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With 2017 in the works, I’m starting some new things, though I’m not making resolutions, because they usually are pointless. I am setting intentions and acting on exciting changes. It has been a lovely, protracted holiday season, and I will miss it – it’s my favorite time of year. Here’s a sunset towards the end of our strange last year, to usher the old out and the new in. I hope you feel hope and positive change (yes, I did that) for the coming months. And of course, as always love and joy.
Littleton, Colorado.
Quote of the day: “I’ve always found that the most beautiful people, truly beautiful inside and out, are the ones who are quietly unaware of their effect.” — Jennifer L. Armentrout
Daily gratitudes:
Feeling like a lovely married couple
Dogs in shop windows
My surrogate daughter
That Kelsea returns from Ireland tomorrow (though not to me)
Two workouts today
Well, not exactly, but the blues are singing a song of me today, and kitties always seem to help, whether it is images on a screen, or the real thing sitting on my heart. Mr. Man does have a tendency to lay on whatever part of me isn’t feeling up to snuff. He’s a wise healing kitty. It was a lovely Thanksgiving, and I hope you all enjoyed it or at least kept family disputes to a minimum. I know it can be a tense time, especially this year.
For me now, we enter into a strange chrysalis-like phase that often lasts from after Thanksgiving until after the anniversary of my Mother’s passing. It will be ten years this year, and seems like yesterday sometimes. Two friends have lost a parent in the last week, and my heart goes out to them. It alters the character of the holidays when a loss is associated with days that the rest of the world associates with a certain celebration.
So for now, kitties.
Littleton, Colorado.
Quote of the day: “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Daily gratitudes:
A lovely day
A lovely yesterday with MKL
A Downton Abbey marathon
A long talk with Kelsea
The East Simpson Coffee Shop
Always watching over us. Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers.
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
Quote of the day: “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” — Marcel Proust
Daily gratitudes:
That my house is under the Canadian Geese flight path
Owls hooting in the darkness
Cozy Mr. Man
Having Kelsea home for a few days
Embarrassing moments that make for good stories
Pardon me for waxing mushy for a post…
When I met MKL (through eHarmony, yes), I had no idea he would become my husband. When we had been matched (on my birthday), I had shown his picture to Kelsea and asked what she thought. She approved, so we did the little email-y, question-asky thing that eHarmony has you do, and it went well. And then I didn’t hear from him. And I didn’t hear from him. And one day, while we were at Topsail, and I was suffering from some stomach juju, I said to Kelsea, “Remember that nice guy that I was emailing with? He hasn’t responded to me. Do you think I should nudge him (because that’s what you can do on eHarmony) or should I just let it go?” “You liked him, right? Nudge him,” she said. So I did. He answered. When Kelsea and I got back, MKL and I had our first phone conversation. I was sitting in a camp chair on my front porch with a glass of red wine. We talked for an hour, and agreed to have lunch. He walked me back to my office after that lunch and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back inside, everyone said I was glowing. I never stopped glowing.
MKL knew that I was someone he had been looking for and hoping for. It took me a bit longer to figure that out , and I am so glad that I caught up with him. I cannot imagine my life and my future without him. He holds my heart and understands me as no one has. We are not identical, and we have our own opinions, but our spirits are shared and that makes me richer than anything else ever could. What a blessing, my MKL.
(Photo credit: Issy Kilbride)
Quote of the day: “There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.” — Sarah Dessen
Daily gratitudes:
Spoonerisms
The shaking bowl today
A warm Mr. Man in my lap
Physical therapy
Kelsea’s and my agreed-upon text code
Well, sort of. It was a very quiet Halloween. No trick-or-treaters. Honestly, between my tall fence and my creepy dead tree, I wouldn’t be surprised if the neighborhood kids think my house is haunted. Oh wait, it is. 🙂 So I give you this little creepy goody, taken at Kelsea’s favorite place in the mountains.
Central City, Colorado.
Quote of the day: “Remember your name. Do not lose hope–what you seek will be found. Trust ghosts. Trust those that you have helped to help you in their turn. Trust dreams. Trust your heart, and trust your story.” — Neil Gaiman
Daily gratitudes:
The little girl in the unicorn costume at the grocery store
Being warm inside when the wind is blowing
The crunch of dead leaves underfoot
Watching Mr. Man watch the falling leaves
Feeling a little better
It is turning colder here. My house spirits are enjoying their newly learned trick of playing with the thermostat. Mr. Man is about the warmest thing around, when MKL isn’t here. So I turn back to the Out Islands, which seem like months, rather than weeks ago. My mild case of breakbone fever, combined with the change of seasons, means my joints are painful and I am already dreaming of our next trip to someplace where there is sand between our toes and sunsets into the sea.
Great Exuma, Bahamas.
Quote of the day: “A journey, after all, neither begins in the instant we set out, nor ends when we have reached our door step once again. It starts much earlier and is really never over, because the film of memory continues running on inside of us long after we have come to a physical standstill. Indeed, there exists something like a contagion of travel, and the disease is essentially incurable.” — Ryszard Kapuscinski
Daily gratitudes:
Morning fog
Days that warm up to sunshine
A full tank of gas
That the Red Sox are winning
Plans and dreams
The Exumas were known for their salt production back in the 18th and 19th centuries. This Tuscan column, situated on a hilltop across from the salt ponds, was a marker to guide ships into the bay to pick up the salt harvest. The salt ponds are right across the road from this spot, and we could imagine how miserable the slaves who gathered salt must have been. The heat emanating from the water was unbelievable.
Little Exuma, Bahamas.
Quote of the day: “I don’t know much about being a millionaire, but I’ll bet I’d be darling at it.” — Dorothy Parker
Daily gratitudes:
Pain medication
Cold sheets
Small victories
Mr. Man
Beautiful frost patterns
MKL caught these stars for me in the blue, blue sea. Two of them. And this is one was ready for her close-up. The starfish were surprisingly heavy, surprisingly hard, and surprisingly pokey. Of course, we put them back.
Great Exuma, Bahamas.
Quote of the day: “As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” — John Green
Daily gratitudes:
Pretty fall colors
A beautiful morning
Making it from my bed to the shower to the bus stop in 20 minutes
That MKL is home with me tonight
The birdsong of those migrating south
And a pure reflection of the colors of the flag of the Bahamas. This was taken at Big D’s Conch Stop, which was an absolutely gorgeous place to eat by the sea. I discovered that I am indeed allergic to conch (sorry conch, three strikes and you’re out). I don’t like eating conch anyway because of the time I dove one out of the water at Cow Wreck Beach and it looked at me with its little eyes as if it were saying, “Are you gonna EAT ME????” It looked so scared that I put it out far away from anyone else who might be looking for lunch.
Great Exuma, Bahamas.
Quote of the day: “Falling in love is as simple as opening your eyes, when you see the one.” — Mark O’Brien
Daily gratitudes:
The crazy beautiful sunset sunbeams through the fall leaves
MKL
Honesty
Soup on chilly days
Hanging up my clothes when I take them off instead of dropping them on the floor
Walk with me, down the tiled path from the dining room. Fill your eyes with the blue. Step down the whitewashed cement stairs – one, two, three, four – and onto the weathered boards of the little landing to the very edge of the sea.
Great Exuma, Bahamas.
Quote of the day: “There is something fresh and crisp about the first hours of a Caribbean day, a happy anticipation that something is about to happen, maybe just up the street or around the next corner.” — Hunter S. Thompson
Daily gratitudes:
Reading about writing
New ideas
A warm coat
Using Mr. Man as a blanket
Having breakfast already made before bedtime
