Yesterday my path from the springtime fields of Pennsylvania to the Catoctin Mountain region was sublime! The fresh greens laced with the redbuds and Bartlett pear blossoms were breathtaking. Each year continues to enthrall - it never grows old! In fact, as I grow older, maybe it's because I have extra time to look and enjoy, but springtime seems increasingly splendid. I guess it's a metaphor for new love or new anything. The brilliant fever pitch of any new experience can't last, but settles into a more manageable steadiness.
But for right now, I'm dancing with delight!
Monday, April 22, 2019
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
a limited commodity
A close friend of mine is facing the death of her life-long partner. Though he had been in ill health for a long time, it was manageable until the last month. Still the family thought he would rally as he had done so many times before. This time his time seems to be running out.
It shouldn't be shocking but it is. The bare reality of it. I try to imagine being in her shoes and I really can't. But his passing will change her life completely.
Benchmarks.
I guess it is a dawning reality that when you reach this age, the stakes suddenly get high. The reserves that came to the rescue before are now more meager.
Still the lesson that seems to be settling within me with the April morning rays is - you have the day, make the most of it.
It shouldn't be shocking but it is. The bare reality of it. I try to imagine being in her shoes and I really can't. But his passing will change her life completely.
Benchmarks.
I guess it is a dawning reality that when you reach this age, the stakes suddenly get high. The reserves that came to the rescue before are now more meager.
Still the lesson that seems to be settling within me with the April morning rays is - you have the day, make the most of it.
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Trivia
I know many people do crossword puzzles every morning. I think we secretly pride ourselves that we are striking a blow against mental sluggishness! Whether or not that is true, I do think it's a kind of mental pushups that does strengthen the anti-aging muscles! And I am amazed each morning as I discover some new word/fact.
The last two days the facts are these - (and don't think I remember them much longer than two days!):
1) fennec - a small African fox! To me, it's amazing that in 75 years of living I never stumbled over that word. But in truth there are probably thousands of animals I've never heard of!
2) Samuel Morse - before he became inventor of the telegraph he was an established portrait painter - a really good one!
These things delight me!
Again, such a cheap date!
The last two days the facts are these - (and don't think I remember them much longer than two days!):
1) fennec - a small African fox! To me, it's amazing that in 75 years of living I never stumbled over that word. But in truth there are probably thousands of animals I've never heard of!
2) Samuel Morse - before he became inventor of the telegraph he was an established portrait painter - a really good one!
These things delight me!
Again, such a cheap date!
Saturday, April 13, 2019
daffodils
Maybe we only did this one time when I was a child, but it was so extraordinary that it shines through the years!
The mother of my best friend could not possibly have been more different from my mother - and I adored both of them. But Mary was fun-loving, spontaneous, completely non-traditional in the way she conducted her life. The only cross to her life - and it was a big one - was that she was the preacher's wife and indeed that did cramp her style at every turn!
But one spring she gathered all of us kids in the car and headed for the nearby farmland of a friend. There was a wooded plot on the land that had been allowed to grow wild and consequently the underbrush teemed with thorny briars, making passage difficult and at places, impossible. But the prize was that throughout the briars, scattered like jewels for a few weeks of the year, were wild daffodils. They were double yellow cups, whites, ruffled edges, plain petals, orange/yellow/white centers - variants like I have never seen since. And we donned snow-pants, old heavy coats, boots and plowed through the briars to pick them. We ended up with buckets of breathtaking beauty!
I do remember the briars. They scratched our hands and even cheeks as branches sprung back.
But no amount of years will dim the memory of the scent and sight of those daffodils and I have to clone Wordsworth's thoughts:
"For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude
And they my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils."
The mother of my best friend could not possibly have been more different from my mother - and I adored both of them. But Mary was fun-loving, spontaneous, completely non-traditional in the way she conducted her life. The only cross to her life - and it was a big one - was that she was the preacher's wife and indeed that did cramp her style at every turn!
But one spring she gathered all of us kids in the car and headed for the nearby farmland of a friend. There was a wooded plot on the land that had been allowed to grow wild and consequently the underbrush teemed with thorny briars, making passage difficult and at places, impossible. But the prize was that throughout the briars, scattered like jewels for a few weeks of the year, were wild daffodils. They were double yellow cups, whites, ruffled edges, plain petals, orange/yellow/white centers - variants like I have never seen since. And we donned snow-pants, old heavy coats, boots and plowed through the briars to pick them. We ended up with buckets of breathtaking beauty!
I do remember the briars. They scratched our hands and even cheeks as branches sprung back.
But no amount of years will dim the memory of the scent and sight of those daffodils and I have to clone Wordsworth's thoughts:
"For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude
And they my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils."
Springtime fling
I am astonished at how quickly the color in my springtime is fading! Is that a metaphor for life? One quick lovely burst and then fade to green! Mind you, I'm grateful for the multi-colored greens after the browns of winter, but I do wish the spectacular pinks, purples, yellows, violets, reds could extend their visit just a bit longer! My magical walks ratchet down a notch each day and I suck in my breath in disappointment! I should know by now that ecstasy is fleeting!
But thank goodness for ecstasy, period, for how else would we measure the ordinary?
But thank goodness for ecstasy, period, for how else would we measure the ordinary?
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