Tag Archives: beauty

Celebrations – January 17, 2014


It is Friday again, and a time to stop and take stock of the small things we celebrate, often unknowingly.  Thanks to VikLit, who had the idea for this wonderful bl0g hop, we can remind ourselves of the beautiful things in life that make our days just that much more lovely.  You’re welcome to join – head on over to her blog!

 Details are at the end of this post.

I have been what the French call hors de combat (out of action) for a while with a bad case of bronchitis and pneumonia. It’s clearing up, the solstice has passed (if you can survive to December 22, you can start seeing the days lengthening).

This morning I awoke to a view of a full moon hoving over the hilltop through a smoky lace veil of bare branches. I actually stepped outside (barefoot – don’t tell my mother!) to look at it.

I could feel that I was on the mend, and I’d had an idea for a twist in Book II of The Orphan’s Tale, which I am working on at the moment. A touching idea, introducing (incognito) a man who would be a major contributor to mid 1800’s Europe. To have the prison-raised hero encounter this fellow as a young man (the fellow, not the hero, who is in his mid-forties) and recognize in him a sort of wistful admirer, has me smiling.

There’s another character who appears in the trilogy (it’s shaping up to be that) and he’s always such a joy to write about:



Larouche The Great

He’s a street-child with a sad background, a lot of commonsense and some very good luck.  He is the hero’s more-than-match.  In fact, the conflict in the last volume might have been ably handled if Larouche had been given free rein.

I love writing about him.

The flow of creative juices is always a cause for celebration.


(And I am remembering that today is a Friday!  I hope you all have wonderful weekends.)


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Serendipity…


…is defined by Webster as:

the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for

We have all had experience with this.  The turn in the road that opens out to a vista of a splendid purple sunset (I was driving on Rte 87, heading south in southern New York state), the bird glimpsed at the moment of flight…

I have a camera in my phone, and I’ve started using it.  I also have a nice camera at home, but it isn’t always with me. 

I remember one time (the umpteenth time) walking past an old, beautifully weathered wooden barn sitting in a field of larkspur and bright dandelions and pausing to fill my eyes with the splendor of rich brown, periwinkle blue and brilliant yellow among velvety green, with hills rising behind it.  It was at the end of the street on which my parents’ lakeside cottage was built.  It would be there the next day, I’d grab my camera first thing in the morning, when it was catching the dawn light, and click away.

…the next morning I looked at the new-mown field and shook my head.  The larkspur never came back.

So, t’other day, driving along past another serendipitous sight on my way to the post office, I decided to take action.  And I’m going to share.

Here it is.  Six mailboxes in a weathered wood setting.  Bright colors – true red, hunter green, (weathered) cream, peach, blue and black.  I’ve been driving past them for years, smiling at them – and then, yesterday, in a bit of a hurry, I nevertheless stopped, parked, and jumped out of my car with my phone clutched in my hand. 

I took several shots, then backed up and took a photo of the entire scene.  My passenger (my sister) thought the view was pretty, but she’s the one who came up with the reason for the colors: 

“If you look,” she said, “The mailbox colors match the doors.  I frowned, squinted, and then began to laugh.  HOW many years had I driven past and enjoyed the view?  There’s the red door, and there’s the blue door (check the arrows).

And now they’re caught!

Maybe I’ll catch a snapshot of that old hand-made shelter by the side of the road…