Category Archives: Retrospect

Bella Grace

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A couple of years ago, I discovered a publication called Bella Grace. It’s a thick, perfect bound magazine on quality paper. There are no ads. The photos are soft and the ideas are sharp.

It’s timeless and well done.

Basically, it’s the opposite of everything else that’s popular these days.

They aren’t selling products and ways to fix yourself. They are shining a light on calm and beauty in this world. They give you stories and writing prompts to make you think. Reader submissions are creative, thought provoking and sometimes so familiar it’s exciting to know there are others out there who think like you. It’s also sometimes mindset changing to read thoughts from people who are different. This is how we learn.

Bella Grace is about making the everyday special and making hard days easier. It’s about making the good stuff magical.

In short, it’s a soothing balm for my nervous system that I didn’t even know I needed.

I’ve only seen it in two stores in Ohio – Barnes and Noble and Joseph Beth Booksellers on Cincinnati so it feels like a special occasion when get to pick one up. It ain’t cheap but it’s not a throw away piece either. I keep my past issues lined up together on a bookshelf and always have one or two lying around the house. They are great rereads because you always spot something new.

They also publish a companion piece called “Bella Grace Field Guide To Everyday Magic.” The new one is more than 130 pages of quotes, worksheets, lists and writing prompts to recall memories, make you think, spark creativity and to help you view your world differently.

One prompt asks in what ways you are like your five year old self. Another is what books you think everyone should read. Others deal with everyday beauty in common things, adventuring in the world and the loveliness of being a homebody.

Perspective is a huge theme because the things some find workaday can be viewed by someone else as having great value.

There’s a two page spread with 31 blocks – a calendar with no dates, if you will. Each block is an inch square. The prompt is to write something about every day. It can’t be too long and can be just snippets like “dark and rainy, read Frankenstein, laughed with a friend.”

This time I’m using mine to write something good that happened every day. Most days are easy. Some are really hard. That’s how life goes.

This week there were good things to report even on the hard days. In fact, it felt like the hard days outnumbered the good. But, as I sit here looking back over the week, it’s hard to focus on the bad when there was so much good. Just this week, I had porch suppers on pretty nights, saw the governor speak at the ribbon cutting of an amazing new community college facility here in my hometown, saw a rainbow, and my dad rescued a kitten from a tree because he’s a really good guy.

That’s not too shabby.

I think half the problem with this world is that people focus too much on the bad and on what scares them. That’s certainly understandable given the social injustices, cruelty, anti- intellectualism, mental health struggles, poverty, closed mindedness, inflation, and narcissism of the general population that exists every day of the week.

Don’t get me wrong. I think about those things too and I worry we are on exactly the wrong path toward the future. Worst of all, I can’t change it. I can only change myself and try to be a role model for decency.

Bella Grace feels like the escape that everyone needs and most people don’t want right now. it’s certainly the escape I need. Less stimulation, prejudice, anger, and all around cruelty and more calm, kindness, and thoughtfulness both inward and toward the perspectives of others are a good start toward a better world.

Be the change you wish to see.

And if you get a chance, pick up an issue of Bella Grace and see what you think! As for me and the 31 days of good things, I’m almost done with my available space. It has been good for my mental health so I think I’ll find another way to keep doing it!

Life’s Storms

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Southern Ohio was smacked with a bad storm last night. Rain came down in torrents and thunder shook the walls. We aren’t out of the woods yet. It’s calm and quiet this morning but a tornado watch is in effect till 11 am.

There’s flooding throughout the county and trees down, making the morning commute challenging if not impossible for many.

But if you go in my backyard, you’ll find that the storm that literally uprooted mighty trees had little impact on delicate flowers.

These lilies still stand. These lilies that I didn’t even plant, that showed up one day and grew without my permission, continue to stand without a petal out of place.

These little flowers came from starts given to me by a neighbor. The rain did beat some of them down but I suspect, with a little support, they will stand again.

Nature is an incredible thing, isn’t it? From its healing powers to its beauty and ability to withstand and adapt to whatever is necessary, nature is amazing.

These flowers are a good allegory for us today. Like these lilies, there are some people who can weather any storm. They come out on the other side with not even a hair out of place.

And some people will get knocked down but you don’t need to worry about them. They’ll get up again, especially if they have a little help. They’re resilient and will be fine.

Whatever storm you have to weather, remember if the flowers can do it, so can you.

Into The Woods

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I finally made it back into the woods today. Our last hike was in April and the time before that is a fuzzy memory. Mind you, I live in the woods but this is different.

Hiking is different.

Stepping out of the grass and onto a trail softened by pine needles is different than the loud crunch of a stone driveway. Reaching out to touch the rough bark of a tree, eyes following the trunk as it reaches toward the sun is different than just glancing at the tree line of your yard while you carry in groceries. Closing your eyes to appreciate the texture of that bark beneath your fingertips generates strength and energy.

Listening to the sounds of the forest change as you follow a trail away from civilization is one of life’s gifts. The variety of birds, insects, bees and frogs chattering amongst themselves is unbelievable if you stop and really listen for it.

The aroma of honeysuckle mingled with decomposing wood and leaves ought to be bottled and sold because there’s nothing like it.

We need the textures and sounds, the beauty and smells of these places for our own mental health as much as the creatures who live in them need these spaces for their survival.

People who work to protect these public places are heroes in my story and those who aim to destroy them are the villains .

If you are like me and live in the woods, I hope you are actually doing something to enjoy the experience. There’s nothing like it and you will feel so much better. If you’re aren’t sure where to start, Lake Hope State Park in Vinton County, Ohio is a good place to hit the trail!

Around Here

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Around here, my bathroom remodel is starting to near a conclusion. My cousin, who is doing the work, has done an amazing job and I’m getting excited to see the finished product. I’ll show you some pictures when it’s all done but the above picture is a sneak peek. I am especially fond of these vintage style faucets.

Around here, like the faucets, the weather has been hot and cold. I think we’ve had all four seasons this week and certainly in the last month. Daytime highs that swing from the nineties in April to forties in May, scorching sun, and torrential rain make for a bizarre transition into the new season.

The good news is that there’s some variety in the weather around here in spring and literally something for us all.

Around here, I’m looking at other projects that need attention around the house and trying to prioritize what needs done over the next few years versus what might be small enough to tackle now.

Around here, Scout seems to be back to his old rambunctious ways after a scary few days of illness. It’s hard when they can’t tell you what’s wrong or that there’s even a problem. Today he will stay busy overseeing the bathroom work and should sleep well tonight.

That means I’ll sleep well tonight too.

Around here, things are kind of messy. When an entire room is messy and things are piled up elsewhere because of it, it’s easy to let stuff go. It’s the broken window effect. I look forward to getting it all in order and plan to work on that today.

Around here, it’s Memorial Day weekend, a holiday meant to honor those who died in service to our country. That message is often lost as we also use it to remember all our dead and to get good deals at the big box stores. I hope you’ll take a moment to consider those who died in service to our country. Since the Revolutionary War, Americans have been dying for the ideals set forth by our forefathers and continue to serve and die honorably in the name of the United Stares of America today.

They deserve more than we can give them.

And while you’re at it, the American Legion says that more than 80,000 Americans remain missing in action. One of them, a 20 year old World War II soldier, was located and brought home to southern Ohio this weekend for burial.

Think what that must do to a family to live so long without answers.

Around here, we recognize that hot and cold is a force of nature. We know that planning and work are how we accomplish what needs done. We honor the significance of what lost and found means for people we will never meet but who deserve our gratitude.

Friends, wherever you are this holiday weekend, be safe and well.

Sitting Still

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Doesn’t this look like a nice spot to sit and read a book or just watch the clouds roll by? My pal and I spotted it on our way out of the National Museum of the Coverlet and we agreed that it looked peaceful.

And yet, it never occurred to me that we could stop to sit there.

Sitting idle is difficult for me. I often admire those people in cafes who are peacefully reading a book or the folks who are just sitting on a park bench as though there’s no place they would rather be.

There’s just so much to see and do in this world, I want to go see it all. And yet, I want to be a person who sits on benches too.

Author Richard Kadrey famously said “Being able to embrace contradictions is a sign of intelligence. Or insanity.”

Maybe we shouldn’t discuss how his theory applies to me!

Do you stop to smell the roses and sit on benches or do you prefer to be on the go?

May 4, 1970

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On May 4, 1970 four Kent State students were killed and nine wounded when the Ohio National Guard opened fire into a peaceful anti- war protest.

One of those wounded died in 2020. His name was Alan Canfora and we happened upon his grave at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland last year. I knew he was one of the injured because engraved in the top of that black granite stone is a photo from the protest. I later learned that the photo on his headstone is actually of him during the protest.

I also learned that he had dedicated his life to activism and to telling the story of that day.

Throughout Canfora’s lifetime he amassed the largest personal collection of photos, court records, audio recordings, personal correspondence, protest materials and other items related to this tragedy.

Following his death at age 71, his family donated that collection to Kent State. This link will take you to a good story that quotes his sister about his efforts to not allow the truth to be forgotten or rewritten. I thought about quoting it here but would prefer you take a minute to read the story.

If you aren’t familiar with what went on at Kent State at the time, you should read up on it. No one should die or be wounded for peacefully protesting in this country but I am impressed that he used his experience as a catalyst to better the world.