Changing Things

"Changing a known route throws us into the now."
The Artists Way by Julia Cameron

I read this quote a couple of Saturdays ago and it threw me right into the now!  Once I started thinking about this statement my mind couldn't stop!  It applies to so many aspects of life. There is the very obvious application of this statement where you drive home by a different route and are forced to open your eyes and pay attention a little more than you do driving the same old way.  Then there is the deeper application in the book that suggests you go somewhere new and channel your inner "artist"...probably driving there by a different route, in order to awaken creativity.  Regardless, I was "all in" when I read it!  I'm changing it all!

Saturday was a busy day around here.  Our backyard was being dug up to save our foundation from its known route which was sinking into the earth.  Meanwhile, Grampy decided he needed to show Logan the huge holes under our house, so they were having a play date.  This date also involved Logan methodically bringing down a toy out of the toy closet upstairs, playing with it and then going back for the next...and the next.  It's a great game and a great workout!  Things were a bit loud and chaotic that morning.

Our new sofa was being delivered that afternoon!  The new sofa and the above quote motivated me to move the furniture.  Logan thought it was a great idea!  It had been at least a year since we rearranged the furniture and the old sofa and my point of view were both tired of the status quo.  I must say, I love the new arrangement.  I am sure creative brain cells are being stimulated with the new view.  Even the television looks better (maybe not a great thing) and I like seeing my house from a different perspective. 

It seems harder and harder "these days" to be in the now, at least for me.  Between my phone and computer, I can find countless ways to slide down the Internet rabbit hole and totally check out of reality.  I admit to being distracted by my phone and reading this quote reminded me that I need to do better and make an effort to be present.  A time and place for everything.

The quote also makes me think about travel and why I like it so much.  When I travel, I am definitely changing my route.  Being in a new place invites me to explore, open my eyes, take it all in and be aware of my surroundings.  I am thrown into the now!  It is so easy to plod along in my daily life in a semi-conscious state.  I walk the same sidewalks day after day.  I pass the same houses daily and I admit, there are days that I am just going through the motions.  After all, it is the same old route.  When I am in a new place I want to take it all in and by taking it all in I am in the now and I feel more alive.  I have often wondered why I can't just make my home life as invigorating as my travel life.  I am working on that one!  Unfortunately the answer I keep coming up with is to just travel more!

After the furniture had been properly arranged on Saturday we decided to get out of the cul-de-sac and check out an exhibit at the museum.  It worked right into my plan of taking a new route!  It is always a good idea to be a tourist in your own city!  We enjoyed the museum and on our walk back to our car we explored something new...to me.  The Glassell School of Art has apparently been in their new location since 2018 but it was the first time I saw it because I always park elsewhere...new route!  The school has a set of stairs up the side that leads to the observation roof .  I cannot resist a stairway to heaven and a good view so up we went.  It just so happened to be my favorite time of day too!  Sunset!  New place, new views.  Perfect!

A cool sculpture

Going up!

But first, I decided to check out that glass wall to the right.  It is one of those walls that has names of donors etched in the tiles.  Wanted to see if I knew anyone! 

We ran into my sister and her husband by taking 
a new route and being in the now.

A live/dormant roof with a view!

And a sunset!

Once the sun set it was time to explore one more new route.  In keeping with the theme of the day we tried a new wine bar and were pleasantly surprised... at least by the music and the decor!  The wine was OK... but when consumed listening to the best music of my high school and college years in a converted old house it was perfect.  Is it ironic that being in the now and listening to the music threw me back to the 70's and 80's?  We had fun reminiscing.

Later in the week I was listening to a podcast while driving the very familiar route of I-10 between Houston and Baton Rouge and it was talking about the habits of successful (professionally and health wise) people.  It went on to say that people who are the healthiest and most successful have made good habits a way of life and don't have to think about what they do, they just do it.  Healthy habits become a way of life and therefore result in good health without feeling like work. Sounds like the opposite of changing a known route.

So....how do I change my known routes AND incorporate habits AND stay in the now?  Maybe I make a habit of occasionally changing a known route and a habit of being in the now. 

The Best Photo I Never Took

warning...religious content

The best photo I never took would have required technology that does not exist yet.  If there were technology that could convey love, peace, passion, joy, contentment, awe, spirit, faith, and talent then I would have taken that photo yesterday and you would be moved to tears just like I was.  In that photo would be our family with grandparents, parents and children at Easter Mass.  We sat very close to the choir, the same choir my daughter sang in for many years until balancing work, babies and life ate up choir practice and performance time....for now.  The song being sung during the offertory was Because He Lives... close your eyes and listen peacefully, it is beautiful!

The best photo I never took happened as I watched my daughter, cradle her daughter who was asleep in her arms, as she sang every beautiful word of that song.  She was next to her husband who was holding their son, who was exhibiting his best church behavior (thank you Holy Spirit!), and surrounded by their families.  My daughter loves to sing!  She has an amazing voice and had sung that song many times as a choir member.  The peace and sheer pleasure on her face as she sang and rocked her soon to be baptized daughter brought both my husband and I to tears.  Watching her do something that brings her such joy is like watching an artist at work.  It was the best photo I never took and will be forever etched in my memory as one of the most beautiful moments of this life. 

And it all happened... because He lives. 
Happy Easter!

My 5 Hour Flashback

We are still alive and well here in Houston, the new Venice of the south.  Even though you have not heard from me in weeks, it isn't because I have been busy building an ark, filling sandbags to put around the house or crying my eyes out at night because I'm still distraught over the loss of sweet, crazy Sadie.  It's because I have two posts I've been working on and haven't posted because my inner critic has been in overdrive.  Well, it's your lucky day!  I've sent her to perfectionists anonymous for the day and I will do my best to make two posts into one!
 Abracadabra!

I have always thought it would be great to, one day,  go on a trip and if the urge hit me... just "stay on".  There have been many times I wished I could have done this but there were carpools to be driven, homework to monitor, dogs to walk, classes to teach or take... all demanding my presence back home.   "Staying on" was not an option, time wise or wallet wise...until a few weeks ago.  No, I didn't win the lottery but I did come to a realization.  For the first time in 36 years... I didn't have to go home.  TJ was out of town all week and with no dog at home praying on my guilty conscience for leaving her alone too long, I was free to roam the planet.  I went to Baton Rouge for a weekend and stayed an extra day, because I could.  We went to Austin and spontaneously added another day.  It was a weather related extra day but no arrangements had to be made for anyone or anything back home.  The ability to "stay on" is suddenly a reality.  I kind of like it and in a way I don't.

Driving to and from Baton Rouge over the years has provided me with many opportunities to reminisce...5 hours... each way.  As I approach Baton Rouge, I tune into the local classic rock station and inevitably they are playing tunes from my high school or college days.  The memories start to flood back and I find myself geographically and mentally transported to my youth.  Two of my favorite things.... youth and music!  Listening to Fleetwood Mac or the Eagles on the radio makes the final approach (while sitting in Mississippi River bridge traffic) almost bearable.  At least my mind is somewhere else having a great time with high school friends or in college at a bar... not studying accounting.

Now that I have my new car, equipped with SiriusXM radio, I am no longer limited to local radio stations that fade in and out over the roadways.  I found Comedy USA keeps me awake when the monotony of I-10 starts to bore me to sleep.  Most importantly, I found The Bridge (no pun intended) and anyone who was in high school or college in the 70's needs to give it a listen.  I had a flashback to the spring of 1975 and my senior trip when they played Sister Golden Hair, Tin Man or anything by America .  We were driving home to Baton Rouge in a van with shag carpet, wearing sunburns and smiles all the way home.  I remembered awkward middle school slow dancing when Color My World was played.  The Doobie Brothers' China Grove or Oh Black Water brought me back to riding around in the family station wagon (sorry Mom and Dad) with my friends getting into all sorts of mischief.  Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Lucky Man was "make out" music back in the day.  Any song by Fleetwood Mac sends me to an outdoor concert dancing barefoot in the grass or to that bar I spent way too many hours not studying.  Every song brings back a different memory!  It's like a 5 hour flashback!

One of the thoughts that floated through my mind during my flashback was that in my writing class I had so much trouble retrieving childhood memories, when all I needed to do was listen to the music.  One thought lead to another, that happens sometimes, and since I didn't need to get home for anything... I took a little side trip to my childhood on my way home.  We lived in Beaumont, Texas from the time I was 4 until I turned 13.  Impressionable years that are a blur.  I drove past the two houses we lived in over those 9 years.  Thanks to my very smart phone and the maps app I was able to find my way to each.  The environs have changed quite a bit in 45 years.  The houses look great!  It would have been so sad to see them neglected.  My childhood has been preserved.  And yes, driving down the old streets brought the memories flooding back!

I slept here...right next to the window on the left.

I'm sure the neighbors were wondering
who the stalker was taking pictures of this house.

Maybe I've become a sentimental old fool but every time I go back to Baton Rouge lately I am more and more reminiscent.  Is that what happens when you get old?  Don't answer that question!

It Was That Kind of Night

Almost 2 years ago, to the day, I wrote this bit about pubs.  I was reminded of the post last night as TJ and I sat in McGonigels Mucky Duck and listened to some awesome live music.  Must be something about the third weekend in January that draws us to the pub.  Don't you just love it when you decide to do something at the spur of the moment and it turns out to be even more fun than you had hoped ?  Some things happen for a reason! That was last night.

Since we had yet another open weekend, and since it is January, listening to live music at a pub sounded like a great idea to both of us.  A little pub food, some good beer and a little wine, a small intimate venue and the music of Circa Paleo  (whom we had not heard of before last night) proved to be one perfect, nostalgic night for me. If you enjoy Celtic folk music then give them a listen, they are that and much more. Their sound reminded me of some of the Canadian folk groups we love, sort of  Texas Renaissance Festival meets Cape Breton Island (which was the inspiration for one of their songs). 

I had a smile on my face the entire night and I could not stop tapping my foot or hand or some body part to the music all night long.  As if that were not enough...when the band came back for their second set they announced that they were going to give away one of their hoodies.  No, I did not win the hoodie. They called a girl to the stage and then they told her, much to her dismay, that she was not going to win a hoodie....instead.....as a guy she immediately recognized, walked up onto the stage and knelt down in front of her and.... proposed!!!....she was going to get engaged!  Yeah, I cried.  It was soo sweet!  She said "yes" and got the guy instead of a hoodie.  It was just that kind of night.

We sat at the same table as the girl doing the sound board. Excellent table! We visited with her a bit and found out that she is in a band as well.  Another Irish Celtic sounding band complete with a bagpiper.  I was  just looking for something to do when my sister comes to visit next month and because "it was that kind of night", she told me they are playing at the Mucky Duck the night my sister is here.  Yup, it was that kind of night.  Looks like we will be back next month.