It's late January, and winter's been with us for long enough that, from time-to-time, my mind meanders May-ward. Or even toward June and July and August. Warmer months. Carefree months for sailing and gardening and cycling canopied country roads... Don't misunderstand. I'm no winter hater. On the contrary. I actually love the chill and the snow. The skiing. But there's something about the ...
Midlife Blog
Maturing
"Age is a high price to pay for maturity." — Tom Stoppard Griffin, our Labrador Retriever, will turn ten this spring. Aging. Maturing. Growing a little heavier and little slower and a little less interested in other dogs. Truth be told, Griffin has always been an old soul. Since at least the day we selected him as a pup from his barnyard litter in Lamoille County, Vermont only a couple of months ...
Zozobra: Goodbye, Gloomies!
We're back in Santa Fe in time to experience Zozobra (aka "burning Old Man Gloom). It's been years since I've witnessed this fascinating ritual. Decades actually. We spy from our terrace—and from a live stream courtesy of the Meow Wolf—instead of plunging into the sea of festive celebrants. The giant effigy moans and groans and taunts the fire dancer. He has been stuffed with thousands of ...
Midlife Reality Check
"Midlife is when you reach the top of the ladder and find that it is against the wrong wall." ~ Joseph Campbell This is an image called "Tele Time" that is included in 40x41: Midlife Crisis Postponed. It's one of a series of telemark skiing collages I've created over the last few years. It's a mobile (originating photograph and doodle were created via mobile phone and tablet) mashup (digital ...
Courage to Live the Dream
Do you have the courage to live the dream? Your dream? Or is it okay with you to live crisis-to-crisis, to muddle through your one brief existence reacting to the ups and downs as you find them? Never Truly Lived You've probably heard about elderly people who look back from the final stretch and regret the risks that they did not more often that the risks that they did take. Regret the dreams ...
Creativity on Tap
The creativity spigot runs cold. It runs hot. And sometimes — the worst of times — it runs not. Better to run cold than not at all, but best when fluctuating between a hot gush and a tepid trickle. Floods of inspiration punctuated with marathons of perspiration. Starts. Finishes. Creativity Caveat Enough with the how of creativity and on to why... Why court the muse? Why seduce and sing and ...