February 17, 2014February 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Orange You Glad You Let It Go?

Clump #158: Clear pile of sentimental mementos.

Whoa! This was a tough one. Trying to thin down today’s pile of papers was heart-wrenching. Photos, programs from important events, special cards:

Of course, there were also little slips of inspiration and life advice I had cut out. This one, from a long-forgotten magazine, seemed especially appropriate for the task at hand:

In ten years, will I still want this photo of myself at a taping of Let’s Make A Deal? Will my children’s children be interested in seeing how goofy I looked in a referee’s uniform, blowing a whistle? Possibly.

(Like much of the show, which is controlled by the producers, looks are deceiving. The photo was taken in front of a green screen. It was a blast, even still!)

Below are the keepables. One pile of photos and one of other special papers. On top, a photo of our daughter and son when they went out for Halloween as Brother and Sister Bear from the Berenstain Bears book series. There are no words for how much I love this picture. Our son might be an illustration for “The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Halloween.” I also couldn’t part with our younger daughter’s old YMCA ID card on which she looks like a porcelain doll.

And now for the daily dose of color … orange. From Longwood Gardens this fall:

And from the conservatory this winter, inside:

As much as I love the exotic flowers at Longwood, any grocery store contains an infusion of radiant flowers:

And other gorgeous plants, like these leeks dripping over carrots:

And beautiful peppers:

Great song heard today on the radio (WXPN, 88.5): Valentine’s Day Is Over by Billy Bragg. Couldn’t get enough of the Cockney (?) accent, the raw emotion, the horn section, and these lyrics:

Thank you for the things you bought me thank you for the card
Thank you for the things you taught me when you hit me hard
That love between two people must be based on understanding
Until that’s true you’ll find your things
All stacked out on the landing, surprise, surprise

Love is really the thing to cherish, not the things.

February 17, 2014February 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Unworthy Worries

Clump #157: Clear pile of medical expense paperwork; cook rice for 35.

Okay, another victory against the white blight in our house today. Clearly, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt up to tackling a stack of health expense statements:

I shredded anything from before 2012, then filed, in chronological order, anything after. I don’t think a single 2013 statement had reached the folder until today:

I was in the midst of this boring, but strangely satisfying job, when I heard Unworthy, by Cheryl Wheeler. The comic song consists of a litany of guilty “shoulds,” and the conclusion that “I’m unworthy.” Priceless.

The song certainly captured my mental state for much of the day. I had signed on to provide rice for 30-35 people as a part of a Salvation Army dinner coordinated by a member of our Quaker Meeting. And then the reality hit me. You can easily ruin rice … so often either too crunchy or a gluey mess. And that’s in normal quantities. I spent way too much time Googling “rice for a crowd” and other similar prompts.

I ended up with this recipe for fool-proof oven-baked brown rice from a blog called One Good Thing by Jillee. I made myself crazy worrying about whether it would work as well with aluminum foil pans. And would cooking three pans at one time throw it off? I had neither the time nor the nine cups of rice to start over again. In short, I was feeling unworthy to the task. But it turned out perfectly! I would highly recommend the method. One good thing, indeed!

I promised yesterday to post color-infused pictures to combat winter and paper white-fatigue.

At another three hour watercolor class at Longwood Gardens today, I was immersed in the mixing of colors … and felt like a blooming idiot (unworthiness strikes again). I will not post photos of those colors, but of flowers from a recent visit to Longwood’s conservatory:

A selection of purpley-pink and green. How’s this for color?

Hibiscus, the ultimate “come-hither” siren of the plant world:

Less crass, the lovely lily:

I couldn’t get over the leaves on/near this anthurium, looking like shadows, or imitations, of other leaves:

Longwood Gardens holds an “Orchid Extravaganza” every year at this time, but we were a little early for the extravaganza. These were from their every day collection:

Ordinary orchids? I think not.

Extravagantly worthy.

February 15, 2014February 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Thrills, Chills, and Utility Bills

Clump #156: Clear pile number 15 of 28 for each day in February.

This was a pile my husband and I needed to look through together: documents from utility companies. Like going to the dentist, but less fun.

My husband looked through water, electric, and gas paperwork to see if there were any big usage spikes. Three piles remained: shred, recycle, and a few: “investigate this issue.”

So much paper, like the many flakes of so much snow outside (sorry to be a broken record), which is still falling as I write.

I was photographing the tree below with cotton-ball-like clumps of snow on its branches recently and felt a sense of deja vu …

I looked through pictures taken last spring and found a photo of the same tree: a diva dogwood who will only appear in white.

Revisiting spring photos inspired me — I will dedicate the next week to colorful photos. I am sick of this steady diet of white papers and white landscapes. Pigment therapy stat!

February 14, 2014February 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Pile of Paper, Piles of Snow

Clump # 155: Clear away small pile number 14 of 28; activate Lumosity gift.

Four pieces of paper does not quite fit the definition of a pile. I admit, I consciously chose an extra-small clump for today. Here I am at the half-way mark of February, and I’m hitting a wall: tired and uninspired.

The “pile” was a few papers related to gifts we received. The only one needing action was a gift subscription to Lumosity, the brain training and game site, given to me by my older sister. It was from 2011. Yikes. One of countless things I’ve meant to do … someday.

I was sorely tempted to put it aside again in something like an “action” folder … for another sometime in the future. I know all too well that “action” folders are paper graves. The act of filing makes you feel virtuous, as though you’ve done something. So (drum roll) I forced myself to actually activate the gift. It reminded me that I tried to do so in 2011 and couldn’t figure it out. Too dumb for the brain exercises!

One cause of brain freeze: this was the arctic world I drove through this morning:

Beautiful, but dangerous. Even the street signs obliterated.

Remember this jaunty goose, kitted out in smart outfits?

This is what she looked like today:

Remember the hopeful “Think Spring” Snow-maiden?

Today’s slap-in-the-face to such thoughts:

This is more like it:

Thanks very much, but you can stop now.

February 13, 2014February 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Warm Hearts

Clump # 154: Clear paper pile number 13 of 28; make paper valentines.

Lesson of the day: so easy to tackle paper when it has been pre-sorted. Today’s pile was medical forms pertaining to either our younger daughter (the diligent paper-sorter) or to our cat Pumpkin; both easily filed. Below, one from 2009 with a photo, and the new “Pumpkin” folder.

Confession time. I previously posted about the clearing of our pantry, in all its scintillating detail. One item I removed from the pantry floor was a box of valentine craft supplies, which had been stuffed in there for about a year. Here we are on Valentine’s Eve, and I cannot for the life of me find that box. Very disheartening. Pun intended. I have to remind myself that I’m in transition, and home organization (or lack thereof) might get worse before getting better. Sigh.

Not to be discouraged, I purchased a pad of construction paper and made simple valentines with one sheet, each, of white and and red paper. Cut each in half, then folded the red halves and cut out hearts.

Glue the hearts to the white background, like so …

And write a very simple poem. Our family always exchanges hand-made valentines. Our mom created the tradition that we continue. Simply start out the Roses are Red rhyme, think of something about that person, especially notable in the current year, then come up with a word that Violets are … to rhyme with the word you want at the end. Easier done than said.

For instance, if your valentine, Mary, has really gotten into yoga this year, you might write, “Roses are Red/ Violets are Ecru/ Our Mary has become/A Yoga Guru.” The sillier the better. When I see clusters of people crowding around the valentine card section of stores at this time of year, I always wish I could tell them how easy and personal this method is. I’m a big purchaser of cards, but somehow a holiday celebrating heart-feelings deserves something from the hand of the sender. My parents would write a poem to each other that could be a bit clumsy, not great literature, but very touching. We have so many years of paper hearts that document the big events of our kids’ lives, and it’s a sweet record.

I hope everyone reading is safe, warm, and I guess, if you are reading this, you have power! Here is my hard-working husband snow-blowing for the second time in a few hours this morning.

Some friends in snow suits kindly shuffled their way to the front door of a neighbor who hadn’t been shoveled out yet, so that I had a path to get to her door and visit for tea.

She made it worth my while.

This planter in her kitchen window seemed to be saying: Spring will return and melt the snow!

I do not know many sights more welcome on a cold winter day than the one below. Note the bubbles forming a heart:

A very warm and happy Valentine’s Day to you and yours!

February 13, 2014February 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Holiday Hold-overs

Clump #153: Change holiday wreaths; shovel out pile number 12 of the twenty-eight pile challenge for February.

Today, while bracing for another big nor’easter, I took our Christmas wreath down …

And put up the trusty Valentine-ish one I bought for $14.99 at Target ages ago. I have a distinct memory of my younger, now college aged, daughter welcoming a friend from kindergarten for a play date, and her little friend telling me, “It’s time to take down your Valentine’s Day wreath.” The rest of the play date didn’t go much better, but I’m happy to report that the friend turned into a very nice young woman. I, however, remain slow to transition holiday wreaths.

Today’s pile from the study was an accumulation of junk I had not dealt with after Christmas.

Most of it consisted of bags and boxes. Out to the curb you go with the paper documented yesterday. Health starts here … yes!

The only items left were Christmas gifts I had bought that needed to be exchanged or returned. Wow, out of sight, out of mind. I had completely forgotten about them.

I have been doing a fair amount of whining over our incessant winter storms this season. In the spirit of “Love what you’re doing,” I present the photo below. The car is one I often pass when traveling to Lancaster County. I adore this car. The snow on it right now just adds to its allure. Tomorrow it might be buried in the predicted snow-ice storm. By springtime it might be all rust, or much more disintegrated …

So I’m loving this moment, this day, this winter.

February 11, 2014February 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Three Bags Full

Clump #152: Pile number eleven of the twenty-eight paper piles in February challenge.

Today’s paper pile was petite. It was a bunch of papers addressed to our older daughter, who no longer lives with us. One ancient newsletter, bank rate notice, and tax forms: easily filed or shredded.

And speaking of shredding, as much as I’ve been marveling at how easy this project is turning out to be (in direct opposition to the dread with which I approached it), the proof is in these bags waiting to be kicked to the curb and picked up by the recycling truck. Mama Mia! That’s a lotta shredding!

In other news, we are so ready to show winter the door. Another big storm is predicted for tomorrow and Thursday. Enough!

I was shopping in a store yesterday and a salesman there said to me, “I fired Mother Nature last week. She didn’t get the memo!”

We’re getting a little winter-weather-wacky. Help! (Another Strasburg, PA snow creation:)

Hope you are faring better!

February 10, 2014February 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Love What You’re Doing

Clump #151: Purge paper pile number ten of twenty-eight.

Most of pile number ten of my project was easily filed in the 2012 taxes folder. Why had 2013 been efficiently taken care of, and not the year before? A mystery we may never solve.

My younger daughter had sorted a few other items into this pile, and one paper was clipped to an — empty — legal pad. YAY! Easy peasy. Once again, the idea of confronting the chore was worse than the reality.

I watched the Olympics last night and haven’t been able to stop thinking about something I heard during the women’s figure skating event. I’m fascinated by the words a coach says to his/her athlete right before they go out on that unpredictable ice, the final bit of mental programming. When Gracie Gold was about to skate, her coach Frank Carroll said, “Love what you’re doing.” I was so impressed by the profundity of those words. I ended up writing down her interpretation of it during the post-skate interview:

Sportscaster Andrea Joyce: “Frank told you to enjoy your skating, love your skating. How important is it for you to embrace that?”

Gracie Gold: “Really important. We’ve been reading Phil Jackson’s book [Eleven Rings The Soul of Success, by Phil Jackson (legendary NBA coach) and Hugh Delehanty] and … when you let go of all the fear, that’s when you find the love — not just sports, but anything in life.”

So often you hear people say, “Do what you love.” But “Love what you’re doing” makes so much more sense. It might just be my new mantra. There are unsavory parts to even dream jobs. Mundane shopping today was imbued with beauty in that frame of mind. What’s not to love about this sky?

Love what you’re doing … letting go of fear and skating through one pile at a time.

February 9, 2014February 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Number Nine, Number Nine

Clump #150: Clear paper pile number nine from floor of study.

It’s the Flippin February Paper Pile Purge. I’m still plowing through the piles my younger daughter sorted out to help us with our paper-pile-up. And I’m flippin out over another snow coming down over the previous snows and the ice, now like broken glass.

Today’s paper pile was fairly easy to take care of. As I document this project day after day, a trend is becoming obvious: I feel the need to apologize for the small size or effort of the day’s clump. But really, by processing papers on a daily basis, it is … easy. Will the lesson be solidified by the end of February?

Our clump of magazine subscription invitations and other similar items, before:

And after, split into shred, recycle, and two papers needing phone calls:

Another lesson learned today: a clump this size is doable even when one is very, very tired, as I am now. I went to a three hour watercolor class at Longwood Gardens, and all that mixing of color has worn me out. I can imagine how lame that sounds … so arduous! Watercolor painting is something I’ve long wanted to do, and was feeling stressed about the reality of making it happen … and, I guess, not measuring up. My clump-by-clump clearing has given me courage to do what I have previously feared.

Our watercolor teacher follows the method of a man named Michael Wilcox, who wrote the book Blue and Yellow Don’t Make Green. He posits that all the colors an artist needs can be made with six shades, two each, warm and cool, of red, blue, and yellow. Here’s my misshapen color wheel:

So many great life lessons from a good teacher: “It’s only paper!” “Stop futzing!” These in response to students, really the whole class, trying to be too perfect.

Since this is the ninth pile of my month-long paper project, I was reminded of The Beatles, their song, Revolution 9, and the fact that today is the 50th anniversary of their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. I, like many, have a vivid memory of the event. I was lying on my stomach in front of the television. My father was saying over and over, “Isn’t that ridiculous!” to all the screaming and carrying on. I agreed with him, but inside I was screaming and carrying on too!

It’s hard to believe now how long those haircuts looked to us then. Revolutionary.

February 8, 2014February 23, 2014 by clumpaday

Love in Many Forms

Clump # 149: Sort and clear paper pile number eight of twenty-eight (only twenty more to go!):

Love was the theme of the day today! And I’m not just saying that to spice up yet another picture of a pile of paper (well, okay, maybe a little bit). My younger daughter had sorted the last few piles so specifically (all the Time magazines; The Week; People magazines filed together within the same bigger “magazines” pile) that I can only assume she designated the one my husband and I tackled today as “miscellaneous.” A mixed bag, destined for various file folders.

As usual, we peeled away one shred pile and one recycle pile, below. Little by little, as I/we do this every day, I am losing my-what to-do-with-important-paper-phobia (fear of becoming an adult?). My husband’s help with this project has been better than roses and chocolates any day.

I was visiting my mom in Lancaster County, PA today, and I have to report: Love was in the air. And not just in the unfailingly loving person of my mom.

At almost every visit, I stop at a bakery called OCB Cakes, (Out of the Cake Box), in the town of Strasburg, for a cup of coffee and a few of the delectable treats they offer. The owners, at this point, feel like family. Like the Cheers bar, they know me by name, what days I usually come in, worry when I’m not there, and ask about my mom. They are the best. This is Joanna:

Right now she and her husband, Scott, are gearing up for Valentine’s Day. (So cute: two hearts buttoned together.)

I am endlessly fascinated by the Amish people who live in that area. Maybe especially today, coming out of my “terrible” time without electricity. Which brings me to kind of a love story that is most likely all in my imagination: I was uncharacteristically late to have lunch with my mom, and stopped at a Wawa for a sandwich, knowing I missed the time for ordering food in her dining room, but wanting to eat with her nonetheless. Wawa is a revered institution around here, a place for coffee, hoagies, free (no fee) ATM machines, gas, etc. The term convenience store does not really cover how much people love their Wawas.

I noticed a youngish Amish man at one of the touch-screens, ordering lunch, too. An Amish person at a computer is not something you see every day. He then asked the person behind the counter where [woman’s name] was. The clerk said, “Oh she works at a different location now,” to which the Amish man said, “If you see her, tell her I said ‘Hi’.”

(Photo, above, not mine.)

Well, I can’t help thinking and wondering about that exchange. How forbidden was it for him to be patronizing a Wawa? How often had he visited to know the missing clerk by name? What were his intentions toward her? How forbidden is it to have feelings for an “English” (non-Amish) woman? The questions and unfounded assumptions swimming in my head about this poor man had no end. Too much People magazine reading, perchance?

One thing about our recent camp-outage: my husband and I were stripped of so many of our usual electronic distractions. It was a bit of a test of whether we still like each other after all this time and the arrival, nurture, and exodus of three kids. As my husband and I were walking around in our dark house the other day, holding lanterns, the sound of our next-door neighbor’s generator was buzzing like a lawn mower on continuous idle. I said “Ah, the [neighbor’s last name]’s generator.” To which my husband responded, “Yeah, more power to them.”

Two of the characteristics I’ll always cherish about my beloved: a quick wit and a kind and generous heart.

Clump A Day

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