The Fog Of Yesterday

I spent most of yesterday in a bit of a fog.

So the use of the word “bit” is a slight understatement here. The phrase “spent the day in a huge fu@king fog” perhaps better describes how the day inched along.

The problem is, and for me, it’s a big issue(at least in my own mind), those days make me feel that something is wrong with me.

And I don’t know and never have been able to get a strong handle on why I can wake up in the morning and before anything happens or gets going……I know that the next 14 or 15 hours will be this foggy existence of wandering lost. Where the day ends by simply hitting the sack at 9pm as one(and perhaps) the only solution to ending the fog and listlessness which we endured the previous 14 hours.

A week ago or so, I wrote about “Something’s Off – I Think” – which in a way encapsulates this feeling of being lost. Of this sense of wandering around in a fog that saps almost the will or desire to do anything.

From the day before being secure; confident; on top of the world and then rolling out of bed – being reduced or knock down at the knees feeling like a sorry soul that has no confidence at all.

That’s what yesterday was like.

I get that we had a massive directional change in our lives over the past several months. The transition(if we want to use that word) has been nothing but positive. Uprooting ourselves from Ontario to Nova Scotia was the right thing in the long run and the short run to do.

But, fog is still fog regardless of the circumstances we’re in.

So, to add yet another cliche into the mix “today is a new day.”

The sun came up over the horizon in the east – which if nothing else heralds things are as they should be.

At 6:50am, the fog isn’t as foggy as surrounded us yesterday.

I’m taking that as a win.

A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —–

Fundy Kinda Night

It should come as no shock that the summer of 2022 is ever so slowly slipping away.

The days are getting shorter; it cools off much quicker in the evening; blueberry farms in our area(we supply a good chunk of the country) are ramping up the fruit harvest, and many of the stores are full-steam in “back to school” sales and promotions.

Today isn’t so much about summer ending, but more of a contemplation of life – “Fundy life” for that matter.

I’m not entirely sure that the phrase “Fundy life” exists other than in this post. And even if it did exist and represents some sort of existential lifestyle that only can be found within a 20km distance from the Bay of Fundy – these three life-altering questions hang out there – “what does it mean; what does it look like, and would it make me part of some foo-foo in-crowd?”

Can’t answer any of those – won’t even attempt a half-hearted try.

But, it was still a “Fundy kinda night.”

Cool ocean air bringing a slight tingle to your bare arms.

The sun dipping ever so slowly, yet ever so quickly behind the horizon putting to bed another day.

The twilight sky turned a myriad of pinks and reds.

And the silence and stillness of the evening only interrupted by the soft and soothing sounds of gentle waves lapping at the edge of the beach. A time that the universe gives freely and graciously to relax; re-fuel; reflect; recharge.

A Fundy kinda night.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

A Thought For August 16

Living within a 7 minute’s walk to the end of our road to stand at the edge of the ocean is about as awesome as it gets.

In fact, I’m positive that there hasn’t been a day slipped by that we haven’t walked down to the end of our road at least once – often it’s been multiple times.

There is something inherently magical; more likely deeply spiritual about standing at the ocean’s edge with the salty air and breeze and the smell of ocean penetrating the very depths of your soul.

We spent some time with a retired gentleman yesterday who amongst many things harvests a seaweed called dulce, which is then dried and used in salads, eaten as a snack, or in a host of other dishes. He described walking out on the ocean floor when the tide was out and collecting dulce – “as his church.”

A powerful statement – and one that I can fully understand and grasp.

Many of us may have inspirational or motivational quotes pass across our paths on a daily basis as part of something we “clicked” on a social media platform at some point, or perhaps it’s been forwarded through to us.

Regardless, we’ve seen and read more than a few of them I’m sure.

I hadn’t planned or gathered a recent photo to head off on to write about for my next post but thought that there must be a “quote of the day” or something along that line for today(Tuesday, August 16).

And low and behold, this fell into my lap.

At some basic level(although not a perfect analogy), our life could be seen as a neverending series of opportunities and problems – day by day; week by week, and year by year.

How we ride each tide; the low and high tides; how we navigate through them, and ultimately chart a course across the moving water(through life) ….is a function of our attitude.

Problems and issues will arise as sure there are low tides and high tides occurring every day at the end of our road.

It’s not reality that shapes us, but the lens through which we view the world that shapes our reality – Shawn Achor

There are no problems – only solutions.

Attitude.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Sea Glass Thoughts

One common pastime here in our area and in many other areas throughout the Maritimes is searching and combing the shorelines and beaches for sea glass.

What is sea glass you ask?

Sea glass is frosted pieces of smooth glass found on the ocean shore. It’s formed when glass makes its way into the water(think discarded bottles or items lost during natural disasters and even shipwrecks) and essentially becomes pulverized by the waves, salt, and sand. This is not a quick process; it can take many years for a piece of glass to become sea glass.

The best quality sea glass and the stuff that folks go goofy over are those pieces that are completely smooth and frosted. The frosting indicates that the soda and lime content(which are apparently two common additives in glass production) have dissolved due to the salt water, and there are tiny holes all over the surface.

Finally, sea glass comes in all sorts of colors. However, given that sea glass comes from discarded bottles, it’s no surprise that brown, green, and white are the most common colors. I think blue would also rate right up there, given its use in turn-of-the-century apothecaries.

So, the story here isn’t necessarily about sea glass – although it could be if you don’t read anything further.

But, on the other hand, perhaps you should read on.

Most sea glass, when you find a piece on the shore is pretty simple looking.

Often just a rounded oval type shape with smooth edges and heavily frosted. One of the elements that I think attracts people to roaming along a shoreline looking for those ever elusive gems – is its simplicity.

Which is perhaps a decent enough lesson for us to get a grasp on.

Not to give sea glass anything more than what it is – but sea glass doesn’t present itself to be more than what it is – not a sophisticated piece of exceedingly expensive porcelain or china, but rather a simple and unsophisticated heavily frosted and rounded object of great desire.

It isn’t something it isn’t.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

A lesson for all of us.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Something’s Off – I Think

Over the past couple of days, maybe a week or thereabouts; it could be even longer – things have felt off for yours truly.

It’s like I haven’t or don’t feel settled. To try and explain it, would be a challenge at best. Which makes it a rocky and difficult trail to venture along.

I’m sure many of us have had at some point(or many points) that suffocating feeling of being “pulled in all directions” even though you aren’t for the most part being pulled in any direction.

Too many things to do; too many people suggesting you do this or that; or worse don’t do that – creating this sense of watching yourself being slowly “bricked into a cold and dark 1m square dungeon of hell.”

And to add even more confusion and poopy weirdness into the fray, I feel a tad raw and easily pissed at situations and unfortunately the people in them.

I really love living where we are. The outdoor adventure and arts-related activities are far too numerous to even begin to start mentioning.

But, something isn’t right.

More than likely it’s me(and it often is) – but I have this sense or feeling of being lost. Which isn’t any different than that feeling when we lived on the shores of south Georgian Bay. In fact, it is the same bloody feeling.

It’s like a sense or aura of feeling inferior or dare I say “stupid.”

When our dog Katie was with us, if we went someplace new or stayed in a hotel, for instance, we always brought her bed or floor blanket with us, so she had a place she felt secure and “at home.” If we didn’t or forgot she would wander in circles trying to find a place to get settled.

That’s how I feel – I’m wandering in circles trying to get settled, but I can’t.

So, something isn’t right – something’s off?

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Not Everything Is As It Appears

“A wolf in sheep’s clothing” or “don’t judge a book by its cover” are two out of I’m sure a slew of quotes or old sayings, revolving around things not appearing perhaps as they should be.

In our world of hi-tech; computer-generated images and all those other “techie” processes I can’t even name, it’s hard – if not impossible to say, “I wonder if that is real or not.”

Which ultimately begs the question, “what is an old guy like myself or perhaps a much younger person like yourself supposed to do?” I guess it depends on the circumstances we find ourselves in when we’re pondering that specific question.

If it happens to be at our local Cineplex watching the next installment of some Marvel superhero character’s storyline – perhaps it doesn’t matter at all.

But, what if we find ourselves, or society around us for that matter, being fed something that we’re not sure is real or “not sure it is as it should perhaps appear.”

And the stone-cold fact is, I don’t have much of an answer for that.

Perhaps closer scrutiny of the issue; asking more “thoughtful” and researched questions of whatever it is. Maybe it’s trusting(and I use trusting somewhat loosely here) more reliable sources of where we seek out information or get news and information from.

Maybe we simply need to move anyway from accepting “everything as the gospel truth” and undertake our own sleuthing on some things.

The picture above is one I took yesterday(Wednesday), known as the West Bay area located a few minutes away from the new “old homestead.” When I posted online yesterday, a few folks commented along the lines of, “such a cool shot.”

Hard to argue that point(okay, so I’m patting myself on my back just a bit here).

Know what the strange thing is here?

It’s actually two or three shots stitched together by my phone to create the pano shot.

I simply took the individual shots.

For some weird reasons, my phone thought I might enjoy this stylized and computer-generated pano of West Bay. Now, if you glance at it quickly without really looking closing, it looks like a shot perhaps done with a wide-angle lens or something. One single shot.

Ah but, if you look very close about a third of the way across from the left, where the two pieces of land open to the ocean, the horizon line doesn’t quite align.

Hard to see if you’re not paying attention.

Sometimes, things are quite what we think they are.

It can be easy in a world that swirls in 50-second new clips and ultra-sophisticated technology, all combined with those who may be bent on “making things appear slightly differently” as compared to reality, for us to get lost on “what’s real and what isn’t.”

Just like my wonderful West Bay pano shows, it’s hard to tell if you’re not paying attention.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

If I Had Time In A Bottle

I was reminded yesterday of two things.

Neither is life-altering to any great degree, but as we know either from our own experience in life or from the lives of others, it can often be those seemingly inconsequential instances and our movement on them, that can produce massive influence and perhaps change in our own life.

The first one is this.

Time can be important and not important all in the same breath.

I’m coming to realize that time on many occasions is not as important as WE make it out to be. We end up giving it far more weight in our daily life than it deserves or warrants.

We let it rule our schedules and routines, when in fact our schedules and routine will ramble along just fine, even if we’re not laser focussed on the “clock on the wall.” Sure, time and adhering to a schedule are important but only important in their own place and circumstance.

Lynn reminded me a week or so ago, that a beach hike in the early morning for her isn’t- time-sensitive. That over-focusing on time(how long have we been here; when do we need to be back….), takes away to a great degree the joy of the moment in an early morning beach hike.

Remember, time has a clearly defined set of boundaries…the whole 60 seconds in a minute; 60 minutes in an hour; 24 hours in a day thing.

The point of this somewhat incoherent ramble is, time has a “place and time” in our lives, but not at the expense of missing out on the enjoyment and absolute thrill of life.

The second revelation is this. Again, it deals with time in a way and it is this.

If time has a clear set of boundaries and you reach a somewhat dubious conclusion there isn’t enough time – then “simply make time.” Like most of us, if we let time have too strong of a grip on our lives, the result is there is never enough time. Or so it would seem.

False!

Wrong!

Make time.

This shouldn’t be an earth-shattering revelation(although it may be) – we all have the same amount of time available to us.

Unfortunately, what many of us don’t do; fail to do, or let time do…..is make things a priority in our lives that truly need to be a priority.

Waiting for something to “organically and spontaneously” happen, often ends up simply wasting time – waiting for whatever it is to “organically and spontaneously” appear in the misty distance. If you have something or a thing in your life that “spins your universe” or is the only medicine to “ease the ache in your soul” – you’d best be intentional and make time for it.

We can convince ourselves that all things are important – again not true. If it “spins your universe” or “eases your soul” – then it’s important and needs to ensure that it has the time it deserves.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Now For Something Completely Different

As most can figure out fairly quickly, moving across the county and into a new “old homestead” can and often presents a whole host of things that need to get done before you might finally or are close to finally having your own imprint or style proudly on display.

For us, there hasn’t been any major construction or reno’s done yet, other than replacing the upstairs bathroom toilet.

Most of our projects to date have been painting/decorating and assembling one “big-ass” microwave cabinet we bought from Ikea.

Over the last few days though, we have slowed down a bit on the decorating frenzy, given that there is no huge urgency to get things done as we’re going to be here for the long, long term.

Enough of an update to reno’s/decorating of our quasi – “This Old House” episode.

My first sojourn into the world of art happened with I picked up a pencil and sketchbook(actually just used the leftover pencils and books that our daughter left with us when she moved to the east coast), when Lynn and I went on an extended camping trip in Algonquin Park, back in early July of 2020.

From that point, I posted my first art thing here, shortly thereafter in late July 2020. All of the art, whether drawings or paintings have been some version within the realm of watercolour or pencil sketching.

However, at some point along the way, one thing that I’ve wanted to try or experiment with is acrylic painting.

So I did.

I ordered a semi-beginner set of acrylic paints on Amazon and picked up a canvas at the Dollar Store in Moncton over the weekend.

And this is the final product.

The painting represents an often found shoreline or coastline just about anywhere in Nova Scotia. Perhaps not the turquoise shade for the ocean. I’ll need to do a bit of work and colour mixing to get a more realistic ocean hue.

Nevertheless, for the first time, I feel pretty darn pleased with the overall result.

One thing though, the canvas was in my opinion too large to work for the first time out. It’s a larger 10″ X 12″ size. It was the only size I could find. I’m thinking of a smaller canvas’ in the 4″ X 6″ or 5″ X 7″ range the next time.

I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed working with acrylic paints. Can hardly wait until the project.

–as always with love —

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

A Sunday Night Moment

Our little town is without a doubt one spot in Nova Scotia that is steeped deep within the culture of arts and music.

From a creative arts guild with “artists in residence”; to the well-recognized “Ships Company Theatre”; a yearly world-class “Plein Air” art competition; a film festival; free bi-weekly film nights; music in the park on Sunday nights; plus a whole host of other events to long to list.

Last night(Sunday), Lynn and yours truly gathered up our lawn chairs and walked 10 minutes up the road to the “Bandshell” in the park for this evening’s concert.

The music for the night was provided by a wonderful artist by the name of Stephanie Keilhack. At one point she played a song written by Canadian icon “Gordon Lightfoot” titled, “Sit Down Young Stranger.”

In “Sit Down Young Stranger,” there were two lines that sort of hit me with a wallop. And which should hit you with a “good-sized smack up the head” as well.

How can you find your fortune?
When you cannot find yourself?

Although the song and lyrics have been seen as an anti-war protest statement, those two lines might go a long way to shed light on many issues and baggage we tend to lug around with us today.

We all spend copious amounts of energy, and time looking and searching for some fortune(and fortune can be defined any way you choose).

We search for fulfillment of some description within our soul and personal belonging; we search for meaning in our lives(why am I here): we search for something, both material and emotional/spiritual that defines who we are and why we’re taking up space on this little blue planet. Which on a basic level is not a bad thing. In fact, I think it makes up part of who we are as humans, beyond the physical aspects of our existence.

It’s our emotional/spiritual inner elements(our soul) that ask – “Who am I and why am I here?” We spend or can spend our entire lives seeking this often nebulous definition of “fortune,” whether it be a more material fortune or a not-so-material end….but the reality is we take this life-long journey when at its most basic point – we can’t “even find ourselves.”

It has me thinking that perhaps we need to “find ourselves” first before we can find our fortune. Instead of when “I find my fortune – I’ll have found myself.”

Something to think about.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Still A Bit Foggy In These Parts

This morning as I was sitting around and contemplating life(which may have been in hindsight a mistake), I realized that we’re just two or three days shy of being in our new “old homestead” for a month.

Although everything is tripping along just fine(which we anticipated it would), I’m finding myself still unsettled at this point to some degree.

Still in a bit of fog if you will.

Now, having uttered that somewhat blasphemous phrase, I am cutting myself some slack, in fact, a wide swathe of slack given the massive directional change our lives took after cruising early on a Monday morning eastward on Highway 401 and the Trans Canada Highway into Nova Scotia just about 30 days ago.

We still have a fair bit of minor work(at least from our end) to do on the house. Mostly painting and decorating, but a few minor renovations(like getting the drawers in a built-in cabinet to slide open and closed with yanking on them with Olympic-level force) to attempt as well.

Lynn is VERY MUCH a person who “goes with the flow”. We could accurately conclude that Lynn and spontaneity are two words well suited to work in the same sentence.

II on the other hand – not so much. I’m more of a “routine person.” Now, much of the “routine part” comes from the same daily work routine schedule for more years than I care to admit. I can be spontaneous, I often find that given the situation and what the spontaneous moment revolves around and can cause me a fair bit of stress.

So, with no real routine and more housework-type things on what seems like a never-ending list, I find myself in a bit of a foggy existence most days.

All of this is minor(very minor) when compared to what is happening in other parts of the world, but nevertheless, it does present a bit of a daily challenge for yours truly to work at to overcome.

But, it hasn’t even been a month yet, and given that fact alone, I’m not getting my “underwear in too much of a knot” over feeling or being like I’m in a bit foggy universe here in Nova Scotia. The life I envisioned for myself and ourselves will eventually come into being. I guess it will just take a few days or weeks longer to get there.

–as always with love–

–— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —