blessings...

Tonight after my daughters went to bed, I went for a luxuriously long and glorious walk with a friend. I was warm, and the grass in the hills was so high... everything is alive now- (but the frogs on Broadview were silent when we walked past them...? Don't know a lot about the lives of frogs, really- but I was kind of looking forward to hearing them. Oh well. ) The mosquitoes couldn't very well keep up with us, because we were really walking- it felt so good. I am so truly grateful that I can walk. In a free and beautiful place. With a good, dear friend. Knowing, as I move my body at will through the town and countryside, that my family are all well and safe and happy. Feeling safe and not cold! Just right. As we walked the sun set and as we were coming home, we seemed to leave the open field's coolness behind, and come into a warm pocket of air in our community. It was magical. Then we enjoyed some well steeped rooibos... Mmm. Life is mine, and it is good. Jack planted out...

I was putting away some groceries this morning when I noticed a little pencil drawing on the side of the fridge. I has been there for so long that I hardly ever look at it, but today I am happy to say I did... It is a portrait of me, drawn by my youngest child. On the front of the shirt I am drawn wearing, is a flowery sunshine, and the words 'bright light', accompanied by up-arrows. It just struck me as sweet and very rewarding that she perceived me this way. Now I have a little bit of -oomph- in my desire to be a happy and loving person! Thank heaven for my children!

About half a century ago, a family was blessed with a beautiful and sweet little daughter. She had red curls on her head and blue skies in her large eyes. She was the last child in her family, and what a dear little baby she was... She grew up to be a compassionate, resourceful, and determined woman. She learned to value and even love good hard work. She became a woman of great faith and learned to be happy in the good moments and resilient when life required it of her. She raised her daughters better than she thought, and continues to be a loyal and supportive advocate for their happiness and well-being... and that of their families. Time and time again, she becomes whatever she needs to be, learns to do whatever life demands of her, and is a shining example of how to be a good daughter. She is eloquent in the art of forgiveness, and will always stand out as an exceptional person in my life. She had a birthday this week, and I am just grateful today that my little gift package arrived...

Miracles By Walt Whitman   (my Aunt sent this to me. I appreciated especially the line about sleeping with loved ones, as I woke up this morning with a little daughter cuddled up beside me, after a bad dream. I am so happy I was there for her...) 0 Why, who makes much of a miracle? As to me I know of nothing else but miracles, Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan, Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky, Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of    the water, Or stand under trees in the woods, Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night    with any one I love, Or sit at table at dinner with the rest, Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car, Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer  ...

Jack and I have made a perennial garden on the south side of our house, and I am so excited about it! (Strange, but true. Growing food and flowers and trees has to be one of the most surprising of delights out there! :) Happily, my boy was ready and willing to share his brute strength and tough energy for this whole process; I think I will keep him, even if he does eat such tremendous amounts of food, not to mention his milk consumption! :) We put in all kinds of beautiful plants, and it's already so pretty. I know it will become more and more so over time. Especially if the sun comes out one of these days!! Rain is lovely, but as the wise ones say,  'all good things in moderation'! I have more tiny little perennials to add to our little garden- pretty things that will fill in spaces until the big plants grow up a bit. Then we can split and transplant things. Oooh, I can hardly wait to get out there again. And in the backyard we have little gardens, where we've just ad...

About 12 years ago, I first heard a friend talk about this idea from a book she'd read... She explained that sometimes a little thing like some red pears in a bowl on the table could actually make her happy in a sweetly simple way. I too am a fan of red pears. They are beautiful. And this idea has settled comfortably in my mind since then... I am grateful that in this busy life and often crazy world, there are small and easy ways to add a smile- even, and especially when there is so much that is wrong and beyond our power to change. I like that this little notion has dual application; not only can I find and create moments of pleasure, but I can give other people the same kindness. I hope! It's at least as satisfying to give someone a pretty potted flower on a rainy day as it is to bring one home. And my family don't usually mind too much when I steal the hugs and kisses and smiles that are so satisfying to my soul.  :) Sometimes it's nice just to look out the window o...