Steady On
It’s such a weird, weird time to be human.
Social distancing, shelter in place, coronavirus - none of these meant much of anything to me a few months ago, but now…now they’ve become part of our daily vocabulary. It’s strange how that happened. Strange how this has become the new normal.
For the most part, I’ve been been able to keep fairly calm. Now, I’ll admit it MAY just be on account of the fact that one of my coping mechanisms when things get scary is to let myself float above it all. So there’s that. But it also helps that, for the most part, my life has pretty much continued on as normal.
Sure, the streets are a whole lot quieter and when we go to the grocery, food staples can be hard to find. But Eric and I work from home. And the only place I go regularly (outside of errands) is out to the barn to see Cirrus - and horses don’t worry, so everything has been peaceful there! I feel a little panic at the back of my throat when I think about all of the people who ARE sick or the people whose workplaces have been closed to slow the spread of the virus - but then I fall back on my routine and find some stability. I keep my head up and keep moving forward and remind myself not to be paralyzed by fear or worry.
In a lot of ways, art has once again been my savior. I’ve been working so hard in the studio, putting in the long hours necessary to prepare for the Spring Restock - and that’s taken up most of my mental space. When I’m spinning stories in silver and setting stones and generally daydreaming about what I get to make next, I go to this place where I’m unaware of time passing. The minutes slip and morning becomes noon becomes night. There’s no time to check the news or read about how scared people are or let myself fall down the “what if” hole. I am so grateful for this - for my studio, for metalsmithing. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.
Yesterday I finished photographing and writing listings and was finally able to say everything was DONE. I feel triumphant and proud and can’t wait to release this collection tomorrow.
But that meant that I woke up today without an agenda. And since things have been going so well with my “busy hands, quiet mind” mentality, I’ve been trying to stay occupied while also finding a little space to relax after spending the past few months creating the spring collection. And, as such, my day has ended up looking like this :
First of all, it snowed last night. Most of today was crazy dark and moody-grey but it felt cozy instead of oppressive, which was nice. Ponderosa was exceptionally excited about the snow and spent as much time enjoying the fluffy whiteness as we would allow. If you’ve been needing a laugh, I hope these few snaps help - this little clown is always happy to oblige!
I also couldn’t stay away from metal. I’m going to TRY very hard to spend next week doing anything BUT make jewelry, to give my mind a little rest and to allow my body to reset too. But I had to do a little work on a custom Pines ring I’ve been crafting and, once I was in the studio, I also felt compelled to start gleefully pulling out possible stones for the June collection. Eric may need to find a way to lock the studio door or I won’t be able to keep away!
The sweater I’ve been slowly working away on since December is also going to get a lot of attention the next few days. Partly it’s that I’ve got the time and partly it’s because I have about five other projects I’d like to get on my needles - and I just can’t justify it until this baby is done. I’ve got just one sleeve left to go and LOOK AT THAT COLOR PALETTE. This is the Ghost Horses sweater pattern knit with Spincycle and Magpie Fibers yarns. Whenever I look at it I see Cirrus and the hogbacks that surround the barn and it just makes me happy. Happy is good right now.
Lastly, I sat for a spell this afternoon and went through some of the pictures waiting on my camera - and I came across this lot from the last day of February. After two years, we finally made it back out to the buttes for a little hike. It was a good day spent with people I love in a magical place. Now seems as good a time as any to share them.
I guess I want to end by saying that I feel a little strange about having just written this big long ramble about myself. I can’t say I have any great perspective on any of the current craziness in the world - and I’m not in a place to give advice or comfort or anything really, so this whole thing felt a little indulgent. But I’ll say it again - it’s a weird time to be human and I’m just carrying on the only way I know how. And it looks like this.
Just know that I really do hope you’re doing ok, wherever you are. Do your best to stay healthy, to stay sane, to keep smiling - it’s spring and there are brighter days to come!!