Cimarron to Cimarron

It was a cloudy day but the rain stayed away and that makes for a rewarding drive out to the country. The Antique sale was surrounded by fenced in horses who were quite content to munch and munch and munch... on hay.
The tiny red barn was adorable with two floors of well spaced and displayed treasures. The staircase was steep so it reminded one of climbing into a hayloft as a child.
The wind was strong and sounded quite ominous in the little barn and the whole structure seemed to sway. Widened eyes looked at two other women who were poking in and around the little treasure shop and one of them said, "Woah! Is this building moving?"
"It feels like it but I haven't got my sea legs yet," said Simmy jokingly.
She found an old book she hadn't read yet so she purchased that and a few other baubles.
She left the little barn and went to talk to the horses. As she bent down to place her purchases on the grass, the wind swirled up around her and and her cape lifted and flipped completely over her head and Simmy had to do some odd shimmying to get that cape back in place.
The ranch owner came up to her while she was trying to get a picture of a certain horse.
"I thought I had a bullfighter on my property," he gently needled her.
Simmy blushed. "Hey, I was already lacking in dignity when I was all caught up in my cape, you're not supposed to say anything!"
He laughed.
"I'm trying to get a picture of that horse," Simmy pointed to Mr. Munchie.
"Hey, Cim...on," he yelled.
"What did you call him?" Simmy asked wide- eyed.
"Cimarron!"
"You're kind of freaking me out here. I just bought that book from the sale," she looked at Mr. Rancher with suspicion.

  He just grinned his self assured grin and walked away.
"I wonder which character, in the book, he'll remind me of the most," Simmy mused, looking forward to reading the book to find out.

The old beat up mailbox looked like a perfect display case for a Christmas Sale, so Simmy walked all the way back to the little barn to buy the galvanized piece of time weathered art.

Coco's Cosmos

Year 1939- Novel
Coco Chanel put her feet up on a hat box and leaned back to inhale on her cigarette. She would have to close shop for this d__ed war.
'Not a time for fashion, this,' she spoke to the tinned ceiling.
Her mind started thinking of ways to regain control of Parfums Chanel... as the smoke curled around her head, she devised her plan.

Morning and Evening

Saturday morning, or was that Friday morning, the sound barrier wall went up behind Sam and Simmy's yard. It was exciting!
Well, most of it went up... and then Monday morning, the other sections were put in place and Simmy waited... was it quieter?
The neighbors' sections got put in place and, slowly, the traffic noise was getting a bit quieter. When Simmy went into the back yard to hang the laundry, she heard something new... she paused... Sigh! It was the lovely sound of the wind in the trees. It had been a lot of years since this country girl had heard the whisper of rustling leaves.

In the evening, Simmy asked Sam to plug in the lights... in celebration of the wall going up...
"Are you done working for this evening?"  The question came from the young neighbor boy.
"Yes, for tonight we are," Simmy asked.
"Are you going to be out here tomorrow night again?" He asked.
"Yes, we are," Simmy answered.
"I'm going to church," he said.
"Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia..." Simmy sang and ballerina danced to it.She performed a grand jete with each Hallelujah. It was superb, in her mind for sure.The Hallelujah chorus kept playing in her head, making the jumps spectacular... in her mind for sure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Okay, so mine didn't sound quite like this one!
Young Salmon was from a dancing and performing family and he thought this well and truly normal.
"Don't be rude to the priest," Simmy jested.
"He'd better not," said his mother.

With a Little Help From My Friends

Deborah had popped in on Thursday. She was babysitting Jacob.
"I'm just outside your house. Do you want to go for a walk?" She said on the phone as she waited for me to look out my back door.
"Yes! I could use a break. This novel is getting really close to completion and I need to stretch my legs. Could I have 5 minutes?"
"Let me guess! You don't have your eyeliner on."
"Well, my hair is wet!"
"It's beautiful outside! Come on!"
As Simmy walked towards Deborah, she waved happily but just as quickly said, "You know what happened?"
"No, what happened?"
"My favorite Uncle died yesterday!"
"Oh no, not the one in the wheelchair?" Simmy knew how much Deborah loved that man.
"Yes."
"Oh, I'm so sorry! You just loved him. You were so good to him."
Simmy recalled how Deborah's husband would put up a make-shift wheelchair ramp just to get him into their house for family gatherings.
Sigh!
Simmy went to the cutting garden and filled a pot with zinnia and then drove to Deborah's house and quietly and unobtrusively placed the flowers on her outdoor summer table.
"Sometimes, there are no words... but a few flowers might help..."
Then Simmy remembered she'd have to ask Sam how that young man, from his work, who had a heart attack this week was doing.
Simmy had prayed for him... inadvertently...
A long time ago, she had trained herself to pray whenever she heard an ambulance wail... she just thought it was a really good habit to get into.

Toad and Butterfly Garden

"Say cheese!" Simmy put her camera down on the sidewalk, lens to toad face- off.
'I don't smile!'
"No kidding, grumpy!"

Toad hopped a couple of steps? and hid under a nasturtium leaf. When Simmy kept flashing the camera at him, he found a crack in between the house and the sidewalk and squeezed and squished his belly girth until he disappeared.
"Fine! I'll go find a butterfly," Simmy said.

... which is just what she did.
The hot pink zinnia was September perfection and the young butterfly thought so too.

Raindrops Stardom

Lucy entered the theatre from the alley. She could hear footsteps approaching. As the footsteps increased in tempo, so did Lucy's feet.
Intent on making sure that her umbrella wouldn't become a casualty in the war of media versus stardom, she took the time to swish the umbrella through the door sideways.
As she hurried to her dressing room, the hallway was conspicuously empty and just as she burst through the door of her dressing room, a flash hit the mirror before the door slammed shut in the face of the photojournalist.
A gusto of laughter barked through the door followed by 'La Dolce Vita.'
Lucy tossed her umbrella down on the loveseat in disgust.
The raindrops splashed the wall and landed on the water resistant sofa causing a sparkle of diamond dew that erased her ire in the beauty of the shimmer.

The Violet Ballet

Novel Notes...
Letter from Richard... 1940
Dearest Lucy,
I went for a walk in the rain today. I happened upon a pot of violets, a perfect ink blotch violet and another one with its head drooping beside it. I am the drooping one, missing you so as I do. One cannot but feel a dread here in the city of Metz. Even with guns and equipment being removed, there is still a dark and rainy dread upon my soul.
Frederic looked at the bobbing of the violets as the rain and wind gently moved them and said, 'It is like a Violet Ballet in the midst of a violent one.'
Enough melancholy!
I'm sure you are working hard for the Red Cross efforts as we are working for science. My hope is that we will not suffer shame through the uses of our work.
All my love,
Richard

Keepers of Time

              "Behind the Gates" live keepers of time. They toil and reveal what's been hidden behind...

                      Preserving the view on Central Avenue is a task they choose, not many These Few.

                       But preserve and restore; they insert a key... is it love? is it dreams that makes them be...

             those keepers of time who scrape back hard years' wear, to reveal for us all what once was there...

                      Some blaze brave new trails, interpreting anew, the old voices past with fresh sight imbue...

         Tis right and tis chaste to pen words like Connor, King's ministers' heart would enjoy all this honour.

Just past the row of telephone poles

1939- The Grand Ball
... you turn right at the spot where the two roads converge, a little off- set but you can't miss it.
Don't be late, Lucy! The Grand Ball is the event of the year. I don't want to miss a thing. Do be a darling and bring that lovely broach you nicked from your Grandmama' s jewelry box. It would be just perfect with the velvet gown I'll be wearing.
We shall pretend the King and Queen are still in this fair city. My mother has invited every noble person she can imagine in her lovely head.

 

Dancing is from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. I shall have the most sore feet ever! Won't it be just divine!

From Lucie to Lucy

Scene 27- Take 1- The 'yud' teapot
The year is 1939...
Dearest Lucy,
I hope this postcard will find you are well. When I arrived in London, I happened upon a shop called 'The Little Gallery,' at 5 Ellis Street, which was owned by Muriel Rose. It was closing its' doors as so many places are doing these days. It was a little potters' shop and I found a beautiful little teapot with creamer and sugar. The textured pattern reminded me of you, my textured love. It was in this shop that I met Lucie Rie with whom Erwin Schrodinger has taken accommodations.
Now, I have already met with this Austrian physicist numerous times and I know these are not happen-chance meetings but instead, divined.
I am sending my words on a post card as the postal censorship has begun and I find myself offended at the thought of someone tearing open my letter to scour it for subterfuge.
Yours Sincerely,
Richard

Semptember Birthday

Family birthdays are the best!
                       Families who play together, stay together!
                                                              He who is mellow is a jolly good fellow!
                                                                                                   Somebody's happy, somebody's not!

Somebody poses, somebody dozes!
                               Somebody is charming, somebody disarming!
                                                                            Birthdays are great, just keep settin' the date!

Jalapeno Jeff

It can be hard to find customer service these days.
Simmy went to 'unnamed' grocery store to get jalapenos and a few other things for the birthday party tomorrow.
The jalapeno basket was empty so she stood looking a bit bereft, possibly.
"Well, I guess I'll go to another store," she sounded less than enthusiastic.
Jeff, busy filling produce bins said, "I'll go check in the back."
Simmy replied, "I'll wait right here."
He chuckled, I think.
Shortly, he came back out and his hands were empty and the look on Simmy's face must have been somethin' awful disappointed because he held his hands up as if to say... 'Don't have a melt down yet!'
What he actually said was, "I'll go check the other stock room..."
Simmy waited while Denis, another produce man, told her that Jeff had worked for this store for 22 years.
Wow!
Denis said, "If anybody can find them, he can. He knows everything!"
In just a few seconds after that big compliment hit the airwaves, Jeff appeared with a box of jalapenos.
Denis was right!
Jalapeno Jeff delivered!
Thanks so much!
Great customer service, Gentlemen!

Dutch Dime Store Diva

... strikes again!
A Bollman hat from a chapelier in Montreal, a piece of fabric that was a chiffon and lace inspiration that set the scene for the 1940's milliner shoppe, and a few other props that made the scene come to life in the novel.

 The best part, though, were the characters who would talk to her while she shopped.
A man who told her the shallow glass bowl with the cut glass edging was from the 30's or 40's... "I used to collect glass, so I know," he had said.
John, who carried the round glass mirror to the desk for her... the same John who sold her the wine rack last year. For some reason he has that personality that just sells the big ticket items to me, naturally!
And, let's not forget Jim who gave her some pearls last year, he is always a character who bellows out, 'This is the lady with that happy blog!'
When my lipstick fell out of my purse, the lid falling off and both parts skidding across the floor, it was Jim who hurriedly picked them up, closed the lipstick, and handed it to her singing a on the spot composition of a song...
that Simmy could use in the novel...
It's always a charming and inspiring time at that Dutch Dime Store.

Rogue Vogue Recipe

It all started with a spider... I added some loud music by Martini, I mean Martina, sorry... and it all went silly and mad from there once I added a water hose.

On this sunny, sultry, (say it really slow and pucker your lips on the tr) September morning, Simmy went to check on the wall of sweet peas clinging to the screened in gazebo.
Some had reached the fascia board and it was time to celebrate the existential growth of the sweet peas, and hopefully the parallel journey that Simmy was on too, that proved you can overcome annoyances,...
such as the seemingly endless Centreport Canada Initiative taking place right behind her back yard... Ahem!
... and still grow in human spirit and generosity and... all those good things.
As Simmy was staring at the fascia board, she noticed that big spider that they hadn't gotten rid of a couple of months ago, and he had been mating.
"That's it, you're done for Buddy!"
Out came the ladder, the bug spray, and when that only turned the spider a bit drunken,... out came the water hose.
"I'll blast you out of there!" Passionately and sincerely she applied some PSI ( passionate, sincere, individual), or pounds per square inch for the science and technology buffs, and pounded the water at the little critters.
So busy was Simmy trying to blast the spiders out of the eaves that she didn't realize that the water was, quite obviously to any onlooker, being sprayed all over her furniture inside the gazebo.
She let go of the hose trigger immediately, ran around to look at what the damage was... pulled the sofa to safety, went into the house... just to hear Martina belting out...
no copy of Vogue magazine
don't need to dress like no Beauty Queen

High heels and sneakers...
Kierkegaard was postulating in her ears, "An individual is solely responsible for giving his or her own life meaning."
Out came the props for a photo shoot and soon she was in a giggle living out the song blaring out the screen door, totally distracted from the endless machinery noise just a few feet over.
... loves me just the way that I am...
As she laid down on the grass to take a few photos, she had, inconveniently, forgotten about the wet grass which quickly soaked her underpants, and she had a distinct empathy for models.
"I don't know how they smile through all this!" Simmy fashioned.

According to Kierkegaard, existential obstacles and
distractions
include...
despair,
absurdity,
angst,
alienation,
and boredom.
Broken down into more easily understood Latin,...


des-
(key)
pair
(two)
ab-
(away from)
surd
(muffled)
angst
(fear or anxiety)
alien-
(very different)
-ation
(action)
boredom
(tedium)

 
 Then, reworked into story form...
The key pair of spiders engendered angst, in Simmy, leading to very different actions, absurd, some might say, which muffled the distracting machinery noise behind my yard greatly alleviating my boredom.
There you go...
existentialism explained.
Simmy felt a rumble... yes, yes, she thought, theistic existentialists, God and Kierkegaard having a good laugh at her,... with her???
... and people wonder where I get my ideas to write novels...
... And you thought I couldn't put existentialism and fashion in the same story... shame on you!

Shingle Jingle

Monday Labour Day indeed... or shall we say Labour weekend???
All of the construction sons had showed up to re- shingle Sam and Simmy's roof. It was the biggest work project they'd ever asked their sons to contribute to.
There was a lot of groaning at the end of day two... muscles were sore, Sams' feet felt severely misshapen from standing on a sloped roof for twelve hours.

All of the main roof had been finished the evening before with comments such as... "We're never doing this again! Now we know why the quote was $8,000.00, I hate shingling!"
And... those were only the comments from the sons...
The kitchen worker said things like... "In two days, I've cooked as much as I usually do in three weeks."
One son had recently purchased a house, and the other two had goals of the same so... Simmy, being the person she was, thought, "Great opportunity for everyone to learn what it's like to be a proud homeowner!"
... On this bright and sunshiny Monday, Simmy was planning to remove all the nails from the old shingles so they would be ready to take to the recycling depot later in the week but... she just thought she'd see if the website gave any instructions on how loads could be received, et cetera.
The asphalt shingle recycling depot had the question, 'What determines a 'clean load?' right on the home page and Simmy yipped with delight when she read the answer...
- shingles
- felt
- nails
"Hallelujah!"
That was one huge job she could take off her list of duties this week. She didn't have to remove all the nails from the old shingles.
She was so relieved!
As she and Sam had a homemade cinnamon bun breakfast, Simmy said, "Well, one thing we know for sure."
Sam cocked his eyebrows in query, cinnamon bun taking priority over talking.
"Every one of us will have great respect for roofing guys now. That is always one of the 'possible ripple effects' from doing something yourself, at least once, so you know firsthand how much work something is.
http://romancedesigner.blogspot.com/2010/04/learning-from-unexpected-places.html
"So, it took approximately 120 man/ woman hours... and counting... to get the job done," Simmy said, "considering all things equal."
What was gained?
All the workers got delicious homemade meals.
Comradery while working... see previous blog of laughing worker.
Grocery shopping was done to take the strain off one family later in the week.
Experience for everyone in the area of learning for the gain of knowledge... theirs to keep forever and use how they see fit.
Greeting cards were produced to save money for two families... and fun was had by the designers while the work was produced.
There was a sharing of supplies during the card- making sessions.
Neighbors got a warm rhubarb cobbler dessert because an extra large one was made to serve all the workers.
A church got a volunteer worker on Sunday morning.

What was lost?
Someone gave up golfing with a friend.
Another person gave up fishing with a friend.
Another person accepted the schedule of whatever was happening and went with the flow, not knowing if her needs of being able to volunteer and get groceries would even be met.
Someone couldn't write her novel for a few days.
Someone couldn't relax for this long weekend, even though his body was begging for a bit of rest instead of more days of hard labour.
All around, Labour Day turned into days of labour...
a huge thank you to each volunteer who gave of his or her time to help make this happen.

We love you!

Corus of Doves

Simmy had to be organized on Saturday and, today,... Sunday.
The shingling of the roof was 'weather' commanded but the cooking for the workers was a responsibility she shouldered so she didn't have to shoulder the shingles.
Youthful, her daughter- in- law, was spending the day with Simmy so she ran the schedule past her to make sure she would be willing to agree to the multiple stops on their errand run.
"I was thinking we'd go to the Dutch Dime Store, then we'll go take a picture of my neighbors. The 'Dove' mini biography book is being released today and I wish to honour them by stopping by at the department store where they're going to be 'in the spotlight...,' then I thought we'd go to the other dime store, then to the supermarket, then to a couple more dime stores, then back to the house so I can get the lasagna cooked for dinner."
Youthful didn't seem daunted by the list of tasks so off they went.
Corus Entertainment had been in charge of the young corus of doves and had put out a very clean, shall we say pure booklet with each of the young Canadian girls featured on their own page, accompanied by a short bio of contributions to make the world better that each young lady had accomplished in their lives, to date.
As Simmy read their list of core values, she thought how similar her values paralleled theirs.
"Hmm, it's not often I'm this impressed with someone's value system. They must be delivering the value, as well, to be voted one of 'Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures.'
Simmy and Youthful completed their list of tasks and went back to the house to make dinner.

As Simmy pulled out the camera to take a picture of the construction boys... the husband of Youthful, Down- flowing seemed to be having a might too much fun but, Simmy thought, work can get done either way... with a good attitude or a bad one.
Do I hear a chorus of 'yes'... es?

Haloed Cosmos

September Friday! Simmy got up after 9 a.m., for the 4th time that night... morning?
As she walked past her workroom, there was an aura of light hovering over the cosmos.
It was one of those pictures where you know you hear a chorus of nuns? heavenly beings? Leonard Cohen? singing... 'Hallelujah'
The halo was created by the suns' rays pushing through slits in the fence, meeting up together as they shone through the window collectively mist hovering over the cosmos.
Simmy grabbed her camera... "I've got to take the photo on the landscape setting so there's no interfering flash or I won't be able to get an accurate moment in time chronicle of what this really looks like.
'Click!'
It looked good until she uploaded it onto the computer and then the truth showed. Her hand had moved when she'd taken the picture.
She blew her lips out in frustration!
"My hands are morning sluggish before my coffee."
She went and poured herself a cup, took a few sips and then took another picture.
The sun had moved by then and the photo just didn't have the same ethereal quality but it did have a better... light angling onto the cosmos and the shadows creating a better black matter contrast.

Ahh! The principle of complementarity... a beautiful thing in a marriage, yes?

Simplicity

Simplicity is sought after, more and more as knowledge or scientia increases. That seems to be almost opposite to how it should be but, as understanding or intellectus increases, life does get simpler.
"The roof needs to be re- shingled," Sam warned Simmy. "Those plants can't be hanging over the sidewalk like that when we re- shingle the roof on the weekend."
"If he had grown each plant from a tiny seed and nurtured and watered them until a tiny sprout burst through the soil and then grew an inch, and another inch... until they were ready to come out of the greenhouse and be transplanted in the soil, just to have to adjust to the new environment... and be encouraged through the cold nights, to get a little more hardy so they could grow 4 and 5 feet tall and then... start flowering,... well, he'd be a little more sympathetic to my flowers," Simmy spilled forth a tirade as she clipped and clipped and clipped the flowers and filled teacup after teacup after teacup of them.
As she snipped another bunch of cosmos off the plant, she smelled cigarette smoke and turned to smile at the neighbor, thinking, 'He probably thinks I'm in my cups with a little something more in my teacups than just plain tea.'
A few minutes later the boom truck arrived to put the shingles on the roof.

  ... and a few minutes after that, the Rampart shingles were sitting snugly on the peak of the roof. Simple!
In the cosmos or field of epistemology, ( punning a bit), the concept of simplicity is related to truth,... and gardening for the purpose of this article.
So, the simplest ___________is the most likely to be true.
Sam speaking. "We're going to toss the shingles off the roof and if they land on your flowers, your flowers will be crushed."
Simmy speaking. "If you toss the shingles off the roof and they land on my flowers and crush them, you may meet God, metaphysically speaking!" 
In the philosophy of science, Simplicity is a meta- science criterion by which to evaluate competing theories.
Ahem! I'm evaluating, I am!
Simmy came across a website entitled Science Finds God and she wasn't really sure what to make of that... Science... scientia... knowledge... finds God.
"Well, there we go! Finally! Knowledge has found God... or is that... knowledge able have found God?"
All alpha to omega thinkers can now relax and so can the omega to alpha thinkers. It's just method, after all.
And seeing as God is the Alpha and Omega, I suppose he doesn't mind how a person gets there... as long as they do... simply put.
"Why does the Testimony of Simplicity always land in my lap?"
Simmy grumbled as she filled a few more teacups with flowers so nobody would feel bad if an old shingle got tossed on top of the plant.