Bee Kind

The Amazing Reese is once again proving how amazing and Reese-like he is.

Life isn't always fun and games. The very monotonousness of the everyday had both Reese and me contemplating how to jump start passion for living. What were some of the things from life past that brought satisfaction and/or an amount of pleasure? For me, learning how to paint has been a deeply satisfying journey. Blogging about the process has been a double treat. I love writing probably as much as or more than painting. Reese, while being super supportive of my ventures (which includes enthusiastic praise and custom picture frames) had sort of fizzled out on the fun life scale.

Intense self evaluation must be the genesis of many a typical mid life crisis'. While reluctant to use the phrase mid life crisis, the term and meaning is real. Without intervention, the possibility (or probability) with regards to Reese for deep unhappiness was imminent. Remembering another lifetime, as a teenager, Reese thoroughly enjoyed helping his mom keep a hive of bees in their side yard.

That was a while ago. Then we had babies, and cars, and a house, and work, and work, and work....well, it's a typical scenario. Not to diminish the wonderfulness of sharing/raising a family, but some days it just feels like life is a giant sucking sound.

So in the last few months, Reese has rediscovered his joy of beekeeping. With some Christmas money, he bought himself a bee suit and some supplies. And just a couple of days ago, he launched this website to start what he and I both hope to be his new adventure. Last Saturday, he collected a bee hive and we were able to salvage several jars of honey (see accompanying photo)...not always possible with a wild hive. Also in the photo is a loaf of the fresh bread Reese has been baking for us, another of his delights from early married life. Reese even grinds the wheat berries to make this yummy bread. To bring everything full circle, Reese will use his own honey from his own bees to make his next batch of bread. Yum. I can hardly wait. Did I mention how amazing he is?

On the Mend

Below is a ridiculously long list, in no particular order, of what happens when one is forced to be still in the endlessness of convalescence, and therefore watch movies. We've discovered Red Box, where for $1, one can rent from a wide selection of movies. It was great to have a relatively cheap source of entertainment. Of all the movies watched in the last three weeks of unwellness, the one that was the most powerful by far was The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

There has also been ample time to mend (sew by hand) pillows, shirts, skirts, blankets, etc., practice the ukulele, and read a silly book.

Mostly though, I'm tired of being tired. I'm sick of feeling like I'm going to drown every time I cough. And honestly, I'm looking forward to resuming work type activities. It will happen soon enough....I'm definitely on the mend.

Regarding Freaky Friday, Joy has promised that if she and I ever switch bodies/places, she will not pierce anything on my behalf. I thanked her.

1. Murder by Death
2. Freaky Friday
3. Baby Mama
4. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
5. Yes Man
6. Marley and Me
7. Slumdog Millionaire
8. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
9. Rachel Getting Married
10. Role Models
11. Australia
12. What Just Happened
13. Priceless
14. Bedtime Stories
15. Faith Like Potatoes

Quest to Wellness

This photo just about sums up life lately....one medicine after another on a quest to wellness. Earlier this week, I did venture to the studio to finish the art for the wine bar (due to open in early June.) After setting up the work space for about 15 minutes, I felt an urgent need to lay down and take a nap. The uncompleted project work area (mess) is all over the floor in the studio. Maybe I'll be up to tackling it later today...

7 Minutes

Please take 7 minutes to watch this. It's totally worth it, I promise.

Eggs-tra

About the only thing artistic that's happened around here lately is dyeing Easter eggs.

Joy mentioned that some of her friends might drop in mid-afternoon on Saturday, so I boiled a few extra eggs thinking that even teenagers would enjoy dyeing Easter eggs. Right? Alas, her friends never showed. And by the time Joy and I finally got around to decorating the eggs, Joy was feeling right cheeky. (We've both been convalescing and cooped up for days. During the time stuck at home, we've watched a LOT of movies. That's another phrase Mrs. Wolfe warned against...a lot.) With just the two of us at home, 18 eggs seemed like an almost overwhelming task to complete. Getting started, the first egg Joy decorated and dyed said, "Mom made EGGstra." Good grief. It probably took us two hours to finish these silly eggs. The best thing about that was that it was a very pleasant diversion from watching movies.

Also, a sad update on the firetruck wreck from a couple of weeks ago. The young lady who was hit while riding her bicycle passed away.

Things

In the 11th grade, my English teacher, Mrs. Wolfe, admonished her class to always search for the correct noun or verb to use in our essays. I've been unwell lately, and my brain isn't thinking clearly enough to process and edit a clever blog entry, or even search for the right words to use....and because of the malaise associated with an illness, I haven't had the strength or energy to work on various art things in the studio. Using the word "things" to describe art stuff is the very sort of literary blunder about which Mrs. Wolfe admonished us. Whatever. I've been staring at the computer screen for several minutes and my clogged head still cannot find a clear translatable thought, much less try to come up with a better word than things...nothing.

The doctor thinks daughter Joy and I have whooping cough. Not fun.

Bike Lamp

Two weeks ago a "call for artists" went out. Was anyone interested in creating an art bike to help raise awareness for multiple sclerosis and in particular, the MS 150? The artist would all be paired with a rider or organization in order to coordinate telling a story through an art bike.

The bikes would be provided for the artist as well as a small stipend for supplies. At the warehouse, the bikes all looked so ordinary. Then, light from heaven above shone as the angels started their chorus of hallelujahs. I saw it; a classic vintage Huffy 3 speed from the 1970's. This_is_the_bike.

The poor bike was in such bad shape that the tires were reduced to powder as it was being rolled to the suburban. Driving straight to the bike shop to get new tires, believe it or not, even the hard core bike dudes fell in love with it.

After riding it home, I started cleaning it up a bit, but not too much. It really is such a classic that I don't want to alter it's appearance permanently. It had, at some point, lived outside, because it had some vine type growth in the spokes and frame. There was also a dirt dauber nest that fell from somewhere while cleaning. Whew, I'm just glad it was an old dirt dauber nest.

One of the sweet deals of participating in the art bike project is that there is the option of keeping the bike after the exhibit. Nice! So therefore, anything "artistic" on the bike for this project is fully removable...so it can actually be ridden later. "Bike Lamp" was created using vines and an actual working lamp. At one point, I put out an apb in search of lamp shades. Three friends graciously donated shades. After trial and error, the brown shade won.

In my case, the MS 150 rider's mother's story inspired the creation of "Bike Lamp." In spite of having multiple sclerosis, the mother continues to work full time in order to maintain health insurance benefits and full coverage upon retirement.

It is the artist's hope that Bike Lamp will "shed light" on the "growing" health care issues in our country.