The Rain

The tracks of Santa’s sleigh are being melted away by the rain tonight. The streets are glossy, reflecting streaks of bright Christmas lights. The world feels friendly. This long road is dark, but the headlights are bright enough.

I’d like to give a shout out to the time and space collision which is responsible for all of our comprehendible existence.

There is a negative force. There is an equally positive force. Our flesh, each of our cells, are playing with juggling balls, being the motion of the space and time between these two extremes.

Tuesday

Head & Tail Lights

This is a picture of headlights and taillights, driving north from Grand Rapids. Everyone please travel safely! Drive fast when the roads are clear. Take it chill and drive slow when conditions are slippery with poor visibility. Enjoy friends and family!

Snow Angel

I have encountered the remains of a snow angel, in the form of a freshly plowed driveway! I pulled into the drive expecting to spend 30 to 40 minutes shoveling. No such thing! Today I was blessed with a kind, silent neighbor, who took his or her precious time to make my life a little easier. I was beaming. I was smiling ear to ear; not so much because I didn’t want to shovel, more so because these types of random acts of kindness give me hope for the redemption of humanity.

Have you heard? Performing or witnessing random acts of kindness actually boosts your serotonin levels! I felt it today, indeed.

This weekend would be a great time to test this theory out for yourself. Time to celebrate folks! The dark is leaving us. The light is coming!

The Layers Show
White Cotton Thermal, Under 3$, Resale shop somewhere
Brown Knit Dress with pockets, $20ish, Peebles, Petoskey
Brown Wool Sweater, $2.50, Goldmine Petoskey
Black Tights, $10, K-Mart Petoskey
Black Cotton Leggings, $10, K-Mart Petoskey
Striped Leg Warmers, Free, Free Table Stewart House, Sea-town
Maggie's Organic Cotton Socks, gift, thanks mom.
Pink n’ Black Boots, thanks mom! Target

Chilling with my friend Recycled Materials Man on a Tuesday afternoon….priceless.

Pulling into the driveway some kind stranger plowed for you….serotonin boosting pricelessness.

Explorer of California

This is a photo of Perhansa and me in a Target superstore back in November. We share a similar genetic makeup. It’s pretty neat, originating from the same two folks, transforming into two unique individuals.

Yesterday he landed in Michigan for the holidays. As of the last few years, he has been mostly an explorer of the California territories. I do not get to visit him often enough, especially during these colder months. Please contact me if you would like to sponsor my next California adventure.

Stillness

Over the weekend I got the chance to spend some time in the woods; the medium deep woods. (For those of you who don’t know the Northern Michigan area, there are woods everywhere, even within the city limits, so I categorize those as lightly wooded areas. Then there are the medium woods, which, may have some houses scattered throughout them, but are relatively solace. And finally, there are the deep woods, which are extremely blissful if you can find your way out before dark.)

Saturday I cross country skied in an area called “Colonial Point Memorial Forest and the Chaboiganing Nature Preserve.” Honestly I was pretty zenned out during my trek through the woods and didn’t take much notice of the old growth red oaks, which thrive in direct sunlight and the nutrient rich soil, thanks to the glacial activity back in the “Wisconsinan” period. I did take notice of the incredible sound that happens when heavy tuffs of snow fall from tree branches, landing in the powder below. This sound is like a car door slamming in the distance. This sound always catches me off guard. I stop my skating to look around for the invisible vehicle only to witness the remanence of the diving snow as a big puff of whiteness surrounded by the stillness of the wintery woods.

Highlights of this adventure includes; getting lost, getting found in time for my afternoon rendezvous, getting my friends truck medium stuck in a snow bank (as opposed to really stuck where you need a push), taking a really long piss in the woods standing up like a boy using my handy dandy pee tool, being within 20 feet of a red headed woodpecker, watching him plonking his beak into the tree bark, and, dreaming of being the next Marty Stouffer.

The Layers Show
Headband, Free, salvaged from the bottom of an old tee shirt
Brown striped hoodie, $16, Peebles P-town
Black silk turtle neck, $2.50, Goldmine
Blue Wool sweater, $2.50, Sal Arm
Black tights, $9.99, K-mart
Wool plaid skirt, $2.50, Goldmine
Awesome snow pants, $19, Targe Chicago
Hot pink cotton knee high socks, cut off from an old pare of tights
Ankle height Smartwool socks really warn out, $9, Moosejaw Chicago
X-Country ski boots & skis, borrowed, thanks mom!

Having pocket food when my blood sugar levels are crashing after 90 minutes of skiing and climbing that final hill, priceless.

It’s 17 degrees Fahrenheit and I’m not cold

That’s right folks, its 17 degrees and dropping fast as traces of the sun set through the gray sky. I did more shoveling today. As you can see in this photo, I am not even wearing my coat. I started to consider starting a snow shoveling business, but then my back talked me out of it. It is a really ridiculous feeling when you try to tackle something larger than yourself.

If one puts the same amount of effort into seeking peace, as they do seeking escape from madness, then we’d all be chill.

The Layers Show

Pink Seattle Hat, $10, Walgreen’s, Downtown Sea-town
Glasses, $100, New Vision, P-town
Trees and Birdies Hoodie, $2.50, Value Village, Sea-town
Gator Plumbing Long sleeve Tee, $2.50, Village Discount, Chi-town
Blue Tee Shirt with Flowers, $6, Target, Chi-town
Hot pink and black striped tights, $2.00, Value Village, Sea-town
Guess Jeans, Free! Free Table, Stewart House Seattle
Beige Belt, 50 cent, Goldmine, P-town
Snow pants, gift, (Thanks Mom!)
Maggies organic cotton socks, gift, (Thanks Mom!)
Rain resistant snow boots, Thanks Mom!

Resisting the urge to curse Mother Nature when I can’t pull into the drive, priceless.

Not freezing my ass off, and actually being warm in 17 degree temperatures…priceless.

This is a Yooper Scooper, and a Yooper Scooping

Ok, ok, I’ll admit it. I’m not an official a Yooper (person born in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan). I was born in Illinois, but I think I deserve honorary Yooper status since 3/5ths of my family are official Yoopers, I spent 8 of my childhood years up there, and I lived Yooper style, alone in the woods on Lake Superior for four months.

Being underemployed has its benefits. It makes shoveling large driveways covered in three feet of heavy snow seem like a fun play day, rather than a chore. Friday morning I blasted Mott The Hoople and Woodie Guthrie from my bedroom window, then proceeded to tackle the driveway.

This task was loads of fun as I watched pickup trucks drive by with their powerful plows. As I walked back and forth, scoop by scoop, shoveling the yooper scooper into the stacks of snow, I reminisced about my time up north living on Squaw Beach. One morning I attempted to clear my driveway. It was a near impossible feat. I gave up, stuck my shovel in the snow, took advantage of my Subaru all wheel drive, and blasted into town. When I came home that evening it was if an angel had visited my driveway, in the form of an invisible pickup truck with plow. That was pretty sweet. I was blessed by friendly neighbors. But that was years ago in a far away land. Back to Friday…


I was nearly dancing, ecstatic, back and forth, scoop by scoop, clearing, clearing, clearing, and feeling oh so thankful to not be locked behind a desk in some office or school institution; never mind the fact that it was snowing and blowing so hard that by the time I finished clearing the snow in front of me, there was nearly two new inches of powder behind me. It was a reminder of that lesson we all need to be at peace with. The only constant is change.

Change your hat, change your style, change your prescription, change your perspective.

Midway through this snow clearing project, heated from busting ass, I laid myself down on a pile of untouched snow. I could feel my body heat contrast the frozen snow. I looked up at the sky which was grey and dropping delicate flakes of ice crystals. From this prospective the world seemed so clear, uncluttered, simple and simply joyful. I smiled big teeth to the sky.

Eventually I got up and giggled at myself for the silliness of it all; the silliness of lying in the snow, the silliness of moving this massive amount of snow from side to side, knowing well that there will be twice as much to remove next week. Chris Watkins said it best, all we do is move things from one place to another. Really, that’s it. That’s life. Give it whatever meaning you need to.

The Layers Show

Pink & Black Boots, gifted (thanks mom)
Wool Longies, 2 dollar, Goldmine
Blue Linen Pants, prolly from the Goldmine like 3 years ago
Awesome Snow Pants, gifted (thanks mom)
Silk Turtle Neck, $2 Goldmine
Obnoxiously Blue but Warm Gloves, $1 New Beginnings Thrift
Brown & Yellow Striped Hat, $1 New Beginnings Thrift
Being able to park in the drive, priceless.