Escape to HubPages

I've been writing for HubPages and have been putting most of my efforts into learning more about online writing. On September 1, 2011, I set a goal to write 30 Hubs in 30 Days.  I completed this challenge on September 15, 2011, but continue to write.  On the average, I've been writing about 2,000+ words a day, so I have no excuse but to start my novel.  I can do it.

There is it there!  It's in writing, so I can't back down!

Hubpages: Deadlines, Distractions and Hub #101

Hubpages: Deadlines, Distractions and Hub #101

Whatcha Doing Right Now? Vote for SheRetired!

Whoop, whoop, whoop!!!  WooHoo!!!

My blog, SheRetired.blogspot.com, been nominated as a finalist for this year's CBS Sacramento Most Valuable Blogger Award.

So what are you doing every day until the September 9, 2011 deadline?  Voting for SheRetired, of course! 

Here's where you can vote:

http://sacramento.blogger.cbslocal.com/most-valuable-blogger/vote/misc 

SheRetired is listed under the Miscellaneous Blog Section.

Many, many thanks!

Arlene

Vote for SheRetired!

Sacramento Historic Rose Garden: Deadheading at Dusk

As a retiree, the Historic Rose Garden is my most favorite place in Sacramento.  This piece of unlikely Sacramento paradise is a rewarding way to put in some volunteer hours.

   

Why should one volunteer for this place?  Well, it’s not just your average cemetery.  As part of the Sacramento Historic Cemetery, the Historic Rose Garden serves as a museum, a park and a place to socialize.  I’ve seen people meet for a date, eat bagged lunches, look for long lost relatives, and tend to gravesites.  Birders, tourists, bicyclists, and walkers also find a way to enjoy this popular location. 

The Historic Rose Garden dates back to the California Gold Rush and attracts visitors from all over the world.  A recent cover story, “Sacramento’s Bucket List, 99 Ways to Embrace the City’s Retro Roots,” appears in the Sacramento News & Review and lists the cemetery and rose garden as the #18 must see place in Sacramento to visit.  In the years I have volunteered here, I’ve been attracted to the roses, headstones, architecture, its history, and the Sacramento movers and shakers (well, they no longer moving and shaking if you ask me) who are buried here.  As a Farm Girl, I appreciate the rich soil, and since I like playing in the good, fertile dirt, I will volunteer to plant roses whenever they are available.

The all-volunteer Historic Rose Garden crew is led by manager and Master Gardener Anita Clevenger and rosarian Barbara Oliva.  The two women are a wealth of information when it comes to the Historic Rose Garden and the subject of gardening.   

Anita and Barbara can also tell you stories about the roses, rose rustling and how these particular roses ended up at the cemetery.  There’s the Broadway bed, other beds and acres of antique roses.    Anita and Barbara can give you the common and scientific names of each rose.  Ask Anita where a specific rose is, and she can tell you.  Barbara can point you to the plots.  Barbara tells you that if you can figure out which direction North faces, you won’t have any problems navigating the cemetery.

Even with a map, verbal directions and sunlight or a flashlight to guide me, I still get lost.

The mild summer weather has allowed volunteers to meet over the summer in the form of an event called “Deadheading at Dusk”.  Anyone is welcome to help out with deadheading roses, weeding and other tasks.  No skills are required.  If you have basic gardening tools like clippers, gloves and a common 5-gallon plastic bucket, bring them.  Wear comfortable shoes and clothing that you would wear for gardening.  Anita trains volunteers on the art of deadheading roses and provides gardening tools as needed.

If you are new to gardening or want to know more about roses, the Historic Rose Garden is a wonderful place for socializing with people who share the same interests.  As a group, the volunteers freely share their knowledge and love for roses.

The next and last “Deadheading at Dusk” event is scheduled for August 8 and begins at 6 p.m.  Volunteers are encouraged to slide into other events and fundraisers (www.oldcitycemetery.com or www.cemeteryrose.org) for the remainder of the year.

The popular “Lantern Tours” is the cemetery’s major annual fundraiser and will be held October 21, 22, 28, and 29.         

Spinning into Retirement

My article, "Spinning into Retirement," appears in the Fall 2011 issue of the Conference of Northern California Handweavers (www.cnch.org) online newsletter known as CNCH.net.  The piece is about my retirement and the art of spinning.  CNCH represents the guilds of Northern California, and I am a member of the Sacramento Weavers and Spinners Guild.  

The Sacramento News and Review Newsstand Art Project

I am your classic Red Personality and find beauty in almost anything.  I love the bright, tropical colors found in Hawaii, the scenery, Hawaiian shirts, pineapples, and that all-around happy feeling you get when visiting Hawaii.  The natives are friendly, and I'm usually called "Island Girl" or "Princess" whenever I'm there.  Paradise!

It all began with crushing aluminum cans and attending a recycling seminar when I was in junior high.  I have been recycling items for 35 years.

So, fast forward to 2011.  For months, the Sacramento News & Review  (SN&R) has been putting ads in their publication picturing their Newsstand Art Project.  Their goal is “Making News Beautiful”.   They have 600 newsstands available for local artists to design.  After completion, the newsstands will be put to work somewhere in the Sacramento area.

More than anything else, I consider myself a writer.  After decades of Writer’s Block, I’ve returned to writing as my #1 passion in life.  I have always been a highly creative person, but in order to create, I need to pursue activities other than writing.  I love to draw and paint.  As a photographer, I’ve been told that I have “the eye”.  These days, I’m trying spinning and weaving, but failed miserably at basket weaving.  I’ve been creating my own greeting cards using different mediums.  So far, I like picking up a different kind of gun—a heat gun to put permanent designs on paper.

The SN&R has been a free, alternative newspaper for Sacramento and has other similar newspapers published in Chico and Reno.  The newspaper comes out every Thursday and provides interesting reading which includes local politics, entertainment, reviews, interviews, etc.

It took me a little over a month to design and paint my newsstand.  At the time, I had Hawaii on my mind and set a goal to save for airline, cruise tickets and expenses for me and Jack.  I have no patience with people who cry and whine that they don’t have any money to go places.  Since I am retired and don’t have any money coming in as someone who works for a living, it will take almost a year to save for our travel expenses.  But if you stick to a schedule,  stagger your savings and stretch them out over a year’s time,  travel goals become reachable.

Some people write down their goals and tape the piece of paper it’s written on to a place where they’ll see it every day.  I only know that by painting big red flowers and turtles on my newsstand, it’s a vow for me to get the two of us to Hawaii next year for a cruise of the islands.  We’ve cruised the Hawaiian Islands before, and we’ll do it again.  I have finally found someone I can travel with.

I have nothing against recycling things and giving them a new life.  But I am thankful to SN&R for allowing me to participate in their Newsstand Art Project.  I don’t know where my newsstand will be located, but somewhere in Sacramento, it will be holding issues of the SN&R and will be considered a work of public art.  At the same time, it will be a reminder and a promise for one of my travel goals which will most likely take place next fall.

My newsstand is #248.  I signed my work and have shamelessly plugged SheRetired.blogspot.com and ArleneVPoma.hubpages.com.