Living in the North Carolina Woods

My son and his wife live in the woods... the real woods. No houses in sight, trees by the thousands, the property is one big ten acre compost heap. I have been here visiting for the last week, wandering here and there in 30 degree weather, collecting kindling for the fire, looking at streams, mushrooms and cardinals with my baby grandson. What a trip! I actually think I could live in a place like this. One day slowly drifts into another. The house is mostly windows with few wall holding it up. If you're in the kitchen, one of the bedrooms or even the bathroom, the woods creep in on you. It makes one stop, take a breath, and be grateful for life. I actually think I might be able to write a novel in this house, whose nearby stream has become a small river, overflowing its beds. I tried to walk down to the stream the other morning and was stopped by the depth of the mud in the marsh above it. You just don't deal with that kind of stuff in 4 bedroom houses in suburbia. The roof of this house is made of metal. Just now the rain is tap, tap, tapping on it, like a very mellow bongo beat... making you want to stand up, close your eyes, and sway back and forth.

My son left home at seventeen to go away to college. He's now approaching thirty-five and is an amazing brand new stay-at-home dad. These visits to North Carolina to visit my grandson, have been a great way to reconnect with a son, who has been so independent, for so long. He's so comfortable in his "own territory", as he and beautiful wife try to make their way. Only time, without any real work for me, would allow this to happen.

Forte

OK, what does one do when there is no workplace any longer? This is an especially difficult question when one(me) has an overwhelming need to be productive. So, I create. One thing I do is to smock baby dresses. Smocking? What in the hell is that? It's a very old craft in which tiny embroidery stitches are made over tiny pleats (see photo above-one of my creations). Anyway making these extremely time- consuming dresses gives me such pleasure. And luckily, so many of my former workmates continue to have little girls. I made one "little boy romper" for my baby grandson... but don't think that went over so well with Mom and Dad. I think I'll stick with buying OSH-KOSH for him. To me, it is still so amazing to start with a completely flat and unadorned piece of fabric and end up with something so beautiful. I have spent the last few months bringing my sewing room up-to-par. I've added racks for thread and bobbins, hooks for notions, extra shelves, a super project light and table, and even a bias tape maker (didn't know such a thing existed until last December). I get so immersed in my projects... I sometimes forget to eat and lose track of time.

An Explanation

" Thecordedphone". I am one of those who feels that life goes way too fast. There are a variety of reasons for this and it's not because of denial of getting older.

In my opinion, the cordless phone started it all. To wit, once technology overcame the necessity for cords things went way beyond reality (and movement at a somewhat normal speed).

To be sure, let it be said that corded phones had their advantages:

1. One always knew where the phone was.

2. The rotary dial was slower but effective and kind of mesmerizing.

3. The ring tone was universal.

4. There was stability in knowing where one needed to go to communicate over long distance.

Websites such as Facebook and Twitter have beset society with a whole new set of uncharted social and legal territories. I prefer the corded phone for it's simplicity. Yes, I have a cell phone and I have access to the internet but they don't make me think any faster.

Now that information flow has increased from 2G to 4G we have Internet access at a mind boggling speed. But we don't think any faster. If anything, we don't think now at all. There is no time for reflection, dialogue and mulling over an issue before a meaningful response can be posed. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This blog will not be one of harking back to my younger days nor bitching about how awful things are now. I have had a great life and still do. I look forward to each and every day. This site will be one of my own reflections about life and events as I view them. I will not become political, fanatical or religious in anyway. This blog is meant to keep my comments to a minimum and to be used as a personal barometer of my emotional responses to things, places and events that touch me in some way. I will try to inject humor in my comments and see the lighter side of issues rather than go to the dark side. (That is always easy to do).

Piano

Busyness or nothingness

Haven't gotten up to go to work for seven straight months! The checks just keep appearing, however. How weird is that? I guess that's what 70 years of combined work gets us. Days have been evolving into busyness or nothingness.... Have seen 13 movies in the last three weeks and between the two of us have read eight books since Christmas.

Forte