One Sunday in May: A Little This and That

"She could always be counted on

to notice and share small instances of beauty."

from Homecoming by Kate Morton, p. 118

Happy Sunday! It's grey and windy here today. I'm coming to you a little tired this morning as I start this post - it's been a busy week. Alas, I've no idea what to chat about today, but I'll let my mind wonder a bit and see if anything comes of it.

The garden is still abloom in spots with the earliest spring bulbs I wrote about last time. Even with cooler temperatures, those hardy souls in the garden continue to add colour to a still brownish landscape. Leaves on trees are, at last, beginning to hint of lavish greens to come. Tulips are, in turn, forming their buds, and in a couple of weeks they should start opening. I'm sad to say that a number of perennials and shrubs in our garden did not survive the winter. I lament them. But, looking at it on the bright side, this loss opens new doors, rather new spaces, to introduce something fresh in the garden.

Happily, we're off this afternoon to a Baroque concert that features Handel's Water Music. It's one of my favourite pieces of music—I'm reminded of summer days every time I listen to it. In case you aren't familiar with this music, you might find it interesting to know the piece was composed by Georg Frederick Handel for King George I of England. Written to be performed on the water, it was first performed on July 17, 1717 at 8:00 pm on a barge going up the River Thames. It was reported that the King enjoyed the music so much, he commanded the musicians to play it a couple more times that day. There won't be any meandering up the Thames for us today, although our imagination can take us there while we listen. Wouldn't that be a splendid way to spend a warm summer evening? It must have been quite something for the folks who heard it back then. 

This past week I worked on a large-ish proofreading project. It took up most of my week as I carefully read a 236-page anthology being published by the writing fellowship, InScribe, to which I belong and sometimes guest post on their blog. The book is titled Creativity & Chaos: Artistic Endeavours for Trying Times. As it turns out, I really enjoy the art of proofreading, and although it's a lot of effort and brain work, it fits my nature to do this kind of detailing and bringing order out of things not quite yet in order. There's a certain satisfaction in reading a document to ensure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed, making sure formats and styles are consistent, authors' names are spelled right, ensuring the usual suspects of spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc., is in hand. 

I'm delighted to report that my own submission was accepted for publication in it. It's a Reflection about my own experiences creatively-speaking during the early days of the pandemic. My piece is titled A Kaleidoscope of Creativity. The anthology is scheduled to come out in September. I'll post more about it then and how you can get your own copy, if you wish one. (We'll have to have a giveaway, too!)

I must tell you quickly about two magazines that came home with me the other day. Yes, they beckoned from the shelf. One is the May/June issue of Victoria magazine, in which the current Writer-in-Residence, Jennifer L. Scott, shared about lessons she learned as a student living in France years ago. Her writing resonated with me as it reminded me of myself at that age when I, too, began to discover how I could live life more gracefully, more beautifully. Author Alexandra Stoddard had been my mentor then. In Jennifer's case, it was her French host mother who became her mentor. She described how, while learning to make a simple strawberry tart for a weeknight family dinner, she came to learn the value of details and aesthetics, "realizing that any task I undertook could be looked at as art." (p. 14). It was a transformational moment for her, and I delighted reading her account of it. I won't share more here since the magazine is out in stores now. I was also pleased to learn she writes books, and two caught my eye: one is the memoir in which she chronicled her adventures from that time in France: Lessons from Madam Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris. And the other is At Home with Madame Chic: Becoming a Connoisseur of Daily Life. Both are now on my wish list.

The other magazine that I've been enjoying is called In Her Studio by Stampington & Company. It's a magazine filled with 'spaces and stories of creative women'. Lots of inspiring tales of how women create space in their lives for creative work, with pages of great photos of those spaces in which they work and play. What fun to see women creating 'rooms of their own'. The front cover beguiles me with pots and jugs of dried florals. You just know something wonderful is about to happen in that space.

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It's now evening and, for not having had anything to say earlier, surprisingly I found a few paragraphs to jot down. By the way, the concert was sublime - it was quite enchanting to hear Handel's Water Music in real time played by musicians you can see in real life. Tomorrow beckons with plans for a luncheon gathering with family to fete a beloved niece and nephew who have traveled from afar to spend time with family here in the west.

Did I mention that I've been reading Anne of Green Gables? It's spring, and I wanted to immerse myself in those delightful descriptions where young Anne is surrounded by the bowers of springtime's apple and cherry blossoms.

The evening sun is streaming in through my study window... clouds have parted long enough to see the sun at day's end. And the robins are singing...oh my! On that note...

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I'm wishing you a beautiful week ahead,

Brenda

Photo credit:

Brenda @ It's A Beautiful Life