REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

SoulCollage®: The Divine Feminine

This morning, if all went well, I flew from Los Angeles to Seattle, took a shuttle to Tumwater, WA and am with my sister--probably watching Gran Torino. I have scheduled this SoulCollage®  post as I know I'm not likely to have access to the Internet, at least not at her home. She has dial-up and I no longer have the patience for it. On Friday I will drive to Port Angeles to stay with my son and his family and where we will celebrate Arlo's first birthday. 

I call this card "The Divine Feminine" and it is in the Council suit. 

I am the one who is always juggling my spiritual side with my sensual/sexual side and then remembering that it isn't either/or, but all. 

Because I have co-existed with clinical depression all my life, I am the one who feels the flutter and heat of impending death even when my life is in balance. But, I have learned to dance with it. 

I am the one who requires a certain sense of mystery in my femininity and spirituality, but I largely keep this tendency under wraps except with people I really trust. 

I am the one who honors the feminine with the rosary, which I still often pray as I fall asleep at night. 

I am the one who never embraced the feminine in myself until I became a crone and now I rejoice in it daily. The media and the culture, however, has brainwashed us all that a woman only has value when she is young and beautiful.

If I could ask this card a question it would probably be, "How can I more fully accept myself as a mysterious, beautiful woman at the age of 71?" 

Creating an Antique Pillow of Pins

On the recent tour of historic homes in Redondo Beach, I took photos of many accessories or treatments that I put in my "creative file." This pillow on the bed at the Murphy house, an incredible restored craftsman bungalow a block from my home, really caught my eye. I didn't get a chance to ask Susan about it, but the pillow itself was red velvet, which fit in with her decor. It was covered with old pins and I bet all of them have special significance to her. What a great idea! And even the craft-challenged could do this. I have many pins in my jewelry drawers that were my grandmother's, my mom's, and mine but they aren't "up-to-date" to wear with today's fashions. By the way, click to make the photos bigger to get the full sense of the pillow.

 

This is Susan's house, by the way, with the proverbial white picket fence and the big hydrangea bushes in front. Inside it is filled with interesting furniture and features, of course, all the built-in cabinetry that houses had in those days.

There is a touch of modern, however. Can you spot it?

Journal Covers Front and Back

Just thought you might like to see the front and back covers of my current journal. I am so looking forward to taking Teesha Moore's Summer Play Workshop in Port Townsend, WA in July, however. I'll officially learn how to make and keep an art journal. 

This is the front cover. It is a 9 x 12" sketchpad journal with hard covers.

And this is the back. I had some varnish problems in the green area and I'm too lazy to go back and fix it up. Other than a few SoulCollage® cards, it has been an artless summer. 

Volunteering at the Zimmerman House for Historic Tour

Today I spent several hours as a volunteer at the Zimmerman house, one of the 10 houses on the Redondo Beach Historical Society's Home Tour. I had seen all the houses the weekend before, but was very pleased to be assigned to the Zimmerman House. They are my neighbors and friends and live right across the street. It is so refreshing to see all the "old" houses as most house tours I go on are mac-mansions where I always come away with paradoxical feelings. I can appreciate old homes; I grew up in one!

The house was built in 1910 and the Zimmerman's moved there in the late 1960s after the facade of the house had been changed from classic craftsman to what you see here. The interior, however, has been restored to the era in which it was built. It helps that J. is an artist and an interior decorator who has a passion for craftsman period decorating. 

From the outside, the mother-in-law house in the back is faithful to 1910. It is a rental and inside it's adorable with its own patio in the back. 

This is the recently upgraded kitchen--and note the wallpaper, which had to special ordered. All the cupboards have been restored and bead boarding throughout replaced. 

This is a close-up of the kitchen wallpaper. 

This is the spectacular wallpaper and moulding in the dining area. How I wish you could see this house, filled with J's art, comfy sitting areas and special touches that make you feel like you have stepped back in time. 

It was a nice respite yesterday from the work week and prep for traveling--and dealing with the spate of celebrity deaths. I also got word that the founder of Santa Monica's Center for the Partially Sighted where I worked for two years way back when had died on Thursday. Dr. Sam Genensky was a scientist who had been blinded at birth from the drops placed in his eyes. He overcame this and came to be a pioneer in the low vision field. 

Terranea Resort: A Must When in Southern California

Generally speaking, luxury properties don’t particularly attract me, but I went to the brand-new Terranea Resort on Palos Verdes Peninsula for lunch today and I’m glowing still. I’ll even go so far as to say that if you are planning a trip to Southern California, visiting this exquisite place should be included on your list of “must sees.” Though I’m posting some of my own photos, if you have the time, link to the site and go through the photo and video galleries. They are also booking the $300 rooms in the hotel for $150 through the end of June and cheap as I am, I’d book a room in a heartbeat if I didn’t already live here.

Their PR blurb says, “Secluded on California's Palos Verdes Peninsula, on the western edge of the continental shelf, Terranea is a timeless, world-class resort and spa with a rare collection of Legacy Estates in a remarkable setting. Here the world recedes behind you in a coastal preserve protected by the highest environmental and design standards of the State of California. Internationally respected experts in hospitality, community design, and conservation have come together to make Terranea Southern California's most celebrated and special resort environment.”

All of us old timers in the South Bay remember this property as the home of Marineland of the Pacific from 1954 to 1987. Sea World purchased it and abruptly moved everything to San Diego. My eldest son actually worked in the dolphin tank there when he was young. The property sat empty until Terranea began to develop it several years ago. The trails there remained open once Marineland left and that was primarily what I went there for. Terranea officially opened just a few weekends ago but at the last minute the City of Rancho Palos Verdes had to loan the resort $8 million to make that happen. The city took a risk, but I personally think it was a good one.

What impressed me today about the resort is that it is built and decorated simply but classically. The "living room" off the main entrance was so homey that I could have stayed there indefinitely. The staff is the friendliest I've personally ever encountered in a resort setting. To be honest, though it definitely is a commercial endeavor, the whole space felt light, airy--and sacred. There were many people in the restaurants and on the grounds, but there was absolutely nothing pretentious about the space or the people. They were dressed California casual and there were a lot of families with kids.

My friend Betty is the one who suggested we have lunch here today. She lives very near and had already visited once. She took this photo of me in the garden. She is a wonderful woman who was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times for many years and was one of my journalism teachers when I went back to college in the late 1970s. We've recently reconnected and have so many things in common. 

A very nice employee took this photo of the two of us together; he volunteered without us even asking. Incidentally, should you visit Terranea, you can make a day of it as the Pt. Vicente Lighthouse and Interpretive Center, the Wayfarers Chapel, and Abalone Cove are nearby. 

Throughout the resort property there are beautiful flower arrangements that remind me so much of the work of Mrs. Kenju at the Imagine What I'm Leaving Out blog. Her work and what I saw at Terranea are simple, exquisite, classy. The hotel also features art work by local artists throughout the property. We were told that the Lunada Bay Room is hung with the artwork of the Portuguese Bend Artists Colony. That room is open on Sundays so we didn't get to see it, but I know the work of these plein air artists and it's world class. 

After lunch, we walked by the row of "fancy" cars that are always parked right outside the entrance of classy hotels and Betty stopped to ponder what this plate was saying. I never figured it out, but she did. Can you decipher what it says? 

Zachary, Arlo and Elowa in Montana

Haven't shown you any of my grandkids lately, so here are photos of Zach, Arlo and Elowa during their two-week camping trip to Montana recently. Laura and Joe are outdoors people, but with the kids so little, they made life a little easier and rented a tent trailer to pull. Boy, it sure brought back memories of camping when my kids were little and big. Two of them have remained outdoor people, too--especially Joe. 

This is Zach with Elowa sound asleep under a picnic table. Zach turned three in April. His mom titled this photo as Elowa Pillow. My kids were also raised with dogs and have continued to love them. Now that Tony and Gretchen have moved to a bigger house, maybe they will get a dog. Christy has two pit bulls. 

And this is Arlo by a lake in Glacier National Park. He turns one on July 7 and grandma will be there for his big day. I'll arrive at their home in Pt. Angeles on July 3 and will leave on July 9 to take an art workshop in Pt. Townsend for three days. Other days will be spent with my sister in Tumwater. 

If I'm Not Here I'm at the Beach

On Saturday I took the Redondo Beach Historic Homes Tour one week early as I'm docenting and they had a caravan tour just for us. I had great fun and took lots and lots of photos. If you live in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, this tour on June 27 will be one you won't want to miss. I'll post a photo now and then. 

I love signs people who live at the beach put in their windows and I saw several. I'm into minimalist posting, at least today, so all I can say is this is a weekend of gratitude on so many levels. Friday was the talent show, Saturday was a fav artist's garage sale, the home tour, and I volunteered at the Malaga Cove Library in the afternoon. My son Tony and his family moved into their new house in Palos Verdes and last night I attended a party honoring a very dear and old friend's 70th birthday. And today, at the beach, the sun came out. Just living by the ocean is a gratitude within itself. 

St. Mary Unity Chorus of South Bay Gets on Down

Tonight was the annual talent show at the Unity Church of the South Bay and the finale featured the St. Mary Chorus which started very sweet with "My God."

 

I can't even remember what the next two numbers were, but believe me, these ladies became their rendition of "Sister Act." Seems one woman came up with this idea because she always wanted to play Whoopee Goldberg's part. But wouldn't you know it? She called in sick. The rest of the chorus, however, took up the slack and brought the house down.

 

The main reason I wanted to go, however, was to hear my long-time friend Rick, who turns 80 this fall, along with another friend Charla, present their rendition of Gene Krupa's "Swing, Swing, Swing."

There were several performances tonight including some with the church kids and I was so touched how easy it was to be totally entertained right in my hometown without having to pay big concert ticket prices. What fun we had.

Some Waters Have Miraculous Powers

"Water unceasingly changes shapes and transforms itself. It is thus a model out of which everything can be born. Water, consequently, becomes a symbol of fertility that can be found in all the myths and all the religions. Beings and things are born of water. Water also possesses medicinal virtues. Some waters are recognized miraculous powers capable of healing the bodies." 

    -- Brit at Earth Day Network

This is the fountain at Farnham Martin’s Park in Palos Verdes Estates next to the Malaga Cove Library. It is the setting for the summer concert series and wedding photo shoots are common here. Sometimes when I leave the library I like to just sit by the fountain and listen to it gurgle.

Today was my last official work day for six weeks and I am sorely in need of some water that will heal my inertia and negative attitude. I'm burned out, so tonight I spent a few hours with my journal, laptop, and lots of colored pencils. I wrote, doodled, dreamed, vented. 

I made lists of things I want to do in the next six weeks, and two of the weeks will be spent in Tumwater, WA and Pt. Angeles, WA with family. That leaves four weeks, but what am I moaning about? Even when I work, I supposedly work 20 hours per week. 

I finally began to write my list of gratitudes and I am so blessed in so many ways. I just forget sometimes. That reminds me. My dear nephew Ted brought back two vials of water for me from the Holy Land last year. One is from the Jordan River and the other is from the Sea of Galilee. I think dipping into them is very apropos on this night of life review. 

SoulCollage®: Feminine Freedom

In my SoulCollage® cards, I often find myself working in certain colors much more than others. Many of my cards are purple, although I personally don't wear purple often. The other colors I use a lot are red and black together. 

I'm not a color analyst or symbolist, at least not consciously. I find purple to be a mysterious color, but I know this color often connotes both nobility and spirituality. To me it has always meant freedom.

Using SoulCollage terminology, I am the one who often feels stifled, shy, railed in, particularly about my body--largely because of my own fears and more recently because of the limitations of age. I was the one who was always chosen last for sports teams and sat in the corner at dances because I was simply terrorized I'd be discovered as a klutz. I am the one who always needed a drink or two to really relax enough in public to dance decently. My husband and I often danced; he was a great dancer but I was too self-conscious. I am the one, when newly separated and divorced more than two decades ago, would turn up the stereo at home blasting my favorite rock music and dance until I dropped--alone. I found freedom in the dancing--and I haven't done that for a long, long time. 

I am the one who then loved Mariane Athey-Levy's Movement Expression and used to attend her Santa Monica Friday evening classes in the 1990s. The dance studio was darkened and people of every age gathered and we moved, each in our own rhythm, getting used to our bodies. And then I discovered Gabrielle Roth's method, which I assume Movement Expression came from. I often danced to my video of "Sweat Your Prayers." But, I am also one who tires of the discipline of such classes and Santa Monica was so far. And dancing alone at home gets old after a while.

And now I am the one who hasn't danced in ever so long, alone or in a ballroom or studio. I am the one who feels sad that I have reverted to the woman who is no longer at home in my body.

I remember leading a Progoff National Intensive Journal workshop long ago where "Dialogue With the Body" was one of the exercises. When people read back, I was so deeply moved, but I particularly remember a woman in a wheelchair who wrote about the dancer she once had been. 

I'm not even going to ask this card a question because I just want to prop it up next to my journal and next week I'll see where it leads me. It is really pulling at me and I'm just too weary right now to be insightful.