IN THE CLOSET

Many people tell me that they have run out of room to hang any more paintings or other wall art.

I do understand that.  I don't have any room left, either.  Not because I have so much art hanging in my house but because I'm pretty much a minimalist when it comes to decorating.  I just don't like a lot of 'stuff' around.  I prefer having a good bit of empty space....including on my walls. 

There is one rather odd place I do have some 'stuff' besides what you would imagine you'd find there. 

It's in my closet!

There's a painting I did many years ago which is very special to me.  It's a very bad painting of a very good memory...my grandparent's yard in Portales, New Mexico.

I really wanted it where I could see it often, but had no desire for it to be displayed for everyone else to see. 

So.....

I plopped it on one of the shelves in my small walk-in closet.  I get to see it daily...unless , of course, it's an 'all day in my jammies' kind of a day. 

The other goodies hanging on my closet wall are these....

The collection of photos were all chosen to be reminders of times when I felt happy from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

One is a picture of the chapel at De Grazia's Gallery because it had much to do with my healing process during a very difficult time in my life.

One is a picture of my cat, Callie.  She was one of a kind. 

There's a picture of the Black Mesa home of my Navajo 'family.'  My first visit there remains one of the highlights of my entire life.

There's also a picture I took from the outhouse at 'The Mesa.'  I couldn't help myself!  The view was spectacular!

The ballerina is, of course, me.  My mom made the costume.  I danced to 'Moonlight and Roses."  And I felt like a beautiful princess that night!

There's a picture of my late brother in Texas Canyon, which is where we scattered his ashes and where I often imagine him happily roaming those magnificent rocks!

There's one of me, at age 41, in a bikini...and I look hot!  Now that's a memory I enjoy!

There's one of me in the ocean...feeling the incredible joy I always feel when I'm lucky enough to visit any seashore.

And finally, one of my very own footprints on a beach during a vist to the Bahamas.  I never imagined myself getting to go to such an exotic place and the fact that I actually got there, still amazes me!  A friend won a trip for two...and took me as her guest!

I found the small ceramic head in a dried-out pond in a small town that was very special to me.

I made the shelf many years ago.

A dear friend gave me the fairy 'sky dancer'  It says:

"Stars got tangled in her hair whenever she played in the sky."

Laini's Ladies

http://www.narniastudios.com/lainis_ladies_adornments.html

The wooden necklace was my mom's and since she loved it and wore it often, it is special to me.

****************

I don't have many clothes...don't need 'em.

So, I'm fortunate to have a little space to have my own private little gallery in my closet.

Looking at these pictures again, I realize there's a couple of other 'special' things.

There's a bag of potpourri made by a very special friend.

There's a couple of ratty old quilts made my my grandmother.

I love my closet.

I'm grateful for my little private gallery.

A SEASON FOR MEMORIES

One of the very best parts of being of a ‘certain’ age is that you have a pretty packed full memory basket.


This beautiful morning, my husband and I have been taking advantage of a glorious sunny day and have been doing some yard work.

Leaf raking was on the agenda.

I am pretty much betting that the moment you read those words, you had a strong memory of autumn when you were a kid, didn’t you?

Does this look like work…

or like fun….?

When you only have one deciduous tree in your entire yard, leaf raking isn’t much of a chore, so for me, it’s just fun. And for the short time it takes to do the job, I imagine me…about age 8…living in Colorado Springs where there were LOTS of autumn leaves to rake into piles….

That was Daddy’s job.

My job was to jump in them!

Again and again…

Of course, there were so many piles, that most of them got burned…right there in our yard. If you’re old enough, you remember back when it was still legal to do such a thing. And I absolutely know, that you remember the sight of smoke, curling up through those crinkly leaves and most of all, the smell! Autumn Heaven!!!

I realize this is all a little out of ‘synch’ with many of my readers. You’re probably dealing with snow and ice…and last autumn is a fading memory.

But in Tucson, things are different.

I’m sure, right now, up on the mountain, there is snow.

Down here in town,however it’s shirtsleeves weather…although that won’t last. It will get cold again sooner or later. But meanwhile, on this January day of autumn memories, I also have this in my yard….

It’s my Skyflower bush…just as green as though it were springtime!

And one more thing………..

Those little spears, thrusting their selves into the winter sunshine, are red gladiolus. I didn’t plant them here…someone long before I bought this house did…. and they don't come up and/or bloom every year. But when I see them looking like they're trying…I give them a little help by way of some extra water.

We’ll keep an eye on things and see if we get lucky this year.

One more memory just got jogged by that piece of driftwood. I brought that home from a river in Oregon. Just seeing it brings back that very special day and that very special place.

I am so very grateful for so many wonderful memories in my ‘memory basket.’

My wish, for you, is that you are busy filling your 'memory basket.'

SAVE YOUR PHOTOS!

I have, litereally, thousands of photographs on my computer.  Sometimes, when I'm thinking about ideas for a particular blog idea, I remember one of those photos and am happy to know it's there for me to use.

I have many pictures of places we've visited, and of course, friends and family.

I have pictures of my projects.

I have  pictures of my paintings.  But I don't have pictures of all my paintings, because of these reasons.

1.  I forgot to take a picture of it before it was sold. Dumb.
2.  I accidentally deleted my picture after the picture was sold. Dumber.
3.  My computer crashed and I lost everything on it. Dammit!

Uh-Oh...I just broke my bad language rule.  But, if you can't say a bad word when your computer crashes, just when CAN you say one?

There's not much I can do about the first two.

Now, I know there's lots of gidgets and gadgets available for saving important files from your computer and preventing such losses.  But I don't have them.  What I do have and should be much more diligent in using, is the on-line photo storage available through many places such as Kodak, Costco, Picasa, Snapfish, etc.

Even if your computer does crash, you could use any computer to access your photos and get them back. 

When our family lost almost everything in a fire, the thing that hurt the most was the loss of years' worth of precious photos.

Now I'm not going to get all crazy and start making New Year's resolutions...UGH!....but, I do think I'm going to make an effort to get all my pictures saved to one of those good on-line sources.

'Cause, manohman, I'd hate to lose this picture!

That's my mom and my brother after we'd climbed up a jumble of boulders along a creek in Southeastern Arizona.  What a fun day that was!  My mom was no spring chicken at the time but she wasn't gonna let anything stop her from getting to the top!

Then, there's this one of grandson, Michael, when he got his first glimpse of The Grand Canyon.

It's obvious that he didn't believe what his eyes were seeing.  The Grand Canyon will do that to you.

And what a shame it would be if this precious picture of my maternal grandparents was allowed to disintegrate!

Or this one, of me cleaning the summer kitchen on one of my visits to my Navajo 'family.'

Lordy!  I look big as a barn!

And last, but not least...what would I do if I couldn't look at this face anytime I want to!

I am so GRATEFUL for these photographic memories.

I think I'll work a little harder to get them all in a safe place.

LESS IS MORE

Over the years, I’ve learned that less is more.

When I was a senior in high school, our family experienced a devastating fire. We had a little grocery store with attached living quarters…all of which went up in flames. We were left with some living room furniture and most of what was in my bedroom…including some of my clothes. Other than that, everything was pretty much gone.

Afterwards, two special things were retrieved - Mom’s box of pictures and a coffee can filled with melted together silver dollars. The surviving pictures were all smoke damaged and most had either a little or a lot of them burned away. But she kept even the tiniest portion of those precious pictures.

My Mom and Dad

And she kept this…..

It’s a blackened piece of a silver plate tea service she’d been so proud of! Looking at the charred photos she kept so carefully and this little pitcher makes my heart ache for her. I have it perched in my Palo Verde tree. Sometimes, I write little notes about my heart’s desires and tuck them inside.  I somehow feel that my mom reads each one.


Those few things were not a lot to start a new life with, but our neighbors swooped in immediately with all the emotional, financial and material support they could muster. Bless them.



Years later, my then husband and I,  purchased a farm in West Texas. The farm had no house on it, so we bought a 14’ x 76’ mobile home and set up our own little house on the prairie.

Yep!  That's pretty desolate looking!  But we managed to make some real good times there.  We just didn't manage to make much of a living!  But no wonder!  Just look at all those rocks!

We had been living in a pretty big house which was chock full of ‘stuff.’ I had to do some serious down-sizing. I had a huge yard sale and got rid of anything that didn’t fit my very narrow criteria as a ‘keeper.’


1. It must be absolutely useful.

2. It must have real sentimental value.

3. It must be truly beautiful.



The preference was that anything I kept met at least two of the above. If it met all three…that was even better!
The blender went away as did multiple sets of dishes and other kitchen acoutrements. Lots and lots of knick-knacks went away. Many of our two young boys’ toys went away, too. Christmas and other holiday decorations were cut to the bare minimum.


But guess what? I found that instead of feeling deprived….I felt FREE! There was so much less ‘stuff’ to keep organized or dusted or stored. Housekeeping took far less time and was far less complicated!


Since then, I’ve pretty much stuck to those same three rules. And it’s a good thing. Because, eventually, I moved into another little house…this one not on the prairie but on the desert. And this house has the smallest kitchen I’ve ever seen in my life! I have very limited cabinet or counter space which would drive most people nuts. But since I had learned to live without so many kitchen implements and gadgets, this small kitchen is not much of challenge for me.


 I have managed quite successfully to whip up meals for a multitude…once, it was for about 30 people. I admit, it’s helpful that I’m basically an anti-social hermit and that the occasions for feeding lots of folk are few and far between. 

This rolling pin meets all 3 requirements! It’s useful.   It was a gift from some special friends when I was a very young housewife. And, being made from one piece of oak, I find it absolutely beautiful. It’s rolled out a whole lot of pie dough over the years!

That pot was my mom’s. It’s a heavy old Wagner…perfect for making all kinds of yummy things. So, it’s both usable and sentimental. 2 out of 3!

Mom’s recipe box. Well….I’m fixin’ to bust into tears…..

I like it because it’s oak and I have a thing for wood. It’s usable, of course. But here’s the kicker. Grab a tissue and read on…..

After Mom died, Dad had me choose some of Mom’s things. Of course, her recipe box was one of the first things I went for. After all, it had all her good recipes in it…she was a really good cook….and I knew I had to have that! Later, as I sat looking through the recipes................

 I found this.

I know full well my mom left that there for me to find. 

 My mom was quite a woman. 

As for the rest of my house, I guess you could say my decorating taste is pretty much minimalist. I try to make it so that every place I look, I see something beautiful …whether the beauty is intrinsic or in the memories it brings. I love old things, but I have very few old, family treasures. A fire will pretty much eliminate old family treasures.


But, perhaps, I am gathering a few family treasures for my kids and grandkids. Here’s some.

My dad made this clock from a slab of redwood....Useful, Beautiful and Sentimental!





The painting in this next picture…which is obviously beautiful…was given to me by the friend who first introduced me to my Navajo “family.”

The sculpture was a gift from one of my sons.

We refer to this piece of furniture as “Grandma’s Chest.”  People often do a double take when we use those words. I’m sure they are conjuring up an image of a full-bossomed old lady instead of this beautiful, sentimental and usable item. Once, in a conversation with my oldest son, I said I had no real antique family heirlooms. He pointed out to me that I was the third generation to own this. Perhaps that does, indeed, qualify Grandma’s Chest as an antique family heirloom! My two sons…or their wives’…will have to fight over this when I’m gone. Whoever wins, will be the fourth generation to have it. That’s just cool!
Please forgive the poor picture quality.  Trying to get a good photo of a glass covered painting is pretty close to impossible!




This began as an essay on making choices about the things we hang on to.

I might have gotten a tad side-tracked.

But it was, for me, a lovely little trip down memory lane.


Today, I am GRATEFUL for all that I DO have and equally GRATEFUL for some things that I DON’T have.


That’s a pretty good way to feel.