Tuesday, June 30, 2009

You are...



You are what you are

by what you believe.

Oprah Winfrey


Photo by Peaches



I got a lot of errands done today...missed mom a lot ...sad.


Monday, June 29, 2009

Snippet Monday

I am a veracious reader. I read every day. I get up early in the morning, 5:30, so that I can fit some reading in before work, and I always end my day reading. I am also an insomniac so at night when I am reading in bed I have to keep looking at the clock. If I don't I can read right through the night. I try to put the book down by 12 or 12:30.

I live on a very tight budget, which does not include the purchase of very many new books. I also work long hours and my weekend in stuffed with domestic chores and keeping the family and home together, so regular trips to the library is not a good option either. (Small town libraries have short hours.) But I have my ways. I know when the library is giving away discards and I arrive with bags and bags to fill up. And once a year I hit up the Book Both at Congé just before they shut it down, when paperbacks go for 25 cents and hardbacks for 50. I aways have a stack of books waiting to be read.


But, as you can surmise, these books are not your current best sellers. In fact, many of them are very old, very dated books. They have that old book smell. Each one has something to offer. I tend to mark little snippets of intriguing thoughts in each book.


So, I thought that Mondays could be Snippet Day. But don't rush out looking for the book. You more than likely want be able to find it. And I know your snippets would be different than mine but...
Father Melancholy's Daughter, by Gail Godwin
“...what you said in that sermon about the ways we can choose to carry our crosses really hit home. You said we can just flat out deny we have a cross, or we can refuse to carry it, or we can whine and blame everybody else. Or, you said, we can just accept it and carry it in such a way that it builds our strength and serves as an example for others. You said we could incorporate it into our style and make that style a fine and splendid thing that can have meaning for ourselves and others.”

“... “People have so many definitions of sin,” I said. “Do you have one?” ... “A falling short from your totality,” he said. “Choosing to live in ways you know interfere with the harmony of that totality.” ... “But how do you know what your totality is?” “You learn. You unlearn. You pay attention. You feel where things balance for you and where they don't.”

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Spunky...

Having AC problems this evening...leaking all over the place...I have been mopping up water. I called my AC guy for advice and he says, after asking questions, that I can run it but to put something under the inside unit to catch the water till he can come buy to clean my lines. That's one good thing about small towns...I called him at home at 8 at night and he was OK with that.
So I went out to the garage looking for a pan and came across my cats litter tray. Made me sad to see it. I do not have a cat at the moment. I lost Spunky to feline aids over a year ago. I loved him so much...I miss him. I think I kept him alive longer than was good for him. At the end even the injections I was giving him for pain weren't enough so I had to let go. It was hard and I'm still not ready for another cat.


But, I have two dogs who don't mind being the center of attention.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Looking good...not



Walked on the Ridge again today.
Very hot , even at 7:30 in the morning.
The hills are getting easier,
meaning I am not gasping as much at the top.
It's the inclines that make the walk interesting.
Then I worked in the side yard for about two hours;
weeding and pulling day lily stalks.
Filled up one trash can
then had to stop because of the heat.
I put my head under the hose to cool off...
I looked a mess...
well you know that's when the ex stops by...
why does that still bother me?
...how I look to him?

Thursday, June 25, 2009

mental attitude



Seek out that particular mental attitude
which makes you most deeply and vitally alive,
along with which comes the inner voice
which says, “This is the real me,”
and when you have found that attitude, follow it.


William James (1842-1910)


Photo by Peaches



Tuesday, June 23, 2009

to think quietly, to act gently...


To live content with small means;
to seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion;
to be worthy, not respectable,
and wealthy, not rich;
to study hard,
think quietly, talk gently, act frankly;
to listen to the stars and birds,
to babes and sages,
with open heart;
to bear on cheerfully,
do all bravely....

William Ellery Channing (1780-1842)

Photo by Peaches
(detail of a mural by Robert Dafford)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Him



There he is, the man who was my father, dead some twenty-five years now. His death gave me back my mother, in a way. She lived with me for twenty-two years after his passing. She died this March, she was seventy-seven years old. Theirs was an arranged marriage. They were together for over thirty years; he was nineteen years older. She came to love him, I came to not. I guess I loved him when I was small and unaware. My mother chose to be unaware; it was what she knew. I left my fathers' house when I was sixteen. Life was hard, but I survived. I have been taking care of myself ever since. I am fifty-five now, I have a masters degree, a job that makes me happy, and a son that I love.
Am I a happy person? Yes, I am. Did I have a happy, shinny childhood? No, I did not. My life experiences give me depth, but my life, the living of it, I color as I please.

Friday, June 19, 2009

I Believe...



I believe in the eternal importance of the home
as the fundamental institution of society.
I believe in the immeasurable possibilities
of every boy and girl.
I believe in the imagination, the trust, the hopes, and ideals
which dwell in the hearts of all children.
I believe in the beauty of nature, of art, of books,
and of friendship.
I believe in the satisfactions of duty.
I believe in the little homely joys of everyday life...

Ozora Davis (1866-1931)

Photo by Peaches

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Timeless Words



To awaken each morning with a smile brightening my face:
to greet the day with reverence for the opportunities it contains;
to approach my work with a clean mind;
to hold ever before me, even in the doing of little things,
the ultimate purpose toward which I am working;
to meet men and women with laughter on my lips and love in my heart;
to be gentle, kind, and courteous through all hours;
to approach the night with weariness that ever woos sleep
and the joy that comes from work well done
this is how I desire to waste wisely my days.

Thomas Dekker (1570-1641)
Photo by Peaches

Monday, June 15, 2009

A Brontë Day

“I've dreamt in my life
dreams that have stayed with me ever after,
and changed my ideas:
they've gone through and through me,
like wine through water,
and altered the colour of my mind.”
Emily Brontë (1818-1848)

Photo by Peaches

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Domestic Frenzy

Saturday is my domestic day. The day I try to fit in all the things that need to be done at home. Even though it is summer I am still programed to do this. During the school year I leave home between 7:20 and 7:30 in the morning and get home around 6:45 in the evening. After supper is made and consumed, then the kitchen cleaned, I don't feel much like doing chores. But on Saturday morning, after coffee and a bit of reading, I am out working in the yard by 8:00 or earlier. There's mowing, weeding, harvesting, and watering to be done with lots of dog cuddling and playing mixed in. I stop around 11-11:30 because you never finish that stuff and it gets hot at that time of day, and it's lunch time anyway. After a quick bite, lots of water, and a shower, it's on to the inside stuff. There's vacuuming, dusting, and scrubbing. I stop that around 3:00 because you never finish that stuff and I need to get the marketing done. There's driving to the market, finding all the things on my list, checking out--which takes longer than the shopping, driving home, and putting it all away. Did I tell you that I hate shopping, all shopping. I did not get the shopping gene. Then, gee, it's time to cook supper...
Sunday is laundry day...

Friday, June 12, 2009

Photo Friday



I have photographed this place many times, for many years. I love this spot...this view...under these oaks. It is a place filled with spirit.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

living in the process


I had lunch with my friends, Linda and Denise, yesterday. We always have great fun when we get together. We talk about everything and at one point we were talking about Meryl Streep. It made me remember a quote of hers in a book I have, which I had to look up today. She says, Meryl that is...

“Integrate what you believe into every single area of your life. Take your heart to work and ask the most and best of everybody else. Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and on one else does, the truth—don't let that get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency.”

Now that's living in the process...life to, like art, is about process.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Simple things

sunlight and shadows...

Trees and shade...

and quiet time to enjoy them...

Photos by Peaches

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Twenty-two years and a life time...



This post, the first real post, will be about my mother, Marjorie. Mom, who lived with me for twenty-two years, died in her sleep on March 18th of this year. She came to live with me after my father died, because she did not have the means to live on her own. Even though I am the youngest of my siblings and was not at that time at a point in my personal life for this responsibility I embraced it anyway. I invested deeply in making her life a good one...she deserved it. She grew and blossomed into a happy, independent soul. She had twenty-two good years.
She loved to be outside with her feet bare and her hands in the dirt. She could grow anything. I once gave her a long stem rose which she rooted. If it rained, she could only take it for so long then she was out working in the rain. Later she would come back in dripping, but with a big smile.
My son and I miss her.

Monday, June 8, 2009

and so it begins

...this dive into the waters of bloggerland.
I'll just explore a bit...