life

White Orchids

Back Story

We are surrounded with miracles. Many of them are taken for granted. Others capture our attention and we find ourselves mesmerized. That’s what happened here.

White Orchids

At the Farmers Market, I purchased a fresh cut spray of white orchids. Put them in the turquoise Fenton vase that has been gracing the dining room table for weeks since I won it out of the hands of the other bidders at an auction.

The vase had been giving us such pleasure, with its round sculpture and graceful scallops. The glass is intriguingly cut to clear in oval designs. It was really pretty, all by itself.

But with the orchids added, the two came alive with the beauty created by nature and by man. It was impossible not to smile every time you pass by. So fresh, bold and inspiring.

Sort of like passing by a cherished photo of grandchildren or good friends. You just HAVE to stop and look and remember some event or occasion when you were so glad they were in your life.

I’m told that if I treat them right, the orchids will last a good three weeks. Then, like most good things, they will become a lovely memory. Then we’ll look for some new gifts of Mother Nature and start the process of enjoyment all over again.

A very small thing – drawing enjoyment out of looking at flowers in a vase. But then life is made beautiful by the daily strings of just such small enjoyments.

P.S.

The sadness of months in the last year have shrouded many everyday enjoyments. Let’s let the summer sun bring back the happiness.

[Show #428]

How’s Your World?

Backstory

After months of cloister and self-inflicted hugless, distant interactions, can we still have moments of joy? How does it look when you take an inventory of your blessings?

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How’s Your World? – #618

I want to ask you something. Regardless of the troubles of the world, how is YOUR world? The one you live in, every day, where you work and eat and sleep and laugh.

Are your kids clean and healthy? Are they learning or earning? Is there a roof over your head? Are your parents taken care of? Is there food on your table and clean water coming out of your spigot?

If so, you are far more fortunate than many. And that means you have much for which to give thanks.

This country has served you well, In providing a place where you could learn and work and live freely. Whatever your degree of prosperity, if you look inward, you can usually smile and nod “OK.”

So although we can complain that the world is not as good as it should be, let’s also celebrate the freedoms and rights we enjoy. Instead of asking for more, let’s give thanks for what we have and what we have had.

Then, let’s think about ways to give back as our act of thanks. Provide a kind word today. Donate something to a good cause. Use your God-given talents – for free. Teach something. Forgive someone. Share a smile. Give someone you love an extra hug and two compliments.

Life is good – even though sometimes, we need a reminder.

P.S.

People have been so creative about giving back, during this pandemic lock-down. What have you done? Sew masks? Participate in car caravans? Send a weekly check to the cleaning person even though she could not come and clean? It all matters. It all counts. And on Tuesday, give back by casting your vote and having your voice heard.

[Show #618]

Evening

Backstory – Evening

Retirement, with all its opportunities, can also lead to a life that is quieter, safer, softer. Can that lead to boredom? That was the concern of my beloved, when retirement was new to me and well experienced by him. This is the conversation we had about that.

Consider This Show – Evening

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We were sitting on the porch, watching the early evening clouds change color as sunset approached. He turned to me and asked, “Do you enjoy sitting here quietly, just taking it all in?” He referred to the mountains that rose from the other side of the road…the flowers in the swaying trees…the birds twittering happily in the evening shadows. “Sometimes I wonder if this is too staid for you,” he added.

How could I possibly express to him, all it meant to sit next to him and take in the daily miracles that so often go unnoticed in our hurried world. To hear the sounds of nature instead of the ringing of the house phone, the office phone, the cell phone. To sit there knowing this is the final destination of the day. No more need to wedge my way into the traffic and claim my share of blacktop to get me home. The most peaceful time of day when my heart sings and my hand touching his is divinely intimate. It is the essence of every love song.

“This is my favorite part,” I shared softly, tears of joy gathering in my eyes.

And I believe he understood everything expressed by those few little words.

[Show #198]

Time to Hide?

Backstory – A Time to Hide

This story came from concern about the daily news in our country. While we await progress and decision making and leadership, what we receive is foot dragging, finger pointing and blame. We would not put up with it in our own life, why do we allow it in our government? Hear where we might look for guidance.

Consider This Show – A Time to Hide

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Americans are worried. You can see it in our words and hear it in the emails we exchange with each other. The questionable practices that brought us to this state of the economy have long been in place. It’s impossible to revise things over night. Our good days have suddenly become the good old days.

There will be no easy out or fast cure. So what do we do? Shall we hide until it all goes away? Shall we ignore it all or turn the other cheek, or just hope for the best?

But this is not the first time that America has faced economic challenges. It’s not the first time that others have stolen away what is rightfully ours. Whether it be our savings, our home, or a loved one. Life isn’t fair, but we sometimes lose what out to have been ours to keep.

It’s time for families to turn inward. Discuss what the hard times mean for you and for others. Acknowledge the stress created by not knowing what can happen next. Ask your parents and grand-parents how they survived previous downturns. Just talking out in the open can really help.

Remember that life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain. Something to consider.

[Show #601]

Just Another Day

Backstory – Just Another Day

Time. It’s something that should be consistent. Just 24 hours in each day and that’s that. Do the best with it you can. You get no more and no less.

But it’s NOT the same to everyone. Ask anyone under 10 years old whether time flies. They’ll probably tell you it wobbles at a snail’s pace.

I started thinking about how time moves at different speeds during different phases of your life. Surely every adult remembers how long the time was to Christmas or your next birthday. It just seemed to drag on.

Finally, you grow up and became a parent to one or more. That’s when time takes on the traits of a rocket. The space between wake up and tucked in goodnights passes at breakneck speed. Rarely do the day’s chores and obligations all reach completion. Time to think or plan becomes a luxury. Time alone, by yourself, is so precious that most of it is captured in the bathroom! You are constantly on call and forever busy.

Then comes the empty nesting period; the time when your grown children are on their own. They are making their own decisions and molding their own place in the world. Time starts to slow down as your work schedules curtail or ends and you retire from the employment scene.

The part that comes next may be hardest of all. This is when your decisions begin being questioned. Others may suggest that they know better, what’s best for you. The tragic part is – sometimes, they are right.

I was thinking about this catapult of change from one life phase to another when I wrote Just Another Day for Consider This. Please read or listen along and see what you think.

Consider This Show – Just Another Day

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Just another day. As a teenager, I can remember awakening with a sigh; it was about to become Just Another Day; one that would include studies and chores and meals and interaction with family members.

If I was really lucky, it might even include some alone time. I treasured those moments when I could think my own thoughts, rather than triggering responses to authorities or parents. I longed for adventure, travel, obstacles to overcome, goals to conquer. Instead, it was just another day.

Today, things are quite different. After six or more decades on this earth, I have been there, done that. Became wife and mother first to my own and then the grand kind of mother to theirs. Had a career, visited 48 of our 50 beautiful states and places beyond as well, been as much of a fashionista as I wanted to be, met and slayed the dragon, the monster, the enemy and the fool.

Today, my wish is for Just One More Day – to enjoy health and the beauty that surrounds us. Having friends and daily companion and family to love is quite enough. All I desire is One More Day to enjoy them all. And then one more, and perhaps one more after that.

There’s nothing I treasure more than the serenity of – Just Another Day.

[Show #631]

Life on Fast Forward

Whoa! Just like that, another season has rushed by. Where did it go? Who put our world on fast forward?

Everywhere you turn, someone is marveling at how quickly the time goes by. You wake up and barely get going, when it’s lunchtime and the afternoon is here. Blink and the day is over. There is even a magazine called Fast Forward.

What is this new warp speed getting us? No doubt, we are accomplishing more . . . producing more . . . adding more to our pocketbook. But if we’re not . . . does it make any sense for time to move this fast? We don’t seem to have the ability to slow it down, so I guess we’ll just go with it.

Just be sure that your fast day includes kind words . . . gestures of love . . . hugs and smiles. Even if you have to give them as you dash past in your virtual running shoes. And when you go to measure how you made the world a better place today, don’t put the tape around your middle . . . or your pocketbook.

Put it around your heart. If it’s full and you’ve had laughter and joy today, if you have shared with someone and made them feel good, you’re doing just fine in your fast forward world.

[Show #323]