Manly Men, Hearts, and Wide Open Spaces
February 11, 2009 by Janice
I spent a bit of last night in a central closet here with Texas Tornado sirens blaring. And here I was intending to talk about expanding hearts and poetic things central to my painting. Tie them in with love, perhaps. That’s all well and good, but here’s the truth. Last night, I wanted to stand in the big front window and watch the storm come. I like wide open spaces. Cozy is fine, but give me some coast to look out on, or a mountain range that pierces clouds as they scud over it on their way to drop some snow, but don’t make me hide in a closet waiting. Because I know all about hunkering down. Intimately familiar with that.
Oh, I respect the power of those big things I cannot control. I know how to take precautions, and I do. But I have a secret love of storms. Of weather changed skies and the power of thunder, lightening darts, and forms of precipitation tapping out their rhythms on my soul. Someone told me once it is those charged ions like we get at the beach, that electrify me so. I don’t know about that, but I do know they speak to that wild part of me. You know that part, we ( I think) all have one, or use to, unless we’ve let it get tromped and tucked away.
A secret love of storms? Is she nuts?
Note I said storms, not the aftermath of them. That’s entirely different.
In Santa Fe storms are quick. Some are massively replete with snow. But they are welcomed for what they are. Nourishment for dry lands. The possibility of growth. After the storm in New Orleans, magnolias went into immediate fruition, to replenish, to rejuvenate. They bloomed by necessity wherever they were. Because they are just wild like that.
That’s why I chose this bloom. This piece. This juxtaposition.
The manly men in the title? Well, I wanted to keep them in mind so I wouldn’t get too mushy. I love hearts and flowers, am a romantic at heart, but give me a safe cozy spot with a view to a storm, take me out in a boat and return me to safe harbor, show me something wild and appreciate it too… tuck the chocolates on board and chill the champagne. I am there.
What would you give your wild self for Valentine’s Day? What would suit you down to the bone?
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Janice,
I love storms, too. I grew up out in the midwest, partly. We had this wonderful concrete basement with small windows on every side, and my mother would let us watch until the tornado got too close for comfort down in that basement. It isn’t what happens to Dorothy over the rainbow that I love, but that moment when everything’s swirling around her. I know just what you mean. Raw power, wild beauty. Love it.
Hm. Give to me for V-day? Well, since I can’t exactly manufacture a wild gent (too bad!), I guess I may give me a long drive.
I love going out on the road for hours and hours aimlessly, eating at hole-in-the-wall places, seeing where a whim takes me. And I haven’t had a chance in a long while. Maybe I’ll run away for the afternoon on V-day, my wild self hours in front of my regular self, and see how long it takes me to catch up to me.
Sounds like bliss.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: To All You Planners and Dreamers, Come In
“Maybe I’ll run away for the afternoon on V-day, my wild self hours in front of my regular self, and see how long it takes me to catch up to me.’
Sounds like bliss to me too… fabulous image.
Hooray! A Valentine’s post that isn’t mushy!
@Janice
I LOVE storms. We don’t get hurricanes up here. But we do get severe thunderstorms. I love the electric feeling in the air, as the sky darkens, as the pressure drops…just before all hell breaks loose.
My dream is to see a tornado. From a safe distance. Maybe watch one destroy an abandonned barn or something, (so that I can see destruction and not feel guilty about anyone getting hurt).
In Southern and Eastern Ontario, we occasioanlly get tornado warnings. That’s when I I get out in my car and chase the clouds, and take photos. But I’ve never seen anyt funnel clouds yet. .
@Kelly
You’re like me. I LOVE road trips. Once or twice a year, I get the urge to go somewhere. I can easily go 1000 miles in a weekend, eating at greasy spoons, staying in cheap hotels. Taking mini-vacations (and showing up to work Monday morning totally exhausted).
One of my best was driving to Labrador City (NFLD) from Montreal and back…on a 3-day weekend. Or once I was in Shenandoah National Park (VA) at 4:00 PM. And having to be at work in Montreal the next morning.
Friar’s last blog post..Six Things about Valentine’s Day that Suck
Friar,
I fear we are too much alike!
Re: Tornados—from that basement, we once watched the house across the street from us have its roof ripped off, then Mom realized the tornado was closer than she thought and we had to go do the hands over neck against the wall drill for the longest time. Even Mom, and she didn’t usually do it with my sister and me.
When we got up and went out, the house across the street was *gone.*
Our side of the street was untouched.
That was a bit too close for comfort. But I still love watching storms!
Until later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Reality Is Not on a TV Show
@ Friar-It’s a call of the wild Valentine
Although I did not have to be at work the next morning I remember driving around the hills of Sausalito at around 2am looking over at the sparkling bracelet of lights that is San Francisco and loving being one of the few people out. I was doing the whole Pacific Coast Highway drive thing…I ended up spending a couple of nights in Tiburron just being, cause that’s how far the car took me that night.
@Kelly-Hm, that is a little too close for comfort.. says she who knows close calls.. not even an hour after the hurricane passed, the birds were back out. Now where do they watch the storm? I have always wondered that.