susannefortune

Today I headed northeast on MD 147 toward Belair. Actually I was looking for an Estate Farm Sale which I never found in Glen Arms, Maryland.
On my way back to Baltimore, I stopped at another farm. Picture this, a farm wagon loaded with vegetables, a serve yourself and pay yourself while the farmer is in the field picking. Check out the sizes of these cabbages!! Some of the cabbages are the size of volleyball, honestly for $1.00.
There are pumpkins, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams, winter squash, turnips, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts (I thought of you Jamie) and apples. Most everything is $1.00.
I could not resist the feast.

A picture is worth a thousand words. This is Jamie at the UCF Homecoming this past weekend in Orlando, Florida. The Knights won so go Knights!! Go Obama!!

A few weekends ago, I attended a conference at the Mt. Washington Conference Center, Mt. Washington, Maryland. This facility is now owned and operated by the John Hopkins Medical Center. It is nestled among the hills just beyond the city limits of Baltimore. This door is in its historic Octagon where we had a reception and dinner one night.
The design and detail of this century old beautiful structure was more than just an elegant dinner to me. Look close, take a moment, look again and then again. Yes, it is a door, but it is so much more.
In fact I had to touch this door to believe it.

This picture was taken yesterday evening from our office parking lot as I was leaving work. Our office building is next to an old monastery which is now converted into a long-term care facility. Check out the crows in the top of the trees.
This is just one view, there seem to be hundreds of crows in the parking lot, on the street and sidewalks, down the street, across the street, this is just a glimpse.
Does anyone have a theory about this phenomenon? I heard a couple, i.e. climate is changing, stories about birds of pray, I mean birds of prey…
There is so much information about everything and everyone has an opinion, but these crows have clearly identified a comfortable community in our office neighborhood.
They say a little information is dangerous, I agree. Now I am headed to get my car washed!!

This is a picture of autumn taken last week. With Hurricane Sandy and other storms yesterday in the Baltimore area, winter was announced. This morning cooler air gave way to another season and the air felt so fresh.
So last week, when it was autumn I took this picture coming back to my apartment, walking up the hill. My apartment building is around 170 feet elevation so I was a lucky one being up so high in the storm!! Baltimore’s elevation is between 0 – 450 feet so the storm created opportunity for high water coupled with the wind damage, plus more. Today it continues to rain; we received 6-8 inches yesterday.
The city of Baltimore was closed again today, but tomorrow we are all going back to work with a story to tell. I guess we are all made up of a bunch of stories, I got to experienced my first hurricane and tropical cyclone all-in-one.
I’m one lucky lady.

Do you know that I have never been in direct line of a hurricane?  I can check this off my bucket list now.  I have my bathtub filled with water, a good suggestion from Sheila and Mica encouraged me to have wine!!!  Thanks.

It is my bedroom windows that worry me the most right now.  They face the north.  Any suggestions in the event that one breaks?  That’s where duct tape comes in handy.  Right?

Remember I-83 from this morning’s report…there is only an occassional vehicle out there now, I guess that is a good thing.   We are experiencing heavy rains, 1 inch an hour expected up to 8 inches at least and of course the whistling and roaring winds.  YIKES.

Governor O’Malley reported just an hour ago, “if everyone acts and takes responsiblity, in reference to the fact of staying at home or in a safe place, fewer people will die.”  Honestly, he said that.  Baltimore is in the middle of these two storms, a hurricane coming at us from the east, blizzard conditions and temps coming at us from the west, then the Chesapeake Bay stressed from the ocean surges and floods.

On a lighter side, I feel pretty safe and this picture makes me smile.  It was taken at Cafe Hon, a restaurant here in Baltimore where Laura and I had dinner a couple of months ago.   Funny, huh?

October 29, 2012 – 6:30 am. Good morning, Hurricane Sandy is definitely on her way, 30-45 mph winds expected by 8:00 am this morning then will increase through tomorrow evening up to 60 mph. I have never been this close to this kind of hurricane or storm.
I feel as safe as I can feel in my little apartment, a solid brick building, on the second floor, built at the top of a hill so safe from the flood waters is what my neighbor said to be encouraging. From my bedroom window, I can see I-83 South traffic, which is a direct route to downtown Baltimore, very few people are out this morning. Governor O’Malley made the announcement to stay home. I am doing just that.
Yesterday I went over my checklist to be prepared as I can be, with flashlights, batteries, gas tank is on full, drinking water, oil lamp with extra oil, candles, cell phone and computer charged, a generator for my cell phone, food prepared, cooler, ice, headset for my cell phone for radio advice, made arrangements to provide shelter for my car for the rest of my winter stay, games and books on hand. What else? Extensive power outages are predicted, Sandy is expected to bring 8-9 inches of rain on an already water saturated earth; I will do the best I can do. Any advice?
Baltimore is a beautiful city, a strong city with such an incredible history. I call it the heartbeat of America, its heart has to be beating rapidly this morning.

Last weekend I went to Tallahassee for a short visit. I opened up my front door and guess what? Home! What a sight. The lights were all on, the cottage looked so sweet, simple and cozy, I guess I left it that way. You can attest, if you have driven by, the timers and lights are ALL working.

I had forgotten how beautiful the little place is. I was so happy to be home and felt so blessed to have lived there 25 years. Life comes and goes, so do people but keeping my surroundings on the sweet, simple and yes cozy side is what matters and entergizes me.

The last ten days I’ve been exploring Maryland, now going south to explore Tallahassee for a couple days. Hurrah!!

I think this is worth another post. I used the word communication in my previous post, but this is really about conflict. Conflict intrigues me, I will admit. It hasn’t always because I grew up avoiding conflict at all cost. I guess around forty I started learning more about myself and at the very same time I was being guided down a career of group process theories. Theories of organizational change and its dynamics, the people side of the organizations, a people process. Isn’t that amazing how that happens? Life is a laboratory. Please stay with me here.
Conflict intrigues me, conflict is so critical in how we communicate in our relationships. But no one I know was taught as kids how to do that. If you did, please let me know. Most were taught, me included by example. We experienced (watched or were involved in) two conflict styles generally, someone was allowed to explode through anger, often rage OR we experienced (watched or were involved in) avoidance becoming quiet and almost invisible to stay away from the angry person. I took the avoidance road.
At forty, I was an expert at avoiding conflict and then I started down this path and quite honestly began looking at my heart and my feelings. I started learning about me, my relationships, why I did what I did and learning some new behaviors in how I relate to others. I will leave it at that for now. Let’s see if anyone is reading this.
Learning about me was the hardest work I have ever done. I will never get it all right, but relationships are important and conflict is always there. I continue to learn how to go into “someone else’s lane” as it has potential benefits on my relationships, but it takes practice from my heart.