another lake day

Found another awesome new spot today. Man, this going to the lake thing every day on my break is really paying off. It’s something I have to look forward to every day and it’s been good weather and just all around good for me. Plus I’m discovering all these parts of the lake I’ve never been to before. Went down the farthest side of the lake from me, where the spillway is. When it has rained a lot, there can be rushing waters there like the roaring rapids. I saw it on the news once when they did a story about it. It was after it had rained like 10 days straight or something. Today there’s nothing but the little bit of water that shoots out of the pipes that are built into the wall. Today there’s a whole family reunion of seagulls chilling out on the spillway, sitting around on dry ground. I found this little nook. It’s got a back for me to lean on, the Dallas Waterworks building. And it’s the end of the wall that overlooks the lake and ends at the spillway. It’s a pretty sweet spot, if I do say so myself. I still have a great view of the lake without the fear of falling off a wall to my death…or more likely just some busted bones, depending on how I fell. I’m thinking of climbing down and seeing what’s on the other side of this building, because to my left is this grassy knoll area with rocks in front and tall grasses in front of that, which ends at the water. There’s even a log that I’m sure kids propped up on the side so that they could climb down and walk on the other side of the wall, since there’s a wide slanted place to walk before you would even hit water. I’m sure it’s not designed for walking, but teens don’t listen. The only reason I don’t do it now is because I’m not a teen…plus I’m not 100 percent sure I could climb back up…even with the propped log. I’m not as young and agile as I used to be. There’s woods behind me though, and I’d really like to go explore those if I could. Maybe tomorrow.

 

I walked a long way today. Gotta walk all the way back to my car. But it was worth it. I got this awesome picture- it’s like Christmas at the lake. Red berries on a tree, with the water in the background. There are people everywhere being their own professional photographer. 2 girls that are dressed like they are in the 90s but clearly born after 2000. A family taking pictures of their children. 1 girl taking pictures of her friend holding a bouquet of flowers up near her face…which looks oh so natural. I love people watching. Always have. But I definitely love looking at nature more. And there’s a lot of that to look at out here.

So I put this book on my Amazon wishlist and got it for Christmas. Just thought it sounded cool, and I was right. It’s a journal of self-exploration and if I know how to do one thing really well- it’s journal and self-explore. Guess that’s two things I do really well. It’s called “Start where you are.” And in it every page has an idea of what to write or draw. It asks you to look into yourself and document what you’ve experienced or write down the first thing that pops into your head. Naturally I started with the last page of the book…because I like to do things out of order and I don’t like to be told where to start or what to do, for that matter. “Close your eyes and think about what makes you feel most alive.” Well, I’m not going to tell YOU what that is, because this is a journal of SELF exploration, not shared exploration, but it was fun, let me tell you. I did a couple more pages, each time not thinking about what I’m going to write, just writing down the first thing that came into my mind. I had a lot of fun with the page about a “major transformation you’ve been through.” Oh I’ve definitely been through that. I can’t wait to do more. I love myself, I do. I love to take care of myself be it massages or alone time to refocus my mind. I’m going to love documenting the exploration of Me. And I’m sure I’ll learn even more about myself from it. You never stop learning about yourself. If you’re healthy human being, you should change, grow and discover things about yourself all the time, especially when you experience something new and for the first time. I’m a terrible artist, just the worst. So those pages where they ask me to draw, are not going to be pretty, but thankfully there’s no one judging my work, because this is just for me, not for anybody else. So the pictures of the people who have most affected my life- both good and bad, look like a 3^rd grader drew them, but that’s pretty much when my artist abilities stopped. I once wrote a story based on one line- “In an alternate universe I could draw really well. Freehand. Draw people, animals, even landscapes…” From there it delved into mostly a relationship I wanted more than anything at the time, but that’s how I started it. I wish I could draw, I do. But I wasn’t given that ability. I was given the ability to put into words what the world looks like to me, how it’s affected me and how I feel about it. I can’t draw it, but I can write it. And that’s a pretty good gig, if I do say so myself. Plus I can always take pictures with my camera…so I really never have to draw them.