Author Archives: beth

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About beth

Ann Arbor-ite writes about enjoying life with all of its ironies and surprises.
May20

garage sale.

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loved visiting the grandies
and their friends from the neighborhood
at their very own garage sale for kids.
they made signs
waved to cars
 took turns being the dj in the garage
keeping the music going
and offering specials
(like the ‘wear two things on your head and get one free discount’)
every few minutes.
reminds me of me when i was a kid
though I usually ended up spending my profits
buying my friends’ stuff
and they often did the same with mine.
sometimes I even ended up
with more stuff than I had started with.
 a pretty fun time for all
and some things are timeless.
—
I remember going with my mom
to a random garage sale as a kid and thinking
what a cool treasure hunt that the whole world was.
only to transition as an adult to think,
‘what a gross place that really is.’
– will ferrell
May19

art is community.

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‘los trompos,’ (spanish for spinning tops)

a giant spinning top art installation,

visits detroit’s beacon park from mexico city

'Los Trompos.' - ABEL KLAINBAUM

the eight giant, colorful tops, designed by *héctor esrawe and ignacio cadena, are large enough for multiple people to sit or stand inside them, and visitors are welcome to take a spin. they were designed to facilitate play, celebrate culture, and bring people together to interact and connect. Los Trompos is an interactive piece that comes to life when people engage with it. the tops are based on the construction of the actual toy and reflect the work of mexican artisans, as well as mexican culture, art, and architecture. 

community comes together to dance in the park
—
so fun to be here
as all kinds of people stopped by
just to play and connect with each other. 

—

“simply enjoy life and the great pleasures that come with it.”

-karolina ku

—
credits: sonia kahleel, metro times

 * héctor esrawe is an industrial designer with a cross-disciplinary design atelier located in mexico city. ignacio cadena is the founder of cadena+asoc. concept design, a mexico-based interior design firm. the two often collaborate with each other, and together they won two interior design best of year awards in 2017

May18

team.

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so fun 

to watch grandie j

and his team

 just at the beginning

of learning skills and strategies

but they all try really hard

accept each other just as they are

and have such a light-hearted team spirit.

—

“with an enthusiastic team you can achieve almost anything.”

-tahir shah

May17

in every way.

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kinder take a closer look at the wooly sheep’s children

before they come over

to feel the human childrens’ gentle touch.

 

—

“any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own

and makes it so much the larger and better in every way.”

– john muir

May16

apricity.

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I love that feeling

of getting in the car

after a long day

closing the door

absorbing the warmth of the sun

 slowly relaxing and melting into the seat.

 

—

apricity  – the warmth of the sun in the winter.

this term comes from the latin meaning “to bask in the sun.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—

source: google images

May15

spaces.

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stop filling all the spaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—

as you simplify,

let the extra spaces

in your home,

on your calendar

and in your mind

be empty for awhile.

the emptiness may be uncomfortable at first,

but that’s where the answers lie.

soon you’ll have room for what you really want.

 

—

source:  be more with less.

May14

seven.

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seven

years ago today 

I published my first blog post

thank you to all

who have made the time

to stop by for a visit

and sit for a moment.

 

—

“all human actions have one or more of these seven causes:

chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.”

-aristotle

 

 

 

 

—

painting by: bruce nutting – seven birds of blue

May13

content.

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while spending the better part of a morning

at the salon

and at the having my hair washed stage

a woman I’ve never met

hair in foil for highlights

wrapped in a black robe

walked up

and stood before me pointing

 then proclaiming,

to the entire salon:

“now here is a woman who is contented and relaxed,

taking 10 minutes, all for herself!”

something about my demeanor

must have given me away

for she was spot on.

—

“contentment is the only real wealth” 

― albert nobel

 

 

—

image credit: google images

May12

mothers.

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“being a mother gave me a better sense of what life is.”

-ruth bader ginsburg

 

 

 

 

—

image credit: google images (vintage)

 

May11

michigan: the sasquatch state. and the Great Lakes are here too.

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Over the years, reported sightings of the legendary — and mystical — Bigfoot have made headlines across the United States. He’s been spotted in parks and campsites by people who claim the giant Sasquatch is unlike anything they’ve ever seen before.

The legend of the beast has grown over the years as there are whole groups of people who search for Bigfoot and track his “known whereabouts.”

According to a new TV show, “In Search of Monsters,” Michigan is one of the top places to encounter Bigfoot as there have been 1,131 sightings reported in our state over the years.

false

Did a Northern Michigan eagle cam catch a Bigfoot sighting? An unknown figure can be seen walking below the eagle’s nest at the Platte River State Fish Hatchery.

In a description of their findings, the show — which airs on the Travel Channel — says many of the reported sightings were near the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in the Upper Peninsula. They even describe a scenario where a woman claims Bigfoot walked up to her car and looked in while her baby was inside. She said there was a foul odor in the air and then she saw the massive creature.

In the fall of 2016, there were at least three reported sightings of Bigfoot in Michigan in the span of a few weeks. All of these occurred in the Upper Peninsula.

—

“the inclination to believe in the fantastic may strike some as a failure in logic, or gullibility, but it’s really a gift. a world that might have bigfoot and the loch ness monster is clearly superior to one that definitely does not.”     

-chris van allsburg – author of the polar express

 

 

 

—

credits: mlive.com, matt durr, grand haven tribune