SORRY FOR THE LONG SILENCE: WE MOVED!

 

We moved to small condo downtown at River Front Plaza from our beloved midtown home of 22 years. And if you don't think moving even just 2 miles away is disruptive, think again! For about three months leading up to the move, all we did was cart things to Good Will or Friends of the Library, and call friends to see if they would like certain pictures and momentos, since we were downsizing from a three bedroom, two bath, plus basement and garage to a two bedroom, one bath with a parking space below the complex. Then there was the move. Then unpacking and finding a place for things. Here I am at our front door, masked, of course. Below, I am unmasked, proof I still look like a real person. (In that pic, I'm taking pictures for a "guided tour" I gave on Facebook, lol.)

 

Before I move on, speaking of masks and such things, how are you weathering the Covid challenges? I hope none of you have been ill or lost someone. (We haven't lost anyone, but we learned three of our relatives in India were hospitalized with it. Thankfully, it was not fatal and they are home, now.)  

I'm not doing a guided tour here. Instead, I want to share with you some of the fun things I've seen on my walks. I love street art (well every kind of art), and I especially like murals. In midtown,  there were many, and I'm afraid I took them too much for granted to take pictures. But there are many here downtown, too, and here are two of my favorites:

  Aren't they lovely? Each So different, but they give me a lift. I especially love the mother and child to the left.

Then there are the painted utility boxes! I had noticed a few in midtown, but usually I was usually on my way to somewhre and didn't wonder too much about them. But there is a project all over downtown and midtown called the Capitol Box Art Project. Various local artists paint one of the utility boxes, and on all sides. Here are some samples from my walks: 

Cool, right? Here is their link if you want to know more about the project or the artists: https://capitolboxart.com 

On another note, in the months I've been away (since April!) things seem to have changed in Blogger's layout. I'm going to have to study the changes, because, frankly, these pictures are much more spread out than I wanted them to be. Sorry.

But it's great to be back!

How about you? Do you like to take walks around your neighborhood and look for special sights? Yard art? Beautiful trees? Lovely gardening by someone who loves plants? Did you enjoy these painted utility boxes? Do you find moving disruptive? 

Remodel? Or Revision?

http://dir.coolclips.com/Industry/Trades/Construction/Carpenters/renovations,_construction,_carpentry_vc003592.html

Lately I've been a bit irregular in my blogging due to several interruptions. Christmas holidays, of course, but the most recent one is preparing our house for a modest (but disruptive) kitchen remodel. For the last ten days, while updating my Facebook page, my photo albums, while revamping my blog, I've also been packing up dishes, pots and pans, food and spices, etc., in order to empty shelves that are going to be ripped out Wednesday so that new ones can be put in. We are having a dishwasher installed as well, so we had to go purchase one. (Yes, all these years we've been washing dishes by hand.)

http://www.clker.com/clipart-packing-boxes.html

You never know how much you've accumulated until you have to empty your kitchen of every single item that isn't an appliance. This has also turned into a "down-sizing" event in general: I've been combing through drawers and closets in other rooms as well as the kitchen, sorting through items and taking bags and boxes to various thrift stores in the area--all the while wondering, what on earth makes us accumulate things we don't use or need? I actually started some of this purge before Christmas on the premise that someone else might have a happier Christmas as a result of my clean-out. One person's "cast off" really is another person's "great find". I know, because I hang out at thrift stores. The purge has also progressed to the basement and the garage; and I have to say, it feels great to be less encumbered. 

http://www.freeclipartnow.com/education/books/books.jpg.html

But as I've been sorting, deciding what to keep and what to eliminate, I couldn't help noticing the parallels to revising and editing a book. (See? Once a writer, everything becomes relevant to writing.) Isn't that what we do in a rewrite? Pare down. Pull out what isn't essential to the story. Decide what to keep, what to eliminate. (In some cases, what to save for another story with a better fit--not too different from trundling items over to another location, like a thrift store, where they can be put to better use.)


Maybe it's the effect of the year turning--out with the old, in with the new--but I seem to be revising and editing everywhere I look: my WIP, my blog, my Facebook, our home. "Eliminate clutter" is becoming my mantra for the year--and it wasn't even on my list of New Year's resolutions.


Feels good, though.


How about you? What revisions are going on in your life at the dawn of this new year?