My Country Life

I was feelin' crafty over the weekend and made this sweet little wreath from muscadine vines that grow wild on my property. I spray-painted it white and added a burlap ribbon. LOVE IT! My sister has a small interiors shop in a nearby antique store, and I decided to make a few wreaths for her shop. I had so much fun! Creating the wreaths inspired me to write for my blog again. It's been a long time since I wrote just for the fun of it. Oh, I've been writing – grant proposals, white papers, market analyses, and other serious stuff. I enjoy business and medical writing, which is mostly what I do these days. I like learning about a new subject and find it very satisfying when I deliver a manuscript that meets a client's needs. But I'm experiencing a bit of a lull right now; that's the nature of freelancing. Sometimes there is too much work; sometimes there isn't enough. Rarely is it just right. It seems that every time I have more than a day or two of unc...

Down by the creek, near where I cross every day on my walk, stands a huge sweet gum tree. For as long as I can remember, the tree has shown signs of disease – a big gaping hole at the base and fissures that extend up the trunk. Nevertheless, it reaches like a rocket, perfectly straight and taller than all the others. A while back, in the dead of winter, I noticed a raccoon had crawled inside the den at the base of the tree and died. She had probably lived there her entire life. But on this day, upon returning from her nightly hunt, exhausted, she laid down for an eternal rest. It snowed soon after, and each time I passed I thought of her. When the snow melted, I left her undisturbed and covered her with leaves and dirt.

Melvin in Thanksgiving Scarf November 22, 2013 December 21 will mark the first anniversary of my move to the cabin. It seems to have flown and dragged, all at the same time. When I look back, it seems like just a flash, but when I was actually living it, time certainly did not always seem to zip by. This past year or so, from the time I was laid off in mid-2012 to now, has been a soulful mix of joy and loss, loneliness and blissful solitude, and some serious fear that occasionally turned to courage. Life presents us with challenges, and we get to see what we are made of. Last September (2012) I began a daily practice of gratitude; it helped me stay in the moment and not worry about the future. Soon I started using my iPhone to capture these moments of beauty. I posted some of my gratitude photos to Instagram and shared a few favorites here on this blog. It's fun to look back through those snapshots in gratitude. When I noticed they always left me smiling, I decided to compil...

I enjoyed my first fire of the season yesterday after returning home from a week at Jekyll Island. Cold weather arrived while I was away so the cabin was chilled to the bone. The seasoned cherry from last winter and the pond pine that Jack brought me made for easy fire-starting. Later I added some of the new "green" wood that I recently cut to create a slow-burning fire that lasted through the night.

I'm enrolled in a poetry workshop at Emory this fall. This is the first time I've given poetry any serious consideration. I'll be reading lots of poetry and writing some too. The first class was last Tuesday, and my first assignment is to write a narrative poem to share with the class this week. Following is the poem that I wrote.

Wildflower down by the creek. Looking for the good in every day is something I try to practice. I'm always happier when I take time to notice what I have sometimes called the "happy grateful bits," the sweet little things that happen around us all the time, the things that we tend to overlook in favor of all the things that irritate us or cause us to worry. You know, things like traffic, weather we don't like, the job we do or don't have, how much money we have in the bank, people who bug us, etc. But I've learned that whatever I give my attention to expands, so I choose to give my attention to the good stuff. Here are today's happy grateful bits.

Golden Rod and Beauty Berry Today I'm grateful for . . . this stunning combination of golden rod and beauty berry that I spotted right behind LaMama's house. UGA's win over LSU yesterday and texting with my brother during the game. this perfect fall weather. the opportunities for rewarding work that continue to come my way. Lamar is feeling "great" today; said he hasn't felt this good in a while.

My morning spot here at the cabin. I'm loving this fall weather. This morning I had to wrap up in a blanket again to sit on the porch, and it's about time to dig the heaters out of storage (no central heat here). Oh, and I can't wait for the first fire in the wood stove, but that may be a while.

Beauty Berry (callicarpa americana) Today I'm grateful for. . . the native beauty berries that are magnificent right now, three does that crossed my path this morning, the morning light of late September and the long shadows of fall, geese honking in the distance and a cow moo too, Melvin snoring at my feet, always having more than enough.