The Saturday Morning Post: Magic Moments in Creating

 I remember vividly the first time I got into the zone, the creative flow, the magic moment when the creative process just simply works.  

As a teenager I spent hundreds of hours printing thousands of black and white photographs - the old fashioned way on light sensitive silver gelatin papers. Photographic printing is an art form. From selecting the negative, cleaning it, putting it in the enlarger (a special projector device), setting up the chemistry, selecting the paper, focusing, setting aperture and exposure time. Variations in all of these and changes in temperature or humidity, all impact the work. Sometimes no matter what I did, nothing turned out well. Most of the time, the work was acceptable, but a struggle. Then there was the first time everything worked, every print was good, and if I made adjustments and made a second print it was even better.  I pulled out negatives that I had struggled with in the past and nailed a perfect print on the first try. It was a magic feeling, I didn't want it to end. I worked late into the evening, until my father came knocking on the door telling me it was past time I washed things up and went to bed. 

Maybe half a dozen times, in as many years, I hit that zone, the flow, the magic moment in printing photographs. 

I have hit the same zone a handful to times when painting with acrylics, when everything just flowed. A couple of my best paintings were done in a single session. 

It also happens sometimes when I am writing. I write half a dozen short articles a year for the American Bar Association Senior Lawyers Division Voice of Experience Journal. Some of them are written in a flurry, a single setting when the thoughts and words seem to just magically flow. 

Those are wonderful moments in creativity. I have not found a formula for creating the conditions that cause them to happen, the moments just happen. But they only happen when I am creating, often sitting down to just grind it out. Not expecting anything special, and then the magic happens. And it feels absolutely wonderful. 

Seek your magic moments. 

Funky Friday: Wearing Our Feelings

 So how do I really feel about HeWhoShallNotBeNamed. 

The Thursday Ramble: Small Town Craftsmen I Once Knew

My grandfather's grew up farming with horses and mules. My mother's father farmed that way into the 1940's, and only reluctantly started using mechanical tractors. Horses as transportation disappeared from rural America in the 1920's into the 1930's. 100 years ago. 

When I was growing up in Michigan in the 1960's there were still remnants of horse drawn transportation around the area. Most barns or garages had remnants of collars and harnesses. The town livery stable, where horses visiting town would have been boarded and cared for was still there, a large barn painted a light green. Horses were bought and sold there probably into World War II. By my time the horses were but a memory, but the building stood for another few decades.

The part of the business that remained was the blacksmith shop. While the primary business was no longer shoeing horses, if you trailered them into town the craftsmen who worked where glad to do so, it was primarily as a place to have iron tools made or repaired. Ancient plows that cracked, would be repaired by experienced and expert hands. The coal fired forge was kept hot and working for decades beyond the horse days. They could make just about anything out of metal, replacements for one of a kind barn door hinges, or rollers for sliding barn doors were something they made every week. I remember going there a few times with my father or grandfather, with something from around the farm that needed repair. A garden tool, a mower blade that had hit a rock and was in need to straightening and sharpening. If you needed it now, they would stop what they were doing and attend to it, if not it would be ready sometime later tomorrow, and the cost would be next to nothing.  Even then you wondered how they made a living. And it is possible that, they didn't, that they did it because it was what they did. 

Around the corner from there, was Mr. Baldwin's leather repair shop. He was a master saddler, for the first half of his adult life he made and repaired harness and saddles. For the second half of his life, well on into his 8th decade, he repaired shoes. He stocked and sold work boots, but repairing shoes was the day to day way he kept himself busy. As an elementary school student I would walk to his shop during lunch, and he would do a minor repair and charge less than a dollar.  Even then I would say, are you sure that is all?  He was sure. It wasn't about making money, it was about being of service and practicing the craft that he learned as a teenager. He worked until the day his shop fell down. A delivery driver backed into the side of it, and literally the building collapsed around him. Luckily no one was hurt, but the building was shattered. His family convinced him to retire. A sad end to a long chapter in the life of a small town. He was the grandfather of one my high school friends.  

My World of Wonders: April 8th edition 2026

 

Where have I been this week? Mt Vernon for a nice spring walk, the updated museum exhibit is partially open.  The grocery store and Trader Joe's. The gym, the pool, the community center. The farmers market on King Street. Into DC for a nice walk, I walked to the subway station, took the train into the city, wandered through the National Gallery of Art, across the Mall to the subway, and home. A long walk with a stop at the Post Office to buy stamps before the price goes up this summer to 97-cents. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen? Pork chops cooked in cheesy scalloped potatoes. Pizza  - a couple of varieties. Meatloaf, broccoli and cornbread.  Roast beef and potato salad - a strange combination but it is what I felt like making. Roast chicken and veggies.

Who have a talked with? Oh my, Tom, Cathy, Jeffery, Warren, Mrs. Warren, Paul, Michelle, Jon, Ruth, Anna, Susan, Rafael, Mathew, Marcell, Victoria, Renne, Mike, Pastry Boy, David, Giuseppe. 

What have I been thinking about? Life is short, live it while you can. 

What is on the easel? A portrait of George Washington. The theme for our June-July show is Americana. I have challenged myself to create something new and different.  

Travel Tuesday: Spin the wheel, where do we land this week? Glasgow.

 So many wonderful memories of places we have been. Looking back the photos takes me back to the place and time. 

Moody Monday: Be Kind

I strive to be kind. 

My English Grandmother instilled in me, that if I didn't have anything nice to say, to not say anything. 

My favorite You Tubers are increasingly being bothered by unpleasant comments. Foxes afloat last week said "please don't post any comments that start with "you must" or "you have to" or "you should have." Glen of Glen and Friends Cooking tries to head off nasty comments, I love his cooking style, I can't imagine why anyone would be critical or nasty. 

I enjoy reading and responding to most comments.  I leave comments on many of the blogs that I read, some I leave comments on almost everyday. Occasionally I read a post, and I just can't think of anything nice to say. Sometimes my first thought for a comment is critical or unkind. I stop myself. I sometimes delete what I have started to type as a comment. I try - sometimes really hard - to come up with something positive or reinforcing to say. At times, and it may be because of my mood at the moment, I just can't think of anything. If I can't be kind, I skip commenting that day.  I wish I could say something nice, but if I can't think of anything nice to say, I remain silent. 

I also realize that despite the fact that my posts and comments are nearly all in English, humor often gets lost in cultural translation. Attempts at humor risk being rude in other English speaking countries.  In my mode of being kind, I often avoid attempts at humor across cultures in the same language. 

Be kind. 

Be careful. 

Follow grandma's advice. 

The Sunday Five:

1: When you travel, where do you prefer to stay? 

2: Do you have a "go-to" hotel brand or group? 

3: What is the nicest hotel you have ever stayed? 

4: Have you ever traveled in a recreational vehicle? 

5: Would you spend the night in one of these tents? 

My answers: 

1: When you travel, where do you prefer to stay?  Hotels, even when I visit family I almost always stay in a nearby hotel. 

2: Do you have a "go-to" hotel brand or group? Hilton and their other brands. A second choice is Holiday Inn. 

3: What is the nicest hotel you have ever stayed? The Langham Hotel in Chicago, the conference arranged and paid the bill. 

4: Have you ever traveled in a recreational vehicle?  Only once, my parents owned a motor home for a few years - I went to Key West with them on long weekend. 

5: Would you spend the night in one of these tents? No, I don't sleep outside on the ground. 

Please share your answers in the comments.