Heartful purging…

Date:  February 14, 2016…Valentine’s Day

Place:  Kent Cliffs, New York

Time:  Not enough

Subject:  Purging

 

Living in the Northeast blesses us with seasons; some we love and others just cause everyone to scatter and climb onto the nearest soapbox to complain.  

Really, people?  It’s Winter and it happens once every year, why the shock and dismay?  Why not just move, become a snowbird and settle down in God’s Waiting Room, aka/Florida, to escape Winter’s wrath …snow, ice and brutal temperatures?  Funny thing is, everyone who makes such a move can’t wait to avoid the Florida sun.  Once they get there,  many hide inside their air conditioned condos or other dwellings of choice, mostly at all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants where they fill their Tupperware and complain about, what else, the Heat!

Sitting here at home on this day of hearts and romance, I’m doing my own hiding of sorts here in my office, that little room-of-my-own.  In fact, most are doing the same as the siege of an intense Arctic Freeze has our area in its icy grasp.  It’s almost impossible to move without feeling a chill reaching out to poke you from under every door or glare back through frosted windows.  Early this morning it was -14 but has now warmed-up considerably, reaching a balmy 8 degrees in the early afternoon hours.

I decided to peruse my files of writing ideas and drafts, realizing that I’ve fallen-off considerably with my postings.  But, there is no soapbox waiting for me to vent any lame excuses like life keeps getting in the way and other blah blah bullshit.  When you are a true Writer, the creative process is always present.  Laziness is the real culprit behind our, inability to produce material, excuses.  I especially need to stop blowing that smoke up both my own and everyone else’s patootie.  Let’s get real, when someone has a passion for the arts, little gets in their way.  For example, Peter Robinson, Jr., a dear high school friend is a very talented photographer who shares his work without hesitation and graciously allowed me to place some of his talent in my blog post today. Peter is a true visionary who captures everyday scenes through his camera lens and the result is just magical.  Rarely does a day pass without at least one photograph from him, the sign of a dedicated artist.

 

                                                           

 

 

 

Amazing, isn’t he?  

 

I’ve finally learned one important thing , whatever the form of creative expression, it should never be done selectively, as if one is doing the world some random favor.  Don’t you agree?  <Note to self:  recite this pep talk into the mirror every day>

 

The whole subject of purging hit me when our daughter stopped-by to borrow a cooking item and as I rummaged through a kitchen closet,  she suggested that it was time for me to “P”.    Hold any/all wisecracks.   It did make me stop and think, about that finite wall of time that is ahead and all the stuff that is entwined in our lives; things that are important, not to be misplaced, and others than make us wonder what in hell we were thinking when we purchased them.  Of course, the feeling one gets from purging either material or emotional baggage is beyond cathartic.

For now, I’ll hold onto my stuff.  I will also endeavor to make every possible effort to clear the traffic-jam of ideas and thoughts in my head put into some intelligent format while, hopefully, there is still…time.

 

 

 Don’t die with your music still inside you.
Listen to your intuitive inner voice
and find what passion stirs your soul.
– Wayne Dyer

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Colder than Ice!

 

What could possibly be…colder than ice?  Brrrrrr..waking up to an extremely frosty morning here in New York State!
 

I’m sure that, by some weather-related, temperature standards across the U.S., -8 degrees here in the upper sector of The Empire State could be considered downright balmy.  Joking with friends, I just made a comment that, when it warms up to zero, I’m heading outside to sunbathe, armed with Frozen Margaritas.  Everyone is invited over…just bring your own towels for swimming along with an icepick for the pool.

Not a good day for attempting to see if one’s tongue sticks to a metal pole but I’m sure some fool will try it just for their 15 minutes of fame..or however long it takes for some EMS team to remove that stuck organ from its captor.

                                  

The weather services have labeled our current little cold snap as an Arctic Air Invasion while forecasting the potential of a whopper of a mid-week storm heading for the Northeast along with the drama of predicting it will be one more Storm of the Century.

Been there done that…yawn. 

Hey, we’re snow-pros, ready to assume our places in long supermarket lines, struggling to push shopping carts filled with the basics..bread, milk, toilet tissue and beer.  We’ll start cooking everything in our collective refrigerators/freezers, producing enough menu choices to last for at least the next three to five months.  Coal for the coal stoves, wood for wood stoves and fireplaces, electric heaters, kerosene heaters (not many, kerosene is outrageous, surpassing even gas pump prices), oil and propane tanks topped-off as well.

                                                 

After all, we aren’t like various southern states where snow and ice come as a shock; where one, or two, local counties in the deep south have just one snowplow with which to clear roads.  Like I said, we northerners are seasoned experts with that white stuff and all the havoc it can create.

                                                    
We’re ready for whatever Mother Nature hurls at us.  We are tough east-coasters with 4WD, AWD, plows, snow blowers, ice melt, cat litter and every shovel design offered by our local Home Depots.  Most of us have extra gloves, scarves, food items, emergency flares, flashlights and more stashed in our vehicles should we become snow-stranded or suffer an accident.

                                                                  

                                                
                                                                                            

Hunker down and bring it on!  Mommies have time to fortify themselves with some “me time” to bolster their mental defenses before the kiddies are home from school yet again.   It’s Winter almost wherever one looks except for the state of Florida, the only state with no snow events.  Hate this cold weather?  Move to The Sunshine State where the roads are full of cars driven by headless drivers who, when they aren’t driving through the windows of some Chik-fil-a, chug along for miles with the turn signal flashing; where there’s a CVS on every, and I mean every corner; where once thriving orange groves are demolished to make way for another housing development.  The positives are great beaches on both Florida coasts and growing manufactured entertainment produced at Disney, Busch Gardens, Universal and more making the state a wonderful venue for vacations.  

For me, the only endearing part of Florida is the fact that one of my daughters, her husband and my Grandsons live there.  

But…there’s no snow.

                                                                        
Hold on a minute…I’m not Florida-bashing, just making an observation here so…relax all you Floridians!   All I’m saying here is that you can take the girl out of the Northeast but…you cannot take the Northeast out of the girl.  Once this arctic freeze passes, along with a few more snowstorms, we can look forward to Spring…then Summer…and Fall! 

And then…Winter will return.

 

 

    Flicker of Inspiration Prompt #31: Cold

                                         Have you ever been cold?

Almost a year ago we were freezing our posteriors off here in the Northeast.  Beyond cold or any other description of the weather.  Thought this post was worth sharing for this prompt.  Today, January 1, 2012…temperature outside is a balmy 32 degrees.  Haven’t seen snow since a freak storm in October and no precip is on the horizon.  Mother Nature is seriously slacking-off.

 

 

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