In a world where we are bombarded by technology and “always
on” with social media, I find myself appreciating a new way of sharing and
preserving an old fashioned way of life.
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| A Monarch in the making. |
I am a romantic at heart. That is to say I like to take the simple and routine and embellish it with what I’ll call “life trimmings” to make it more memorable. Take gardening for example. I love to garden and can vegetables and jam. But if you ask me what I liked best about these little pleasures, it would be easier for me to show you than tell you. Because I trim my life in ways that make me happy. Let me explain…
A day in my garden rarely begins and ends in a single
visit. Life is busy and I work and have
teenagers in high school. That’s why I
planted my garden in the front yard next to my driveway. I am always on the go and in and out several
times a day. And every time I’m leaving
or coming back home, I find it almost irresistible not to walk over and pull a
stray weed or take a peek at my tomatoes or squash.
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| Southern Pumpkins |
My favorite moments are in the evenings or weekends, when I can kick off my shoes and walk barefoot in the middle of the garden. The straw mulch gives me a soft bed for my feet and I can more gingerly walk around the cushaw vines trailing around in every direction. I have a woven hat, with a lime green band. It’s mandatory attire for sunny days and makes me smile when I see it in my kitchen hanging on a chair. I feel happy when I grab it on my way out the door with basket and nippers in hand.
Another mainstay I keep in the kitchen are aprons. I have a few really pretty vintage ones from
the 1950’s and a few more functional ones for messier work. I pull up my unruly hair in a ponytail and am
instantly reminded of my Granny shoo-ing me out of the kitchen as a kid to put
my hair up before entering her kitchen.
In my kitchen, I survey the assortment of pots and pans, canning jars,
and supplies. Like me, it’s a work in
progress. It's roomy and has potential
to store all my kitchen staples for baking and canning in some organized way. For now, I make it work with a
banquet table and Rubbermaid tubs underneath.
And I’m always on the lookout for an oversized buffet or cabinet that
could be re-purposed into a work center that can accommodate more storage.
I see potential in most things in life and enjoy the journey
in seeing a dream or vision coming to fruition.
It’s like looking at a blank canvas and instinctively knowing what needs
to be added or something that would complete the picture. Sometimes it will be days or even weeks
before I figure out what’s missing from a shelf or a mantle in my home. But it eventually comes to me…often at a yard
sale where I find a small vintage treasure.
You can be sure it will be cheap enough not to break the bank and easy enough to swap out without any sentimental value.
I used to be a huge collector of things.
I still appreciate and have a fondness for antiques, but have also
learned to appreciate a more minimalistic environment…from surroundings to
thoughts to everything in between. I
enjoy “props” that enhance my setting and help to set the stage for my romanticized way of life. I recently
picked up a scarecrow at a yard sale and added it to the garden. I have included him in every picture I take
while measuring my growing produce and enjoying the view.
Which brings me to my last “must have” accessory…something I
take with me wherever I go. It’s not old
fashioned and lacks the beauty and character of an old Mason jar with a zinc
lid. It hasn’t been hand sewn or trimmed
in lace. In fact, it is the opposite of
antiquated items I typically gravitate towards.
But this gem is what fuels and powers my creativity and passion for
every day living. As
incongruous as it may sound, my i-Phone has become a mobile scrapbook of
sorts. I used to cut pictures from
magazines and glue them into journals.
I’d write and mail letters to family and friends to share things
happening in my life. And while I will
admit there is a tradeoff in leaving behind a good stock of paper or
stationery, the benefits and ease of sharing far outweigh the downside for me.
My kids get aggravated when I want to take a picture. They can’t understand why I don’t just enjoy
the moment. But for me, it’s all about
capturing the moment and remembering why it was special. And I get that not everyone will understand
the importance of a photo shot in portrait mode taken from an i-Phone camera, depicting a basket of freshly picked tomatoes...or why I'll position the leaves of my squash, so that the plump and rapidly growing cushaw can be shown surrounded by a frame of straw. It’s my
way of scrapbooking in the 21st century, utilizing all the tools of
a different sort of revolution than that of the industrial age.
But please don’t try to pin me down to a generation or
type. I’m just tech savvy enough to be
dangerous. I can’t master Snapchat,
however, Facebook is my friend for sharing the moments I capture. Instagram and Twitter are close seconds. I think like the industrial revolution, the
mediums and channels for making and doing will always change. What remains a constant for me is a love and
passion for living in the moment and appreciating the natural beauty that abounds
if you take the time to see it. And if I
embraced a tech-free existence, I’d miss out on a lot of moments I want to look
back on and remember. It may sound
funny, but it’s true. My i-Phone is the
window to my soul…see for yourself…
M
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