstorms which have been passing through here all week) getting my angling fix has been, at best, problematic—a sort of piscatorial game of musical chairs which I keep losing.

But the real pall hanging over my time and energy—and gets in the way of the leisurely photo-rambles I like to regularly sneak off and enjoy—is all the work to recover from our Christmastime flood. Every room in the cottage, floor to ceiling—at least floor and walls and some remodeling. Responsibility/guilt curtails everything else that's not necessary until much of this pending work gets done. Not that I don't get a fair amount of pleasure and satisfaction from planning designs, selecting materials, and actually making ideas happen. But I have a near-impossible time justifying—or taking much pleasure from—doing anything else while so much is still in such disarray.

George said...

Glad to hear that your leg is much better and that you, your Ladylove, and Moon the Dog are doing relatively well. As to these other matters, I agree with my friend, Solitary, that cooking, eating, fishing, photography, and those other pursuits that feed and stir the soul should not be sacrificed. It's all about pace and balance, as you well know. Having just moved into a new home, I empathize with the sense of sometimes being a bit overwhelmed by what "needs to be done" and what I really want to do most. Fortunately, I've reached the age where I'm more inclined to do a little bit of everything everyday, all with the knowledge that the work and pleasures of life will never be completely accomplished, but each day will be fulfilled if we make some small progress toward the expression of our values.

Grizz………… said...

George…

Ahh, I do indeed know that both you and Solitary are right…and should not have needed reminding, given that I've preached and tried to practice the same philosophy for years.

It's just that we've been waiting for months to get started on the repairs, and it will take months to get them finished, now that we have begun. In the meantime, we're living like squatters, with furniture in piles, stacks and boxes everywhere, walking on the rough concrete floor. Hard to not be overwhelmed by it sometimes.

However, seeing as how it so hot so early in the season here, weather may force me to live and work with a greater measure of balance and perspective. I'm finding that about four or five hours of carpentry and crawling about in tight corners is about all I can take. So it looks like many afternoons will be open for those necessary "other" matters.