Find the Beauty - 03

This is turning out to be a difficult month for me and for many of my friends. It would be easy to focus on that and get mired down in the muck but I decided to spend a few minutes today listing some of the bright spots that are helping me through. 

• Lines and Colors. This blog proclaims itself to be "... a blog about drawing, sketching, painting, comics, cartoons, webcomics, illustration, digital art, concept art, gallery art, artist tools and techniques, motion graphics, animation, sci-fi and fantasy illustration, paleo art, storyboards, matte painting, 3d graphics and anything else I find visually interesting. If it has lines and/or colors, it's fair game."  I just think it's beautiful. Even when the art isn't to my taste, the talent and skill are amazing to behold. I call it my daily dose of museum without having to actually travel to a museum.
• Belkin customer support. After my Internet started working again, my wireless router needed to be reconfigured. I've had three wireless routers over the years but this is my first Belkin. I will never use another brand again just for the quality of their customer support team alone. The router itself has never had an issue but I have had to call them a few times over the past couple of years because of outages on Comcast's side. Each time, I have reached someone knowledgeable, courteous, patient and genuinely concerned about resolving my issues. The gentleman who helped me this weekend was superb and made the whole inconvenience a lot less stressful. Kudos, Belkin!
• Summer fruit and vegetables. Being a vegetarian, and one who actually likes fresh fruit and vegetables, summertime is the best time of year, especially in this climate that doesn't allow us any locally-grown produce in the off-season other than apples and squash. The other night I spent all my grocery money and didn't even get out of the produce section. I came home with peaches, plums, blueberries, cantaloupe and watermelon, tomatoes, Vidalia onions, sweet peppers, broccoli and kale. It makes spending time in the kitchen even more fun when everything's so colorful. 
• I Know You Like a Book. I stopped in this sweet little bookstore one night last week and it completely melted away the stresses of the day. I also bought three books so now I get to put three others on my pile to give away so that worked out well for someone else, too. 
• Kiva. I have two loans open at the moment (the others have all been paid back in full) and I just received an email that the woman in Rwanda that my money is helping just made another payment. It feels good, especially when you're not exactly feeling happiness in the every day, to know that you're helping someone in need. It also puts petty problems in perspective and makes you a bit more grateful for all the blessings you have.

I hope you're having a better month than I am but even if you're not,  there must be some small bright spot in your day. Care to share?

About Town - ICC Horticulture Arboretum

I spent a lovely few hours this morning at Illinois Central College's Horticulture Arboretum with the Peoria Illinois Flickr Group. There was a great turnout of group members as well as a few other photographers on the grounds, taking advantage of the gorgeous weather and beautiful plant life. 

The gardens boast annuals, perennials, over 300 varieties of hostas, a vegetable garden and a waterfall/pond feature that wasn't running today but only makes me want to come back when it is. There are interesting little benches, trellises, arbors and pathways sprinkled throughout and the whole place is a picture in serenity. I couldn't help thinking how lovely it would be to have a yoga or tai chi class there. 

A few photos from the day:

To have your own serene day at the Arboretum, enter Illinois Central College via the Highway 24 entrance. Turn left into parking lot G at the first left, about ¼ mile from the college entrance. The gardens are open to the public from sunup to sundown and admission is free.

About Town - Eli's Coffee

The other day I spent five hours after work running errands, shopping for my vacation and watching an indie film at the Peoria Theater. By the time I got back in town, I was exhausted but not quite ready to go home so I decided to stop by Eli's Coffee on Jefferson Street. 

Eli's is a small, locally owned business in the heart of town and resides in a renovated two-story house. The yard and porch have tables and chairs for patrons who want to enjoy the summer breeze while they sip their iced coffees, and inside there are two small dining rooms downstairs and additional seating upstairs for people to congregate.

I have been to Eli's several times but this was the first time I was there late in the evening and I think it was the first time I've been there in the summer season. I was happily surprised at what a great business they were doing. When I arrived, all the tables on the yard and porch were full of couples, a group of women, and a family with small children. Inside, there were a few people quietly working on laptops or reading books and I was fifth in line at the counter. It was really bustling for this small town.

After receiving my iced decaf lemon tea, I settled into a table by the front window and watched the people. It was completely relaxing and pleasant. It would have only been better had I remembered to pack a book in my bag that day so I could have had an excuse to stay longer. As it was, I just finished my tea and headed home.

I'm looking forward to going back often this summer, to enjoy the superb service, great beverages and desserts, and perhaps getting to know more of my fellow townspeople. It definitely looks like the place to be.

Eli's Coffee is located at 205 W. Jefferson Street, Morton, IL and is open 6am-9pm Monday through Thursday, 6am-10pm Friday and Saturday, and 7am-5pm on Sunday. Free Wifi is available. 

A Summer, Focused

In September I begin a course on courageous living with a life coach. Included in the welcome pack I received when I registered was an exercise that will be the first assignment of the session. She included it as something we students could think about and work on in the months leading up to class. I, being the type who always does her homework the minute it's assigned, have already taken it out and started mulling it over.

The assignment itself is simplistic in direction but overwhelming in nature. The goal is to decide three to five things I want to see shift as a result of the time the coach and other students will be working with me. The items can be tangible (save X dollars, write a poem, etc.) or intangible (feel more energetic, improve communication with a friend, etc.) 

At least a dozen things spring to mind immediately when I read the assignment so it isn't that I can't think of anything to fill the page, it is that I want to make sure I choose the right ones. Since there can only be three to five items on the list, they should be ones that require help from a supportive community to attain, will lay the foundation for future changes and will have significant impact on my life. It is going to take some time to evaluate everything and determine the best choices.

 * * * 

mollykath's article on her life list inspired me. On my previous blog I had started a list of 100 Things that were goals I wanted to achieve before the end of my life. After reading mollykath's post I read back over mine. It was satisfying to see that I had crossed off an impressive number of them but some of the remaining items already seemed dated and foolish, even in this short amount of time. 

I would like to begin another list, a Life List, on this site and try to find things that will help others, improve the world and bring me joy. There won't be a predetermined number of items but whatever is on the list will have been thoughtfully and carefully considered before adding. I'm excited about setting new goals.

 * * * 

I read this blog post from my BlackBerry while standing in line at the store and before even reaching the mid-point, I was standing in line at the store, with tears rolling down my cheeks. Jenny is someone who is not often serious in her posts but when she is, she is one of the most poignant, straight to the heart writers out there. I thanked her for writing this post and I intend to keep the spirit of the red dress with me. And I am determined to find my own red dress, figuratively or literally. And wear the hell out of it, as Jenny said.

 * * * 

In random conversations with various people about topics not even remotely related, it dawned on me that I need to write my future. I'm the storyteller, right? Maybe I can't picture it perfectly yet and maybe I don't have every facet understood but I know how I want my future to feel. I am not able to close my eyes and see me in it, but I can feel it in my heart. I am going to try to put those emotions on paper and hopefully the words will begin to form shapes and those shapes will begin to form pictures and soon, I will see my future again.

 * * *

These are the things I will be digging into this summer. You may read some of my thoughts here, some you may not. How much I share will depend on what my soul-searching uncovers. I'm excited to get started, a bit nervous about what I may learn and willing to face it bravely, regardless. 

Not Going to Miss This One

I always seem to get to September and have this lightbulb moment when I realize that the summer season is at a close and I have yet to enjoy it. I remember one extremely hectic work year when I did not even realize that the entire season had passed until I was driving through the country and saw that all the fields had been harvested. For some reason, I never really appreciate summer like I should.

Part of that is my own doing because once the temps and the humidity both reach about 100 (degrees and percent, respectively) I shut down. It is a miserable time for me because I cannot breathe in those conditions. Not to mention, it does Roseanne Roseannadanna-like things to my hair. It is just not a positive experience.

This year, I want to change that. I want to do things, see people and go places this summer. I want to spend more time outdoors (after doubling up on hair products) and find new things to experience. Even just riding my bike more, going out to take photos, walking to the movie rental store or whatever I can find around town will be welcome. 

In a few weeks, I will be in Chicago and a few weeks after that, I will be back on vacation for a week. Other than that, I have no plans. I would like to line up a few more things that will ensure that I stay motivated and looking forward to things all throughout the summer months. 

Some of the things I have on my list (you knew I had to have a list, right?) are the Farmers' Markets in Peoria and Bloomington, walking the great hiking trail in Bloomington, perhaps a concert or two at the riverfront, maybe a local community fair, and hitting both the zoo and the wildlife park for photo opportunities. Also on the list but with a great big hesitant question mark next to it is the outdoor climbing walls in Bloomington. I have never done that but I keep thinking it would be fun and a good test of my strength, both physical and mental. I may just talk myself into before long. 

I am looking for more ideas. What are your favorite things to do outside when it's warm? And, if you are local, do you have any favorite community events or outings I should consider?