outside the conservatory, and a bit on writing process

These were a few shots I took outside the conservatory.  Once I walked by the door, it was hard to stay interested in what is a gorgeous garden. All I wanted to do was get inside!

Next comes a series of photos at one of my favorite places on the earth. I've been many times but never took photos. This time I did.

I'm labeling these posts as writing in addition to the place names - because for me, seeking out these magical places feeds my writing whether or not I end up using the places, or anything I see while exploring them, in the work itself.

One of the best ways to deal with writing blocks, or to stimulate a new project, is to get away from the desk and go out into the world, especially outside the circle of our everyday routine.

For me, finding places that have been around longer than I have always stirs things up in a wonderful way. I can feel the stories of all the people who have lived there, traveled there, remain there - swirling in a sort of wonderful cauldron of creative unconsciousness. It puts me right in the place where I want to be to access my own stories floating around in the deep places we all carry with us but don't always recognize when busy with our daily lives.

Sometimes I find a path for my story through making my own journey to new or beloved places. And other times, like this one, I feel like the path was already there inside my head, and in a streak of pure synchronicity, I managed to recreate it in my actual travels. I could feel the distinct sensation this trip that I was following the path of the main character in the new book, which is at the moment nothing more than an idea, a premise, with one character vaguely in mind.

And yet as we went from place to place last week, I could feel her becoming more solid, and was able to begin to see a little form coming to the idea. This part of the writing (or creative) process is nebulous and I don't think people write much about it. The focus tends to be on how to sit down and write, getting the words onto the page or the screen. But this part, the part where it's all wispy and not graspable, is in my opinion the most important part.

It's where we trust that the germ of something is worthwhile, and where we allow the unnamed magic to happen without trying to plan it or control it.

It's a valuable time for us as individuals too - allowing ourselves to be in the numinous. It's healing, it's transforming, and all kinds of good things come when we let it happen. Not just in our writing, but in our lives.

halloween

Taking a break from Biltmore photos to say that I have almost made it through a weekend without my husband, who took a well-deserved trip to the mountains to capture peak color and apparently an elk family with his camera. Whenever he goes out of town, I end up overdoing it the first day and then feel like I'm going to keel over the second.

Friday morning after he left I went into overdrive and tackled a huge mountain of laundry, vacuumed the house, raked up 12 20-gallon buckets of acorns out of the arena, made the critical error of hurling them over the fence (that motion of heaving something up and over is murder on my back), scrubbed Keil Bay's hooves, mucked the paddock and half the back field, and did assorted and sundry other chores that are part of the daily routine around here.

I felt quite pleased with myself Friday night, but yesterday I was not happy. Ice packs and an Advil turned things around so that I could get through the day with the help of two teens who pitched in.

This morning my daughter and I got up at 5:30 a.m. to go to a Pony Club lesson. She was able to take the lesson horse she's riding to their first outing together and they had a lovely flat-work lesson under a huge covered arena. It was a lot of fun, and thanks to my son, we didn't have to fret over the horses here on November Hill.

It's a lovely day out, so we just spent some time soaking hooves. I need to brag about Redford Donkey, who is an old pro already and easily soaks two hooves at once with not a bit of fuss.

Today we did oil of oregano soaks and so it was aromatherapy as well as hoof therapy.

If I can get my son off to his Halloween party tonight, I'll be able to sit down with a glass of wine and my Proust pages and relax. I think I'm going to be a lady of leisure for Halloween. (ha!)

And as an update on neighbors and the house across the lane - the couple who had fallen in love with the property bought it! They will be moving in early December and getting the place ready for their horse and goats. Adding to the fun is our other neighbor, who is putting in fencing with plans to get a horse for herself. We're going from a lane with 3 out of 8 horse owners to 5 out of 8. It will be nice to have more horses and horsefolk living nearby.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!

last batch of Biltmore conservatory photos

I think if I had gone into the conservatory first I might never have made it into the estate. I took a fair amount of photos but now looking at them, realize I would love to go back and walk in the front door, documenting each section piece by piece. A project I will anticipate with great pleasure!

a favorite sequence of Biltmore conservatory shots

This sequence of photos contains several of my personal favorites. Each captured the real essence of the plant and the atmosphere for me.

I loved the spiny-trunked palm particularly juxtaposed with the delicate flower behind it, and the texture of the aged terra cotta pots.

The other tree really called to me with the patterned trunks and the incredible way the light came through all those leaves.

The shot upward is a study in light and reflection and what is real and not real, as well as what looks like a reflection but is actually not. I loved this one b/c I put the bamboo "fence" in at the bottom - it was so much to take in, but not in any way overwhelming.

and still more biltmore

If you click on the individual photos you'll see just how much texture and color is in each one. The veins of the leaves, individual flowers, the background and understory plantings, and even the conservatory structure itself created layers of visual interest. That these things actually grow out in the world as native plantings is miraculous to me.

I think my favorite photo in this batch is the last one, which gives a sense of the size and scope of the conservatory. Everywhere I looked there were lines and textures and light that shifted depending on where I stood or what room I walked into. I've really never been in such a stimulating environment - and yet it was mostly quiet - the various sounds of fans and misters and windows opening and closing weren't a constant - but almost like a clock marking this very special kind of time.

I left thinking I would absolutely love to have a place like this at home. If you've seen the movie Green Card, think of that penthouse apartment with the rooms like this, and the rooftop garden. I wonder just how much time it takes to maintain this place?