One More Day Exploring Maysville

Paintings on the floodwall and old brick building
View from W. Third St

Spent another day walking parts of Maysville, I wore my poor doggy out yesterday with way too much walking, I think, so we took it a little easier today. Explored the west end of town, walking up and down Second and Third streets. Amazingly historic, awesomely interesting. It was garbage day today so there were cans out on the sidewalk, lucky people in rowhouses who just put them out front of their homes. I watched others dragging cans up and down numerous steps to get either to the street in front or behind their homes. I still haven't tried to drive up the steep, in town hills. I feel much better just walking! Although some of the sidewalks are simply dizzingly crazy with narrow walks and drop offs on one side, the street on the other. For a flat-lander, this is quite an adjustment!
I love the colorful rowhouses in the last picture, pink, purple, orange.... Wow!
My dog and I spent time relaxing at the River Park watching the river and a big coal barge that slowly passed down river. I'd like to see the town at night with the bridge lit up and houses lighting the hills, but my hotel is up on the hill where the new shopping district is. This could be anywhere USA out here at the hotel, all the big box stores, chain restaurants, 4 lane busy road, it's nice that it is totally separated from the old part of town which has retained its historic identity.
Thank you again to all the wonderful, friendly people who shared so much useful information with me and made me feel welcome in their town!

My Car Takes Me to the Sleepy River Town of Maysville

Finally I make it to Maysville for a two day exploration of this extremely interesting little town. First an explanation of the "sleepy" thing in the title. It's Sunday and the downtown was completely closed up so that was just my first impression.

I took a very back roads way here but it didn't take any longer than what Google Directions predicts for a more conventional route. It took 3 times singing along through a James Taylor CD and two times with Crosby Stills and Nash and I was over the river and into Kentucky! Pulled in and parked right there by two beautiful churches and decided to walk with the dog. Somehow, being a flatlander for way too many years, the hills here in town were too intimidating to attempt in a car, much more comfortable on foot. Sidewalks on some of the really steep streets are actually stairsteps. We headed straight up and within just a few steps realized this was sooooo different from central Ohio, incredibly different. Old, old brick houses all kind of crammed together, porches and stairs up and down everywhere, front doors right on the sidewalk. I'd only walked two blocks when a little dog barked frantically at the front door and a woman came out to ask if I was looking for something. I told her I was considering moving here and she just talked and talked and told me all kinds of insider information about the town, both good and bad. While we were chatting a car pulled up to ask about the old abandoned haunted hospital, which was looming right down the street. Do a Youtube search for that and you'll find weird videos of the inside at night with ghosts. Nothing like this would be left standing in central Ohio shopping land, it would be down and a mall put there.

So, I thanked her for all the great information and told her I would most likely be seeing her again and on we walked. We headed down to the main old downtown street and to the river wall to look at the paintings and fountains. There was a black haired teenage girl sitting writing in a notebook and silly me at first thought she must be doing homework, I later decided she was journaling or writing poems. I guess because I was a teacher all those years and truly liked the kids I had no problem going up to her and asking her if she lives here and how does she like it. Nice, nice girl! She said she'd show us around town and spent a good 2 hours walking for miles with us telling us about absolutely everything. She's a skateboarder, rare for a girl, and had a couple of lip piercings and loves the old atmosphere of the town. She pointed down to the Old cracked stone sidewalk and said, "like this, I just love this". Me too! That's the whole reason I am looking at moving to a town like this. Unlike the older lady, she hadn't heard of all the break-ins recently and some other troubles the town is experiencing and just enjoys being here. She said that, as you would expect, sometimes you get tired of the same thing but she really seemed to enjoy being here and had a vast knowledge of every place we walked by and we did walk for miles. Poor dog was about as tired as she has ever been, we bought bottled water along the way to keep her hydrated and sat by the river for a while to let her rest. Thank you profusely, young lady for a fantastic walking tour of all parts of the town!!!!!!!!!

I only took four pictures today, oddly enough for me I spent almost every minute I was in town talking to people and not taking pictures.

Now, doggy and I are relaxing in our hotel room, I'm a bit tired too. I'm going to map out what we will be doing tomorrow. Probably more walking! Maybe some exploring beyond town and some more time by the river.

I Find Happiness (which I will define as a momentary deep connection with the world that takes me out of my almost constant state of worry) In

- a single feather fallen to the earth and placed delicately in my path
- the soul of an ancient bead, worn by the wear of centuries
- the flight of a turkey vulture, soaring with the sun on its back
- the touch of my dog's wet nose
- each line drawn by my pencil
- the smell of pines drifting in the breeze
- the delicate curl of last season's dried grasses
- color
- a pale lace curtain billowing in a warm wind
- a streak of quartz through a dark metamorphic rock
- the whistle of air through a bird's wings
- the stillness of a heron at water's edge

Playing with Shadows and Reflections

One more incredibly warm day in March, the cold front comes through tonight. So off I went to play with sun-shadows and rippling reflections in water. The first three are pretty obviously tree shadows in a creek. The last three are shadows cast by the bridge above a dam onto the reservoir. See me way up there taking pictures?

Antique Rosary Beads

I have an incredible love for antique rosaries and have so many that I have opened my webstore, The Sacred Bead to sell some of my collection. I have collected and researched antique beads for decades, this lead me to rosaries which are now my main area of interest. I try to research each one as thoroughly as possible and offer only the finest ones on my website, some are very, very hard to part with. I tend to have more antique French rosaries in my store than any other kind, the old French rosaries are so lovely and often show a century of use and care. The beautiful antique blue crystal one at the top and the sweet little Seven Sorrows rosary at the bottom are both from France. Take note of the antique WWI soldier's rosary, the one made of pull chain! These are collector items but because they were made for the battlefield, they have survived and most are still quite appropriate for daily use. These were government issue rosaries to the military during WWI. Apparently there were so many of them produced that they continued being issued up until WWII but were all made in the early 20th century. Sometimes I am lucky find antique steel rosaries from France that were soldiers' rosaries in the late 1800's and early 1900's. I don't have one on my website right now, but will try to find one soon. There is a USA pull chain WWI rosary on my site now. If you have a love, like I do, for antique rosaries then you will enjoy looking at my website and you just might find something for a special gift for a loved one or even yourself!

Looking Closely

It is a gorgeous warm St. Patricks Day, perfect day for a hike in the woods. It's too early in the spring for wild flowers or even sprouts emerging through the leaf litter. Bird song was echoing through the trees and the sun was shining brightly. I brought along my camera and somewhere along the path decided I was going to exclusively use the macro-setting today. I was going to look closely, seeing things I may normally pass right by while looking at the large world. I took lots of pictures of moss, tree bark, fungus, last year's leaves and then sat looking down into a small creek and saw a bullfrog who did not make it to spring. Because of the winter there was only minor decay and what I saw was a ghostly image, a death dance beneath the water. But, of course, this is the natural way of the world and soon the frog will decay and the nutrients support new life.

Warm Day, Full Moon, New Car

I have been driving a '92 Honda Civic for 11 years and boy, that little car was getting old and a bit scary. I haven't driven further than 5 miles from home in about a year. So it was time for a new car. I found the perfect car for me, a little , bright red Toyota, slightly used and on sale so I grabbed it fast. After a long day of negotiating and closing the deal, I sat on the front porch, it was 70 degrees and the full moon was shining down and I realized that the whole world had opened up to me, well, not quite the whole world, but a major portion that I hadn't accessed for a long time. I can drive and go hiking, I can drive to another state, I can explore the world again. The gas mileage isn't quite what the Civic got but it isn't bad either so I am happy as can be. This is the last car I will be buying I think, this one will last me the rest of my life, at least that's the plan!

My Slightly Darker Side

See those little bone skull beads in this necklace? I have a fascination with bones and skulls, if you were to walk into my house you would see a cow skull on the living room wall, a basket of deer bones on a cabinet, four deer skulls above my bed, and a variety of skulls and bones just about everywhere. I find them mesmerizingly beautiful, don't consider them "creepy" in the least, think about it a second, bones are our core, the reason we aren't flat on our bellies!
So, don't be surprised to find bone beads, bone skulls, deer and coyote toe bones in my creations.
This necklace is quite interesting. The bronze cross is a cast from an original 15th Century cross, the design of which symbolizes the Five Wounds. The cherry amber beads are modern hand made resin beads from Java, I am so pleased with them. They really resemble the antique resin or faux amber beads that were traded throughout Africa and Tibet in the early 20th century. It's so nice to find new beads with the feel of antique beads! You can find this necklace in my Etsy store if you like it enough to want it for your own. thesacredbead2.etsy.com

Making Heirloom Quality Rosaries

This really is a great joy of mine, to make a beautiful rosary with the finest materials while sitting in the a peaceful aura of creativity, making something meaningful that will help others in their prayers and search for contemplative solace.
I make the beaded style rosary, strung on the finest flexible jewelry wire. This is a modern miracle for rosary and jewelry designers. It is strong, flexible, surpassing all past materials used for stringing in quality. It also allows for more creativity with design when rosary making. Rosaries made this way should last for decades.
I love natural materials and you will find bone, turquoise and handmade glass beads in most of my rosaries. I am not real big on shiny metal so I don't use a lot of fancy metal bead caps in my work. I like a more natural, simple yet powerful look.
I get a lot of questions about wearing rosaries. There is a very long history of the rosary being worn, Medieval paintings are full of people wearing both long and short strands of prayer beads. Amazing rosary necklaces were produced during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. It seems to be a 20th century perception that rosaries shouldn't be worn. It is not something to flaunt of course, a rosary a devotional object, and I must say again that it annoys me to see modern pop culture figures with the big "bling" rosaries, who may have no clue what it is that they are wearing. But, some rosaries are so beautiful you may feel like wearing them. Most of the ones I make are rather large and long, too long to look like a necklace. If you are looking for a rosary style necklace, just ask me, I can make one for you. You can find my rosaries at The Sacred Bead where I sell mainly antique and vintage rosaries but also my designer rosaries, and in my Etsy store thesacredbead2.etsy.com, which also has antique beads and a variety of other bead and rosary related items. There are links to the right when you are on the main page of my blog. If anyone has any ideas for a rosary, let me know through either of my websites. I am always thinking about new materials and designs. I also feel very uncomfortable advertising myself- it just isn't natural to me, I don't have the businessman gene I guess. But, since I am on a path to a new life, as this blog is all about, I guess I had better get with the program here and talk about my business!

Celebration of Spring Rosary

The days are definitely getting longer, the crocuses are peeking up from the mulch, so what if it is only 17 degrees this morning?? Spring is on the way and I made this simple yet rich rosary as a celebration of green and the coming of spring.
You can find it in my Etsy store or in the Designer Rosary section of my website, The Sacred Bead.