On the edge of summer

Planet45 was once a farm. Rumors swirl: horse farm, goose farm. Maybe pasture. Certainly at some point in the last few hundred years something was planted and grown and harvested, this the conclusion of the conservation agent who dug deep trenches in order to determine the line for the encroaching (and human-produced) wetlands.

Peonies bloom shortly before the solstice. I have fantasies about growing lots of peonies. Not being a gardener I find the presence of such exotic flowers in my yard to be proof of divine intervention, because I have no idea how one plants them and grows them. They are just here, blossoms the size of softballs, wildly fragrant. If I smelled like these flowers I would lose my reputation, what there is of it, but on these flowers it is gorgeous and sensual and tropical.

 

Planet45-centuries past, Part 1

It’s time to talk about one of my favorite subjects again, and that would be this big old Red House. It looks old because it is: at one time it was the only residence out here on Rocky Nook – and that was in 1857. It’s a center chimney four-square, two stories- actually, 2.5. It’s hard to say if the original structure was that size. One of my favorite things to do is to research the history of the property, and part of what I hope to determine eventually is the age of the current structure, which may very well have been built over the cellar hole of a preceding structure.

The first people to live on the Nook settled here in the mid 1620s. Not on this site- up the road a piece, and you’d never know that there use to be a house and barn there. The site has undergone some archaeological examination, but mostly it’s just a lovely green hill with very old trees and a rock with a plaque on it. The inhabitants were John Howland and his family. John came over on the Mayflower (yep, that one), married fellow passenger Elizabeth Tilley, lived in Plymouth town for a while, but eventually purchased 20 acres of land with a dwelling house and barn from fellow pilgrim Mr. Jenney,  and started to build a life here.

Rocky Nook in those days was a peninsula of pastures- and probably forest, but that forest would have been demolished in order to build and heat homes. The Nook juts out into a well-protected bay and, as you would expect by its name, its coast is lined by rocks. A time traveler arriving on a cold winter night would think it a bit of a boondocks- isolated, wind-swept, perhaps the sound of a few cattle lowing, because many, many more cows lived here than people. It must have been little better than camping  on a cold night, but I’d bet things were very sustainable. Elizabeth had ten children. Ten.

The Howlands farm was lost to a fire, as was, I think, the homestead of John Howlands’ son, which was later built just West of his parents’ place.

More soon.

 

The World is too much with us

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers  – William Wordsworth

When was the last time you really focused on something? If it was ever easy for you to focus, is it getting more difficult lately? There are some tasks that are inherently painful to focus on- like job-hunting for example. And we are told too that if we wish to keep an edge we should be tapping the powers of the internet, blogging, twittering, searching. These are good things. But it is possible to be washed overboard by the attention-spamming power of Twitter– possible to become self-absorbed blogging– and exploded into pieces by the process of searching for jobs or information.

Sometimes one has to step away from the keyboard. Forced absences. Refraining from jumping on the computer first thing (this is hard to avoid, but I am working on it). Spending time outdoors – yes, outdoors where you really can’t use your laptop fruitfully when the sun is up! My favorite antidote to a long day of fractured thinking: taking the dog for a run someplace beautiful while the sun is setting. Try it. Your attention span will thank you for it.

to finish with the Poet’s lovely sonnet:

Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; (1)
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, (2)
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus (3) rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton (4) blow his wreathed horn.

 

Good links about networking and job-hunting

A super tool for networking is the informational interview: Science on Informational Interviews

I saw a terrific seminar by Tory Johnson, CEO of WomenforHire.com. She emphasized getting out there, not just on the internet but virtually as well. Her website is chock full of great tips for everyone – not just women.

Harvard has an amazing Office of Career Services (big surprise there, eh??) and with it, a website jammed with solid information that is well-presented. I am especially fond of materials that can be found under non-academic careers for graduate students - this section has some very helpful information on networking, resume preparation and interviewing.

I hope these help! Good luck!

 

What I’m Doing During my Unemployment “Vacation”

This week I had a very good job interview and am more hopeful than ever that my stint as a jobless person is coming to an end. I’m taking a moment to take stock of what I have done in these months- just in case I DON”T find employment soon, I need to feel that these have not been wasted months. And I’ll refer back to the words I’ve referred to as goalposts for this year.

CREATE

In these past few months I’ve begun to create a social media presence in three ways. I’ve bolstered my linkedin account, done a little blogging, and established myself on Twitter. I’ve created separate resumes and cover letters for each and every job to which I’ve applied, and there have been many. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I should be saying and doing on these forums.

MAXIMIZE

I’ve had a lot of time to give and I’ve used it with my immediate family, spending time with Husband in NYC, more time with my teenage daughter, and many sleepovers and dinners with my Mom. The last is particularly important to me. I’ll be working again soon, and there won’t be time for dinners and sleepovers any more. She now has lots of memories of evenings spent in front of dinners she has made, cooking once again for family, of “tubing it” and hanging around, of buying treats and toys for my dog, who always comes with me, and setting out snacks for my daughter. These things didn’t happen when I was working, and when I go back to work they won’t happen, but for these few months Mom has gotten some quality time. I feel good about that.

I am finally learning how to maximize social media and have started to make some very strong connections, related at present to networking and career stuff, but which will in the long run set the stage for a network of friends and resources to supplement what I already have.

MODEL

Here there is less to consider, it’s only recently that I’ve started to share what I know for about, e.g., twittering, with a few people to help get them started. I know I need to work on modeling healthy behavior for my daughter, and in these, the hopefully closing days of my unemployment, I will make progress.

 

Perspective

I drove home from one of my last days at work licking my wounds, my young canine companion Zoe by my side (I smuggled her in to the office today for morale support). Halfway home through the legendary south-of-Boston traffic, I got a phone call from my friend Stacey in Texas.

I’ve known Stacey for years now, but I’ve only seen her in person once, over a margarita and some good tex-mex where she charmed me with her energy, bravery and style. She’s a “helper” teacher- a master teacher who guides other teachers. Single mom. Fashion diva. Makes jewelry and is completely organized. She’s been one of my closest virtual friends for oh, six years. She and I have “talked” each other through some very tough times (including each of our divorces, another one of those life stressors).

Well, Stacey has cancer. Uterine and cervical. It’s bad enough that when the involved organs are removed, there will be a pathologist on hand to sample the others. Scary stuff.

So I had thought I might work on a painting tonight, but when someone you’ve corresponded with for years calls with news like that, the ole creative juices brake hard and go in reverse. Feeling Mopeful because one has lost a job seems kind of silly. Know what Stacey is excited about? The fact that she will have 50 paid sick days.

Yep, 50.

 

50 Pieces: Feed your Head

In my office at work, I have the word “Imagine” in metal on top of a very high bookcase. Well, it’s soon to be my OLD office, but I will take my decoration with me. My position is a victim of The Economy, and I suppose, a lack of Salesperson Tendencies.

Involuntary job losses they say are highly stressful, ranked with deaths of loved ones and divorces. Well, I’ve lived through divorce and the deaths of loved ones, and Job Loss is a distant third, though it feels pretty bad at the moment.

Transitions are times when we assess ourselves, and I have done that in spades. One of the conclusions I have come to is that I need to exercise my creative side more regularly, and I’d like to be accountable for that. Hence, I will blog it. And if I figure out this wordpress thing, take pictures of the visual art pieces I create.

I call this endeavour “50 Pieces”- making something, one object a week. A poem, a painting, something complete. They probably won’t be good in the larger sense but they will be expressions, and they will be mine, and well, I guess they will be public.

My coach MaryEllen and I have set up a time to start. Tomorrow. But with this blog I am starting, or perhaps restarting today.

In a way I’ve been really creative lately as I have used visual and written arts to roadmap my future, so I hope that counts, but I will also embark on making the simple, pleasurable things that make ME happy, whether or not they are of General Artistic Merit… each one will be a step on a journey to a more creative and healthy self.