the roars of the crowds

I was at a party sitting next to an ex-marine. Everything about us was different probably - lifestyle, religious background, education, career paths and for the first few minutes I know my armor was hoisted firmly in place. But as the conversation continued and the night progressed, I discovered to my delight, that I was thoroughly enjoying the interaction. Guns were like extensions of his arms. He had seen more of life's raw terrors than I could conjure up in my wildest dreams and guns had definite meaning to him. But since I had also seen his intelligence, humor and kindness, I was willing to think about his guns.

Perhaps people on the extremes all these issues should try sitting down at a party with each other and listen. Discovering the humanity beneath the noisy rhetoric greatly gentles the conversation.

family

Family. We all belong somewhere.

In my library years I heard thousands of stories about families: parents with Alzheimer's, grandparents who became caretakers of their grandchildren, estranged siblings, families who rented fire halls for their holiday gatherings and cooked/danced/sang their way into the night , deaths, illnesses, abuse (yes, one chic woman had escaped from a locked house and came to the library), divorce, graduations, marriage, birth - all of life's roller-coaster moments. As surely as they trusted me to choose their next book they shared their joys and sorrows. I was honored to partake in a much larger family.

But, narrowing it down, if you belong to a small group that when you get together you touch warm buttons of remembrance that can produce chuckles or tears, and you realize you share a nest of habits, a banquet of stories, a tic of reactions that are unique to only your family - you are indeed blessed!

I am one of five now, as our parents have passed away and the jigsaw pieces of our lives still fit snugly and happily as the times in snowstorms when we gathered around the kitchen table, honoring the unexpected time of play that fallen from the sky.

when a young man's fancy lightly turns

Yesterday I traveled home to Lancaster County via the Catoctin Mountains, through Maryland until the PA sign, "Welcome to Pennsylvania, Pursue your happiness"...and pursue it I did!

The day was dazzling. I know we have Bartlett Pear trees here, but in that stretch of country there are myriads of pear trees - like a string of pearls from VA to PA, like a bevy of brides gracing the highways. Add to that the fine tracery of pink, red, and apple green that was scarcely more than a breath along the highway and you have a ride that just broke your heart with promise.

And all through the day wherever my sister and I wandered over the back roads of the county, spring was pushing through in colors and textures of delight.

May I never live in a place that doesn't have the four seasons - particularly springtime. It makes the snow and ice worthwhile. Almost.

oh the wonder!

While visiting with family over the weekend, a brother-in-law was recalling music in his school days and spontaneously burst into a stirring rendition of "There is a Tavern in the Town." I joined him on about the third note and we sang lustily through the whole thing! The wonder was not the song, or our voices, but that: 1) at least I hadn't thought of that song in about five decades; 2) I don't know where/when I learned it; and 3) how could those words just have been sitting on a dusty shelf for possibly sixty years just waiting to be cherished once more!! I find it endlessly fascinating how not just the idea of a song, poem, ditty pops up unbidden, but that the whole cloth of it is there. In terms of hymns sometimes I can recall two, three verses.

Doesn't it seem that the memory space accommodating that could be more wisely used??... say like remembering the title of the book I just finished two days ago?

When words fail

This morning after a leisurely spell with eggs, coffee and newspaper, and morning TV news chatter, I silenced everything and turned to Vivaldi to wash away the debris of the news. And as the rills of violins sang through the morning sunlight, I thought of how his Spring has quickened my heart for at least six decades - through houses in Hinkletown, Harrisonburg, Carmanville, Oberlin, Saranac Lake, Lawrence, Sioux Falls and Reston. My life was completely different in each setting, yet his lithe music always made my heart dance.

Who would have thought Plato felt the same?...."Music is a moral law, It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."

Amen, brother.

beating the clock

I was typing a letter when I checked the weather  on my phone and saw that a storm was heading our way. Rather than wait to do my four miles later when hopefully the sun came out I scurried out with the grey clouds deepening all around me. I kept one eye on the sky, one eye on all the glorious daffodils, magnolia, jonquils, cherry blossoms, one hand on my hat and both ears on my book! It was a race against the drops..... and the first burst of rain pelted upon me just as I turned my key! A teeny, tiny victory over the elements!

I felt like I grabbed those 4,000 steps right out from under the storm! Will Spring ever just come and abide peacefully?

blowing in the wind

It just occurred to me today, that being retired is rather like being a kid again! I compare my current state to the days in Hinkletown, so long ago, when our two-roomed school was dismissed for the summer! The vision of all those free days essentially just to play was overwhelmingly joyous. Sweet liberation melting on one's tongue like Sunbeam bread slathered in butter and sprinkled with sugar!

I really think that defined spaces in your heart just for play are critical to serenity. Our family played pretty much all the time interspersed with hard work on our parent's part, but for us kids, incidental chores barely pricked our free time. My husband grew up on a farm and his school time was freedom in comparison to his daily work during the summer. An enormous difference!

In our summertime we played, dreamed, created, biked, swam, traveled, cavorted in sun and shade, dandelion fluff blown by soft breezes. 

Even so, come sweet retirement!