Corn

Today I was going to share a bunch of pictures with you from my recent travels home, but when I got to George House, the local coffee shop here in Findlay where I do my writing when I'm home, I realized I forgot my cord to link my camera. So instead I'm going to talk about something I've been thinking on a lot lately: corn.

While I was driving through Oklahoma I realized that I love the smell of corn. Oklahoma was fragrant with it, and so is Ohio. I realized something else though as I drove, that my earliest memories of that smell came from my grandpa's garden. I loved my grandpa's garden. I loved shelling beans. I loved the smell of corn in a pot of water. I miss my grandpa so much.

Today as I rode my bike to Oakwoods, I couldn't help but think about all of this as I went past the corn that's now taller than me. I was also reminded of a time when I an ex that I just wanted to run through the corn (like little girl Jenny does in Forrest Gump). He informed me that they used to make criminals run through corn as punishment. That dream was squashed.

I'm glad that every year I get a happy little reminder of my grandpa, who seemed to plant a love for growing things in me.

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit. - D. Elton Trueblood

'All I Am Is All I'll Ever Be, And That's Just A Boy From Texarkana.'

Yesterday I made a journey which I have taken countless times since the age of 6. I drove from Findlay, Ohio down to Texarkana, AR. The drive, which Google says takes exactly 15 hrs, took me 13 hrs and 10 minutes. What can I say? I drive well.

This drive was horribly uncomfortable though. A few months back my car's heating/cooling system stop allowing me to turn it off, and more recently it stopped allowing me to choose what temperature it spits out. The whole way down my car blew hot air on my feet and up my windshield. It would have been fine with me to just roll down my windows for the trip, except that temperatures were upwards of 90 almost the entire second half of it. Needless to say I am now dehydrated and taking in as much water as I can.

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

Other than my almost fainting, the trip went really well. I didn't hit major traffic in any of the cities and only was stopped in Arkansas for road construction for 5-7 minutes. The best views of my trip were definitely the bridge over the Ohio River, Memphis and the bridge over the Mississippi.

You're the only 10 I see ;)

Obviously not my picture... Hernando de Soto Bridge Memphis

This coming Sunday I will be traveling to Miami, FL with my mother and throughout the week we will be going up to Hot Springs! I am so excited to get to spend some time here and am looking forward to all of the awesome projects my sister-in-law and I will accomplish (we already made our first trip to Hobby Lobby today).

Plus being down here means I will finally get to do a bit of shopping with my ladies. I already scored this awesome fringe purse:

From my favorite author: Not all those who wander are lost. – J. R. R. Tolkien

Pilot Episode: The Plot

It is hard to begin a blog about nothing, or what feels like nothing, but really I want to write about everything and don't know where to start. The easiest topic to begin is one of the hardest to end: explaining myself. In effect that is what this entire blog will become, but what makes a better story than character development?

I am Whitney Goller. I was born in Texarkana, Texas, have lived in Ottawa and Findlay, Ohio, as well as Melksham in Wiltshire, United Kingdom. In my spare time I am a shieldmaiden of Rohan. Currently I attend The University of Findlay and major in studio art. I grew up believing I was anything and everything. After years of people telling me differently, I have finally come to understand that I still am anything and everything. More specifically though, I am an artist, a designer, a thinker, a reader, a writer, a scientist on a small scale, but most importantly I am not a dreamer. I am a believer. I believe in God, in myself, in you if you will let me, in a greater purpose, in individual freedom, in change, and in making things.

This is a lot to put in to few words, but I am hoping you will listen to my explanations as the days go on. I intend to post my art, poetry, thoughts, pictures and maybe even some ideas. I am giving up most of my social media sites for this endeavor of explaining myself without limitations, but in case curiosity gets the best of those reading these words, here are my sites: Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I sell my artwork on both Etsy and Society6.

Oxymoron to think on: Act Naturally