Mockingbird Hill Cottage

It’s melting. Slowly but surely. The three different sections of snow in the dog corral used to be so high that I couldn’t see Scout as she walked the paths.

And the chairs on the Funky Patio are recognizable once again.

A few more days of temps in the forties and most of it will be gone. Our local weather will still be on the cold side for the rest of March. Winter clearly doesn’t want to leave our neck of the woods just yet.

Thanks for all of the wonderful comments on yesterday’s post. It clearly struck a chord with many of you. You know, I was really trying to examine the curious process of aging, of seeing a reflection in the mirror that is no longer the same person you knew and how I myself struggle with that process. How do I come to terms with that? I sort of sailed through most of my fifties. It was only toward the end of that decade that I started to see some real changes.

I’ve lost about 10 – 15 pounds this winter by cutting out sugar. I have a sweet tooth but I found that after a few weeks without sweets, I didn’t crave them. I’d still like to lose more weight, simply because I feel better, have less aches and pains and more energy without the extra weight I was carrying.

I really am not someone who wants to color my hair. Though I said that sometimes it seems to make my skin look even paler, at the same time, I receive lots of compliments about my gray hair. I always have. I think it’s less about hair color for me and more about spirit, joy, an appetite for learning and growing and, finally, a happiness that comes from within. So, yes, maybe I’ll consider coloring my hair, but frankly? Probably not. I will put on makeup more often, however. I do feel better if I have it on when I’m in public. But don’t start thinking I’m going to go through some sort of makeover, unless we’re talking about a change in perception and attitude. That’s where the makeover needs to happen. Everything else is surface, and that’s perfectly fine, nothing at all wrong with that. But it isn’t any substitute for facing fear and the very real fact that we all age and have to come to terms with it.

I think the goal for me is coming to a joyous acceptance of being a certain age. That doesn’t mean giving up or giving in; it means embracing, exulting and knowing, deep within, that all one’s years of living are reflected in the lines on the face, in the gray of the hair, in the inner wisdom that shines through every pore of the skin.

It’s a struggle at times. I’ve been down lately. I’ve been homebound a lot. I seem to be on the edge of some transition with my career and it worries me. My mother has been ill. All of that is reflected in the way I see myself at this moment in time. Sometimes I call Don and cry. I did that yesterday. Life can be messy.

But on a good day, I have a twinkle in my eye and a great sense of humor, I have lots of love in my heart and a sense of the ridiculous, I’m really smart and, boy, have I learned a lot over the years. I dance around the house, I sing to my doggie, I make funny faces, I laugh a lot, I create, I write, I help others, I try to be of service.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Happy Wednesday.