Friday, December 3, 2010

Visiting Time

Whenever I go "home" to Vancouver, I try to get to Seattle as well to visit the friends I have there.  It's a cozy time we have together, talking, eating, drinking, laughing, going for neighbourhood walks.  It's almost irrelevant that we're in Seattle.  What's important is being together.  I am grateful to be welcomed in and so comfortably housed. 



Autumn colours frame the door with a curtained window. 




A curtained window gives onto the porch where autumn has settled in.




Windows fog up with steam from the kitchen..




Windowsill dwellers bring kitchen blessings.




Let us bundle up and take our steaming cups of tea out on to the front porch and give thanks for having food, shelter, warmth and friends.
For other treatments of this porch scene, please visit my studio blog.

Now why on earth would I write this, and post these particular pictures?  Who really cares where I go,what I do, what I see.  Why speak of persons almost none of those few people who visit my blog will ever meet?  What compels me to lose hours of time adjusting so-so photos in Photoshop?  I suppose it's the need to connect, to share, to make some sort of tracing of one's existence.  I started this blog basically for family and friends who live far away from me (nearly all do), to keep in touch, to illustrate my days for them.  I occasionally hear from a few of them that they've stopped by to visit here.  But the comments I find left on my doorstep are mostly from people I've never met face-to-face and likely never will.  So, I'd just like to thank anyone who's lingering here a moment or two, for having stopped by to share in a corner of my little world of ordinary wonders.   I  believe it's important to notice the small, bright moments of one's life; I mean to really see them and savour them, and that way be able to call them up to light our way through darker times.


42 comments:

  1. What I have also found is that when sharing some of those small, bright moments, other people are touched by them in their own darker times. Also after sharing, those moments sometimes stay with those we shared them with, and come back to us through them when our times are so dark we can't see any bright moments at all. Sometimes through people I've never met face to face, only through the blog. These for me have been the biggest blessings of having a blog - so thank you, too.

    Your porch and kitchen scenes make me want to melt into the images and cuddle up in one of those chairs, with a soft blankie and steaming mug... a bright moment :)

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  2. .. This makes me want to go and make a cup of fragrant steaming tea...

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  3. Those old houses have such character and Mother Nature is so artistic when she decides to dispense her colours just before the dark days of winter, and then all of a sudden, she whites everything out and gets ready to "repaint" in the Spring.

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  4. I have come to cherish the friends found sailing the ocean of ether but I sometimes forget to say how much. I realized this lack on my part by how touched I felt by Audrey's recent post: http://notthedestinationbut.wordpress.com/2010/11/26/battle-ships/

    WV: myxsus - as in Myxsus a drink, willya.

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  5. manuela,
    Thanks for your thoughtful words and shining your own light on the experience of blogging. To borrow from a song by Joni Mitchell, "I've looked at blogs from both sides now." Nice to think of bright spots originating from one blog being reflected back from others in times of need.

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  6. Gwen,
    It's always time for tea! Unless it's time for something a little stronger.

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  7. Shirl,
    Old houses do have their charm...and their quirks. Good places to have a resident handyman.

    I love your description of Mother Nature as Artist, doing her thing. I wouldn't mind if she skipped the white-out part, or at least shrunk it down to a more manageable size.

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  8. DCW,
    Sometimes it feels as if I spend more time communicating with my blog friends than I do with those I can actually have face time with. Audrey's acknowledgment of your blog friendship was, indeed, touching in its sincerity. I must say I've enjoyed getting to know you better through this medium; something we've never had the time or opportunity to do in our "real" lives.

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  9. Took me about a week to put me suitcase back, once returned to Athens, which still after six years, I've trouble to call home.

    Thank you for the honour of these glimpse moments. Great photography. Please have a good start into the weekend.

    daily athens

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  10. I love the feeling of intimacy when you invite me to step into a house where you have spent time being convivial with old friends. In the second photo, the embroidered curtain has the delicacy of a woman's veil, as though you were were looking through the veil onto the veranda. And the tea. Ah! Very sensuous, this post.

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  11. Lynnz-spiration...
    What's this ? What's this about "proabably never will" ??? But of course we will... I'm sure you'll be coming to Paris one of these days soon, because everyone just does, sooner or later. And after that, it will be in New Zealand, by way of Romania...
    :-)
    Who really cares ? But we do care... and that is the beauty of blogging, if one is open to seeing beauty and depth and warmth and zany craziness... It can be as superficial or as deep as we let it, I guess. But I think you are not interested in superficial, and nor are we, which is why we keep coming back here. (That is the "royal" we, by the way, for I never told you, but I am in all truth the king of the toads, and have photos somewhere to prove it)(just don't let THAT out on wikipeeks)
    :-)
    Oh, and if you ever refer to your photos as "so-so" again, I may be compelled to get on a plane and come all the way over there to smack you up-side the head with a feather pillow from your sofa... and then you won't be able to say we are not likely to meet. Perhaps that was the point of this paragraph in fact; to provoke us into all coming to visit ???

    Oh yes, and speaking of seeing blogs from both sides now... funny, way back in the beginning of mine I posted this :

    http://magiclanternshowen.blogspot.com/2008/09/portrait-of-artist-as-young-man.html

    But then, who ever goes back and looks at the beginnings of blogs ??? For at least six months, I had zero comments... don't know why I persisted... errr, yes I do... it was because of meeting people like... YOU

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  12. Now isn't it just wonderful to write whatever you want to without editing or permission? I love the fact that I can drop by and see your work!

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  13. ...wait a minute...I don't mean that you don't edit yourself...I mean that we don't have editors or a jury making the decision about who gets to publish or show their work! Write on.

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  14. Robert,
    I'm like you--whenever I get back from a trip it takes me at least a week to finish unpacking and put everything away.

    They say home is where the heart is, but I think the heart can be in a lot of places at once. Maybe home proves to be the place where one has experienced the most happy moments in his/her lifetime. Still working on that one...

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  15. Margaret,
    What a lovely way you've put it, "the sense of intimacy." If that's how you see it, then I really have succeeded in sharing things close to my heart, as is the stated intention of this blog (sometimes I forget its raison d'être, hence the wee bout of soul searching this post).

    Everytime I visit my friends' house, I'm really taken with that curtain--there's only the one--and the delicate air it lends to the external view. It is more like a veil, isn't it. Maybe we should bring back the fashion of wearing veils, Margaret! Just little face-covering ones, perhaps with polka dots.

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  16. BrOwen,
    Or should I say, "Your Majestoad"!

    My photos are so-so
    My photos are so-so
    My photos are so-so
    My photos are so-so
    My photos are so-so

    Sofa cushions are plumped. When do you arrive?

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  17. Patricia,
    And I love the fact that you do drop by to see my work! Or my "play," more like.

    I'm glad you cleared that up about the editing.
    :-)

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  18. Oooh... Oooooh ! Oooooooohhhh !

    I'm going to hold my breath until I turn blue if you keep that up !

    I'll stamp my foot !

    Where's that Saj ??? She'll tell you it's not so, it's not so, it's not so so !
    :-)
    A find Sunday to you, oh, and you should go to church today, and to confession, for you have told about five lines of lies here !

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  19. BrOwen,
    Guess my ploy didn't work and you're not coming here to hit me up the side of my head with a feather cushion. Dang!

    You're so cute when you stamp your toady little foot. It was worth fibbing just to see you turn blue!{:-)

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  20. Your (blog)friends are right, all of them! :-)
    Love your take of Joni Mitchell's song.

    I started my blog when I moved (from DC), for the same reasons you did. Five years ago, almost to the day. My friends hardly ever leave a comment, it is complete "strangers" who do, and kept me going, so far. Thank you for being one of those who keep me posting, even when I start questioning the reasons for doing so.

    Merisi
    xxx

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  21. It's a side of Seattle that I wish I'd seen when I was there. Sometimes I'd like to stay somewhere as a resident for a few days and not as a tourist, might help appreciate it more.

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  22. I hope our BrOwen has booked two seats on his ToadyFlight, you clearly need a bit of sibling time...your photos are lovely, YOU are one of the loveliest people I have never met, and the tea is amazing over here. I liken visiting a blog to popping next door for a cuppa tea or a catch up wine or three. There was some greater force at work leading to many of us meeting up here in your little corner of the world (ha, now try and get that tune outta your head)...
    OK< best tell our Bro he can let his breath out now I am worried he's going to fall over and knock our wine over....

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  23. Merisi,
    How sweet it is to see you here, trailing cake and coffee aromas in your wake. Five years is an impressive amount of time to put into blogging, but the result--a simply gorgeous blog with many devotees, myself included--does seem well worth the effort. I think it has inspired you on to ever greater feats of photography, and a very focused (pardon the pun) way of viewing your surroundings. I'm encouraged by the tale of your blog experience, and your kind words here. Thank you!

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  24. Mme.DeF,
    I love going to a new city and trying to fit in like a local rather than stand out as a tourist. On the other hand, sometimes one simply must do the touristic must-do's to get them out of the way.

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  25. Sister Saj,
    Here you are!--another year older and only the more glorious for wear! Sibling time, yes,yes much needed. I'm sure that with all the time our BrOwen is putting in at the straight jacket factory he must be earning gazillions of euros and will be more than happy to charter a private jet to fly you both to my little corner of the world to meet the nicest sister you have never laid eyes on. I do like your take on blogs as drop-ins on friends and neighbours for a little chat, a cuppa tea, a glass of wine together. Not something I have much opportunity to do in the real "my little corner of the world." I must admit, I'd forgotten all about that tune and had to look it up on You Tube. I had to laugh when Anita Bryant began to sing it. Yes, it all came flooding back.

    I think Mr. Toad (or King Toad as he's recently hinted at being)might be dehydrating, he's been holding his breath so long. Maybe we should give him a glass of wine, or pour it over him...not sure which. Your call!

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  26. Grrrr; grrrr !

    Best not to waste good wine, just pour it down the hatch here, that's right, then I can get back to holding my breath !

    Bottoms up !
    :-)

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  27. Well, you can put your bottom up if you like, Owen, but I'm much too much of a lady to engage in such shenanigans. I didn't know toads could growl! Curiouser and curiouser.

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  28. Haha, now I have a mental image of Brother Toad with his posterior waving in the wind...best that you pour the wine, sis, I'm certainly giggling too hard to get it in the glASS. (ahem)

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  29. those interior window shots are really beautiful - very evocative of something I can't quite put my finger on right now - what do they mean for you???

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  30. Saj,
    Oh, we're using glasses now?

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  31. BrOwen,
    Well you arsked for it!

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  32. Catherine,
    The interior shots are to do with the light and colours filtering into the rather dark interior; being drawn to the light, to the living world beyond the cocoon, yet feeling snug and secure within the cocoon at the same time.

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  33. Ah classic, I loves our family!!

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  34. perhaps is Grace best revealed in such little, every day moments which seem so unimportant and yet are essential to the way we connect to the world, to others, to kindness and love?

    i adore your window shots, i love this more than anything, the intimacy of a kitchen when fog starts blurring to windows, it is warm and time doesn't matter, for a while. i don't want to leave them, your pictures, if only i could hide there...

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  35. Roxana,
    Yes, to hide in warm kitchens with ones we love, the windows fogging from hot tea and comforting laughter...maybe even home-baked cookies or supper cooking. Or alone, with a good book, in a comfy chair in the corner of the warm kitchen. Maybe music playing, maybe the sound of rain hitting the windows, mabye silence. But over everything, comfort and warmth and forgetting all but this perfect moment.

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  36. PS Speaking of Seattle, I finally got around to seeing the film Battle in Seattle the other night... hope things were quieter when you were there !

    Now who let that durn bottle roll under the table ???

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  37. Owen,
    I've never heard of that film. Doesn't sound like one I might be too interested in viewing. Should I?

    I think the bottle rolled under the table when Saj did.

    Got any schnapps left? Remember when photos were called "snaps"?

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  38. Hey, I think I just found that bottle under my bed! Klink. Seriously sober, I'm nuts over that porch image framed by the colorful foliage. Now I'll toss in my 2 cents... Personally, I avoid self-judgement or analysis unless what I do is causing me or someone else discomfort. Other than that, if I'm enjoying myself and occasionally amaze myself, it's all good. If you can wake up every day and find and create beauty in this puzzling chaotic universe, you are a brave warrior. I've seen way too many good people cave in and drink/drug themselves to death. It's easier than you might think. The creative addiction is the only one worth having! And what I've seen of your creative output is so not so-so. I've benefitted greatly from your art blog (I wish I was as deeply connected to my inner self) and your comments on my blog. You have brought me great joy many times. Thank you for brightening my own little corner of the world!

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  39. That last one is particularly atmospheric. I love Seattle too.

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  40. Stickup,
    Thank you for your bracing words! If my art and my blog have provided you with some inspiration and enjoyment, I'm really very pleased. One of the questions that inevitably comes back every so often, as an artist, is "what's the point?" Well, the point is to reach kindred spirits, such as yourself; to touch others in some unique way; to communicate something of myself and my view of life. Knowing that there are sensitive eyes/souls out there who can respond to these images is my reward. Thank you for reminding me, and encouraging me to continue on with paint and pixels...and humour.

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  41. Lulu,
    My goodness, you do get around! Last time I saw you you were in Berlin. I'm glad if my little posting has prompted fond memories for you of another great city.

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