Sun/Shade

There used to be a huge tree in my back yard. It provided a lot of privacy and kept the yard cool in the summer. One day a few years ago, I opened my back door and the tree fell down. My first thought as, "Thank God." because the tree fell on my neighbor's house, not mine. I did realize the pettiness of that statement, but I still am firmly thankful of the outcome.

We had a late snow storm in April, with 3-4 inches of wet heavy snow. The lilac trees took the brunt of the snow, with many branches heavy with lilac blooms snapping under the additional weight of the snow. The lilac tree between another neighbor's house had to be cut back drastically to remove the storm damage.

Our neighbors across the street took down a huge tree in their back yard. Suddenly, the sky above their house is more visible.

And finally, our lilac tree suffered from the April storm as well, although we didn't realize it until weeks after the storm. I cut the tree back over the weekend, and realized our specimen red maple was almost bare on one side, because the lilac blocked its light.

These garden incidents changed the light and shade in my gardens. What was once a shade garden is now a sun garden. Where once ferns and other shade-loving plants thrived, now these plants are smaller, browner, drier looking. But they are growing. The red maple may be a lost cause, but it keeps its pretty side toward our house. From several angles, you wouldn't even know it was damaged.

The front yard seems lighter and sunnier with our neighbor's back yard tree removed. The gardens in the front of the house are changing and adapting to their new situation.

So my gardens can adapting after about 15 years of being one thing--sun or shade. If something so conditioned to being one way can change, I can, too. Now I just have to figure out what it is I want to do . . . to be.

Innovator? Ahead of my time? Or just plain lazy?

Today, I attended Tom Kelley's keynote at Rochester's "Eyes on the Future" economic development summit. While I'm not sure why it was called an economic summit--can you really have a summit with one speaker and a bunch of booths from banks and recruiters--the keynote was great. Kelley is the GM of IDEO, a design and development firm that has been involved with  creating many innovative products.

He describes "The Ten Faces of Innovation: The Ten Faces described

1. The Anthropologist
2. The Experimenter
3. The Cross-Pollinator
4. The Hurdler
5. The Collaborator
6. The Director
7. The Experience Architect
8. The Set Designer
9. The Storyteller
10. The Caregiver

 As I look through this list, i think back to my career. In 1985-1990, I conducted ethnographic studies of people at Xerox in order to develop better products (#1). At Element K, I was always trying to improve processes and not be tied to a specific tool (#2). And so on.

I was doing so many of these things before they were even defined. So where does that leave me? An I am innovator? Why couldn't I leverage any of my experiences into fulfilling work?

Sometimes I think I was always just a little bit ahead of my time. Or maybe I was too lazy to take advantage of the situation and make it happen. Certainly something to think about.

Faded Glory

This tree peony was gorgeous several days ago. Huge white blossoms. The entire tree glowed with light. Today, it is just another green plant in the garden, with wasted petals all around its base. How sad.

Sometimes, I feel just like that tree. I have moments of glory, I shine with light, and then  . . . Then, I am just another faded bloom.

A dear friend and I talk a lot about the aging process. Actually, it seems like all my friends and I do at some time or another in our conversations. How can we feel so vital and alive, and yet, especially in today's job market, we are over the hill.

A disappointing, and depressing, feeling. I'm not over the hill, I am moving along the road of life, taking another turn. What awaits around the corner?