East Meets West – North Meets South (Lens-Artist Photo Challenge 2-12-2023) 🎵Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas 🎵

Good Morning Readers,

The Lens-Artist Photo Challenge this week is hosted by Amy @The World is a Book. She invites us to explore East Meets West or North Meets South.

The first post I read for this challenge was from Doona @Wind Kisses as she talked about going from New England to the Southwest in the US. One of her quotes stopped me right in my tracks. I sat back and read a little slower, while I also reflected.

Here is Donna’s quote:

“Livelihood, legacy, and tradition are passed down wherever you live. Sometimes it looks a little different, and our clothing might speak a different wisdom, but the result is the same. Carry on…..”

Carry on?

Yes, carry on.

Then I had the opening line from a Kansas song playing in my mind: “Carry on my wayward son. For there’ll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest. Don’t you cry no more.” (drums – then music….) 

Here is the song on Youtube

The idea to Carry On has been a theme for me this week.

For example, I just posted Restless Jo’s Interview (here) where she shared about her major move from the UK to the luxurious Algarve. She shared about adapting to change, with her life AND with her blog, and then carrying on in a way that suited her. 

Another example was when a card came from our former Colorado neighbor (Dan H.). His wife, Kathy, died in January 2020 and his unexpected February Christmas letter showed us that he is still carrying on. Then, my mother is visiting Canada this month, which is her first trip there since the pandemic closed the borders – and so this also reminded me that the world is carrying on.

Anyhow, I am exploring Amy’s theme of East Meets West or North Meets South with a beach/water theme and with my “carry on” connection.

This first image brings back memories of our family “carrying on” and doing our best to stay stable in 2002 when we moved to Northern California and had major change.

During the first year in Northern Cal, while it was thrilling in so many ways and It might have been my favorite place for making the most like-minded friends, it was not home for us. We realized within the first year that it was the WRONG COAST.  So much of our family lives up and down the east coast or in the midwest of the US. I will never forget the talk we had when we decided we were fish in the wrong fishbowl.

In the above photo, the lighting could be better, but I love that shot because my boys were at such a fun age. The photo also highlights the rocky and beautiful west coast beach. The Pacific Ocean has a power and vibe all its own.

The next photos remind me that the east coast (Atlantic Ocean) always feels milder than the west coast (Pacific Ocean).

The gulf coast in he US is also very mild compared to the west coast.

In 2004, my husband played guitar at a wedding in Destin, Florida. I went with him and on one hand, it was fun to tag along. On the other hand, the trip had some snobby people to cope with. So at first I did not fully appreciate the beauty of the Emerald Coast. It was not until my step-daughter and her family moved to that area when I really saw the beauty of the green water and sugar-white sand. 

The Emerald Coast is also called the playground for the US midwest because it is an easy drive south for them. 

There is another Priorhouse Interview coming soon, with Linda Schaub, who carries on with life by walking a lot in Michigan. Linda shares incredible original photos from her walking adventures and I smile every time she shows photos from Lake Erie because I grew up swimming in Lake Erie. I never realized that Buffalo shared a shoreline with the Detroit area.  

Did you know that Lake Erie’s shoreline touches the most US states as it runs along Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The Lake Erie shoreline also reaches Ontario, Canada and while growing up, our annual summer trips to Sherkston Beach in Ontario were a special part of my life. Below is a 2019 image of the dining hall at Sherkston, but it looked NOTHING like this during the 1980s. 

During the 1980s, going north to Canada meant we would (at some point) have Tim Horton’s coffee and then it also meant our US money would be worth more (that always felt good).

Later, as a young adult, I firmly dropped my anchor in Denver, Colorado. I initially loved it so much and I had so much peace and contentment there (laid my weary head to rest and then started a family). I planned on living in Colorado for the rest of my life.  Oh I will never forget the joy I felt when I arrived in Colorado. There was a little rust on the I-70 highway bridge, which reminded me of Buffalo. The vibrant blue skies reminded me of my many Florida years. The people were like family and the mountains “seemed to come out of the sky” and hug me.  However, after eight+ years there, my spouse and I eagerly left Colorado to be closer to family (a family member was ill)  and we wanted some change. I also see now that CO was maybe too land-locked for us.

I think once you move a lot, your roots always feel a sense of being transplanted and your former place of residence is no longer what it was when you lived there (that old quote about how it can feel like a foreign country).

Since that first major move back in 2000, we have had a lot of practice developing grit to carry on as we learned how to feel at home in new places. It truly has not always been easy but we learned how to laugh and find joy in the midst of varying circumstances. And as Donna noted, “Sometimes it looks a little different, and our clothing might speak a different wisdom, but the result is the same. Carry on…” 

Yes, Carry on.

While we were carrying on throughout the recent pandemic years, because Florida was SO OPEN for business (thanks to Ron DeSantis) – we had some seriously amazing trips to Florida. I have shared about Florida trips before – and will likely share about more again later – but Florida is a special state and offers diverse options for traveling.  

This photo shows the view from our rental apartment window on one of the most special trips of my life in September 2020.

 

I did not intend to share a beach theme for today’s post, but I guess “water” has truly helped me carry on.  Here in Virginia, we have enjoyed the beauty of the James River, although the quality of the water in the good ol’ James River is questionable. I guess it used to be worse in the 1950s and has come a long way. Below is a photo of the James from the footbridge. 

That beautiful “Carry On” song from Kansas (here) continues to play in my mind so I thought I would end with a snippet of their lyrics.

🎵 🎵 🎵 
🎵 🎵 🎵 
"Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune, but I hear the voices say

Carry on my wayward son
For there'll be peace when you are DONE
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more"
🎵 🎵 🎵 
🎵 🎵 🎵

• Thanks  for visiting this post. Interested in joining the Lens-Artists challenge? Click here for general information.

• Also, just a reminder, the 2023 #Dickenschallenge is now underway. We invite you to read ONE noverlla from Dickens between 2/7 and 6/9. More info here. 

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