Fall Cleaning and Burping the House

I love fall cleaning. I can’t remember where I read about the concept of “burping” a house, but the idea stuck with me. I opened every window in the house today, with temperatures in the low 60’s, and let the entire house breathe. The curtains rustled in the breeze, and it was really kind of magical. I love the swirl of air around my body. I sleep with a little bedside fan. I love to wear clothes loose enough to feel a layer of air between me and the fabric.

Since the windows were all open, I wiped out the window sills, too. I did a little decluttering and took a good hard look at the systems and routines that keep us running. I aim to be as organized as I need to be to make my life easier—no more and no less. I used to feel weirdly apologetic about being organized, as though I was, in some way, making other people feel uncomfortable. I had an unsettled feeling that I was being judged and labeled as obsessive, and this certainly might have been true. Though mostly, I am organized because I enjoy the practices involved and see them as beneficial to my life. But, this tendency to try to manage other people’s feelings, well . . . it’s something I am leaving behind. It’s just not useful in any capacity.

The Annual Persimmon Pilgrimage

I watched Lindsey Zovko make a simple fall floral arrangement. 3 Ingredients is all you need. She used branches of wild persimmon, common boneset, and a few end-of-season dahlias. I was immediately reminded of an old church with a cemetery near me that is home to a large wild persimmon tree. I try to visit there every year and take pictures of this unusual tree. The tree itself has richly textured bark. The branches are heavy with fruit now, though not yet fully ripened. The leaves are curled and spotted. The ground beneath the tree is littered with deer scat, so the fruit must be edible. It’s a hard tree to photograph, but I try anyway. We drive a few more country roads and fall is in the air. Back at home, I make a fall arrangement similar to Lindsey’s. Mine is not as lovely as hers, but I am happy for the effort. 

Florilegium — Turning the Pages

A page by page look at my latest photo book, Florilegium: an anthology of flowers, printed by MILK photo books.

I am not a film maker so this video is pretty basic. I am learning as I go. First up, I bought a magnetic overhead phone stand tripod. I still needed my husband to press the shutter button to start the video, but at least he didn’t have to hold the phone over my head for 5 minutes. The first two videos were awful because the white balance kept changing as I flipped each page. With a little internet research and a YouTube video, I figured out that I needed to lock the white balance for videos. This helped a lot. We made the video outside, using our workbench table. This turned out to be a great idea because it’s a beautiful early fall day and there are lots of soothing sounds. Birds. Wind. Chimes. Occasional cars driving along our road. Pages turning. I did have fun tapping my fingers like an influencer touting the best features of some product, though I am truly not trying to sell you anything. I am trying to encourage myself to embrace the simple elegance of ordinary things, and I invite you to do the same. Even in making the film, I spent time with my work in a very intimate way — celebrating what I have already done. I’m so proud of this book.