Thursday, March 31, 2011

Gonna Take a Merely-Mental Journey

This has been a rotten week. One of those weeks where if the world at large mess isn't enough there is always everyday life. The little things.  One of those weeks when the kids are contrary and strangers are rude. When nothing ever seems to get finished. When appliances and technology malfunction. When you find a hole in your yellow scrubbing gloves. After you stick your hand in the water full of lysol cleaner.  Where perfectly trained dogs randomly deside to eat walls and poo on the floor and the cats fight with each other. The kind of week where you wake up and are glad it's a whole new day. Until about noon when you are ready to say, 'next please.'

We are having severe thunder storms and tons of rain which actually makes me happy becauseI love that kind of weather and I refuse to leave my house today unless it catches on fire. Except of course Biggest and DecentGuy are taking Littlest on a trip and they will be out on the roads in it all day. So, with clear visions of overturned vehicles and smash-ups caused by the weather courtesy of the evening news dancing in my head, I will be worried about them. All Day.

 I thought about writing a post called 'I am Grumpy. Hear me grumble but instead I decided to take a little trip. In my head. Coming?

What will I bring?

Some music. I always have a favorite song of the moment but This Song is the Song Of My Life. I have never put it on my blog because I was waiting for a special occasion but it occurs to me that I don't wait for an occasion to listen to it. It is there for me always. Especially on weeks like this it has soothed my soul. This song is my friend. In keeping with this week it has been a real PITA getting some version on here. This one has nothing to watch which is good.





Ah, something to read maybe!

One or maybe all of these books by Joyce Carol Oates. The links lead to summaries that I don't think really do them justice. I couldn't find a review that seemed to really hit it exactly right. They are wonderfully twisted and so easy to get lost in. They have my #1 criteria for a favorite book. A damn good story.

Bellefleur

Mysteries Of Winterthurn

A Bloodsmoor Romance

This trip will be outdoors so we need a picnic. What will I bring?
Bologna and Frito sandwiches. Only I will pronounce it baloney and eat it without mustard or mayonaise because I don't like mustard or mayonaise. Part of a Mental Journey is escaping adult cares so I will eat like a child. How does it sound? Disgusting? They are delicious. And always taste best when you have that particular 'been outdoors all day' kind of hunger.

This isn't about the pictures themselves. My skills are nil and I didn't take all of these. Anyone in my family could have taken any of them. We don't keep track. It's about remembering and experiencing.


Where am I going in my head? Easy. Here.



Ready? You can smell the green as you walk in.


As we travel we will be on the look out for these.


And these. We must be cautious.
But if we are aware of our surroundings we will be safe.



And then we will find it.


Maybe we can follow this woman and girl
whom I have,um, never seen before in my life...
up this trail.



And find this.


And this.
Can you hear the water rushing?
The sound fills up everything bouncing off the rock walls.



It's amazingly cool even on the hottest days. You can smell moist life all around you.
 It is the smell of the riches of the earth.

After awhile I will end up here.



That rock is as cool as if it had been taken out of the fridge.
I will sit here and listen to the river flowing past.
I will listen to the birds and watch the butterflies.
Tiny blue ones and giant yellow ones swooping on the draft.
I will look up at a canopy of fresh greenery.
I will feel the carpet of moss beneath my feet.
I will hold wet stones in my hand and know the earth.
I will turn them back in forth in the sneaking sunbeams
 watch the mica flash like jewels.
I will lower my fingers and let the water run through them
until they begin to grow numb with cold.
Then I will sit silently with my eyes closed and breath.
The breath of life
And hear the song of the earth around me
The tune of creation


Well, I am feeling better. I even forgot about the books. I'll save those for bedtime : )

Where would you go on your Merely Mental Journey? What would you take with you?



© 2011 All Rights Reserved
 Protected by Copyscape plagiarism checker - duplicate content and unique article detection software.

15 comments:

  1. So sorry you're having one of those day. Those are the days I'd like to kick everybody out & go to sleep. On my mental walk with you I ran like hell from the snake!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well I can tell you I would never in a million years think of balogna and fritos! I would take sunscreen and a racing suit in addition to my bikini so that I could do laps and feel justified in spending the rest of the time laying out in the sun. There would be umbrellas for the hottest part of the day and people bringing me drinks with umbrellas. And there would be no one else around because no one else should be subjected to me in a bikini. And I would be just beginning the Hunger Games, and not have just finished them. That would be my merely mental day.

    Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nicole: LOL! I'm glad you came along. But seriously, if you see that kind of snake YES RUN! Beings Grounded's though we must stop and take a picture. Zoom was absolutely used on the copperhead and the bear.

    Lady Jennie: Thank you for coming by: )I feel the same way in a bikini! I'll have to convince someone around here to bring me umbrella drinks..while I'm hiding behind the privacy fence.

    ReplyDelete
  4. SO much i want to say here, but the most important being that I TOO hate mustard and mayonnaise! BLECH. are you surprised? because at this point, i'm not....

    great song, AWESOME album. think i'll be digging through my cds for that one today..... although strangely ;-) can't get Sentimental Journey out of my head either. love me another gal with varied music knowledge.

    and since i've got my bags, got my reservation.... i'll go with you please. gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. heavenly, in fact.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great idea. Baloney and fritos - intriguing. Joyce Carol Oates - I generally find her work annoyingly gothic and convoluted and similar to all her other work, but I haven't read any of those. I'll wear my bikini and we can shout over the fence to each other.

    ReplyDelete
  6. There would be sun, there would be sand, there would be the sound of water softly slapping the shore.

    But there would be no Joyce Carol Oates.

    I don't like to think on the beach. Jane Porter, I think.

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  7. Elissa: I am so relieved to find another adult who can say that! No, Not Surprised ; )

    Bibliomama: Baloney and frito's have been getting me strange looks for years. But. It's good. At least to me. I get ya with the JCO. That's just it though. I usually Hate Gothic Novels. BUT these 3 have such wonderfully convoluted, totally out there aspects to them I adore them. They are more like a parody and can be highly amusing and full of far flung, completely bizarre and sometimes creepy twists and turns ; )

    Empress: Grass is greener : ) I can have that escape for real in 5 minutes but I don't want it because...it's not escaping; ) I have to have my mind engaged to fully journey but if I need a book where I don't have to think hard, I like Lorna Landvik, Maybe some Anne Tyler!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hope you have a better week next week.
    Love the photos.

    ReplyDelete
  9. KittyCat: Thanks honey: ) if I don't I'm enrolling myself in witness protection.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Its sounds like we are having competing weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sorry about your luck. I've had days, weeks and months like that. I am becoming a champion endurer. Thanks for the mental trip and the book recommendations, they look right up my alley.
    And maybe I did see your people in the sunshine state, but then again, every other person was wearing a pin covered lanyard and dragging someone else around! I had as much fun people watching as anything else I looked at all week, except maybe the amazing lightning! I was surprised how many parents melted down and said awful things to their kids and made them cry. At Disney. I should have secretly videotaped it for a youtube series about crushing children's dreams. Ah well. There was happiness and magic too, so it balanced out in the grand scheme.
    Hope you week is turning around. Hang in there.
    Oh, and the hike? Carolinas? Virginia? My kind of place, except for the snakes and bears! They're hungry and bold in the Carolinas these days and my big brave poodle is petrified at the smell of them!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I could really use a little of what you have in those pictures today! Oh well... Hope you are better today.

    ReplyDelete
  13. How i connect with you on this one! I didn't leave my house either because of the thunderstorms, which I happen to love.

    Sadly, my mental journey would take me to my office. My mind never leaves that place. I know, I know: I need help.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Mrs. Tuna:I know right? I topped it off with throwing my back out over the weekend!

    Mel:People trying to cram too much in with little ones! Mine would have been the determined looking young woman with a lanyard dragging the husband wearing a fedora...or possibly a miniature sombrero : )

    Dalia: Hey there! I need to visit you too. I know haven't come by in ages!

    Susan: Couldn't we all! Something about last week was off kilter.

    Melissa:Nothing better than a thunderstorm! If you get to stay home: )My office is in my home so I can't escape mentally or physically : )

    ReplyDelete

Just Humor Me....

Search This Blog