Construction- 2016

Sound-cancelling ear protection!  What a gift. I can sit here in the kitchen, or on the screened-in porch typing,  dreaming, painting, listening to my inner streams of consciousness while the workers tromp in and out of the house, pound, saw, and power-nail upstairs. Amazing grace, that this sensory defensive individual abides blissfully amidst the noisy chaos of a remodel.

The project: construct a new bathroom where there was no bathroom, and connect it to an existing bedroom, creating a master bedroom with bath en suite!  Very fancy, for us.

Highlights coming soon!

Art during Construction

Swishy dip and Blop

(c) Joan K. O'Connell,  September 22, 2016

Wet on wet.

Ochre, sienna,  umber, vermillion.

blue, yellow, rosa and green.

Colors blurring, blending, combining, running.

Salt it.

Mask it.

Turn it around.

Clean line interrupting wash.

Definition.

Preference.

Exhaling with watercolors into the paint.

Bike riding like a kid

It's a warm summer day, just after a drenching rain. Lovely. Humid.  Good bike-riding weather, for now. I suspect it would be great horse-riding weather too, but I don't ride. 

So, off I went, the L-5 & L-6 issues notwithstanding.  Upright bicycle riding (gently) is supposed to be good for that lumbar area pain.

Earlier in the season, we experimented with various cushiony bike seats. Chose one. Returned the others. Sitting on that, vs. the seat that came with the bike I'm barely impacted by road bumps. 

Wind in my face. Mostly car-less neighborhood streets. Take my time. Gradually increase the speed and resistance. This is very good.

Observing, I realized that I had accessed a young girl in me- maybe 8. Remember? When freedom, speed, invincibility, a bit of risk-taking wonder and timelessness combined? Riding the bike for the pure joy of it. Yummy!

I wondered as I passed walkers on the boardwalk, "Do they have any idea how unstable this helmeted, sunshaded rider actually is?"

Approaching two large construction vehicles parked (illegally) on both sides of the street, I guesstimated the distance between them and dismounted, almost shamelessly, the workers crossing in front of me notwithstanding.  A few weeks ago, I'd tried to ride casually through a similar narrowing, for the sake of the "audience." Wound up tripping myself off the bike in fear.  That's the 8 year old again, but this time recalling the effect of unsuccessfully negotiating the bike wheel getting stuck in a depression at the edge of the sidewalk - ouch!

Temperature rising outdoors. Bike safely back in the garage.  The "workout" cleared my head.

Thanks be to God for the capacity to ride into the 5 mph wind!

Maybe we'll write a bit now

Friends-

It's my birthday today.  Thank you. : )

A plan for the coming year:  I'm going to purpose to write in this blog space, as fearlessly as possible.

 Now, here's a piece I wrote for the June issue of the Calvary Connection.

Learning to Lean

© Dancingthots,  2016

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”  [Prov. 3:5-6]

Why not lean on my own understanding, Lord?  It’s served me well to date.  I think.

    Turning this proverb around in my mind (yes, searching for understanding), I asked myself, “What would it be like? How would I feel? How would I choose differently throughout the day if I actually trusted the almighty, loving, all-powerful God (I profess to believe in) to care for me, order my steps, provide everything I need?  What if I grasped the truth that he is with me wherever I go, even to the ends of the earth? How would I behave, interact with others, if I truly believed that I have a heavenly father who cares for me.”

I am humbled by this poem by Elizabeth Cheney.

“The Robin and the Sparrow"

Said the robin to the sparrow,

“I should really like to know,

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and worry so.”

Said the sparrow to the robin,

“Friend I think that it must be,

That they have no Heavenly Father,

Such as cares for you and me.”

That’s worth a meditation moment.