In 50 years from now, you know what we’ll remember best from Suz’s wedding? The moment when the sprinklers turned on as we were taking pictures and I was the one who ended up taking the hit while her wedding dress stayed unspoiled and dry.
:)
(Photo by John)
“I love thee to the level of everyday’s most quiet need, by sun and candle light…I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life.”
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning
[Note: I don’t think this is the best example of a well-executed photo, but I just loved the draping candle wax (burned as I sat up late on the night of July 4th listening to the boom of fireworks from a nearby display) and then the bright light of the following morning]
:)
About two years ago I bought a bike, and not just any bike–it’s a tricked-out bright red tricycle. This bicycle allows me much independence. I can ‘commute’ to work far more cheaply and quickly than by driving, I can keep up with my kids when they’re on their skates or bikes, and I can have the joy of getting places with my own muscle power.
Because I have a disability that limits my mobility (especially preventing me from walking long distances), my bike facilitates my independence in so many ways.
This evening I took a 30 lb load of compost to the garden in my basket along with some seedlings. I routinely carry a week’s worth of groceries in my “trunk.” Tomorrow morning I will pedal to the local Farmer’s Market and return home with several bags full of tasty local produce.
Catgirl continues to amaze me. This is what she was doing yesterday while I was dreaming of roses.
She bought two of the plants and the others she dug up from various places around our neighborhood. Her creativity and vision are so inspiring.
The Final Tally:
5 for 5. Absolutely and completely unbelievable.
UPDATE:
I decided that I needed to do something to celebrate. Given that I’m a bit old for a drunken spree, I already have plenty of pairs of shoes, and I’ve been trying to eat healthier (read: cut out desserts), I decided a jaunt over to my local nursery was in order. I came home with a few more herbs and veggies for the garden (to replace those that died during my hospitalization awhile back) and three new rosebushes. Honestly people that was the BIGGEST extravagance ever. Three. Rosebushes. In some ways I really wish I wasn’t a rose person–they seem so darn cliche and they are far from cheap. But these are gorgeous roses. The kind that sprout wild and lush ’round the far corners of grandma’s garden. My favorite is called “Mon Cherie” and has a pale pink center surrounded by rich red petals and a light spicy scent. I’m contemplating adding a new rosebush for every fellowship earned. Now there’s motivation!
:)
From Dar’s blog today:
“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.”
~dale carnegie
“I don’t know if I continue, even today, always liking myself. But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes- it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, ‘well, if I’d known better I’d have done better,’ that’s all. So you say to people who you think you may have injured, ‘I’m sorry,’ and then you say to yourself, ‘I’m sorry.’
If we all hold on to the mistake, we can’t see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror; we can’t see what we’re capable of being. You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one’s own self. I think that young men and women are so caught by the way they see themselves. Now mind you. When a larger society sees them as unattractive, as threats, as too black or too white or too poor or too fat or too thin or too sexual or too asexual, that’s rough. But you can overcome that.
The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don’t have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as hell we should never teach.”
~Maya Angelou
Just as a quick addendum to my last post, I wanted to let ya know that the healing I’ve been doing for the past two weeks? Well, as of right now it looks as though further intravenous treatments, surgery, and so forth will not be necessary. Hah!
The upshot: I’ve got a busy summer ahead full of swimming, researching, teaching, gardening, writing, meditating, and LIVING.
:)
In the meantime: continuing to praise each new day. At this moment: drinking my afternoon cuppa with a silly grin on my face and a purry-purry kitty at my hip.
I suspect that many of my LDS acquaintances have thought that when bad things happen to me or my family, that we’re reaping the consequences of leaving the church, breaking the commandments, and/or reneging on covenants. (As in, “If only she had been wearing her temple garments, they would have protected her from injury.” Note to my non-LDS readers–said holy undies are offered with the promise that they will be a “shield and a protection” to the wearer.)
I suspect that some of my LDS acquaintances have thought that if only I had gotten a priesthood blessing from Mormon elders, my recent ailment would have cleared up much sooner.
While I can understand this line of thinking to some extent (given Biblical precedence and all), I wonder if any of my readers believe that God works this way? Do you think that God punishes nonadherents? Would he purposefully smite one of his children with an illness as punishment for wayward behavior or for not wearing godly undies? Or would he withhold healing from a person until they submitted to a a priesthood blessing?
This morning I picked up the key for my summer office. It turns out that, for the first time ever, I won’t be sharing an office.
You know what this means? I can make all kinds of bodily noises and scratch myself whenever and wherever I want.
This is huge, people.
You know what else? Guess what I found on the wall? A map of the “Camino de Santiago” pilgrimage route.
The universe sure knows how to make this pilgrimgirl feel right at home…
Our first home in Salt Lake City (on Williams Ave near Liberty Park). I mowed the lawn each week with GameBoy riding on my back. Then we would lay in the grass under the trees and find pictures in the clouds. We made friends with the ubiquitous box elder beetles and watched lightning storms from the front porch while our neighbor serenaded us on his guitar.
