Dark Side, here I come...

I've finally been convinced to start a blog despite the fact that my life just hasn't been interesting in years.

sister: "You should start a blog."
self: "Uh, okay. Why?"
sister: "You just should. You're creative and things."
self: "M'okay." 
(Easily influenced? Me? Just a tad.)

So I guess this is the part where I say stuff about myself in case anyone I don't already know decides to read this?

I'm between 18 and 80 (unless I'm older, of course), female, live alone with my thoughts and my cats somewhere in the Corn Belt and Bible Belt but, fortunately, not quite in the Snow Belt. Oh, and according to a quick Google search, I also live in the Rust Belt and the Salt Belt. I tend to just think of myself as living five minutes from the gorgeous Cuyahoga Valley National Park (you can put away the atlas; this means I live in Northeast Ohio). Trees, hills, valleys, caves, rivers, marshes and critters galore. What more can a girl ask for?

There's such inspiration in nature. It always reminds me of the first few lines of "Auguries of Innocence" by Blake:

To see a world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wildflower
To hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour

The world's macro, so huge it's almost impossible to comprehend, but a creative spirit can turn all that beauty and wonder into something tangible that can be enjoyed even if you don't have a National Park right out your back door. Whether it's a poem or a photo or a piece of jewelry or flower arrangement, I think it's a gift we've been given as humans that we can take nature and use it as an inspiration for something that can be enjoyed by everyone.

So this is basically a place where I can celebrate that (I need to celebrate more in my life).