Snow Can Be So Pretty

Posted on March 5, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

~*~

An eerie stillness permeates the air

And with the wind the trees doth creak and moan.

Their naked branches not so very bare;

As coat of ice doth shiver, shake and groan.

Ol’ Man of Winter hath his fury wrought

As Mother Nature weeps for what she’s lost.

The children of the Earth in tempest caught

Their innocence, as e’er, too high a cost.

The calm after the storm a vacant shock

As minds and hearts and souls themselves adjust

To what is lost of nature’s precious stock

And come to terms with this we children must.

For precious life to all of us is given,

But none of us are guaranteed to heaven.

~*~

I’ve started a new journal.

As I am inclined to do, I flipped through the pages of my last journal to see what I’d left behind and found this sonnet written during the great ice storm of Christmas week December 2013.

Written by candlelight, I imagine. I don’t remember. That week is such a blur. Surreal, I suppose.

I love trees and it distressed me to see them suffer under the volume of ice they bore.

Now, two months later, the only ice left is under foot, and this is a hazard all its own.

Perhaps a month from now the view will be green instead of white. Judging by the mountains of snow and three inches of ice underneath it, spring could be a long way away … and messy.

Still, snow can be so pretty.

Thanks for visiting,

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

©Dorothy Chiotti, Aimwell Creative Works

Abandoned

Posted on March 1, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Abandoned

Abandoned boat at Dingle harbour, Co. Kerry, Ireland

Abandoned wasp nest in King, Ontario

Abandoned house near Ashford Castle, Co. Mayo, Ireland

Abandoned grain elevator in Dorothy, Alberta

Abandoned wagon near Newby Bridge, Cumbria

Rowley, Alberta

Hollow. Empty. Derelict. Broken. Unloved. Sad.

Feelings of abandonment reflected in imagery.

With a structure it’s possible for beauty to be found there. To use our imagination to create a place and time that tells us what life might have been before it disappeared.

With a person or animal abandonment produces a far more tragic result.

Sad stuff.

I don’t like to dwell on it.

Black and white

Let’s end with two abandoned kittens I rescued in 2012.

Where there’s life, there’s hope.

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

©Dorothy Chiotti … Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014

Shout Outs

A Busy Life of Leisure

ArtizenImages

Lost in Translation

A Slice of Winter and A Wish For Spring

Posted on February 26, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

I have tried to avoid the subject of winter because we’ve had so much of it this year. Still, here it is. Let’s look it in the eye.

Mountains of snow. Treacherous ice in amounts not seen in decades. Temps below zero for such an extended period of time my beautiful rhododendron, sadly, has finally given up the ghost.

(I hope the greenhouses are well stocked for a spring rush.)

Normal temperatures for this time of year range in the 1C area. Today we’re deep in another polar vortex that’s going to take us through until Saturday. We’re talking -15C with a wind chill of -25C. Triple-blanketing weather for my horse who’s already shedding his winter coat.

A dear friend in England sent me a note yesterday in which she included the cheerful news that the first snowdrops had begun to show. I can only dream of a blanket of snowdrops when I’m staring at a bank of snow.

It’s going to take a long time for this mess to disappear.

Still, the days are getting longer. My horse continues to shed his winter coat. And little by little the snow, and the three inches of ice underneath, is melting. (But not today, of course.)

Let’s end on a happy note.

I’m looking forward to seeing these purple darlings in my garden again.

Stay warm. Stay dry. Be happy.

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

©Dorothy Chiotti, Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014

The Watering Hole

Posted on February 20, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

With the prospect of 20mm of rain in the forecast for today and our lawn, like everyone else’s around here, still covered in three feet of snow, you can imagine there’s a concern about flooding.

Yesterday I was standing in snowdrifts shovelling the white menace away from the foundation at the front of the house forgetting, of course, that under three feet of snow there’s three inches of ice from our own ice storm that floated through here just before Christmas. This is of particular concern at the bottom of the driveway where our downspout from the house, built into the landscaping when we had it done a couple of years ago, empties into the street. Chipping away at the ice floe around that was heaps of fun yesterday.

Weeeeeeee!!!

And now as I gaze through the windows in my writing den out to said street I watch as a fiery pink sunrise bursts onto the horizon. “Red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning.” Hmmm … looks like we’re in for a doozy.

Well, since one of the main topics of conversation around the world of late has been the crazy weather, why should we be any different. Ten centimetres of snow two days ago; 20mm of rain and a possible thunderstorm tonight. And then back into sub-zero temps for the weekend and into next week. Why not?

So, I remind myself of warmer temps to come with this image culled from last summer’s archives.

Two young bluejays pay a visit to our bubble rock ~ the local avian watering hole ~ for a refreshing drink.

The bubble rock is presently buried under the snow. In a couple of months it’ll once again be the gathering place for thirsty birds and a quiet spot of meditation for me.

I can hardly wait.

Thanks for visiting,

Dorothy 🙂

Treasuring Inner Beauty

Posted on February 15, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Treasure

~*~

I’ve been collecting labradorite for years.

It is a beautiful and mysterious stone which, at first, appealed only to my eye. But when I learned of its healing qualities as well I realized that I was drawn to it because of the way it also spoke to my heart.

I have labradorite in almost every room of the house. Wherever we travel I look for a piece, either in jewelry or a rough or polished stone, to bring home with me. It’s only been on the rare occasion that I haven’t been able to find it.

The stone depicted is one I purchased in a rock shop in Banff, Alberta. I always gravitate to the labradorite section of such a shop (in Banff there are many). Unless a person is aware of the qualities of the labradorite they’ll usually just walk by it because at first glance it looks like a grey stone with a bit of colour in it. But it is so much more.

I will spend several minutes oohing and aahing over each stone that tempts my eye. I will pick them up one at a time, cradle it, hold it to the light and watch as the stone comes to life, the luminescent colours dancing and playing between peacock blue and green and mauve or orange or whatever its particular essence holds. It’s totally mesmerizing.

I am a child again, searching for special rocks in a mountain riverbed that I can take home and add to my ever-growing collection.

In this shop I inspected a number of stunning pieces of various sizes and opted for this one because I liked that it was polished on one side and rough on the other. It’s about two inches high by one inch wide and another inch deep and can be held comfortably in my hand. As I didn’t have one like this in my collection I decided it would come home with me. I think it, along with another stone I selected, cost about $40. Now it’s priceless to me.

It wasn’t until I got it home to Ontario and had a proper opportunity to inspect and meditate on it that I realized what an incredible find this was for me. In fact, I have thought since that it wasn’t so much that I found the stone but that it found me.

I discovered that when I look at the polished side of the stone at a particular angle under a light source the impression of the head, neck, shoulder, chest and a raised front foot of a horse magically appear. If you look at the image here you’ll see it. I had to set the stone up carefully against the base of my desk lamp and cradle it with a lace doily to make it work, but it is clearly visible. Maybe you won’t see it right away, but it’s there. For reference, the nose of the horse is blue.

When I first noticed this it took my breath away. My passion has always been horses. Horses are an important part of my life journey. I couldn’t believe that a simple stone I’d picked up for one reason ~ its appeal to my eyes alone ~ actually spoke to me at a much deeper and more spiritual level.

So, as you might imagine, what might seem an incredibly boring chunk of Mother Earth to one person is actually a treasured piece of her inner beauty to me.

Perhaps this simple stone also illustrates the notion that beauty is not always obvious and is to be found in the most unusual places. All we need to do is open our eyes, and heart, and see it.

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

©Dorothy Chiotti, Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014

Shout Outs

Nature on the Edge

The Best Years Are

Living In The Moment

Everyone’s A Critic

Posted on January 22, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

I’m writing a novel. A tongue-in-cheek murder mystery set in the world of melodramatic opera divas and dysfunction. I’m having fun with it. I was raised in that world. It’s time to poke a little fun at it.

Recently I’ve acquired some help.

Indiana, my 17lb bundle of feline flesh and fur has taken it upon himself to do a little pre-editing.

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Is it possible I indulge him just a little too much? 😉

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

©Dorothy Chiotti, Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014

New Year; New Beginnings

Posted on January 4, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Beginning

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… Bear begins a new friendship with Jerome …
Image taken with iPhone 5

~*~

This week has been all about new beginnings for Bear and I.

As mentioned in last week’s photo challenge, I moved my beautiful boy to a new barn on Tuesday. I picked December 31 on purpose. It was symbolic of leaving the past behind and starting the new year, and a new life, on completely fresh footing.

Of course, making such a dramatic change creates challenges.

Establishing new friends, new routines, new patterns of behaviour, and getting used to new surroundings takes time and energy and mindfulness.

But it’s so worth it.

Bear and I are beginning a new chapter in our relationship.

I am beginning a new chapter in my development as a horse person.

Bear is beginning a new chapter in his development as a confident dressage horse.

Naturally, such a major shift is unsettling for both of us. But it is a new journey we share mindful step by mindful step and a new opportunity to deepen my experience of living in the moment.

With my horse. And with life.

~*~

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

©Dorothy Chiotti, Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014

Shout Outs

Rivflo Photography

On the Streets of San Francisco

Wind Against Current

A Drive In the Country … Yorkshire Dales, England

Posted on December 17, 2013 by ShakespearesGal

~*~

Not for the faint of heart

Those devil-dare roads

That wind and course

And spill o’er vale and rambling hill.

‘Tween walls of stone unyielding.

Scarce room to breathe as

Bumper whispers to bumper

“Take care o’er there by Malham Cove.”

As mists roll in a view obscured.

One dare not say, nor breathe, a word

As through the rolling roads we pass and

Pray for cushion of the grass.

~*~

Malham Cove

This short, haphazard poem was inspired by a rather haphazard drive through the Yorkshire Dales.

My husband wasn’t driving at the time. His uncle, who resides in Skipton, sped us through a jam-packed one-day excursion, which took us by many lovely ancient villages; up into the hills at Malham; over to Bolton Abbey and whatever else he could squeeze into a whirlwind tour.

The scenery was glorious. I really wish we could have spent more time there.

It was a long driving day and Lloyd’s uncle, who is 86 and has lived in the area for many years (and who swims 34 laps of a 25 metre pool four mornings a week), drove those familiar narrow, winding stone wall-lined roads like a speedway ~ that is to say FAST!!!

To be fair, everyone drives those roads ~ roads that were never designed for modern-day passing traffic ~ like speeding demons.

It’s all part of the charm, I suppose … and why it’s unlikely I shall ever take the wheel of a car in the Yorkshire Dales myself. 😉

~*~

While in England, in September, I adopted a bit of a writing experiment.

As we travelled by car around the country, my husband driving, I kept a blank-paged journal and a pen ever at hand to write down whatever inspired as we went.

It was a fun exercise which, apart from leaving me with a few inspired gems (and some jibberish, but that’s the creative process, right?) also instilled a greater sense of how much of my heart still resides in this land where I spent my formative years.

The view inspired, the memories flowed, my heart was filled and the words came.

I’ll be posting them as the spirit moves.

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

The Beauty of Loss

Posted on December 11, 2013 by ShakespearesGal

Daily Prompt: Unexpected/Loss

~*~

We often think that to lose smoothing means the end. To me this is a limited view. The beauty of loss is that it also marks an incredible new beginning. Sometimes, when we are in the middle of the loss this is a difficult view. Nevertheless, it is true.

When my grandmother passed away some years ago I made the active choice, in the midst of my sorrow, not to wallow in feelings of loss. To me this was not productive. Of course I needed to mourn, but to take it beyond a healthy release of stress and emotion didn’t seem to me to be the best way to honour what she meant to me.

My grandmother was a go-getter. After leaving my grandfather following 27 years of emotional and psychological abuse, she somehow had the strength to make something of her life. The scars of her experience with him never left, but she made the most of her loss of faith in relationships and people and did what she needed to do to make her life her own again.

After she died I decided to honour her memory and strength of spirit by making the most of a sad situation. I wanted to turn my loss into an expression of new life, and I did this by honouring my need to heal.

Not that I thought of it in those terms at the time. I simply made up my mind that her death would not be in vain and that the best way to do that was to pick up the broken pieces of my life and start again.

In essence, granny’s death marked the birth of my long journey to self-awareness.

So, what did I do?

Well, we had a shared love of horses, so I knew she would have loved this. I quit corporate life to pursue a dream of working with these beautiful animals. I was in my early 30s at the time, unhappily married and barren. I was at a point in my life where I really needed to start making sense of things; needed to see a few of my dreams come true.

Working with horses (please see my Freshly Pressed post Confessions of a Coaching Intern: Finding Clarity with a Pitch Fork and a Song) put me through a refiner’s fire. I leaned on my promise of making good of my loss and honouring my grandmother to get me through some really tough moments. In the process, I began to explore my suppressed creativity, which eventually lead me to working with people who could help heal a lifetime of pain.

The loss of my lovely gran had paved the way for me to learn how to live authentically, and I have always believed in my heart that she would have been proud of my choice to do so. No matter how difficult our relationship had been, I knew she wanted me to be happy.

And now, when I look at my life and how much more grounded and happy it is; when I see how far I have come since that sad summer of 1994, there’s hardly a day that goes by when I don’t think of granny and the positive life-altering experience that came of my sad loss.

How we handle loss is, of course, a personal thing. I have chosen to adopt the attitude that every cloud has a silver lining. That to honour the person or anything else that is lost by honouring the life and blessings I still have is a greater tribute to what is gone than to sacrifice my happiness on the alter of bitterness and self-pity. Granny would not have wanted that for me. Up there in the heavens she has the pleasure of knowing that I have made good. It is also her blessing to observe how happy I am in my life now compared to the miserable woman I was at the time of her death.

The beauty of loss is that with every ending there is a new beginning. I believe those we have lost who truly loved us would want us to live our lives fully and joyfully.

It doesn’t mean the journey will be an easy one, but at least we’ll be heading in a positive direction.

To me, life is too short to look at it any other way.

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

More of the Unexpected

Desert Island Day Dreaming

Posted on December 5, 2013 by ShakespearesGal

Daily Prompt: Five Items

~*~

A desert island. Isolation. Nothing to do but be.

But how to be?

When pondering what to write I thought first about my list. I wanted to know where my survival instinct would take me. Would I be all “Oh my gosh, I’m stuck on a desert island!! Save me! Save me!” Or would I adopt a “T’is cool, man” attitude and enjoy the experience.

Assuming there would be a plentiful supply of food and water, etc. I didn’t give this another thought. Frankly, I could survive on bananas and coconuts. 😉

So, given that the “necessities” of life are under control, I present to you a list of five items I would consider necessary to my survival were I to find myself alone on a desert island without human contact.

1) My horse, Bear ~ My thoughts drift to a favourite childhood book, The Black Stallion, and the movie by the same name released in 1979. I want to play out that scene on the beach (minus the snake), where Alec and his wild new equine companion, The Black, are frolicking together in the tropical sun, chasing each other across the sand and splashing in the water. The sequence in the movie is 20 minutes long and features absolutely stunning cinematography. I’m sure Bear and I would have fun and spend many happy hours thus engaged.

2) My digital camera ~ I couldn’t possibly be in a foreign land without my digital camera. So much beauty to capture for future enjoyment after Bear and I are rescued. No doubt I would get spectacular shots of my boy running and playing on the beach.

3) A journal and pen (counted as one item) ~ I’m a writer. I need to document things. I suppose that’s where the camera comes in too. I need to write down my thoughts, feelings, observations. Pour my heart onto the page. Finger writing in the wet sand won’t cut it.

4) My ukelele ~ On a desert island I would have time to play my lovely ukelele and sing. I don’t get to do that these days. I might play everything in the key of C, but at least I’d be playing. 😉

5) A book of Shakespeare’s Sonnets ~ I would immerse myself in the beautiful language of this gifted poet and it would, perhaps, inspire me to write sonnets of my own.

Hmmm, this sounds good. I might enjoy some time on a desert island.

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

More Desert Island Day Dreaming

Eyes to Heart

What I've seen … How it makes me feel …

Category Archives: Writing

Snow Can Be So Pretty

Abandoned

A Slice of Winter and A Wish For Spring

The Watering Hole

Treasuring Inner Beauty

Everyone’s A Critic

New Year; New Beginnings

A Drive In the Country … Yorkshire Dales, England

The Beauty of Loss

Desert Island Day Dreaming