Yesterday was the 14th occurrence of being notified that my husband had died while I was out of state to bring my first grandchild into the world. There are years that this passes with just a ripple. Then there are other years that the pressure in my chest becomes unbearable, a weight I am dragging…
This will be my fourth opportunity to cross our wonderful country. The first three times were pretty harried and hurried – the first a true unknown adventure full of break downs and roadside kindnesses in a dilapidated van (I didn’t know it at the time of purchase, but it had a blown head gasket!) which…
I dropped my phone and busted the screen, and that is what I do all things non-work on. So, please bear with me while I develop a work around 🙂 PS. I am hell on phones, so why I buy expensive ones escapes me. Oh, right, the camera…the one I currently cannot pull any photos…
Heh, maybe I should change the bus name! Monday at work is usually lightly peppered with meetings and then plenty of time to actually get work done instead of meeting to talk about getting work done. But today the merger and acquisition was formally announced, so a lot of post meeting time was spent by…
Up until two weeks ago, my answer to that question would have been a myriad of things. A new SUV. Really nice smokey perfume. A case of fabu Pinot Noir. An all-inclusive trip to Alaska or Scotland. And so forth. My, my, how one’s perspective can change in a jiffy! Top of the list now?…
In my last post I explained the new direction that my life is taking, and the on-boarding of a little one. What has come to light is the beautiful outpouring of sisterly support for the situation. No, not my sisters, as I don’t have any. But the Aunts of my grandson, my other daughters. One…
What does that word really mean? The technical meaning is to slaughter an animal, or to offer a person or possession to the Almighty. Yet I have heard that word related to what I am about to embark upon; the taking on of a six-year-old boy to raise for a while, to help untangle a…
Quote of the week: “…People should be able to walk into their back yards and say, ‘that’s a cicada, that’s a tree frog, and that’s a bird.’ Then, when they hear a bird scream, ‘get out of my territory, get out of my territory,’ I want them to recognize the cadence and remember that…
Catchy and academic-sounding title eh? My brain works weirdly in sleep deprivation mode. I also love to make up words that have meaning probably only to me. Last night was a late night (morning) working as the next in line is out for medical assistance for his partner. That left me in charge of herding…
Reading novels makes me feel like I am stuck in a really bad one sometimes, one that I might produce on my first stab at such. Since I’m winnowing my books, my reward for working towards packing is reading books I’m getting rid of before spiraling into sleep, instead of my normal perusal of the…
Ensconced back in the micro-haus in balmy weather, last week feels like it passed in some kind of dream form. I’m pretty bone-weary in all honesty. It was a very emotional trip, in both good and bad ways, thanks to incredible friends. The roughshod road trip was to pick up venison on another person’s timeline.…
Delicious Fall has fallen upon us for a brief spell and I am relishing it! Doors and sliders thrown open, fans positioned to bring all of that fresh, low humidity air in has really boosted my spirits. It makes working out an invigorating thing rather than a flirtation with heat stroke and misery. I wrote…
Okay, so there isn’t really a vortex in my life, but there are times as I stand beside my life and look at it that I could swear I can feel the sucking sounds at my feet and hear the power of the strength of the pull away from those things I desire to accomplish or…
Briefly dipping my pinkie toe in the blogging world for a moment as the mayhem in my life mounts! First, on moving: I was |this| close to securing a tiny rental house; well, tiny for most standards. It is more than 4x the size of where I live now. But, you have to be poised…
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As you may (or, may not) have noticed, I’ve pretty much been MIA except for a couple of automatic posts I set up last weekend in a five minute period of calm. That title up there…do you recall when it even entered our lingo? Work-Life Balance. Work used to be something you did between 8-5…
I always have words. Words to write, words to say when given a chance. And I am full of them now too – well, thoughts actually would be more accurate. What does one write on a death anniversary, when writing is simply what one does? Does it make others uncomfortable? I don’t know too many…
Quoting Berry from Word and Flesh: “The religion and the environmentalism of the highly industrialized countries are at bottom a sham, because they make it their business to fight against something that they do not really want to destroy. We all live by robbing nature, but our standard of living demands that the robbery shall…
Originally posted on countingducks:
To those unknowing of my childhood my enigmatic and disconnected behaviour must have seemed odd and possibly uncivilised. In youth I could not see beyond getting by and surviving day by day; ‘learning’ was another country where less damaged people lived. I was busy trying to fly that alien craft I…
Photo Credit: BoredPanda.org “The Book of Life” – Artist David Kracov If I had a lot of money, I would so purchase this piece of sculpture. It is metal, and each butterfly is hand-painted. The book contains diary pages, poetry and notes written by the children of Auschwitz. I find it haunting and incredibly…
Prose, poem or parable – your choice; but for your reading and thinking pleasure 🙂 The Map Makers (For K) She once met a mapmaker Ordered from the back of a matchbook She checked the mail impatiently for her buck-fifty worth When he arrived she was astonished As he told her it was all lies…
A bit of beauty from my garden for my readers ******************************** I sometimes write about topics that are difficult to face, things one wishes to turn away from, bury, ignore. Some read, some don’t. Either is okay with me. What does matter is if something I have written helps another person. In truth, reality is…
I don’t have much to say today really. If you’ve a mind, I ask you to visit my poetry site here: She Doesn’t Mourn Well Life is for the living, but sometimes living is harder than you expect. To those who have helped me along the way, my gratitude is truly inexpressible even for me…
Another week has flown by in our lives. What did you do differently this week than last week? What did you see, smell, hear, or say – that made a difference? I know, it’s annoying these questions. It’s Friday and you just want the damn week over, and some entertainment to help with that. I…
Welcome to Time Travel Tuesday, where I go back to something somewhere on my blog. A reader’s comment on a post from last week sent my brain into overdrive mode. Sometimes I pick at things like they are a new bone; gnawing at them, burying it, walking away, going and digging it up to gnaw…
Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s Friday 🙂 You get only a small ‘wooT’ out of me because I am plum tuckered out. International clients were in house for the last four days, so the office was all atwitter and off schedule due to excess meeting-itis, kow-tow-itis and general executive angst. It all ended well, so, you know “All’s well…
The other day I published a quote of my own. But in part, it was a lie. This was the quote: “Sexual abuse in the young creates the neediest people, who will tell you we need nothing; we live that way too. We are taught by actions that there is no real love; there is no trust,…
“’..and what will you trade for these things that you desire?’ he intoned flatly. ‘Blood, tears, sweat?’ I felt smaller even than before. ‘But, you see, I’ve already given all of that; and yet I still stand here before you empty-handed, without the Affection. Is there, there… no other way?’ My voice trails away imperceptibly,…
Today Today I visited Shanghai in the rain, circumnavigated the mass of people and the vibrant colors of parasols sheltering the dreams dreamt only perhaps in Mandarin, beyond my comprehension, but their beauty I can interpret without a translator. I then traipsed from there to Lebanon, where wearied field workers rested against stacks of wheat…
Remember how just a few days ago I mentioned that I was divesting myself of 50% of what I own, except of course, in the realm of books. I also mentioned that my bookcases had a bit of room in them. Ahem. Wellll, I went to the library on lunch break this week, and lo…
I normally don’t post on Wednesdays, because it’s the most hectic work day of my week. But in a conversation with another blogger, a thought hit me today about all of you, my readers. Many of you are new; in fact, more than half of you, within the last six weeks. You don’t really know…
I would like to tell you that Dennis and I had a sit-down today, but we did not. It rained during the time he was supposed to be doing some carpentry work, but I lugged all of my equipment to the car anyway, figuring he might be hanging out at McD’s or such. I drove…
Did you ever have a night where you just felt down? No really good reason, just…down. I was feeling that way tonight, as I headed out to get some creamer from the convenience store, and maybe a Mocha Frappe from the health food store known as Mickey D’s. I’m not telling this story to talk…
In quiet and through reflection, when I really want to get to the bottom of things, make sense, improve who I am, I peer into the Void. The Void is the place where other people developed things that I never did. What you read here is years of self-discovery; things I never had the quiet…
Yes, another new thing! A regular reader asked “Why are you doing different things than you’ve always done?” I think it is a good question, so if any of my long-time followers (or new ones!) may be wondering the same, here’s the back story. Taking to heed “Write what you know”, my focus for years…
Sunflower Solace Farm 