30. A Stillness in Time

October 16, 2012January 20, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 11 Comments

I’ve been experimenting with black and white photography these past two weeks. Perhaps it is a bit ironic that as autumn’s colors are at its most glorious, I’m choosing black and white. It could be that my camera can’t capture the beauty of fall; but I think it is more of a mood. I hear friends say how much they love fall and its coolness, but I miss the sun and the warm. The last gasp beauty of the bright, God-painted trees can’t make up for the gray, cold rain.

Is it just the absence of color that creates the different moods of black/white/gray photos? Is it the lack of color that makes the observer focus on form, line, and shape? What gives the dreamlike, still, unearthly qualities to black and white photography?

As I was reading about the feelings that black & white photos evoke, one phrase keeps rumbling in my mind — that it creates a sense of stillness in time. Being here at the cottage does that for me as well, so the two have merged in this post. It is a stillness, a peace, a quietude that is not in my “other” life. It is almost as if time is standing still when we are here.

There is something else that a black and white photo implies — simplicity. I’m not sure why… Is it because it reminds us of a simpler time? Or is it that the colors don’t get in the way of what we see? Details and shadows all become clear, yet at the same time, shrouded in mystery…a metaphor for life, for God.

Life is simplified here at the cottage: work and jobs are left behind; meetings and responsibilities are rare; we don’t have much technology, just our cell phones and a television to watch Steeler games. We are focused on here, today, now, and what we have to accomplish — our purpose, for now. To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.–Ecclesiastes 3:1.

In Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis writes,

The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.

Simplicity,
Stillness of time,
Season of quiet,
Circle of life,
Listening to that other voice —
Black and white photos fit Apple Hill Cottage well.

(Don’t worry, I’ll be back to colors next week.)

24. Charlotte’s Lot

September 13, 2012September 8, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 5 Comments

We’ve been watching Charlotte on our porch for the last three weeks.

She’s been there. Spinning and waiting, waiting and spinning; I could learn patience from her.

She hasn’t moved more than an inch or two in all these days, unless she goes off dancing midweek and then comes back on weekends to pretend that she hasn’t gone anywhere.

She does her spinning and waiting on the porch, very close to the steps. Her spot is protected, although she faces north and when it’s windy, she certainly rides the north winds fairly well. You can see that she isn’t a very good writer yet — or perhaps “It is quite possible that …(she) has spoken civilly to me and that I didn’t catch the remark because I wasn’t paying attention…”

The first time we met her, we I was not expecting a friend. In fact, I considered, uh, getting rid of her somehow. But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of knowing where she was — right there on the porch by the steps in plain sight. She is an ordinary black and yellow garden spider (argiope aurantia), but neither of us think she is ordinary at all.

Michael started throwing her bugs last weekend. She doesn’t act grateful, but how do I know what grateful is for a spider? I do wonder if she wonders why she gets all these good treats on the weekend. She won’t bother with stink bugs though; apparently no one likes stink bugs.

This weekend, overnight, a little something appeared in the top corner of her domain. At first look, we thought it was just a big, rolled up treat, saved for winter.

But then I remembered the real Charlotte, her namesake, and realized: Of course, it is her egg sac, filled with ~~hundreds~~ thousands of tiny spiders. More potential friends! If only they ate stink bugs…

I’ve looked it up, and I know that once Charlotte has laid her egg sac, she will die. But her children will hatch and stay in the egg sac until spring. At first I thought that maybe we could move them to a nicer spot for the winter? (Away from the house!) But baby spiders fly away on little balloon strings — the real Charlotte called her relatives aeronauts — so perhaps that isn’t necessary and they will fly away on their own?
Charlotte and her children eat lots of nasty insects — aphids, flies, mosquitoes and the like — and they hardly bite friendly humans at all. Especially ones who throw them food…

I don’t remember reading Charlotte’s Web as a child. But I do remember reading it out loud with my children. When we finished the book, I closed my eyes and thought, ‘that’s the perfect book.’ A young, runty, good-for-nothin’ pig is saved twice by friends: the first time by Fern, a young girl who is trying to “rid the world of injustice”; and the second time by a spider whose life was a mess, but who told Wilbur that “…by helping you, perhaps I was just trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”

This crisp, clear picture of a black and yellow garden spider was not taken by me, although this is the first time I’ve put in someone else’s photo. I just wanted you to see how lovely they really are! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve been re-reading G.K. Chesterton‘s essay on fairy tales, “The Ethics of Elfland” in Orthodoxy. This essay is deep and complex, and I have to go back and re-read every single paragraph to get it — and even then I can’t say I get it. There could be a month’s worth of posts just on this essay, and I won’t go into detail except to say that everyone should read it. Janey Cheney from Redeemed Reader summarized it like this: “…Here’s what he learned from generic, plot-driven, ages-old fairy tales: 1) The world is magical; 2) the world is meaningful; 3) the world is beautiful; 4) the world is worth our gratitude; 5) the world is to be cherished.”

I would add that these truths are not just descriptive of fairy tales, but any story, written or told, lived or loved, true or not. E.B. White knew it. The words Charlotte wove in her web to describe her friend Wilbur were: Some Pig; Terrific; Radiant; and Humble — all words of love between friends. All words that describe magic, meaning, beauty, and gratefulness. And when Charlotte wrote those words about Wilbur, he became what she wrote about him.

I’ve rambled a long way from Charlotte appearing on the corner of our porch — a seemingly insignificant trifle (and one that truthfully didn’t thrill me at first) — but this much has been made clear once again: As busy adults we forget the magic, the miracles, the beauty that are all around us. In the middle of the book, the wise Dr. Dorian tells Fern’s worried mother, “Children pay better attention than grownups.” That is also his quote at the beginning of this post — Fern’s mother asks him if he really believes that animals talk — and he replies that they very well could have spoken to him, he just wasn’t listening.

So listen. Be childlike. Turn off whatever needs turning off and hear the quiet. Be thankful for the ordinary. Cherish the mundane. Be grateful for the spectacular. Don’t miss a miracle because you weren’t paying attention.

(Thanks to Janie Cheaney from Redeemed Reader on the post The Invasion of Fairyland — it sent me back to re-read Chesterton’s essay.) All other quotes are from one of the best children’s books of all time, “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White. And I have to include the last lines — “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”

16. The Color of Apples

August 1, 2012January 20, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 8 Comments

More thoughts on color…I’ll try to keep to the topic this time.

I’m having trouble making decisions about paint color in the kitchen. It is — or will be — black and white mostly (floors, cabinets, counter tops, walls) with rich chestnut-colored wood antique pieces (island, cupboard, butcher block tops). It needs an accent color. I thought I had decided on a delicious apple-cranberry red. Sister Diane (rehabitatdesign.com) sent me 10 sample shades of cranberry-ish reds from Benjamin Moore. Every time I looked at them, I chose a new color as the one I liked best. Asking Mr. H.C. for his favorite just confused matters even further. Being a word person, the names of the colors matter to me–several times my favorite turned out to be Confederate Red, but how could I pick that color for a Pennsylvania cottage kitchen? Why couldn’t my favorite be Hot Apple Spice? (Pomegranate wasn’t bad and that’s acceptable…I DO realize this is extremely silly.) I finally put them away in the envelope to look at again later.

This kitchen (with our floor) doesn’t seem to have any other colors except the general colors of the accessories–pottery, dishes, glassware, etc. I guess that’s always an option. (Just look at what light does to the colors in this photo!)

While the samples were languishing away in the envelope, I received my free issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I signed up for a free year at the Home Show in February and had it sent to the Apple Hill address. It’s the only mail we get there, and it’s always a nice surprise. In this issue is a lovely black and white kitchen with apple green accents. (Are you noticing a theme here? It is called Apple Hill Cottage after all!) The original rooms in the cottage were all painted in different shades of green. Not anything particularly inspiring, but green nevertheless. After considering it a bit, I’ve realized that green has always been my favorite color. Even as a young kid when people would ask my favorite color, I would say green. There isn’t a hue or shade of green that I don’t like (unless it’s some shade of yellow that is being falsely called green). In my current house, three rooms are green and the living room is autumn colors with a moss green rug and chair. So after checking out the onscreen colors at Benjamin Moore, I’ve decided I like Lime Twist, Paradise Hills Green, Fresh Grass, and Apple Lime Cocktail. (Napa Vineyards is nice too.) Notice that these colors all have perfectly lovely names–Paradise Hills Green, ahhh…

The floor is wood, but these might be the general colors…

I was looking at the Armstrong tile page and I came across a “picture this floor” demo. Choose the room you’re doing, the style of your room, the floor you like, the cabinet color (very limited choices here), a paint color and…Voila:

I got to compare the green colors listed above; this one pictured is Lime Twist. It’s a very fun tool. You can find it here: Armstrong Room Planner.

This is just for the general idea–I really disliked all the reds I tried.

So now I’m back to confusion again. Blue is definitely out, because Mr. H.C. hates blue. Who knew? How could he have such aversion to the color of sky? I recently read a blurb on color that suggested people score better while taking tests in rooms that are painted blue. The same article suggested painting your ceilings blue, the sky color, for calming effects. Noooo, don’t want a blue ceiling. I do love this kitchen though:

The screen door to the pantry is so interesting, and I was planning on putting one just like it in our kitchen going into the pantry/laundry room/basement, but Michael says no go. Bad air flow for a screen or something like that…

Another color consideration is this– There is not a lot of natural light in our kitchen, and I think this is a point for the light, spring green. A double window is over the sink and the only other light comes from the narrow french doors we found for the entry.

$35 each–$70 total. SOLD!

It was so exciting to find these. We’d had a long dry spell at our favorite Junque store haunts and were thinking we’d just have to go with Big Box new. After pricing one up ($750 at HD!) we stopped at the ReStore in Washington. Two miles and ten minutes later we found these beauties.

The message here is: Patience. (I think I’ve heard that before!) Don’t be in a hurry.

So what I really think is this: If you surround yourself with what you like and don’t worry about style, or trends, or matching colors, it will all turn out lovely in the end. I’m hoping!