Visuals with words

Here's a little story of my meandering around my little city and down to the district of Nye beach. A very coastal area of Newport that bodes to have a very diverse visual Art persona.

I decided last Monday to go for an extended power walk into town because I totally relaxed too much on my holidays....you  know, the disregard of enough exercise, putting too many sweet delicious food items in my face...etc., etc...etc.!!  oie~ ( although I did better this year around-I'm a work in progress)

It is a couple miles into Newport from where I live and a few miles from one end of three different districts, to the other. You have the Bay front district, where you have amazing sea food- Mo's makes the best clam chowder in the world. You have fresh fish and crab right off of the boats from the pacific and Alaskan waters. You have the large pod of sea lions singing a sailors tune. And various attractions and shops. It's also the place to be during the fourth of July. Amazing firework's, music and festivities. The folks here are very friendly.

Then there is South beach, which is located on the other side of the bridge. It is where you'll find the Pirates Cove. An unusual place to shop. I'll just say its fun and unique. This is also where NOAA resides, the amazing Coast Guard and the Oregon Aquarium. The Aquarium lights in December is always good family fun. Besides, it Santa's favorite place to stop and say hi to everyone!!!

Of course we have the Hwy 101 corridor that has good shopping and some good places to eat. Mostly mainstream...if  you know what I mean~

Anyway, the district I love to wonder through is called the Nye beach district. I'm a bit of an Art nut and I like to investigate what people are calling art these days. Some forms are amazing and keep you looking, smiling and pondering- other stuff leaves you scratching your head thinking "wait, what was that??"

I believe Art is whatever evokes an emotion inside you. I believe everyone has their own consciousness of what art is.

(in one of the shop windows)

I am tempted to stop by and kick my feet up and enjoy a cold beverage, eat some good fresh cooked food from one of the Bistros that line the area. But to me that would be negating my effort to whittle down some extra calories. So I stick to my water and gum. I am no fun! haha

Instead I keep walking and enjoying the people I come in contact with that ask me if I'm from around here or need directions or just want to share warm friendly thoughts with me. I take it upon myself to blast a good smile and also to use my slight sense of humor when responding. I so enjoy seeing how long it will take me to get someone in a happy mood-get someone to laugh when I can see it in their face they need it. It's like I want to conquer the blues :)  . When someone goes out of their way to make me smile or laugh, it refreshes my soul and makes me feel blessed when I feel bummed.

I value the opportunity to try and do the same for others. Smiles are contagious! I have a long distance friend who agrees with this and he shared with me he feels that everyone needs to see as many smiley faces in their day as possible. Now there's a man who gets me!

This is a little cement bench to sit on, off the side of the sidewalk by the old bricked four way stop in the middle of the district. Maybe there for people watching.  Although its kind of welcoming and a bit rustic, I wouldn't sit on it because of the moss...and  well, I'm kind of a neat-freak....lol ( now you know another little secret about me)

I am enjoying the sunshine in the winter time. I feel for those on the East coast being hit by a big snow storm. I wish I could send them some of our weather. Don't get me wrong, I do like the wintery snow to play in for a few days. Sometimes, some years, it actually snows enough here to enjoy that. But I am a creature of moderate temperatures ( and I admit I like a good thunder and lightning.... high wind storm at times) I love my sunshine. I like to be outside. I like to deep breath the sea salt air which is a natural inflammatory for your respiratory system. Health fact of the day-right?!

And that's where I end up. On the beach, by Nye beach district. I did have a bit of a trek home. But I thought I would hang here a while and drink in all this beauty and enjoy the sound of the waves hitting the shore. This to me is the best and most natural Art of the area. I appreciate it every chance I get.

Wouldn't you?

Peace out~

Go out and put your smile on!

 

 

 

 

Strange beliefs growing up

I was walking around this morning on my usual route, burning off energy and taking a few random cell pictures of the sun and other weather related subjects. I seem to have a fascination with taking pictures of the sun and its rays. I always thought it was God shinning down on me. Whenever I would see rays hitting the ground off in the distance, I would think "well God is doing some work over there, I wonder what's going on?" Yes I have a healthy faith. But this was just how my little mind would work at figuring out nature, etc. Quite an imagination I suppose. I, to this day think it would be nice to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I picture in my mind the lucky charms guy standing guard over it; constantly moving it when anyone got too close. Pretty silly, right?! Absolutely. Well here are some more weird thoughts I had growing up.
I thought when there was a meteor shower, little souls of babies were being sent to the earth from heaven, to be put in tiny bodies in mommy's tummy's to be born.
I thought that there were some dolls that would come to life when you were sleeping and move about...this was- and still is very creepy to me! Thanks Tim....my funny, funny brother for giving my sister and I those night terrors!!. *smiling*
I love weather. I'm a bit of a nerd that way....maybe  I should have become some kind of weather girl or analyst or etc......
 Anyway-I love watching the original scary movie of the' Fog'. It really creeps me out for some bizarre reason. I think something sinister resides in the rolling thick fog. ( yet I love the fog-go figure..)

Maybe I like the adrenaline rush of being scared?? I can't quite figure myself out on this one. The movie is actually a bit corny....Maybe its the unknown in the fog at first, then seeing the gross costumes and make-up effects of the dead people from the ocean slithering out of the fog; along with the sound effects/creepy music to exaggerate the experience. Kind of like what they do in the Jaws movie every time you see or expect the shark to pop up then....Boo! you know?! haha.  Music is a very stimulating art form.

When I was in my pre-teens, I used to live in a century old farm house that was haunted in Monroe, Washington. ( that's for another blog day, hehe) Sometimes I would think that there were bats flying around in my room at night....Oh, wait....that really did happen!! AHHHHHH!

My father, a Seattle policeman would run around the house with a fishing net and catch them in mid-flight, take them outside and shoot them with his service revolver. ( there were more than Id like to think- rabid bats in the area back then, so don't feel like he was cruel to flying creatures. It was a safety issue) Watching him from a mostly closed door was actually a bit comical- By the way, did I express I am deathly afraid of bats?! My family and some friends can testify to how unglued I am when I see them!! Needless to say, I learned to keep my unscreened window closed after dark. That kind of took the fun out of jumping out of the window at night to sneak into town and hang out with friends in remote areas..

Needless to say, there wasn't much to do in that little no-where town except ride my horse and hang with friends...

I was shy when I was young, but I wasn't no angel. Live and learn I did.

I realize that the weird little things I used to believe in, was bizarre, childish and kind of funny really.

 But if you think about it, you believed in some strange things while growing up...maybe you wouldn't admit it now....but you know

  it made things interesting.....Right?

Gives you something to laugh at now. It's healthy to laugh at yourself. I do it all the time!

Thought Id share a little bit of my quirky self growing up.

From my part of the world- inside my evening thoughts

Peace out~

All the worlds a stage~

One of my all time favorite bands is RUSH. A song that they sing- proclaims "all the worlds a stage" is amazing lyrically and enlightening.
 While bouncing around my home of Newport down by the Nye district ( the more upscale and artsy area) this song 'rushed' inside of my head. -you like the word play? haha....I slowed my walking pace down and started to notice different sets of people in my view. In each group, there were individuals who were very animated while talking to the others, whom were standing and observing-like a personal audience for the performers. ( this is how I was interpreting what I was seeing) I thought, all the world is really a stage for us to play up our own lives for others- to imagine what it must have been like in the moment. To revel in the excitement that we experience-or maybe try to over dramatize events we are telling to spice up our otherwise dreary days.
 Animation is a key to telling any story in person. It gives it more life and emotion. The large and small hand gestures, the facial expressions, the movement of our bodies. Even the slight body contact towards others in the form of a touch of someone's arm or shoulder while spinning our tales. We perform like this all the time when we are with one, or with many...all without the benefit of a formal platform-

Would we have the nerve to stand before an audience of people and tell our tales? Would we be able to be as invigorated and animated as we are in our own little public areas? Would we 'shy' up and become little wall flowers; or get up on a soap box and have some real fun with it?

I used to feel like the frozen girl having quiet fun with a friend. I am still shy as an adult. I fight with that part of me inside to this day...It's comfortable for me to stay silent and watch the world in my own little way, meek and mild, smiling gently staying out of the limelight.

Of course, in the past, I would put on my game face and be 'outgoing lady' while working as a social worker or a domestic violence educator, nurse, etc. while the inside of me was in a twist. I always made the best of what I had to work with inside myself...which was growing ever so depressed. After years of living/ feeling this way, I got to the point of thinking...what was my major malfunction??... that I felt so beneath myself all the time?? I was cheating myself out of much laughter-happy go lucky-'oh well I will enjoy it anyway' experiences!!

Sometimes I think we just need to get out of our own heads. Stop overthinking things and just have fun with our daily happenings. So what- what other people think! So what- if something goes in a different direction!...stuff happens....life happens...smile anyway, laugh anyway. It will give you something interesting to tell the next time your with your friends while out and about. I can testify to how liberating it is to just enjoy being yourself openly, only happier, joking, laughing and sharing it with those around you. I learned that deep breathing and positive inner mantra reinforcement is key to just being ok with myself- it's calming.

 Find your stage and show your smile off. Who knows, maybe you will eventually receive the standing ovation you deserve.

Then take a bow

you have found some inner sunlight....

~Peace out~

curtain closes on my day

...and scene :)

Seattle Seahawk? Karma? And a strange thing- Me!

Hi. My name is Lisa, and this is my weeks story in a nutshell ( for the nut that I am)
First, while I like to take walks/sprints around my neighborhood and beyond....I have a tendency to pick up old screws, nails and sharp objects in the streets or off the side of the road. In the back of my mind I feel that this is one less chance that I wont run over it with my tire and get a flat. Karma? I also think that if I do this little bit of pre-tire rescue, I may be in turn- helping someone else avoid a bad day. This might sound like a nice gesture, or a little neurotic...I'm ok with either scenario, why split hairs~
But low and behold, earlier this week there was a construction truck that parked by me in the Fred Meyer parking lot. One of the workers had moved around some contents in the back bed leading to a nice sharp screw to be dropped behind my back tire.( I of course was very unaware of this as I was coming out of the store.) When I came out a young man bent over and picked up the screw and showed it to me stating "well this could have ended badly for you!" Karma returned?..fate?..whatever it was, this man was my hero for the day. And no flat tire! yay
Secondly...Ok, so this gets better and a little bizarre, in the coolest way possible..(er-go my favorite sign in Depoe bay, 7 miles north of me)....

As I stand in the parking lot looking up at the cloudy sky with just the right amount of sunshine popping through, I notice something strange in the white billowy yonder.....were my eyes playing tricks on me? Is my brain playing-find the picture in the shapes?? You know the game many of us played as young children? Laying on our backs in the grass, on a nice day, possibly a little bored and decide who can find the most unusual forms in the clouds.....

So, me, not relying on my own testimony of what I saw when I spoke abut this, I took a cell picture. This is what I got. Can you see it too?

I tell you what- maybe its because I'm a Seattle Seahawk fan, but here's my sign! haha. This is not a retouched or fake photo...you'll have to take my word on it. Maybe it's a sign from my sister who passed over a year ago. She was an amazing die-hard fan. Maybe she is still rooting from the great beyond! Wouldn't surprise me a bit! Sharing some of that good old team spirit! Many of us really get into rooting for our own team favorites. It's a kind of "play time" for adults. We've grown past the jungle gyms, the teeter totters, the swing sets ( well most of us have...yikes I'm giggling about that 

statement) They are a thing of our past....( again, when will I grow up??!!..)

I think, in all honesty, I shall strive to keep as much kid excitement in my soul for as long as I live. I am a mature and responsible adult who can let her hair down and kick off my shoes and run through the grass, fly high on a swing up into the clouds of Seahawks and other animals and objects. I shall smile and giggle when someone says something unintentionally funny and call you my friend with joy in my heart...

And when the week is done and I sit down to read or write; I shall share my simply fun times. I shall let each day be my muse.

I'm rich in love and strange in a good way. Welcome to my week~

Peace out~

Live La Vie En Rose

Had an opportunity to go out for a new trail walk today. The sun was out and it wasn't too cold for a January day here. I have been neglecting myself a bit and felt an enormous amount of energy just busting at my seams. My mind has been going a mile a minute and my bones were screaming at me to get out-get moving! So I obliged. I took one of my adult sons with me ( I have four grown, handsome young sons) as he needed some well earned exercise too.
I had found a new spot in which to tackle a few miles off the 101 corridor. Off into the wilderness we went, on a forest trail ( ok, so it wasn't much of a wilderness ,but in my head that sounds more satisfying than saying a manmade nature trail! -smiling..

 

There was a sweet smell of pine wood, dew from the small marsh near by and moss. Tiny birds chirped up in the bare tree limbs. My son was walking quite a bit further ahead of me as I was enjoying the natural view and peacefulness...feeling the burn in my leg muscles...and ok I was also texting a friend for a visit tomorrow....

But all in all a very pleasant experience.

We ended up by a lake and a park where metal kids toys littered the grounds. I swung from a few bars and jumped on a few bouncy contraptions. Quite a bit different type of playground than when I was a young girl. I suppose most women and men my age wouldn't think of playing around kids toys for  a giggle or two. So...Hi. Nice to meet you, I am young at heart and I can still do things and squeal "Look what I can do"...of course I am always laughing at myself and there wasn't many people around to see me be goofy! Haha.

On the way back. I was taking a few cell pics of natures structures. I find beauty and art in natural things. I saw this wall of crumbling dirt and rocks exposing all the tree roots that grew above it. I thought of how we look at our lives

 Some look at themselves and see their lives dissolving and withering with not much left to desire. Feeling the aches and pains of everyday living. .feeling kind of dead inside and over-exposed.
Doesn't that sound drastic and an awful way to be?
Some of us (includes me-yay) see our lives as coming into new chapters of our own book. We have the excitement of living new stories to tell and write down. Some days, yes, they can be a big old bummer! But we always know we awake to new days- to reboot, redefine and express how that chapter will end. And- in the end, we can hopefully get ourselves published in the book of life! And our books to be shelved for others to read and be inspired from, in the 'feel good' section.
So on that note, I will continue to crawl out of my hole if I get stuck on a bummer day, get off my hindside ......

.....Step out of the forest and see through the tree's in my way and live La vie en rose'
............see 'happy' through rose colored glasses. I've made my mind up to live with a spark in my heart! It's good for the cardio-right?!
                                                                Peace out my friends of the world~

To sleep, perchance to dream~

~to quote Shakespeare as I sit here unable to find any type of sleep in my bed this late night, on the pacific coast. I find myself having another moonlight conundrum of why I cannot turn my brain off! My mind fires with the intensity of Albert Einstein's- trying to figure out another one of life's scientific questions. ( um... sure, haha)

I do not have the intelligence of this man, but as most people, I am given to deep thoughts and ponderings that are of the most importance...to me...smile.
I've had a week that almost set me off my balance- and had me giving into absolutely no common sense. Some verbal 'non-sense' was being absorbed by my ears from a few individuals that clearly had no knowledge of which they spoke of. I believe this is what most people call drama in the making.
 What am I thinking?!!!
 This question I had to ask myself, a few times over to get me off of the proverbial ledge- Get me back to my "not my circus, not my monkeys" mantra. It does nobody any good to engage in gossip or negative talks. I had to own what I was buying into...I almost "drank the Kool Aid"!!!! Ha~

I am graciously blessed with some good friends that I could turn too. Some that I could vent on, some I could rational with, some who just loved on me. I had a few friends who came over to spar verbally with me this evening, kind of intelligently talk through my issues with great discourse. I can get pretty passionate with my views on life, faith and humanity. I think we all can. It becomes a trick not to make it too political or judgmental of others. Talking it out was the sweet release I needed to feel grounded again. I was able to breath slowly and with peace as my center. It gave way to gentle reflections of my day and how not to let myself get caught up in the whirlwind of someone's 'hot air'. Unfortunately, these reflections came in the dead of night and caused me to not fall asleep! oie....
Instead of being grumpy about my day and about my lack of sleep thus far; like Abraham Lincoln said, (a president I always found fascinating) " A man is as happy as he makes up his mind to be!"
So in that case, I choose to write, smile and take it all in stride. There is always tomorrow, right? Oh wait......it already is!!

Let the dreams blow into your nights and give you sweet adventures of pleasure.
            May you awaken with a rested and happy lightheartedness.
                            Until we meet again. Rest well.
                                             Peace out~