This morning's view looking up at cottage from bayside
Cottage Life
Another new day here at the cottage on the bay. For some reason sleep has begun to elude me at night and I find my self staring up at the sky... a lot. This being on a whole different sleep schedule is rather odd. I've always looked forward to "time off". I just never realized that it could be so complicated. Seeing myself type these words even seems ludicrous... (I needed to spellcheck this one)
lu·di·crous adjective causing laughter because of absurdity; provoking or deserving derision; ridiculous; laughable: a ludicrous lack of efficiency.
Any way, as I was saying I always looked at the Bearded One's being retired as whoopee a no-brainer. I was wrong. I find myself staying up way too late, because I don't have to get up at five. Then after I do climb into bed, my brain continues to putter, plan, and rethink all the things I should do the next day. I don't have much structure going on right now. At work I am able to go about doing my job while my mind rambles quite happily from subject to subject. (my job involves a lot of "alone" time) Usually the "usual" subject is everything I'm going to do when I'm done working. As I told you I love to "plan my life" but apparently I am not really keen on the "doing" part. I also (as you are probably realizing) tend to over analyze everything. My goal is to get these details all worked out before my temporary "non-workus" status is up, other wise I will surely be kicking myself. I told myself that I would faithfully trudge up and down our long steep driveway everyday... ahem. I told myself that I would be Martha Stuart incarnate around the house... ahem. I also told myself that the new improved me would seize the moment. Carpe diem.
Carpe diem goes back a long way. It features in the earliest known literary work, the third millennium B.C. epic about Gilgamesh, a Sumerian king, a great warrior and bon vivant. After many heroic adventures in the company of his friend and alter ego Enkidu, Gilgamesh is plunged into gloom and despair when Enkidu dies suddenly. Thereafter Gilgamesh roams the earth disconsolate, seeking answers to life's deepest questions only to eventually meet Siduri, significantly employed as the wine maker for the gods. She tells him: "Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find that life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this is the lot of man."
So, carpe diem, at its best, is also about courage, about how to take it on the chin and move on - smiling, affirming love and beauty and the future in the face of loss. Ezra Pound, the poet's poet, had this to say in his Erat Hora: "Thank you, whatever comes." And later in the same poem:
… Nay, whatever comes
One hour was sunlit and the most high gods
May not make boast of any better thing
Than to have watched that hour as it passed.-by Ghatotkach
Okay. I feel better now. I am once again inspired to journey onward. I will seize the day! I will!
Before and After
Leaves, leaves, and more leaves. I took this photo this morning while getting the daily shot. Once again the textures caught my eye. Wood, fungi, fir needles, and sticks.
Before
Right out of camera
I thought that I would do a "watercolor" this time to accent the textures and subtle colors.
After
The final "painting"
Here you can see that I've cropped the image to give the eye a place to focus. I then did a painterly effect with a watercolor paper texture. To finish it off I did a series of curve adjustments (lighter, darker) and painted in some highlights and shadows to give it more contrast. Below is a close up to show texture and details...
Healthy Choices
I am doing pretty well, staying on task. I must confess I made a sugar free, gluten free pumpkin cheesecake. It's actually good for me but I will deliberately meter it out serving by serving rather than diving into the thing "en toto". So here's how I intend the day to go menu wise. If I stray from it I will confess tomorrow.
Hmmm... Pause for Thought
Until next time...
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