Welcome to my blog Upstate Girl, (a.k.a Follow Your Bliss Part II), I am an independently published author. This blog is all about writing and the stuff that inspires me to write, the joys and obstacles that come along with the writer's life, and my fascination with the psychology of people and what makes them tick...the human condition, as is...and my love for words, playing with them and making sense of them...and I throw in a few photos from my acre of the world just to make things pretty...sometimes there are things I have no words for, only pictures will do.

*Copyright notice* All photos, writing, and artwork are mine (
© Laura J. Wellner), unless otherwise noted, please be a peach, if you'd like to use my work for a project or you just love it and must have it, message me and we'll work out the details...it's simple...JUST ASK, please.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

October...

Sumac Leaves, 9/29/2011

Bones of the Earth, 9/29/2011

The Horse Barn, 9/25/2011

Looking for a four leaf clover, 9/25/2011

Sumac leaves, 9/29/2011

 The compost heap had some pretty leaves in it and I ran inside to grab my cameras to take pictures...suddenly I had almost 200 photos...just a handful are good...some okay, some not so good...good thing there's no film involved, right? I think I took more time fussing and focusing when I had a roll of 24 loaded...and would get a little careless with a roll of 36...whatever, right? The little point and shoot cameras are giving me a creative outlet that I need for the moment...blurry pictures happen, it's part of the process.

(I really should wear my reading glasses while taking pictures, that way I can see the screen better!)

I've been reading a lot (books written by other people, not mine) and I've once again fallen in love with E. M. Forster...A Passage to India is such a beautiful book, I can't believe I hadn't read it sooner...but I suppose, the time was right for it.

I traveled to visit my father at the rehab center last Saturday, he's doing well...but has come to a "plateau" in his progress. Sometimes it is the little things that trip one up, recovering from surgery for a broken hip is one thing, he's doing well in that respect, but he is failing in the basics of self care, and this is of grave concern...so while hearing my sister telling me that he is not coming home, I felt shocked at first, but then after digesting it, I knew this is right. Our mother was doing all the care taking, giving the cues, poking and prodding, and doing every thing possible to make the situation appear "fine", when it wasn't. We, the children, have been in denial. Now we know. And now it's our decision.

Life progresses in strange paths that are unfamiliar and overwhelming...we're hanging in there.

This morning, my Fred and I installed our artwork at the Central Library at the Galleries on South Salina Street in beautiful downtown Syracuse, our wall looked fine...people were already looking. One fella wasn't sure if he'd pay $400 for a painting of splashes of color...but then after he spent time with them and looking (really looking) he piped up that he liked them well enough after all. The display is up through the month of October.

How about the Occupy Wall Street protests, huh? Awesome...I've been catching some of the various live feeds in NYC and along the way, I've come upon the We Are the 99 Percent...a blog full of very inspiring, sad and unfortunately true life stories...check it out...it will make you angry and it will make you cry.


http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

October is one of my favorite months, even its rainy days are lovely, we've had mist all day, and oddly enough, I didn't run out to take photos of any of it. But I know in time, things will adjust and I will get back into creativity as normal...but for now photos and drawings are how I am coping.

It is true, the deeper the sadness, the greater the beauty.

The Pretty Hill, Route 31 outside Port Byron, New York, 9/24/2011
An interesting sign along Route 31, Lock Berlin New York, 9/24/2011


3 comments:

Martin said...

I love those Sumac shots. Sorry that you're faced with the tough news with regard to dad's situation. Never an easy time.

Linda Robinson said...

Beautiful pictures, soft and powerful words, Laura. I love October, too for its contrasts and coppery memories. Love the horse barn picture, the window out of its frame, but patiently standing by so viewers can look.

helen said...

Love the photos!