Long Gaze

Yosh's cat Margaret sums up my feelings toward this long season well. Marshand, MB 2009.

Alls I have to say is THIS TOO SHALL PASS. I have decided to forgo the ever-tempting transit pass for April and ride my damn bike instead. Shove that 90 bucks back where it came from. Winter weight pushing pedals for momentum; at first begrudgingly-- and then with determination. I will find my stride, I always manage to after a long time out of the saddle. This evening I find myself perusing the personal photo stacks of 2009. I seemed to take the Nikon F3 every where I went then. Now all I haul around is a tote filled with useless stuff. No cameras, no rolls clacking at the pit of it all. That too shall change. I realized today while watching Jackson devour an apple with snot pouring up and over it like two open taps that I have hardly any photos of that blue-eyed wonder. Damn shame as he is growing like a beautiful weed.

So, goals. Here is a list of mine for the coming weeks:
- Cycle to Charleswood every single day until it is dry enough to dust off the Magnum
- Bake a loaf in my dutch oven
- Make pasta from scratch and feed some loved ones
- Leave a camera at work, fill up them rollzzz of that beautiful little creature
- Pick up a quill, dip and drag until something entirely new is finished

That is enough goals for now. I find March to be a terribly exciting month. The melt is on, albeit slow as molasses. Light lingers. The sun holds warmth. I am working on a handful of really neat projects with one inspiring mentor at the moment. Last night she said to me from the floor, "sometimes to get creative, all you need to do is create". Sha-POWPOW! Simple application. So I got a little bit creative with two paintbrushes and it felt good. With that said, I am at a funny place within my personal art practice right now. At a stand-still really. Past and present stencils lie all around, dotting the surfaces of home; rolled up, pinned tight, gathering dust, hanging proud. They act as ongoing reminders of what I am deeply, truly passionate about but also what I am deeply, truly avoiding. SO DO IT, FUCK! Okay, okay, okay. I find it difficult to make time for disciplined practice after long days of work outside of the home. It shouldn't be difficult to approach something I genuinely love to do, but it is. All I seem to be able to do these days is cook dinner, clean up and crawl into a place of solitude with Margaret Atwood propped against my knees until sleep beckons. Not so bad, not bad at all. But the stencils in my head never let me off the hook. I suppose that is a good sign? Perhaps.

Looking forward-to's:
- The inaugural Spring trip to pick up planting supplies for the garden I am hell bent on growing this cycle
- First solo ride of the season
- Feeling warm enough to wear my new beautiful leather loafers BAREFOOT
- "Ah-Reeming" out my new sun porch and overhauling that tired space with much lovvvvvve
- First BBQ'd-everything meal in the porch with Craig and Chris and a case of Brewhaus