Friday, June 30, 2017

New Shoes, so beautiful and good things happened

This is a postcard that has been affixed to the side of my refrigerator with a magnet since last fall.  (Click to enlarge)  It was for an exhibition of paintings reflecting on the work of Flannery O'Connor at her home, Andalusia Farm, in my hometown of Milledgeville, Georgia (wish I had gone to see that).  I loved the image so much that I finally had it framed and will probably hang it with a grouping in my bedroom.  The image on the front of the postcard is from a painting by Jude Harzer, called "New Shoes" and was inspired by a line from the O'Connor short story, "Everything That Rises Must Converge."  "Even a child with normal feet was in love with the world after he had got a new pair of shoes." 

These flowers from the grocery store have been so beautiful that I finally snapped a photo of them.  (All photos taken with my iPhone these days.  Note - not sure why my dining room wall and ceiling, there in the background, looks pink, when they are painted white.)

How about that?  I exercised almost every day in June, except for Sundays, which I decided to take off.  I give myself a sticker on the calendar in my home office on the days I work out.  And that's a lovely quote by Franz Kafka on the calendar, which I hadn't really noticed until this morning, "Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

18 comments:

Granny Annie said...

You gave me a couple of great ideas. I have a treasured postcard and now I am going to have it framed. Plus I have managed to exercise every day and now I'm going to get stickers for my calendar to make it more exciting. My photographs in my home often make things a different color but at least you got a perfect shot of the flowers:-)

Lynn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lynn said...

Yay! I love to hear that. I got that sticker idea from a class I took long ago. You are supposed to reward yourself somehow if you exercise more than 50% of days in the month, but that reward system never works for me. :) The sticker system just makes me want to keep doing it.

And there is a framing place across the street from my work place, that works on museum pieces and such, so it was in good hands. The framer liked my idea of "floating" the postcard on the mat, since the top of her head was sliced off. (The actual painting is like that, too, though. I looked it up on the artist's website.)

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Speaking of kids being overjoyed with new shoes (can you imagine that TODAY?), have you ever seen that famous black and white photo of a kid in post-WW2 wartorn Europe (in Germany I think), sitting on the ground and hugging a new pair of shoes to his little chest with the most ecstatic smile of pure joy on his face? I think of that photo a lot in our affluent times today.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

What a great idea, Lynn, to frame a beloved postcard. Right not, I have several postcards displayed on the wall near my computer. These were sent by a British friend and show the lovely countryside as well as a collage of London scenes. Every time I look at them, I think of all the tragedies that have befallen that country in recent months. Thanks for the comments on my blog post today and your flowers look lovely as well. I had "gifted" myself with an arrangement of sunflowers earlier this week. I too have been exercising regularly and the Fitbit app for the tracking device I recently purchased is keeping track for me.

Lynn said...

Debra - I haven't seen that photograph, but I'll look for it. My mom and dad told such amazing stories of wartime and doing without.

Elephant's Child said...

Love those flowers. And your exercising mojo. Excellent month for you, with more to come.
My family also talked about the deprivations of the war years. When my brothers first landed in Australia they had never seen a fruit stall. Fruit was rare, precious and kept under the counter...

Lady Fi said...

A fabulous postcard indeed!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Lynn - love the flowers - they always brighten up the home ... while I rather like the pink reflection on the walls ... as I guess that's what it is ... re Exhibitions I occasionally don't get to see something I wish I'd been able to ... but am glad you've got your postcard and have framed it - delightful ... yes new shoes and we see more clearly and enjoy the look out ... cheers and well done on exercising so regularly ... enjoy the weekend - Hilary

Kay G. said...

Lovely post! I love the flowers AND the pretty vase!
Do you remember me writing about the Monastery here in Conyers? Flannery O'Conner was Catholic, as you know, and had a fondness for the monks there. She actually gave them peacocks, and I can still see the traces of where they had the pens for them, down by the lake. (Were the peacocks given to the Monastery after her death? Not sure, maybe you know this already.)

Chatty Crone said...

Hey sorry I didn't check back earlier we were on vacation this week.
Great job exercising!
Love the flowers - they are gorgeous!
sandie

Betty Manousos said...

happy Fourth! xo

Terry said...

A lovely read. So well written.

Louvregirl said...

Ohhh. Good exercise regiment, Lynn! Well done!!! :)

Snaggle Tooth said...

You are amazing to keep that up all month! Like your framed image a lot. Pretty blooms too. I have only brought a few in this summer. Hope your 4th was wonderful!

LL Cool Joe said...

You know I love that in this world of de-cluttering you always surround yourself with things you love.

I went to my sister-in-law's house the other day and wondered why her house looked so much more homely and welcoming than ours and I realised it's because it's full of beautiful things. I know we can't take them with us when we die, but it seems nice to have them around us whilst we are alive.

Chatty Crone said...

I love that lady's head statue with the flowers and greenery coming out.
Great for you to exercise so much too.
I didn't like any of my selfies.
My computer is old and it kind of crashed and my hubs fixed it to limp along - I don't have or can't find your email address! Would you send it to me?
Thanks.
Sandie

UplayOnline said...

(Were the peacocks given to the Monastery after her death? Not sure, maybe you know this already.)


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