Creative Ideas occur in the Silent Periods

Since last write, been home to the Pond and back to Penrose.  The heat at the Pond and the cool in the mountains makes the trip well worthwhile.  But now, back to the Pond for a few days.  Nice rain here last night - hope some gets to the Pond.  It's a dust bowl now!……Recently a friend sent a link to TED and a talk by Susan Cain on introversion.  One of her major points is: "Stop the madness for constant group work - both in the workplace and in schools."  If that intrigues you, google it and listen to the talk.  I think she has a very important point - creativity comes from individual quiet time.  Group work is fine AFTER individual quiet time. Think of Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and many more highly creative people. I'll bet you can agree that your most creative moments come in silent periods.  For me, silent periods are absolutely essential to my happiness and my creativity.  Susan Cain's second major point was "Go to the wilderness to get inside your own head." And third, "Take a good look at what's inside your suitcase.  Take them out and grace us with your ideas."  You'll have to hear her talk to fully appreciate her messages.  Or, perhaps read her book "Quiet."

Yoga and Tomatoes

We're at the Pond for a couple days and enjoying tomatoes from my very own garden!
This is the first time I've had success with growing my own and what a joy!  We also made a trip to the recycling center and got rid of another truck load of stuff and a quick stop by the Faith Home store in Ninety Six to drop off a bit more.  I cannot tell you how freeing it is to eliminate STUFF from my life! …..ALSO, getting the Yogatorium ready for classes to begin August 3 - next MONDAY. Blankets washed, mats washed.   Got the floor mopped and next will clean windows - EAGER to see everyone a week from today!  Even in the mountains of North Carolina I'm practicing every day now!   What a delightful place of greenery to do so. …..This may be the best vacation I've ever enjoyed!  Hope you and all of your friends and family are enjoying the summer in spite of the unbelievable heat and dryness.  Have we ever been this dry and hot?  And it isn't even August yet!

Gladness

I'm in NC for a few days and enjoying a beautiful soft rain this morning.  I got in most of my yoga process out in the yard near the trees before the rain began and finished up on the porch.  A delight to hear the rain on the metal roof, which, of course, I can do at the Pond also.  But here everything is green - many trees very close to the house and lovely patches of summer flowers around….We arrived yesterday afternoon and put in a couple of hours of good clearing in the garage - loaded all the paint and other cans and bottles of useful stuff into my car to take home.  Getting down to the big stuff left to handle next. ….This morning's reading brought to my attention another word for happiness - gladness.  Reading Frederick Buechner's Secrets in the Dark chapter on calling of voices.  He says:  We should go with our lives where we most need to go and where we are most needed……the voice we should most listen to when choosing our vocation … ..is the voice of our own gladness.    I wonder how many of us have actually used that as our major factor in choosing whatever activity we have been in or are involved in now?  Can we even recognize our own gladness?  What does it take to make you or me glad?  ……And, how do we know where we are "most needed."  He says:  If we keep our lives open, the right place will find us.

The Pond Renovation is DONE!

It's finished.  William and Ral have now moved their equipment out to another site and we have the bill!  They did a beautiful job and I will heartily recommend William Nickles to anyone who has earth-moving jobs.  Here's a photo of the pipe that was installed.    If you're interested in the mechanism, I'll be glad to try to explain how it works when there is water in the Pond.  Soon, we hope, but probably not for months unless we get unusual amounts of rain.  Seems like we are due from some of that since everything is so dry now.  At any rate, for now the pond is a beautiful bowl just waiting to be filled.  What an experience this has been watching the two huge pieces of equipment creating the lovely bowl……Now I
m through with chores and ready for a week of vacation split between North Carolina mountains and the Pond.  All the yoga blankets have been washed, the mats have been washed, the floor vacuumed and mopped and all is ready for class on August 3. … but for now…..more play!

Dock Removal at Guest House

Today began at 7 this morning with Frank and Jim tearing the dock away from the Guest House while Bella (Jim's dog) watches from inside.  Once it is totally removed, much earth will be pushed up to make a bit of a yard behind the house.  If we ever decide we need steps again, we'll get them, but for now, we'll just get rid of the old wood, probably a big fire as soon as we can get a bit of cooler weather.  Can you imagine a huge fire in the pit while it is 100 degrees in the shade!  I think we'll wait a bit.  Yesterday both the track hoe and the dozer were working to get the earth out of the way at the dam to get down to clay.  Exciting to watch the way the two machines worked together!  Looks like work will continue at least through the coming week.

Progress on the Pond

Here is a view looking toward the dam before the split was filled and another from the top of the dam looking toward my cottage. Lots of beautiful soil being moved around and building up the dam.  That's what 30 years of silting in can do to the bottom of the pond.  

Renovating the Pond

Well, it's underway.  All day yesterday we sat on the porch and watched the excavator chew up small trees and the dozer pushing earth around.  The chewer/mulcher is a fascinating piece of equipment attached where the bucket is normally found.  It literally chews up trees and spreads the mulch around.  Here's what it looked like at the west end, and work on the east behind the dam.  Notice a new island is being created between the labyrinth (off the right side of the photo) and the peninsula (off to the left).  It rained last evening so it's a bit wet, but the excavator/chewer is already back at work this morning.  It's hard to do anything now but sit and watch the progress.  What a fun way to do nothing!

All of Life is Play!

Amazing how laid back I feel these days.  Just what I hoped for is happening.  With no responsibilities the stress leaves.  It is truly crazy that I ever feel ANY stress.  But, just being at home seems to do it - even though there are few requirements when I'm here now.  The plan is to learn over the next couple of weeks how to live here and do what I want to do - yoga classes and such - and still feel relaxed and stress-free.  I know it is a mind-set.  I know my mind is tricky.  I know I can form a habit of being relaxed.  I know how to turn off the stress - I just have trouble KEEPING it turned off.  So, wish me luck.  That's my plan and I'm sticking to it!  When I retired I promised myself that from here on all of life will be PLAY, not work.  Sometimes I have forgotten that.

Home Now

I'm back home now.  The homeplace is in good shape.  Gus has been well cared for.  The garden is exploding with many green tomatoes and one even beginning to turn orange! The squash are still on the vines.  And the Clemson spineless okra and the basil are thriving.   Frank has begun cutting the grass.  I have begun catching up on weeding the garden and cleaning the cottage and most of all, continuing my walking and my yoga on a regular basis!   This time I promise myself I will not let it lapse, as it has so many times in the past….Tomorrow we will transfer Gus back to Luke as we make our way up to Penrose again and Luke returns from taking the sons to camp.  We plan to meet somewhere around Spartanburg at I-95……..  Our plans are to spend several days doing more cleaning and clearing of Frank's house and also visit some of the waterfalls and hiking trails  near his home.  In other words, mostly just vacation in the mountains where it is ten degrees cooler.  Do you think August will really be the hottest month?  If so, it will be the hottest August EVER I'm sure.  I don't ever remember June and July being as hot as they have been and are!  It's too hot for me to sunbathe and that's REALLY hot!  Well, at least we're all getting our share of Vitamin D.

Captain Woody's Restaurant

Here's Grandma Jaquie and all her grandchildren at Captain Woody's - our favorite family outing for food at Hilton Head.

Walker, Jack, Grandma Jaquie, Sam, Sydney, Kelsey

Jigsaw Puzzle Tradition

The traditional jigsaw puzzle happens again.  Here sons Luke and Tate are hard at it.  They completed it at 1:00 this morning.  Of course, all ten of us worked on it during the week but the most consistently determined were Tate and Luke.  So, this one goes away to someone else and we'll try a new one next year.  This one was particularly tricky with a multitude of different shapes of the pieces so making it a challenge.  Luke tells me even the last four pieces took quite a while to fit in!  I was fast asleep when all that was going on.  If you like such challenges, let me know and you can take possession of this one.

Frogmore Stew

Walker, Sam and Wendy Shucking

Here is part of the process - shucking the corn.  Then in the pot goes sausages, potatoes, corn, and shrimp plus seasonings.  This is a standby in the low country and often called "low-country boil" but I still like "Frogmore Stew."  Frogmore is where the dish presumably originated - a little burg over the bridge from Beaufort on Lady's Island.  Luke has been preparing this for us - with help of course - each year and the vacation would not be the same without it….Luke's family gone to the beach for their first day there, Tate and family off to tour Savannah, and I am enjoying the solitude for a while.  It's unbelievable but nearly everyone is sleeping well regardless of the crowd!  At least, I am.

More Partner Yoga

Once again, yoga on the beach.

Yoga on the Beach

This morning we had our first time doing yoga on the beach.  Here is a shot of Kelsey and Sydney.  More to come tomorrow!  Everyone is here now - all 5 of Tate's family and Luke's four.  So, we had a supper together at Captain Woody's. - The fireworks got rained out.  So we ended up working on a jigsaw puzzle and just generally caching up on what has been going on in all our lives.    If the rain stops, guys will be playing golf.  Altogether, family time together like occurs only here!

Vacation Day at HH

Here's my favorite vacation photo to date:  Walker and Kelsey posing for the camera.  Not quite sure why they are so wide-eyed.  Then, here's Tate and Walker on the 9th green just behind our house.  I don't think there's much more fun than recording the great times on vacation!  So, stay tuned for more.

Shipyard Beach Morning Yoga

So here it is - the day before July 4 - and the crowds will really show up today and tomorrow.  It will not be a good time to go shopping at the Publix store - check-in at all the time-shares is Saturdays.  I am reminded of our activities on Clemson football weekends when 93,000 people showed up for the game beginning on Thursdays in time to tailgate and shop and such before the game.  We always managed to stay at our house those days OR if we HAD to go somewhere, always away from downtown toward Six Mile and around behind to Central or wherever except downtown Clemson!  SO, my plan is to stay close to the house after today at least till Sunday morning…..Spent my first time on the beach this morning beginning at 7:30 and leaving about 9:00.  Did yoga there and then a long savasana to conclude a lovely session.  There will be a repeat tomorrow - this time maybe over at South Beach, my old favorite - just a short walk across from Salty Dog.  This morning I used the Shipyard beach and there were many people already out at 7:30.

Family Time Begins at HH

Tate, Wendy, Kelsey, Sydney and Walker arrived early last evening - so now it truly is a family outing1  Jim is taking us all out sailing at noon so we'll be hoping for some nice wind to push us along. One way or the other, either sailing or motoring, it is huge delight to be on the water.  Somehow or another, water and I have a love relationship - whether it is salty or fresh!  It seems now that the dam work for the Pond may begin soon after I return July 11. I'll try to schedule my time away so that I can be there to watch when it does happen.  But, plan to be in North Carolina going waterfall sight seeing much of the rest of July.  I'm beginning to thoroughly enjoy being away from a structured environment.  BUT, I am doing my yoga each morning now.  For a while, my left hand was bothering me when I tried to get down and up from the floor.  Now, it's cooperating.  And, finally my body doesn't complain quite so much as it did the first day.  As a matter of fact, my boat pose seems to be better than ever - perhaps the environment is affecting me?

The Tree Chair

On my walk this morning I found a favorite tree I've always enjoyed in the past.  Somehow it invites me to sit there, which I never have since my legs would have to be at least 6 inches longer.  So, it makes me think of a chair for a giant of a being.  Never seen anyone or anything sitting there in the several years I've been watching it but perhaps I haven't been opening the right eyes?  Perhaps the eyes of my heart would see?  Anyhow, it's fun to imagine the imaginal beings that might sit here.  So each morning I will look for a being sitting there waiting for me to see.