Tuesday, August 9, 2011

don't look back!

Summer is just flying by, which suits me just fine since the summers are so brutal here in southern Nevada.  Looking forward to our vacation in Oregon in the fall.  Autumn is my favorite season, and especially spent in the beautiful state of Oregon.  The colors must rival New England, at least in my mind!  I am always in amazement at the vast amount of colors, textures and fauna that i experience when I am there. From ferns of every kind to the moss.  MOSS, coming from the desert, this is quite appealing to me. The campground hosts and park rangers are always chuckling as I scurry around Valley of the Rogue campground outside Grants Pass, Oregon, picking up acorns by the pound,  filling my bags with beautiful leaves and picking the lonely blackberry stragglers left on the bushes.  Sitting by the mighty Rogue River and daydreaming of living on it feeds my soul.  This year I intend to sit there with my sketchbook.

Yesterday, my husband Lee and I went to Las Vegas to do some shopping and get groceries.  We stopped by the Total Wine and More store to look around.  As we were checking out, the cashier Pamela asked Lee for his I.D. with his credit card.  So me being the smart ass I am, asked Lee who he was. The cashier said to me "i know you just met him in the parking lot and want him to buy you some beer, because you are underage."  I laughed and said "I wish".  She said, not me, she wouldn't go back.  She said marriages and kids and life in general.  She wants to only look ahead and not look back.  Wow!  I thought about it and told her how that really was so true.  She said there is so much to look forward to.  I couldn't stop thinking about that all day.  I tend to revert back to the past, and the what if's, and maybe if I had done this or that differently.  I really want to focus on today and think of all the wonderful things I have going for me and the wonderful people I have in my life NOW.  Thank you Pamela and if you read this and I didn't quote you exactly right, set me straight! 

Last week I got to Skype with my sweet friend Livve in the U.K. and Phyllis in North Carolina.  Phyllis got us on a group chat.  I LOVED Livvie's accent.  We are all excited and busy planning our grand adventure to Artfest in Port Townsend, Wa. next spring.  There is a group of us that met online during Misty Mawn's class.  We formed such a strong bond, that we are all sharing a house up there. Of course I am sharing a room with one of my very bestest friends in the world, Jodi Kincaid!  I can't imagine getting to meet my stretching sisters in real life!  Wishing our friends Michele Redman, Joanne Rose, Kristin Hyde and Jenny Wentworth could join us.  That would make this journey complete!

Guess I will quit babbling and let you enjoy your Tuesday.  What are you planning for the week?
Have a wonderful week and DON'T LOOK BACK!  xoxo  Carlanda


her name is Dottie.  5x5 canvas.

11 comments:

k.p. said...

I loved what you had to say about looking forward! Sometimes it is so hard to not "wish" or even to have regrets...thank you for this reminder :) I hope you have the best time ever at Artfest!! It is on my bucket list to teach there one day and also to take classes from some artists that I admire very much! ttfn xokp

Michele Emma said...

Carlanda, aka gorgeous. I too wish I could meet up with everyone. You are the best!

Petie said...

SISTA! We are going to have such a great time!! But until then we will make every day a great, fantastic, creative day!! XOXO :D

jodi said...

I can't wait to have you for my roommate! We can practice for when we are old. : ) I also cannot wait to see you in Oct. we will hunt moss and acorns together. AND I will make you scones with butter and my wild blackberry jam. Love you!

Lyn said...

Does this mean I'm famous now?! Seriously I've never been mentioned on anyone's blog before..but this isn't just anyone's blog..this is my lovely, kind, funny friend Carly's blog! We are all going to have an amazing time at Artfest..and we'll never come back down to earth :) Love ya Miss Carly and I love your happy chatty blog too. Livvie xo

dellerd said...

I have always been a firm believer in not looking back unless I need to remind myself of a choice, a mistake or an event that I have learned from. How exciting for the ArtFest and meeting all those lovely ladies you have done art with from afar, I know you will have so much fun. I am so looking forward to meeting you also....and it is coming real soon....xo

manomij said...

don't look back now! ...lol was that a film in the eighties? I do look back hon but i am not a slave of my past i learn i look at what i liked and bring it forward... wished i looked that young at the cashout now however ...they think ...here is the old tramp again how the h.. can she afford to buy all the booze . So great to know youXxxx

joanne said...

i love in this wonderful post... so much to discover and think about... i wonder how many people in Oregon pass by moss every single day without giving it even a second's notice... thank you for reminding me to appreciate the moss when next i see it...

What a beautiful encounter with Pamela, and a thoughtful response on your part to it... How inspiring that you came back here to share and write and deepen the value even more of the exchange you had with her. Thank you Pamela for reminding us that it's all too easy to waste time and energy living in a non-existent past and future, meanwhile entirely missing the present moment...

Beautifully written blog post and beautiful artwork too!... so much joy and so much learning and so much

... moving onward... inward... upward...

xoxo



p.s. maybe you can convince Lyn to get a blog going... I've tried and tried... but somehow i think maybe you might be just the person for the task of convincing her :)

Unknown said...

Hey sister,
I wanna be at artfest too!!! That made me feel weepy(in a good way) to be mentioned here. :)
I need to be rich!
Love to you sister,
Jenny

RitaJC said...

Great post!
Thank you so much for sharing, Carlanda!

Laura Shaffer said...

Acorns and berries and leaves, oh my!
xo!