life — Page 166

Sunlight

February 24, 2018 at 10:08 am by Claudia

I woke to the sun shining into the bedroom and hallway. It’s amazing what a difference that makes. Though I know we are getting rain this afternoon and this won’t last, I’m lapping it up while I can.

I suspect the plants are lapping it up as well.

I saw two of my mourning doves the other day. I saw a blue jay yesterday morning and again today. He may have been here all along, but I’ve not seen him until now. And I’m hearing birdsong in the morning.

It’s February 24th. Do they know something I don’t know? I’m sure hoping they do. When I look at the weather forecast for the next 10 days, I see daytime temps in the forties and fifties. Still cold at night, of course, but maybe, just maybe, we’ll have an early spring.

I’m headed into the city for the day tomorrow. I’ll come back Monday morning.

Many, many years ago, one of my dearest friends died suddenly. We had been friends since 1st grade. Our families were also friends. When it came time to go to college, our choices were on opposite sides of the state. And, as happens, our paths after college took us in different directions. She moved to Wisconsin. I eventually moved to Philadelphia and graduate school. She married and had a daughter.

One day, while living in Philadelphia, my mother called me. She had to share the tragic news that my friend had died very suddenly. She had been playing with her daughter, who was less than two years old at the time, and collapsed.

I’ve been haunted by that loss ever since. Too young. So much yet to give and share and be. Never able to see her daughter grow up.

Eventually, her husband remarried. I kept in contact with her older brother (who was in my dad’s Boy Scout troop.) He and my friend were especially close siblings and his heart was broken when she died. He would fill me in on my friend’s daughter. I also wrote to her mother and we kept up a correspondence for several years.

Recently, I got a friend request on Facebook from my friend’s now adult daughter. I immediately accepted. She wrote to me, asking me to share any memories I had of her mother, which I was more than happy to do.

She’s going to be in NYC this weekend and she wants to meet me to talk about her mom.

Oh, dear friend, I’m going to meet your daughter. My heart is full.

So that’s why I’m headed into the city.

Happy Saturday.

Ten Years of Blogging

February 17, 2018 at 8:00 am by Claudia

Ten years ago on this date, I tentatively wrote my first post on this virtual ‘thing’ I thought was cool, but knew very little about. It was a very early version of Blogger and danged if I could figure out how to post words and a photo at the same time.

So I introduced myself and the blog. I hit ‘Post.’ Then, when I figured it out, I posted a photo on a separate post.

And that was the beginning of this blog. My husband was my biggest supporter, telling me every day leading up to that first post to ‘Stop talking about it and do it!” He’s still my biggest supporter, telling everyone we meet how wonderful my blog is, what a amazing group of readers I have (true, that) and that I’ve been published 3 times. I get embarrassed, but gosh darn it, I love that he’s proud of me and my blog.

What would I do without him?

In the beginning, I wrote about 3 times a week. Sometimes less. Sometimes more. About 7 years ago, I started to post every day. To be honest, those were tough times for us financially, and the impulse to post every day was to get more hits and, therefore, more ad income. But a funny thing happened. I grew to love the discipline of it, the challenge of finding something to write about every day, even on those days when the last thing I wanted to do was write. It was good for me. It became part of my morning ritual. Since then, I’ve missed very few posts and those I’ve missed have largely been due, sadly, to loss. My father-in-law. Riley. My mother. My father. Scout.

The intentions I had when I started the blog remain the same today: to share my life here in our little cottage in the country, to talk frankly about my passions, my fears, our ups and downs, to write about animals, about birds, about flowers and trees and butterflies and insects, about my work as a coach, about my husband, my family, books, reading, collecting, decorating, photography, handwork, and my passionate pleas for our democracy and kindness and tolerance and gun control and animal rights…I’m sure there’s more.

I’m at a good place with the blog and I’ve written about that fairly recently. It is what it is, and I don’t say that in anything but a happy and peaceful way. I’m done chasing something that I found I never really wanted. I don’t care about huge ‘numbers’ or anything like that. I have never been a niche blogger – I would be bored to tears writing about just one thing!

I am who I am and I like who I am. I like this blog. I like you.

Readers have come and gone. Some have been here a very long time, some less, and some are newer readers. Some left in a huff when I wrote bout the upcoming election and my fears about the Republican candidate. Those fears, and much worse, have come true. Anyway, everyone is free to come and go, to read or not read.

I’ll just keep speaking from my heart. It it’s controversial, so be it, thought to be honest, that happens rarely.

Ten years! Except for my freelance coaching work, which has been ongoing for over 30 years, I’ve never held a job that long. I worked in an office in Detroit for 7 years before I made the decision to change my life and go to grad school. I taught at Boston University for 5 years. I taught at the University of San Diego/Old Globe for 8 years. Blogging for 10 years? A miracle!

Back to you.

The friends I have made through this blog, the kindness of my readers, the times when life has been tough for me and you have responded in ways that made me cry and thank the heavens for your presence, the times you’ve made me laugh and the many times you’ve shared wise counsel? Priceless.

Thank you. The pleasure is all mine.

Happy Saturday.

Sunsets and Hearts

February 14, 2018 at 9:49 am by Claudia

Last night’s sunset.

And then as it got more intense:

It was spectacular.

I was at the grocery store yesterday and as I wandered over to the potatoes (my favorite food) this was staring up at me:

A heart-shaped potato.

It came home with me. Don’t say I didn’t wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Don discovered this little rock a few years back. He promptly gave it to me.

I keep it on the table by my blogging chair.

This photo gives you a sense of all the beautiful markings on the French bistro table in the living room. I should take more closeups of the table – the texture is wonderful.

And this arrived in the mail yesterday. It’s from a certain little guy we know:

It’s on the refrigerator, of course. I spoke with him last night and thanked him for the valentine. He was more concerned with the question, “Why is it so cold in New York?”

After several attempts to explain it, I landed on “Because we’re closer to the North Pole” and that did it. I love that boy.

The battle with the ice continues. I’ve never seen a winter like this one – so many extremes in temperature make for freezing, then melting, then freezing again. Add to that a downhill slope on the parking area and we’re left with a giant slab of ice. I’m over it. It’s going to get quite warm for the next 3 days, so maybe I can get rid of it for once and for all. Crossing my fingers.

Shaun White. That’s all I can say. What an exciting competition! Redemption (at least in his eyes) makes for the best kind of story. Seeing him drop to his knees and cry was truly moving. Bravo!

Don and I have been apart on Valentine’s Day more often than not. It just seems to be that way. Same thing last year. But he’s my Valentine every day of the year.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you, dear readers.

And Happy Wednesday.

Sunlight

Ten Years of Blogging

Sunsets and Hearts

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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