chronicled & illustrated

Some days chickens, some days feathers.

I have no memory of where or when I first learned that expression. But when I repeat it, I say with a Texas accent so I must have heard it growing up there.

It came up today, because I am feeling that I might have only “feathers” to offer. Inspiration seems to be in short supply. Pesky outside (non-creative) issues peck at my consciousness even while I try to focus on my day’s goals. Shoo, chickens!!!

The thing is, I’m more than a little fond of feathers. I began a collection of eggs when I was in my teens and that collection led to collections of bird’s nests and feathers. I have several ‘bouquets’ of feathers in my home.

Feathers are extraordinary. The words that come to mind show just how extraordinary.

Functional. Beautiful. Detailed. Soft. Strong. Flexible. Useful.

The thought that they were once used as pens draws me to them even more. Quill. What a wonderful word!

I once used a large feather to do a faux marble surface technique on an old bathroom countertop. It turned out great but you’ll have to take my word on it because unfortunately, that was before I had a digital camera. If there’s a photo, it’s in one of the dozens of boxes that have accumulated over the years.

This post seems to have led me to the poultry equivalent of when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Whether it’s chicken today or feathers today, finding the extraordinary in life is what makes the difference between a life of full good days or not so great ones.

I leave this post with my favourite feather image.

One single feather laying on the beach, left undisturbed except for a stolen shot. I treasure this one for my own personal inspiration:

Reading: Tales of Protection by Eric Fosnes Hansen
Writing: Words of Paradise – a novel set in Canada, the US and the island of Tobago in the 60’s
Working on: EPIC’s website
Upcoming: a trip to Maine for Cadi’s 2nd birthday and to see Ty and Carson
Mood: distracted
Progress since yesterday: Got a new page done on the EPIC site

This entry was posted on Friday, May 18th, 2007 at 11:02 am and is filed under daily life, photo prompts, processing, reminders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.