CONTRASTS

A day of contrasts.

It starts out so cold in the morning but before you know the sun shines
and warms the air so that it almost feels hot.  I actually put on long underwear to go for my morning walk and I meet young kids off to school in their shorts and light tops.  I get goose bumps just looking at them. 

I had a amazing wonderful day for my anniversary.  Dad decided I needed some new clothes so said lets go shopping.  Value Village I suggested.  No I want you to have something nice.  So off to hte ladies Suzanne's in Scotsdale.  I look for plain and comfortable in big sizes and dad looks for fancy smaller sizes.  In the end we made some very good choices.

I was feeling very young at heart, very loved and spoilt.  I am very blessed to have such a caring AND helpful husband.

I next set off to visit Jim and Freda, pleased to be taking him his home baked chocolate cookies.  He was absolutely miserable and I know that he has good reasons to be.  He is lonely and leads a miserable life and he admitts his thoughts are dark and negative.  Maybe the change in the weather is making him mean to the extreme and I know I should not feel hurt by his hateful depression but I do.  It could also bee his meds.  A learning experience for me to teach me to ask if he wants a visit or not.

Fortunely Freda is a dear soul and cheers me up as we laugh together.  Her life has changed a lot since she moved in there she lived in a small but beautiful apartment where she had a flower garden she loved taking care of.  She has been married twice and both her husbands died. I am reminded that it is a gift when some one wants to share the story of their life with you.  She is thrilled to hear it is my anniversary.

The day end joyously as dad and I went out to the North Shore Golf Club with Jane, my dear friend, and hubby Geof.  We get along famously.  The view is beautiful and our meal excellent.  It was so good to relax and just have fun together.

What a happy note to end a glorious day on.  Life that is lived aware of the sacredness of all life flows through the moments of the day.  All things great and small make a pattern that weaves the sadness and the joys to create something lasting and meaningful.

Yes the leaves are turning colour and are falling one by one and the days are growing darker but joy comes in unexpected moments of happiness and contentment.  I have had a busy but productive week.

What about you?  And yes Jane I did see the things you saw in my picture that I did not realize where there until you mentioned them!  !  !  The woman in the burka was our umbrella and there was an angel in the tree along with scissors!  !

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

It is hard to believe another year has flown by.  I thought you had forgotten dear, because I almost had.
We are certainly looking older but happy to have each other.  I am getting more forgetful and more clumsy but still feel I am very much the same me.  So far we have made no plans but maybe we will get an inspiration now that our day is here.  My guess is 55 years but I am not good at dates. 

Our picture was taken by Sandra at her and Randy's house where we were treated to an excellent dinner make with gluten-free ingredients.  Thank you Sandra for all the effort you both made and especially the thoughtfulness.  Dad and I thoroughly enjoyed every bite!

It was good to have Cameron come for his visit.  He looks very happy and he and Shandel have a few years to catch up on us.  I felt a lot of joy being at their wedding.  Now, I wonder who will be next in our family?

I have a touch of asthma right now that hit me in the fall last year and has decided to visit me again this year.  It is annoying especially when I eat and sleeping at night.  Dad slept better because his shoulder did not bother him last night.  He probably just needed a good meal.

My quote for the day :
"If I can unplug from fantasy ( but not imagination) and bring the real me to the table, the real me as I am at that moment, then I can make room for the real God.

Not just the God others have told me about.

Not just the God I was told I had to believe in.

Nor just the God who is the projection of my wishes, "unquiet thoughts", or "folklore dreams".

God becomes present as gravity, light, heat, friendship, hope, love--the Real Presence, who is really present."

From "Naked Spirituality" by Brian D. Mclaren.

HILARIOUS

I laughed out loud  as I was reading about the wroter who was so much like me.  She even gets up at 5:30.  She started journaling her thoughts at a time in her life when she was feeling miserable and like me when she went to reread them she destroyed them.  It was like I was sitting with her sharing in her laughter as she  visits with friends, even picks up community garbage' she loves old quotes and is having to deal with getting older.  She is searching for truth and light that also encludes the spiritual.  

Her marriage has broken up but she continues to believe that if you take a step toward life, life will support you.  She finds that ideas come and go in her head and are too countless to write about.  At the same time she can sit down to write and her mind seems empty until she begins.

In writing  about life she finds she is able to express what she is feeling and that is just being herself, not a daughter or mother or wife.  This can mean becoming detached from worries and uncertainties.

"There is something mysterious but obvious about the importance of staying put"

The Journal Keeper  by Phyllis Theroux

Yesterday when I went to visit at the hospital I had to sit as my friend was having tests.  Resting the mind allows the soul to do its work.  I had a beautiful view of White Rock and could even see the ocean.  I watched people coming and going.  A young girl bringing a present for a baby was full of happiness, while others walked slowly not looking forward to their visits.

My friend was glad to see me and share what she was going through.  I cannot imagine being a doctor as they struggle with illness and the unknown causes of what they are discovering,  I feel a deep sadness knowing what it is like to have to face the unknown. 

As I hold her hand and say a prayer I believe that there is a healing power that can awaken within us a healing energy to help us face the fear with faith.

LIGHT

As I turn on my light in my computer room I will soon hear my neighbor Cathy's car starting and I know she is off to work.  She looks up at my window and knows all is well I am on my computer.  She came over to check on us when we were away because she had missed my light.

We are not always aware of the light we bring into the lives of others but we all do!

I like to try to use my journals to be a source of light even on the days that are dull and dark.

Yesterday as I went out the door, rain pants on and all, to walk with my friend Gundy the rain felt gentle and refreshing on my face; but as we turned the corner on our walk the rain came pelting down and it was miserably cold.  It was good to open the door to the warmth and light of home.

On the radio as dad and I got ready for bed they were talking about kindles and I cannot imagine a world without book stores and libraries.  I love going into both.  There is nothing like opening the first page of a book not knowing want you will find written in the words there.

I suppose I write about a lot of the same things; my family, my friendships, learning even in aging, the joy I find in writing and reading, the struggles of staying on my diet in the desire to stay healthy, and at times the feelings of self-doubt.  I know that I am not alone in my experiences.

Today dad is off to the skin doctor in White Rock.  I may go with him to do some visiting and shopping at Choices and drop some books off at the book drop off there.  First I will head out for a walk and enjoy seeing the light coming to start this new day.

I had candles ready yesterday in case the power went off but although it did get windy it was not as bad as in some places.

I am thankful for the light that the words and actions Jesus brings into my daily existance!

FAMILIAR

There is something comforting about the familar.

When we went for our walk in the Water Shed with all it's different paths Morgan and grandpa started back ahead of Ben and I.  "Grandpa" she asked each step along the way, " does this look familiar?"  He wondered if this was a new word she had just learned.  Children are more observant than we realize.

The weather yesterday was a bit crazy, with rain a little sunny period, and a fierce blowing wind that made crashingg noises in our house.  It was amazing it did not blow our sagging fence down.

It is good to see all the familiar faces at church and see the familiar surroundings.  There was a wonderful little group of children that brightens the whole place.  I had a crazy spell of vertigo so left early which was too bad as I wanted to talk to a few people.  I wondered if it had anything to do with the pressure in the atmosphere.  Who knows? 

Today we are off to the library and to do some shopping.  The cupboard is looking bare but it is amazing what you can make with some bits of things here and there.

I enjoy singing the familiar and simple hymns in church.  I notice dad does too.  It is important for me to take time to be in a place of worship where I can find quiet and hear familiar words of scripture.  Time to be free of distractions and tasks that need to be done and let my soul respond to the spiritual that is too often forgotten about or pushed aside. 

BEFORE AND AFTER

Ben and Morgan loved exploring the woods and they ran continually everywhere.

THE PICNIC

I enjoyed the time dad and I had with the great-grandchildren in the Water Shed woods.  I have had a very hard time admitting that I do not have the energy to keep up with them.  It would have been a lot for me to have them over-night but in my heart I did want to do it. 

It was good the children were so happy and excited to go to Auntie Sandie/s house.  Actually great auntie.  It is sad to let go of things you have enjoyed doing.  I have always enjoyed children.

Morgan and I find some blackberries.

Ben enjoys climbing and exploring.

Morgan is still for a moment.

even grandpa is on the move.

Grandpa was the one who came home and had a short power nap.  I was exhausted when we got home from Sandra's where we left her and the two children snuggled on the couch to watch a movie.

Children grow up so fast and I realize more now than ever the importance of childhood and the things I have learnt that have been the biology of my belief about myself, others and my world and were I fit in .