Just what is ......Pondering?

   The definition of ponder is to deliberate on, dwell on, chew over, puzzle over, etc......  So, how about you,...do you ever ponder?  In my current season of life I tend to ponder many different things - work, home, kids, extended family, friends, hobbies, dreams, the past, and the future, like the blissful life of retirement.    My favorite place to ponder is on my front porch.  I love to sit on my porch in the cool early mornings of summer, hot cup of coffee in hand, listening to all the sounds that come with the morning.  It's here that I plan my day - whether it be gardening, working on a painting, creating a piece of jewelry or just scrubbing tubs and toilets - my porch is my place to "ponder" or plan.
    During the other three seasons here in Arkansas, I must ponder in the afternoons, because I'm a kindergarten teacher - and there's NO TIME TO PONDER during my work-day. So when I get home in the late afternoons I usually grab something to drink and head to the porch.  There are a few warm afternoons in the winter when I can sit outside, but usually I'm sitting just inside my entry way where the sun will stream in through a window and I can ponder and reflect on my day.
     I remember many years ago pondering about the word "ponder" during a bible study on Mary the mother of Jesus.  If you read in Luke 2 verse 19 the scripture says; "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."  There she was a young mother, I'm sure sitting on the porch of her tent,  watching a sleeping baby and dwelling on, puzzling over and deliberating on the meaning of this child's life.  What a magnificent example for all mothers, young like Mary or not so young like me.
    As I mentioned earlier I teach Kindergarten, that's my Superpower, but there's more to me than being a teacher.  During my first college experience my classes were in the arts. It was six years later that I earned a degree in Mass Communication. Honestly teaching is a grand part of any communication job - it's just that the people you are working with don't consider themselves to be students, but they are.  Later, after having our own children, I decided to enter the true education field and I earned my elementary education license.
But my love of the arts has always stayed a big part of my life...and dreams, and closets, and boxes, and ...well you get the point.  I'm constantly learning a new technique or trying a new color palette.  Those are the things I ponder the most!  Creating is a part of me and I never want to live without having a project in progress, or even a couple of projects if you ask my husband.  I have an Etsy shop where I have my handmade jewelry for sale and hopefully soon I will be adding hand painted canvases to my shop.
   So that's where this blog comes in.... it's here that I can share my projects, or bounce ideas off. You may see big mess ups as well as beautiful inspirations.  There may be recipes to share or garden pests to eliminate, right along with acrylic paintings and wearable art pieces. I'll be adding posts occasionally until school is out in May, but come summer I'll post everyday.   My hope is that this blog will evolve, both aesthetically and emotionally,  into a place where sharing is fun and where we all learn something new and fresh from each other and grow to be a better person today than we were yesterday.
    I hope that you will want to join me here and let's Ponder Life from the Porch.