Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Don and I were having a bite to eat yesterday. We were on the porch, sitting on the glider (it was a gorgeous day.)

I started to talk about last week’s experiences with the black bear and the monarch butterfly, trying to find words for the power of those two connections, both of which took place in the span of three days. We are coping with two major things, all of us. The pandemic has overwhelmed us; grief, loss, fear, a complete change in daily life, a leader who lied to us about it and who simply doesn’t care. A *president* who is corrupt, evil, a mob boss, a criminal, a liar, a malignant narcissist, and a sociopath. A cabal of elected representatives who fall in line with whatever he says, who have abandoned their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. A corrupt Attorney General who has talked about charging protestors with sedition. I could go on and on.

My point being: I realize now what a gift these two encounters were. They were transcendent. We were allowed to move above and beyond everything that weighs us down on a daily basis to something powerful, wonderful, frightening, and intimate. Our encounter with the bear was intimate. We stared into that bear’s eyes and he/she did the same. Time stopped. We witnessed the transformation of a chrysalis into a monarch butterfly. We saved his life more than once and our concentration and connection and emotions were laser focused on this being. Everything else stopped. We were outside of the everyday. We connected with two beautiful creatures and they weren’t in a zoo, on television, or in a photo on Instagram. We shared the same space.

Transcendent.

I looked up bears as spirit animals this morning. They represent several things: strength and confidence, standing against adversity, taking action, healing and providing healing to others. From the spirit animal website: “The spirit of the bear is a strong source of support in times of difficulty. It provides courage and a stable foundation to face challenges. When the bear shows up as a spirit guide in your life, it’s perhaps time to stand for your beliefs and truth. This power animal will provide for support and strength.”

As for butterflies, we know they represent transformation, metamorphosis, renewal, rebirth, lightness of being, elevation from earthly matters, tuning into the emotional and spiritual, our souls. From the same website: “The butterfly is a symbol of powerful transformations. By analogy to the development of this animal, the meaning associated with the butterfly emphasizes the ability to move from one state, perspective, lifestyle to another.”

Normally, I don’t think to look into this kind of thing, but given the proximity and power of those two encounters, I felt the need to do just that.

I am so grateful that we went through those three days (also symbolic, if you think about it.) I am just now seeing beyond the immediate encounter to something beyond. As I move forward, especially in this next period leading up to and beyond the election, I am going to hold those memories close.

Today, Don and I are taking action. We’re donating to Act Blue and to the Biden campaign. And we’re going to volunteer for something that we can do here; phone banking, making sure people are registered to vote, whatever is needed. I was in such a state last night after watching Rachel and a bit of Lawrence that I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic. So it’s time to DO something rather than worry all of the time. I’ll keep you informed as we figure out just what that something is.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

A cold morning here, but warmth is on the way. We are exiting this way-too-cold-for-September 3 or 4 days and we’ll be back to more seasonable temperatures for the next couple of weeks. The sun is shining and that makes me happy. No rain, of course – our drought continues. I sure hope autumn brings some much needed rain.

I finished All the Devils are Here  last night. Stunningly beautiful, a mystery written with heart and grace. I didn’t want it to end. In fact, I re-read the ending this morning when I got up. I simply love Penny’s books and now I am in that position of not wanting to start another book because I need to hold this one close to me for a while. If you are a fan and haven’t read it yet, I envy you a little! You will love it. If you’ve never read her books, oh my goodness, you should! Start with Still Life, the first book in the series. There is an ongoing story that continues through all of the books in this series so it’s best to read the books in order. I have a lot of favorite authors writing today, but Louise Penny reigns supreme.

Yesterday, which was supposed to be a low-key day, was not. Things happen. And late in the day we decided to go grocery shopping because we needed just about everything and didn’t want to put it off any longer. Never again. It was so crowded in the store. In terms of social distancing, it was nigh on impossible. We had our masks on, of course, but there was this one older guy who we kept encountering in the store and even in the parking lot. He had a mask on, but he had it pulled down from his nose. What the heck is the point of wearing a mask if you don’t cover your nose? It drove us crazy. We were also in an aisle where a woman fell, with her cart landing on her. We asked if she was okay and stayed there to make sure she was, but in these times of COVID, you wonder just how much you should do. She was able to get up and assured us she was fine, but shaken. Don righted her cart for her, but he was uneasy for the rest of the time we were there because he’d touched the cart. When we got to the car, I told him to use the hand sanitizer immediately so he’d feel better about the whole thing. The need to help someone out vs. COVID. I’m glad he helped her. And we were, after all, masked. So was she.

The trees are starting to turn color around here. Most are still green, but as we drove home from the store yesterday we saw flashes of brown and orange and red.

Today will be a day to rest. I have insisted. Last night we agreed to do nothing but relax, no outdoor work, no raking the paths, no nothing but reading and playing the guitar and the usual daily making of the bed, a quick run of the vacuum, etc. This morning, I sat down next to Don on the sofa for our second cup of coffee and he said, “It’s a beautiful day. Maybe I can find some chores to do outside.”  What? NO. A big fat NO. He reluctantly agreed.

Happy Birthday to my late beloved father-in-law, Oscar Lee Sparks. He was such a good guy. Every time I spoke with him, I was charmed by his Oklahoma accent, still retained after many, many years living in Southern California. In fact, his voice kept running through my head when I coached the national tour of Oklahoma! He was my guide.

We’re going to light a candle for him today.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

And there it sits while I ponder if this is the way I want to go. I think it is, but wallpaper is tricky. When you first apply it in an empty room, it’s overwhelming. That’s where I am now. But I know that it will be balanced by furniture, appliances, rugs, paintings on the wall, books, flooring, etc.

I think the next step is to install a floor and see what that does. Also, installing the beams for the ceiling will help as well. Looks like I have some work to do today. I was curiously inert about doing anything more to the room over the weekend. But both Don and I were really tired. I don’t know what’s floating about in the air but mowing the other day gave me far more allergy problems than I had at any other time this year.

We were also sort of wiped out after the bear encounter and the two days with the chrysalis turned Monarch, saving his life four times, as well as rescuing him from the ground and installing him in a tree. Lots of worry and stress last week, including doing our tax deductions, knowing we’ll have to pay but not knowing the amount. Last year it was very high. We’re seeing our savings not-so-slowly being depleted by a combination of the tax changes and the pandemic. (And fallen trees.)

Anyway, all that is to say that we needed to hang out and rest this weekend.

But you can be sure we shared the bear story with Little Z yesterday. He was wide-eyed and listening to every word. We were going to tell him about the butterfly, too, but we figured that was too much storytelling in one FaceTime. He was pretty animated yesterday, starting off the call with a joke. He’s such a neat kid, so funny and so smart. That call made our day.

Thrilled about the wins for Schitt’s Creek  at the Emmys. We watched the awards for about an hour and a half and I think they did a bang-up job of finding a creative way to deal with every nominee being at home instead of in the audience.

It’s still really cold here but tomorrow will bring a warming trend, so hopefully we won’t have to turn the heat on again for a week or two. I saw that there had been a frost advisory last night when I got up this morning. I had no idea. Luckily there was no frost on the ground here this morning but everyone up in the mountains might have suffered an early end to the growing season.

I’m close to the end of the Louise Penny and I’m stalling. I know that this is it until next year, so I’m taking my time so that I’m present for every word. It’s excellent, with a very complicated plot and a Paris setting. (Oh, how I wish I was in Paris!)

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.