5 Beautiful Ways to Beat the Winter Blues…

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© Joan Currie

Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing. Sylvia Plath

It has not stopped raining for days and more rain is predicted for the next week (ditto for snow). Here are some ways to combat the winter blues, especially if you are alone:

1. Connect with others – phone, G-chat, IM, send an e-card, comment on a blog, go to a coffee shop.
2. Complete one task, no matter how small – organize a desk drawer, bake chocolate chip cookies, read a magazine, fix your bike tire, sew on a button.
3. Embrace the weather – if it is safe, don your rain (or snow) gear and head outside for a walk around the block, hike, ski, snowshoe, skate.
4. Play upbeat music – rediscover 70s disco favorites, cheesy wedding songs, check out YouTube videos of bands reunited.
5. Take a trip down memory lane and look at old family photographs, it really helps you appreciate who you are and where you have come from. If you have gotten off track, looking at a photograph of you as a child can help you reset your compass and resolve to do better.

Ten Beautiful Things I Use Every Day…

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© Studio La Donna

Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.
Frank Lloyd Wright

In addition to my umbrella (it is raining heavily today), below is a list of my favorite things:

1.   iPhone (a friendship that has turned to love)
2.   Eiderdown comforter (800 fill count)
3.   Chronicle Books Journal by Julia Rothman
4.   2001 BMW X5 (nothing beats driving it on mountain roads)
5.   Swiss Army knife (Boy Scout Explorer model)
6.   Coach black high heel shoes
7.   Elna sewing machine (I have replaced the motor twice and will not part with it)
8.   Vintage Beaver Canoe sweatshirt (very cozy)
9.   KitchenAid countertop commercial mixer
10. Lululemon yoga pants (very slimming)

Model – Lauren DiMarco

Polka Dot Dress…

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© Joan Currie

Clothing should not mask a person, but enhance one.
Richard Bengtsson & Edward Pavlick

What do you do when you find the perfect dress and your mother (or sister or friend) tells you it is nice but impractical and so you pass on it, but spend the rest of the season regretting your decision?

Painting and Poem…

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© Jacqueline Osborn – Afternoon Affair

We Everyday Our Love
by Phil Turner

I mechanic her car
She Tide’s my T’s
I Monday her garbage
She Friday’s my cleaning
I divide her labor
She trims my toil.

She Bonnies my Clyde
I Adam her Eve
She cheeks my touch
I rhythm her dance
She buzzes my waking
I dream her sleep.

I young her years
She discos my decades
I friend her blog
She twitters my tweets
I pony her express
She feathers my flight.

She weaves my fingers
I arm her hug
She smiles my tears
I pillow her pain
She peppers my tonic
I tang her tart.

I pumpkin her muffins
She chickens my soup
I wine her friends
She beers my buddies
I coffee her morning
She juices my day.

She blues my sky
I sun her moon
She mosses my path
I soul her walk
She lyrics my song
I sing her life.

Painting, Afternoon Affair, by Jacqueline Osborn.

Trainman…

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© Joan Currie

The introduction of so powerful an agent as steam to a carriage on wheels will make a great change in the situation of man.  –  Thomas Jefferson

I had the pleasure of meeting this trainman today after riding the historic Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad steam train through the redwood forest.

© Joan Currie

Zip Line ( Return of the Jedi, revisited)…

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© Joan Currie

Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting. – Goethe

Despite my fear of heights, I accepted an invitation to go on a zip line adventure in the redwoods near Santa Cruz this afternoon. The risk manager in me checked out the two-point contact support (two parallel zip lines) and I was reassured by the fact that I would be tethered to a line at all times, especially on the (very) small platforms in the forest (one 150′ high).

The tour included 6 zip lines, each different in length (one 440 ‘ long) and speed, and two sky bridges. To be honest, each time I readied to leave the platform the thought did cross my mind that I might plunge to my death, but to my amazement, I pushed off just the same!

Now, here is the best part – remember the forest scenes in the Star Wars Episode  VI: Return of the Jedi? The experience was a combination of the Ewoks’ forest platform homes on the moon Endor and the flying scooter-like experience of weaving in and out of the trees. The zip line also makes a buzzing sound akin to a scooter motor. (According to Wikipedia, the Ewoks are named after the Miwok, a Native American tribe, indigenous to the redwood forest!)

© Joan Currie

This is a view of the ropes challenge course right beside the zip line course – notice the size of the circular landing platform. The zip line travels from platform to platform and the only tricky part was figuring out how to brake effectively when coming in for a landing. The two guides, each stationed at a platform (one to launch and one to catch) were terrific!

All in all, it was a very intense but thrilling experience!