I was leaving a shop in downtown Jackson, Ohio when I happened to look up. Check out this view. All these brightly painted buildings really popped against the gloomy sky. Rain was coming but it didn’t matter because the colors were so pretty.
Whether you look at this photo and see a gloomy sky or pretty buildings is up to you. Just know that life is a little easier when you embrace the happy colors than when you only focus on the bad.
Have a great Monday, friends. Go look for something beautiful today!
There’s something exhilarating about watching the sun wake the day while you venture out to see what the world has to offer. When the weather is nice, I like to open the windows and I always have good tunes to set the tone.
One of my favorite things about a good road trip is actually ditching the car to explore on foot. There’s nothing better than finding a nice downtown, parking the car, and taking a walk.
That’s how you see the things the car window cannot show you. It’s surprising how many historic plaques, flower boxes, alleyway murals, and nice patches of shade you’ll find when beating the pavement. Of course, this doesn’t include the smells and sounds you miss with the windows rolled up.
Ah, I just reread that last sentence. I suppose I should change it to say “with the windows closed” but I’m a young Gen Xer and car windows in my vocabulary will always be rolled. And I’m ok with that.
On pavement, you’re more apt to wander into a nice shop or to say hello to a stranger. You may even find yourself enticed by the aromas of a bakery or cafe so that you go in to sit a while.
A good road trip always includes a good road trip snack and lunch. That’s part of the fun. I don’t make the rules. That’s just how it works.
Some towns reveal many secrets on these walks. Brick sidewalks and pocket parks, chalk drawings and cats in shop windows are some favorite things to discover.
I like to take pictures of things I see both to have a record of the journey and because it changes the way I perceive the world. Looking, not for the best picture, but the most honest one is my technique these days.
Depending on how far you go, a road trip could be just for the day or for many days. It could cost you some lunch and some gallons of gas or it could be an all out Thelma and Louise adventure. Just don’t end it the way they did!
By the way, I’ve been to Canyonlands National Park in Utah where they shot that movie. Now THAT was an epic road trip. If you ever get a chance, Utah is a wonderful road tripping state.
But there are things to explore all across this great nation. So exit the interstate and look for the interesting.
These little towns, city neighborhoods, and rural roads through forests and farmland are the beating heart of this country. It’s where life happens. So take the drive but remember the journey is the destination. Slow down to enjoy it. Slow down and make the journey fun.
PS- The dog pictured isn’t mine but I spotted him in a car parked next to me recently and he seemed like a good (if not judgmental) boy waiting to feel the wind in his ears.
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!
Is there anything more decadent than the combination of books and waffles? There is if you add in a sunset drive home with your fella while listening to a podcast about a book.
He and I made a spontaneous trip for books and waffles last night. There’s something about Barnes and Noble that feels so calming and civilized that I immediately feel my blood pressure start to drop. I prefer a good independent bookseller but I like the larger inventory and spacious aisles of the B&N.
I finally bought something I’ve been picking up and putting down for a while.
Waffle House was a little noisy for my taste as the young men running the place had their tunes cranked up. But I couldn’t be upset when they started dancing while they worked. How can you be cranky when you see people having that much fun at work?
On the way home, the sky began to shift from a pretty blue to delicate streaks of pinks, peaches, and lavenders. It was a perfect ending to a perfect evening.
This is the sky over Vinton County Ohio’s Bicentennial Barn. Isn’t it lovely?
Incidentally, I was a cub reporter when the Ohio Bicentennial Commission was painting these barns many, many years ago.
That’s actually how I connected with my Pittsburgh friend Nichola. She was working for the state at the time, the liaison connecting people and rallying communities behind this project to paint a barn in every one of Ohio’s 88 counties. She is a southern Ohio native about my age.
She and I hit it off after meeting just a couple of times. Alas, life took us in different directions and her husband’s job caused them to move to Texas before settling down in her peaceful Pittsburgh neighborhood.
It was a chance encounter on Facebook that reunited us several years ago. Since then, she’s seen me through some challenging times, we’ve traveled together, and shared a lot of laughs. We’ve also shared a few sunrises and sunsets.
It’s funny how people come and go from your life but the right people return exactly when you need them.
I thought about that on my way home and how lucky I am to have good days like this and people who understand me to enjoy it all with.
In case no one has ever mentioned it, try to catch a good sunset or sunrise once in a while. It’s good for your health. And while the waffles aren’t great for your health and maybe another bookstore trip isn’t good for your wallet, they’re good for you too – in their own way.
Friends, pay attention to the comings and goings of the sun, connect with the old friend, take the drive, eat the waffles and do all the things that make your heart happy.
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.
