Confessions of A Reluctant Blogger

From Gotomobile's Photostream

It's been a year since I've been blogging and I've made a few discoveries.
1. I love reading other blogs and sometimes making a comment or two rather than posting to my own blog. This also reflects my conversation style. I am more comfortable listening rather than sharing my experience depending on the person or the group.
2. I sometimes feel a discomfort with posting comments on other blogs because I wonder if the intent will somehow be misinterpreted.
3. The blogs that are engaging belong to authors who take risks with communicating their perceptions. Those who toss about notions that challenge social conventions normally not challenged in public discourse are intriguing not so much for what they present but the reactions that they invite.
4. Blogging appears to be an effective reflective tool but this arena is too public for me.
5.The relationships developed online don't seem comfortable to me. I think this because without the visual verification I really don't know who I'm interacting with. It feels more like a role play. But then isn't every interaction a type of role play?

So what advice do you have for this reluctant blogger who has more insecurities than she cares to admit about this process and this venue?

New Toy

Ta daa! A new hot pink racquet! I spent a much longer period of time searching for and trying out different tennis racquets than I did purchasing my last vehicle and or my home. Oddly enough I'm even more excited about this purchase than a car or a house. What is that? I guess I consider a car just another utilitarian object. I've had my share of 'clunkers' so I am grateful to own a reliable vehicle but I don't have a lot of personal investment in my car. Sometimes I feel more owned by my house and all the responsibility and provisions it requires rather than owning and thriving in this space.

The racquet represents freedom. The chance to discover something about an experience that presents a new reference point each time I hit (or mishit) the ball. It also illustrates the chance to recognize the athlete in me which has never really been a part of my projected identity. The racquet also represents a very rewarding way to get to know people. I find it very interesting how rapport is developed across the net with one's opponent. Over the course of several weeks our personal narrative is revealed in brief remarks or unexpected reactions. I won't be reenacting the Castaway plot and formally name my racquet just yet. I just look forward to the joy of understanding more about the game and about others.

Nod To Fall

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting
and autumn a mosaic of them all."
- Stanley Horowitz

The struggle for survival is waging war in my garden. Acorns are plummeting to the ground like a malfunctioning popcorn machine and the remaining buds are straining to bloom against the withering vines. I already miss summer and the scent of its heat.

My Apologies To All Arachnopobes

“The means to gain happiness is to throw out from oneself like a spider in all directions an adhesive web of love, and to catch in it all that comes”. Tolstoy

There are so many spiders in my backyard.If you crouch down low enough you can see a maze of webs so intricate and yet so precariously anchored. This is best seen in the last photo - the largest web I spotted was secured by single gauzy thread latched to a fading lavender pod.

Steak Pit Closing In On The Westcoast

I emailed my friend a couple of photos from my Summer Esterhazy Adventure. My email included an inspiring embellished story of my encounter with the scary Steak Pit. She replied with this pic taken just outside of Kananaskis. What is with this misguided advertising campaign? Will I wake up some day soon to discover that the Steak Pit has replaced the venerable overpriced Keg Restaurant?