Sizzling Hot

Then the heat came, without any warning.  Sidewalks sizzled like a Saturday night steak in the frying pan. Windows closed, shades pulled down, to keep whatever cool air remained in the house from the night before.

When I was young, back in the 60's, spring was graceful and pleasant, giving rise to slowly letting winter lose it's grip.  It was welcoming and gentle, the temperature climbed at a slow, steady pace, preparing the earth for hazy, hot and humid. Steamy, like lovers at a drive-in movie. 

Today, once again, we scramble for the ice tea, lemon chicken salad with raisins and walnuts.  Cucumbers sliced in sour cream and dill.  There will be no turning the oven on.  Dessert, of course, lemon sponge cake with a heavy sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Pull up a chair on the porch, summer just rolled in.

Fading Away

Nature does not hurry,

but everything is accomplished.

Lao Tzu

As winter fades away I welcome spring.  It has been a long time coming.  Some winters are not so bad but this one was really, really long for me...I'm yearning for color and warmth.

Rejoice

He said, "Let today be 

a day where you take nothing for 

granted.  For Life is fleeting, fragile

and precious and can change on a whim.

Say all the things you really

want to say to your loved ones today,

say the things you would regret

should they pass on and your words

remain unspoken.  Rejoice, for you 

and they are alive today-and should

you or them pass on to unknown 

shores, rejoice even more for you

have a wonderful love story to tell."

Jaxson Godard

Poem given to me by Papa on my 70th birthday.

Giving Thanks

Tonight at sunset walking on the snowy road,

my shoes crunching on the frozen gravel, first

through the woods, then out into the open fields

past a couple of trailers and some pickup trucks, I stop

and look at the sky. Suddenly: orange, red, pink, blue,

green, purple, yellow, gray, all at once and everywhere.

I pause in this moment at the beginning of my old age

and I say a prayer of gratitude for getting to this evening

a prayer for being here, today, now, alive

in this life, in this evening, under this sky.  David Budbill

I love the dark hours of my being. My mind deepens into them. There I can find, as in old letters, the days of my life, already lived, and held like a legend, and understood. The knowing comes: I can open to another life that's wide and timeless. So I am sometimes like a tree rustling over a gravesite and making real the dream of the one it's living roots embrace: a dream once lost among sorrow and songs.  Rainer Maria Rilke

I remember all the different kinds of years.  Angry, or brokenhearted, or afraid.

I remember feeling like that walking up the mountain along the dirt path to my broken house on the Island.

And long years of waiting in Massachusetts.  The winter walking and the hot summer walking..

I finally fell in love with all of it.: dirt, night, rock and far views.

It's strange that my heart is as full now as my desire was then.   Linda Greg

Reflections on turning 70.  Of where I have been, what is a part of me...Memories kept, just for me.  Where I am going...and coming to peace with aging.  I don't think we have to like the numbers but we should live the life that is given to us...in joy and celebration.  Some never get the chance to be older, some never get a chance to forgive the past and celebrate the future. Enjoy the great memories and finally live in the moment every day...giving thanks for this life of mine...I know it's value and I'm full of gratitude for those who have joined me on this journey now and those that were with me in the past...I sure hope the 70's are going to rock and roll...gotta keep on moving...

To The Moon and Back

If you were to ask Liam what that expression means he would tell you that that is how much my Nana loves me...and he would be right..I have been telling him this each time I see him, for five years now..I am having a hard time wrapping myself around the fact that he is turning five..I remember, like it was yesterday, the first time I held him, in a hospital room, thirty minutes after he was born. From that very first moment, he stole my heart and has never let go..In this last five years he has grown into a lovely little boy...full of life, laughter and love.  He has given us so much joy and happiness.  

Both Papa and I have so many wonderful shared  moments with him to smile about..we cherish each visit with him and have been so privileged to have had him each week in our care.  Next year he will be in kindergarten all day, making friends and beginning his "big boy" adventures...and although we will continue to be important to him...he will grow into his own little person...so for the rest of this year, I will hold him close, enjoy the bond that we have formed and wait and watch to see how he  expands his horizon. 

I know you have seen so many photo's of him over the years...but I just couldn't let this day go by without a few of my favorites as he's grown.  Time spent..that's the gift we have cherished the most  with him...and now Jaxson. I always wanted to be a Grandmother but honestly, I never knew it was going to be this special...it takes some of the sting out of "maturing..

How quickly the years have flown by, like a lazy Sunday afternoon...I look at him now and know that he moves on in confidence and a sense of his own self...so as he rides off, leaving his toddler hood behind, Papa and I will always be on the sidelines, watching and loving him..Ah these kids, what a great ride they both have given us...I think we'll sign up for another year of learning and laughing with them.

Happy Birthday Lil Man....

"It's the little moments, that make life big"..Kobi Yamada

"If you want to keep your memories, first you have to live them." Bob Dylan

LIL MAN'S BUSY DAY