The Glorious Wind Pinking

October 28, 2011 by
Oh!
Oh what autumnal joy is mine!
Today is the first day in three weeks that we have not had a house guest or two in our home.  I loved, very dearly, visiting with our friends but let’s be honest, if you’ve been reading this blog since last December, you’ll know that we have had at least two weeks worth of house guests at The Gables every month since last January.  Life has been full.  The love has been so thick — thick like Canadian maple syrup.

That said, I am a smidgen tired.
November begins in just a small handful of days and it is the first month since last December that we do not have any friends or family booked for a visit and I cannot wait to fall head over heels into a creative habit again.  I love the people who have visited, with all my heart, but quite frankly, they were bad for my work!  That’s just bare bones honesty for you.

So, since this was my first day (in quite some time) in a quiet and private home, I found myself in a long hot bath this morning with my steaming cup of coffee followed by a breezy bike ride through the autumn wind pinking with a stop at my favorite vintage shop (HELLO YOU WONDERFUL VAIN AND VINTAGE GIRLS) where the ladies and I talked about my new/old beautiful airstream trailer!  Hurrah!  Also, I found a beautiful blue and gray pleated, mid length wool skirt that will be utterly gorgeous for winter walking with tights and boots.  It’s so lovely!  It’s so Sylvia Plath at the country stone cottage.  I can’t wait to wear it.  I had a wonderful batch of sushi for lunch and chatted with a kind fellow from Boise who has a heart for the arts.  I peddled around a bit more, coasted across the university campus (and daydreamed about the weaving class I hope to take this spring).  I talked to a friend on the phone and we laughed out loud and groaned a bit before exchanging Iloveyous and hanging up.

I listened to this while I pedaled my bike.
I love that low, growly, womanly voice…well, I also don’t mind sandpaper kisses…
[ the record version is amazing…go hear it]

Then, oh then, oh then of all thens,
I went to my Ace Hardware store and finally bought 
the Swedish wrap I have been coveting there.  I know, this all sounds strange…a Swedish wrap at the hardware store?
The Pocatello Ace Hardware is the kind of thing legends are made of.  Come visit and I’ll show you myself.  This particular Swedish wrap is a sensual sort of furry hood that has a scarf attached with pompom ends and it makes me look like a Ukrainian princess in exile in hip deep snow with nothing to eat but cold borscht.
I’ll be wearing it obsessively this winter and I’m sure you’ll see it in a photograph or two before spring does its springing.

I’m so spoiled,
Spoiled rotten.
But some days, it’s a good day to be spoiled rotten.

Some other tidbits you may enjoy:
I finally watched this!  I loved it, though it was tremendously sad — it made me wonder if some people are born melancholy.
It made me hold my favorite melancholy mistress tightly in my heart.
If you’re in Pocatello and you haven’t been up here yet this fall,
you’d better hurry.  The fall colors won’t last forever!
I’m going to finish reading this tonight.
I can’t believe I’m only one book away from finishing this amazing series — I feel like the characters in these stories are some of my best friends.  I can get like that with books.  For example, when Dumbledore died I felt like I had lost my grandfather.  
Actually, when Johnny Cash died, I felt like I lost a grandfather.
Perhaps I am one who easily attaches?
Maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to love?
Perhaps I allow myself to be too transported by books?

Lastly, this arrived in the mail today.  It’s tremendously beautiful.
I have been a huge fan of Lana’s work for some time now
and finally claimed this rust and gray beauty from her. 
It’s delicate, robust and generally amazing.


At any rate, this is all to say that I wish you
a merry weekend.
Oh, and Taternator is the cutest quadruped within a thousand mile radius of my home.  I’ll be sure to give him a smooch for you (he’s eating Rhubarb, the cat, right now).
Tater!  Stop that!

MERRY FRIDAY!
Be well, brave hearts.
Don’t let the man get you down.
x
Filed Under: pocatello, random junk

A Smattering

September 5, 2011 by
The light here this morning was a perfect winter blue.
I woke up three times today!
First at 3AM, I went out into the backyard simply because I wanted to be outside for a moment.  The night air was cool, Mister Pinkerton wound himself around my feet, I could smell that the tomatoes were redder than they were the day before.
Again at 5AM I awoke to watch my friends do their final packing
 and depart for their far away homes.
Then again at 10AM I woke up officially and laid in bed with a book and the kitten for a good hour or so before proceeding with my traditional ablutions.
With the help of a friend, I finally found and purchased one of these wonderful vintage chairs!
By the way, is there an official name for them?
I call it my throne.
Truthfully, it’s dreadfully uncomfortable 
to sit in but I like the feeling
of being in it, resting my arms on its scratchy 
edges, feeling the high 
back rise up and fan out like 
a peacock tail while trying to see the world
objectively — like Deborah did in the days of old.  
To my left is one of these frothy little numbers.
I will sip it as I whittle down the unanswered emails and Etsy convos you have been waiting so patiently on for the past few weeks (and months, in some cases).  Thanks for letting me take it easy this summer.  Keeping this body stress free and letting it create when it needed to create has helped carry my spirits high these past few months and has allowed for some restoration and filling of my creative wells.  I am eternally grateful to you for being so understanding when it takes me days or weeks to respond to your wonderful notes.

Actually, on a similar topic that has to do with you, allow me to say that I think of you all the time.  I’m continuously thankful for you.  I’m blessed to have you in my world, each one of you, whether you’ve made yourself known to me or not. 
Thanks for giving me a reason, beyond myself, to write, photograph and make on a daily basis.
I cherish you
and that’s the simple truth.

I hope you are having a splendid day.
Be well, dear friends.
Filed Under: random junk
August 12, 2011 by
Have I told you?
Have I told you that after RW and I eloped in Reno, we moved to Alaska to work for a rafting company?
Well, it’s true.
I felt right at home there, being a Northerner by birth.
Our one room cabin was small, sweet and shabby — our outhouse was stalwart and populated with desperate mosquitoes.
In the summer, when we were bored at midnight and still awake beneath a bright sky, we went fishing.
RW taught me to fish on the fly
and the trout were greedy, leaping rainbows under the sun that never sets.

I always forget about how much I belong up North,
 until I return,
and it becomes so apparent to me once more
that I feel eternally sad and eternally glad
all at once
in my heart of hearts.
 [sweetheart oldtimers]
Alaska was, as always, so right.
So quiet.  So still on my soul.
So reflective and so cozy with (such very good) good company (perhaps soul family?), good food and copious cups of tea.
A home away from home (sometimes, I seem to have so many of those…).
I’m glad to be home in Idaho, with my pack, with my ripe and earthy beets roasting in the oven and the West bench gleaming in the sunshine.

Life is so good.
Everything is pretty awesome.
Even when it’s crummy, it’s good.
What does that even mean?
Well, I think it means, there’s this small flame lit in my heart, most permanently, most unwaveringly, and even when the darkness descends there’s a light here and the shadows are made merry.  
I don’t know what to call this light.  
Perhaps.  
Soul borealis.

Yes.
Soul borealis.

I go North and I miss RW.
RW, come home.
I miss you.
Take me North.
I love you.
Keep your boots together on your landings.
If the flames lick your heels, run fast.
Run to me.

And.
Dear Alaska,
Rise up.  Always rise up.  Wild and free.
Bright and lonesome.
Starfall and water rush.
Silver salmon and wolf howl.
Green flicker of sky lights and purity of snow.
I love you so.

xx
The Duchess of the Hinterlands


https://www.thenoisyplume.com/blog/2011/08/12/1067/

Filed Under: alaska, random junk