Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobble stones
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy
Feelin' groovy
Hello lamppost what you knowing?
I've come to watch your flowers growing
Ain't you got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' do-do feelin' groovy
Feelin' groovy
Got no deeds to do, no promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you all is groovy
Okay, so I'm old enough to remember a 1966 Simon and Garfunkel song, and you know what? I even had an 8-track with that song on it. Played it in my Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Best. Car. Ever. But I digress.
I've had this song on my mind all day. I don't really know why unless it's the fact that I've thought a lot lately about how fast time flies. And because today has been a Dory day (you know Dory, the absent minded fish on Finding Nemo?). "Follow me...Why are you following me?" Okay, sorry, there I go again.
(Have I mentioned that I now have the attention span of a three year old?)
Anyway, back to the song. I'm trying to adapt to this new lifestyle of mine. No, it's not always fun and groovy, but it is slower and different. Lots to do, but no real demands on me to get anything done by a deadline most of the time. (Hero is very patient with me and my Doryness.) I have slowed down a lot. And I start a lot of projects but never get them finished. (I can hear my daughters now..."Ha! What else is new?" I've always been a starter and not a finisher, it's just gotten worse. Like way worse. I don't just abandon my projects anymore, I completely forget about them.
I started several things today. Since insomnia is now my nightly companion, I end up sleeping too late in the morning. Then I have to have some coffee to kick-start my brain, and then I start a project, get around to some breakfast, start another project, because I forgot the first one I started, then it's lunch time, another project and...well, you see what I mean? And I take lots of breaks because the old energy level she ain't what she used to be.
Today among other things I had some medical bills/insurance things to tend to; get to the CPA's and get our taxes finalized; cleaned out a bathroom closet (not a small task); and helped Hero plant some blueberry bushes. But I still had piles of dishes, piles of papers, piles of laundry, piles of this and piles of that (Okay, no off color humor about piles here, okay?)
Every day I wake up and say I'm going to get it all done and every day I go off on a Dory trip. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. Shoot, tomorrow, I just may find me a lamp-post and strike up a conversation and go and watch it's flowers growing! Or go kicking down the cobble stones. Who knows? But that's okay, cause "Life I Love You, All is Groovy!"
DORY ALERT: Forgot to mention that this whole post started with the song and how I've been thinking about how summer seems to be coming upon us so fast. BECAUSE...just today a hummingbird came to my front door, no doubt to remind me that it is once again time to put the feeders out -- what was he holding...a tiny tin cup???? Okay, it's very late. And I saw a lightning bug last night! Yeah, already!!! Slow down -- we're moving too fast!!!!!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Ordinary Days
My perspective has changed. I don't know if it's because of age, empty nest, or cancer -- or maybe all of the above -- but things are different now. There's just something very extraordinary about ordinary days.
Just now I have my window open and a cool night breeze is blowing in. I can hear the coyotes just starting to run in the woods behind the house, and oddly enough the neighborhood dogs all sit silently as the intruders pass through. I wonder...why are the dogs that normally bark at moon shadows suddenly silent? What's up with that? I wish I knew. It doesn't really matter, now does it? It is what it is, and yet it's one of those ordinary things that I never really paid any attention to before....well before whatever...but now I wonder.
Sunsets are more beautiful than they've ever been. (I'm sure the sunrises are nicer, too, but alas I've become an insomniac and do my best sleeping when I should be getting up.) Rain is fresher. Everything seems greener this spring than ever. Ordinary days.
We've been entertained by a very territorial pair of bluebirds this spring. While busying themselves with nestbuilding in the cute little bluebird house we provided for them, they discovered their reflections in our car side-view mirrors and our car windows, and have wreaked havoc with our automobiles. How two tiny little birds can make such a mess on a car I'll never know. Mind you, we've had bluebirds lo these 20-plus years we've lived here on Mockingbird Hill, yet never have had them declare war with their reflections in our cars and trucks. Maybe it's a revenge thing. Maybe they wanted this land to be called Bluebird Hill. Who knows? Someday I'll post a video that Hero took one afternoon of one of the silly birds doing battle with the Camry. It's a hoot.
We have a few stranger-than-strange critter stories from the Hill -- crazy cardinals, Carolina wrens, fly-days (oh, don't get me started on that one), a black lab who thinks it's her lot in life to retrieve turtles, Charlottes and their webs, oh, and killdeers (we say kildees here in the south) and ....I could go on, but I'll save those for another time. And we have families of squirrels now that the oak trees are producing bumper crops of acorns. I guess there's not much hope for pecans when the trees we planted mature. Oh, well, I love watching the squirrels. I can buy pecans.
Time spent with family and friends is more precious than it's ever been. We don't have to do anything "entertaining" -- just hanging out is enough. Ordinary stuff.
Who knew that just sitting out on the patio with Hero, even when we don't have much to say, could be so, well, extraordinary?
I never realized what a restless and I guess discontented person I was until now. Looking back it seems like I always lived very tentatively. Maybe everybody does to an extent. You know, if I can accomplish this...buy that...overcome this hurdle...whatever...everything will be better. I am now living in the moment, realizing that I don't have to have anything else, do anything else, or be anyone else to be content. God has blessed me with my husband who is really and truly my hero, two wonderful daughters, funny and loving sisters, nieces and nephews galore, each with his or her own unique "thing" I love about them, and better friends than a person could ever ask for. Most of all my loving Heavenly Father has allowed me to be adopted into His family by way of His Son. I am blessed, and life is good.
I hope you, too, will take the time to see the extraordinary in ordinary days.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. -- Matthew 6:34
P.S. While you're taking the time to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, ponder on these lyrics from one of my all-time favorite songs "Cool, An' Green, An' Shady" by John Denver. Or better yet, look it up on YouTube and listen to it.
(Yes, I said John Denver...don't judge me...you have your oldie faves, too!)
Saturdays, holidays, easy afternoons,
lazy days, sunny days, nothing much to do.
Rainy days are better days for hanging out inside.
Grainy days and city ways make me want to hide
someplace cool and green and shady.
Find yourself a piece of grassy ground, lay down close your eyes.
Find yourself and maybe lose yourself while your free spirit flies.
August skies, and lullabies, promises to keep,
dandelions and twisting vines, clover at your feet.
Memories of aspen leaves trembling on the wind,
honey bees and fantasies, where to start again,
someplace cool and green and shady. Cool and green and shady.
Cool and green and shady. Cool and green and shady.
Just now I have my window open and a cool night breeze is blowing in. I can hear the coyotes just starting to run in the woods behind the house, and oddly enough the neighborhood dogs all sit silently as the intruders pass through. I wonder...why are the dogs that normally bark at moon shadows suddenly silent? What's up with that? I wish I knew. It doesn't really matter, now does it? It is what it is, and yet it's one of those ordinary things that I never really paid any attention to before....well before whatever...but now I wonder.
Sunsets are more beautiful than they've ever been. (I'm sure the sunrises are nicer, too, but alas I've become an insomniac and do my best sleeping when I should be getting up.) Rain is fresher. Everything seems greener this spring than ever. Ordinary days.
We've been entertained by a very territorial pair of bluebirds this spring. While busying themselves with nestbuilding in the cute little bluebird house we provided for them, they discovered their reflections in our car side-view mirrors and our car windows, and have wreaked havoc with our automobiles. How two tiny little birds can make such a mess on a car I'll never know. Mind you, we've had bluebirds lo these 20-plus years we've lived here on Mockingbird Hill, yet never have had them declare war with their reflections in our cars and trucks. Maybe it's a revenge thing. Maybe they wanted this land to be called Bluebird Hill. Who knows? Someday I'll post a video that Hero took one afternoon of one of the silly birds doing battle with the Camry. It's a hoot.
We have a few stranger-than-strange critter stories from the Hill -- crazy cardinals, Carolina wrens, fly-days (oh, don't get me started on that one), a black lab who thinks it's her lot in life to retrieve turtles, Charlottes and their webs, oh, and killdeers (we say kildees here in the south) and ....I could go on, but I'll save those for another time. And we have families of squirrels now that the oak trees are producing bumper crops of acorns. I guess there's not much hope for pecans when the trees we planted mature. Oh, well, I love watching the squirrels. I can buy pecans.
Time spent with family and friends is more precious than it's ever been. We don't have to do anything "entertaining" -- just hanging out is enough. Ordinary stuff.
Who knew that just sitting out on the patio with Hero, even when we don't have much to say, could be so, well, extraordinary?
I never realized what a restless and I guess discontented person I was until now. Looking back it seems like I always lived very tentatively. Maybe everybody does to an extent. You know, if I can accomplish this...buy that...overcome this hurdle...whatever...everything will be better. I am now living in the moment, realizing that I don't have to have anything else, do anything else, or be anyone else to be content. God has blessed me with my husband who is really and truly my hero, two wonderful daughters, funny and loving sisters, nieces and nephews galore, each with his or her own unique "thing" I love about them, and better friends than a person could ever ask for. Most of all my loving Heavenly Father has allowed me to be adopted into His family by way of His Son. I am blessed, and life is good.
I hope you, too, will take the time to see the extraordinary in ordinary days.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. -- Matthew 6:34
P.S. While you're taking the time to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, ponder on these lyrics from one of my all-time favorite songs "Cool, An' Green, An' Shady" by John Denver. Or better yet, look it up on YouTube and listen to it.
(Yes, I said John Denver...don't judge me...you have your oldie faves, too!)
Saturdays, holidays, easy afternoons,
lazy days, sunny days, nothing much to do.
Rainy days are better days for hanging out inside.
Grainy days and city ways make me want to hide
someplace cool and green and shady.
Find yourself a piece of grassy ground, lay down close your eyes.
Find yourself and maybe lose yourself while your free spirit flies.
August skies, and lullabies, promises to keep,
dandelions and twisting vines, clover at your feet.
Memories of aspen leaves trembling on the wind,
honey bees and fantasies, where to start again,
someplace cool and green and shady. Cool and green and shady.
Cool and green and shady. Cool and green and shady.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Sista Time
Well, I got some much needed "Sista" time today. It's been a while since we've taken the time to get together. This was one of those unplanned get-togethers, and we were minus one sista. First, I went to #3 sister, JJ's, to go with her to find a lamp for her desk. Remember...lamp. While I was on my way to JJ's, #2 sister, JR (who I fondly refer to as the dominant mare...every herd has one--teehee) called JJ and, well, the trip north ended up being a trip south, and the hunt for the lamp turned into first a stroll through Mama's yard looking at all the flowers she planted and treasured for so many years. Then on to fine dining at the local Mexican restaurant, a trip to a nursery to get some yellow jasmine plants (they have a name, but I can't remember what they are now), some shallots, and then a drive down memory lane off South Third Street where we lived when we were kids. (Shhhh, JR doesn't want her son to know we actually went to that part of town--you know a part of town the police avoid...yeah.) It's just not the same neighborhood it was back in the day -- but that sort of thing really doesn't deter the Sistas when we want to go somewhere.
As it turns out our old home wasn't there anymore and the gi-normous yard somehow shrunk. At least it's a lot smaller than I remembered it being when I was four years old. How does that happen, anyway? Time not only heals all wounds, but it shrinks all yards and houses, too. No. Really.
Some fond memories were resurrected, like my older sibs in a fight with a can of whipped cream, watching them play ping-pong at our dining room table, clover necklaces and catching lightning bugs (fireflies to you non-southerners.) Oh, and how we would get our feet wet with dew and walk around after Daddy had cut the grass and get "grass shoes" -- good times. Oh, and I'll never forget the time when JJ beat the tar out of our cousin, Billy, one time when she got totally fed up with his bullying. Kind of an Annie Oakley moment for JJ. Way to go, girl! Oh, great, now I have "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better" stuck in my head. Hehe, you do too, huh? Well, you're welcome. :D
Well, when we found our way back to D-County, we finally went shopping for the lamp -- remember the day started out as an outing to find JJ a desk lamp. Well, I found a salad spinner to replace my broken one, and JJ found some really pretty pictures for her bathroom. We did a lot of looking and wishing and walking and walking and walking. I decided I probably need to just register at Bed, Bath and Beyond so Hero can do one-stop shopping for Christmas and birthdays and anniversaries for me. I'm like a kid in a candy store in that place. I want everything I see. Well, almost. But you get the picture.
It was a good day. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have #1 sister with us. And my daughters. But that's the problem with the impromptu get-togethers. We're just all too far apart. We need not to be so far apart. We need to get together more.
Life is good.
Oh, remember the lamp? We never got a lamp. :D
As it turns out our old home wasn't there anymore and the gi-normous yard somehow shrunk. At least it's a lot smaller than I remembered it being when I was four years old. How does that happen, anyway? Time not only heals all wounds, but it shrinks all yards and houses, too. No. Really.
Some fond memories were resurrected, like my older sibs in a fight with a can of whipped cream, watching them play ping-pong at our dining room table, clover necklaces and catching lightning bugs (fireflies to you non-southerners.) Oh, and how we would get our feet wet with dew and walk around after Daddy had cut the grass and get "grass shoes" -- good times. Oh, and I'll never forget the time when JJ beat the tar out of our cousin, Billy, one time when she got totally fed up with his bullying. Kind of an Annie Oakley moment for JJ. Way to go, girl! Oh, great, now I have "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better" stuck in my head. Hehe, you do too, huh? Well, you're welcome. :D
Well, when we found our way back to D-County, we finally went shopping for the lamp -- remember the day started out as an outing to find JJ a desk lamp. Well, I found a salad spinner to replace my broken one, and JJ found some really pretty pictures for her bathroom. We did a lot of looking and wishing and walking and walking and walking. I decided I probably need to just register at Bed, Bath and Beyond so Hero can do one-stop shopping for Christmas and birthdays and anniversaries for me. I'm like a kid in a candy store in that place. I want everything I see. Well, almost. But you get the picture.
It was a good day. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have #1 sister with us. And my daughters. But that's the problem with the impromptu get-togethers. We're just all too far apart. We need not to be so far apart. We need to get together more.
Life is good.
Oh, remember the lamp? We never got a lamp. :D
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