I started this blog to share some of the thoughts I have along the journey of life. I love to travel and spend time with my family and friends. A good meal, breaking bread with those I love, gives my life meaning. So does travel. I adore dreaming of sites to visit, not just to check them off on a list. Rather, I consider myself a student of life, traveling as an explorer, to open my mind to all the possibilities the world holds in store for me and for others. I love to travel to discover how different the world is in terms of climate, cultures, politics, terrain, economy, etc. but also to discover how SIMILAR the people are. Despite language barriers, much can be communicated with a smile or gestures. Language is simply a means to communicate, yet there are so very many other ways to communicate. Once when I was in French-speaking Canada, I realized that my 7th grade French class didn’t teach me the word for “straw”. However, when I thought about it, I was able to communicate to the very French-speaking waiter in a very French-speaking restaurant about my need for a “cylinder through which to drink” in my limited French vocabulary. Travel challenges the mind and soul, stretching us to problem solve and form conclusions about all that we experience. THAT is the type of travel I enjoy best. “All’s well that ends well”, as they say………….”Life is Good” as well.
For many, self-isolation and stay-at-home orders are getting old. VERY old. We all long to get back on with our lives, going places we want to go to, seeing people we want to see. It is true that for our world, these are dark times while we wrestle with the pandemic. Just a reminder, though. Don’t forget to “turn on the light”. Be that bright spot on a dark day.
lightbulb photo courtesy of Dreamstime.com
“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light.” -Aldous Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Today is a rainy day here in Florida, which is something we don’t get for sustained periods of time, except during the fall during hurricane season. I just love the rain. There is something almost magical about the sound of the rain knocking at the window on days like these, beckoning us toward a moment in time other than our our usual. The sound of rain against any skylight is enough to give me as much joy as watching a flock of birds flying in perfect synchronicity.
V formation photo, courtesy of Dreamstime.com
I always wondered about people who complain about the rain as if some little silly external event would ruin their day in some way. So very many people equate the rain with “awful weather” and that always surprises me.
The rain makes the grass grow; it cleans the air. Flowers get what they need when it rains, too. Rain fills up ponds, streams and lakes. It makes great puddles for children to splash in with their boots and raincoats. Rainy days bring worms out from the dirt, and I have always been fascinated by these creatures that we don’t often get to see. And who can deny the beauty of a rainbow, a promise that all will be well, after the rain clears. My dear aunt reminds me how beautiful the rain smells, especially in cooler climates in the Northeast.
rainy day photo with rainbow, courtesy of Dreamstime.com
We tend to put on comfortable clothes when we are inside on rainy days like today. We tend to experience a moment of solitude when the rain falls and might even enjoy being in “the moment” if we watch the almost hypnotizing and mesmerizing drops of rain as they fall softly and gently, then loudly and strongly. against the walkways and streets.
One thing is certain, however, the rain can force us to change the plans we had for the day. If we had planned an outing to the beach, the rain puts a damper on that. Similarly, if we had planned to go for a bike ride, the rain can also put a damper on that, too. I guess that’s part of the beauty and charm of the rain for me, however. The rain FORCES us to flex a little and to change our expectations a little. It might even push us out of our comfort zone if we need to drive in the rain. In some way, the rainfall is parallel to the world in which we live at any given time, especially during this pandemic. What IS happening at the moment is sometimes different than what we WANT to happen. We are forced to change our focus to something else, like working at home, learning from home, shopping solely from home, etc..when we would rather be in and around our extended family, co-workers, and friends along with our own immediate family.
I love the rain because it also makes me think of my Nana, who always told me that “The rain is God’s way of saying ‘slow down.’ ” My Nana told me a rainy day is a good day to crawl up on the couch with a soft blanket to read a good book. A rainy day is a good day to have a sauce or soup simmering on the stove.
soup on the stove
A rainy day is a good day to pause and enjoy the gift of having the luxury of that extra special sliver in time that we didn’t expect to ourselves. A rainy day is an unexpected gift if we think of it in that way.
home made cookies photo, courtesy of Dreamstime.com
A friend of mine years ago used to keep cookie dough frozen in her freezer for rainy days, when she would take out just a few frozen balls of cookie dough to celebrate the day in all it’s glory. Such a wonderful idea that I have taken to doing as well. Tonight, we’ll have our cookie dessert BEFORE our dinner as a way to celebrate this beautiful day. In this house, we find a way to celebrate EVERYTHING.
Chocolate chip cookies, photo courtesy of Dreamstime.com
Rain also brings about fond memories of my father, who once had the patience to sit near a window when I was little during a thunder storm. He was an amateur photographer back in the day when cameras actually had film. Photography was as much a science as an art in those days, as one needed to understand depth of field and how to create it, as well as what camera aperture setting is necessary to capture the image we desired to capture. He wanted to capture that exciting split second when lightening raced across the sky and waited….. and waited…. and waited all day to do so. He was so very happy when he developed his film in his “dark room” in our basement when he discovered that he was able to do what he set out to do. The man taught me lessons over and over again about the value of patience and the need for beauty in watchful waiting that stay with me to this day.
lightening photo, courtesy of Dreamstime.com
Rain also brings me back to long ago when my daughter, “Teen Traveler,” loved to stomp around into the deepest puddles she could find when it rained. Her”devil-may-care” laugh and impish smile across her face always made me smile. Such happy memories make me smile today and fill my soul to inspire an attitude of gratitude for me on days like this.
It has been said that “It’s not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” (Vivian Greene). It’s about finding something that gives us joy, even though we are faced with a change in our plans or what was expected. It’s about finding joy when we stop to look and listen to what’s going on around us, beyond us. It’s about remembering my Dad, a beautiful and patient man with a beautiful heart and Nana, a pillar of strength, a kind- hearted soul who would feed anyone who needed a place to come on any given holiday.
“Well I love a rainy night; I love a rainy night. I love to hear the thunder; watch the lightning when it lights up the sky. You know it makes me feel good.
Well, I love a rainy night; it’s such a beautiful sight. I love to feel the rain on my face; taste the rain on my lips, in the moonlight shadows…”
-“I Love A Rainy Night” by Eddie Rabbitt
Life is good, even when it rains. Carpe diem, friends……
It always amazes what I don’t know that I don’t know. With both a whole wide world and a world wide web around me and with access to a barrage of information at any given point in the day, I am always amazed at what I have missed. When I was in elementary school, we were told that Saturn’s rings were comprised of rock. I’m not sure if we even knew there is a great deal of ice in the rings of Saturn at that time. Evidently a whole lot has happened since then. I knew we had sent several probes to Saturn over the last years, but I somehow missed how much information was gathered during the last exploration of Saturn.
It was in 1979 that we first saw Saturn and just a few of its moons in a series of flyby shots from the Pioneer 11 spacecraft. The images were blurry and not good enough to get information about Saturn’s surface.
In 1980 Voyager I did another flyby of Saturn and some of its moons, giving us much better images. We saw the surface features of some moons and atmosphere.
In 1981, Voyager 2 again showed us some more photos and temperature findings as well. We saw that the rings of Saturn had changed as well.
Saturn, courtesy of Dreamstime.com
In was in 1997 that the Titan spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral and carried the Cassini craft that was tasked to find out new information about Saturn, the ringed planet that is the seventh planet away from the sun. In 2002, twenty months from reaching Saturn, the probe captured its first image of Saturn. In 2004, Cassini discovered two new moons around Saturn (Methone and Pallene) to total sixty moons around Saturn. Also in 2004, on June 30, Cassini became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn, a breathtaking example of technology in action. On January 13, 2005, the unthinkable happened. The Cassini launched a probe, the Huygens probe, which actually landed on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, for seventy-two minutes, which represented the first time, and only time so far, that anything landed on any outer solar system world. Scientists realized that Titan contains large clouds of water vapor above it. Scientists also discovered that there are geysers of liquid water and organic material that burst from another moon, Enceladus, and decided that they are from pockets of water near the surface of that moon. Fascinating discovery. Scientist also discovered (in 2013) that it rains DIAMONDS on Saturn (and Jupiter, too), as the element carbon is present. Evidently when there are lightening storms there, methane is turned into soot which hardens into graphite and finally into diamonds as they fall to the planet. According to the BBC, there are theorized to be about 1000 tons of diamonds created per year on Saturn. Some sources (Nova series, “The Planets: Saturn”, season 46, episode 15) say the size of the diamonds can range from a small speck of dust to the size of a small apartment! This is absolutely amazing to me. On Earth, diamonds form naturally when carbon is buried about one hundred miles below the surface. After being heated to approximately 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and being compacted under pressure of around 725,000 pounds per square inch, it needs to quickly move to the Earth’s surface with magma in order to cool down. What is rare here on Earth is ubiquitous on Saturn.
If you are interested, Saturn is visible in the early morning sky in April, along with Jupiter and Mars, approximately one hour prior to sunrise or just before dawn in the Eastern Sky. You will be able to see Saturn with the naked eye but will need a high powered telescope to see its rings. Today, on April 15, Saturn and our moon will appear close together in the sky from Earth. Normally, Saturn is visible in the evening sky from July to December, which is something to look forward to after our stay at home orders likely will be lifted.
April 15 Saturn and Moon picture courtesy of Space.com (Via Starry Night software)
“Shine bright like a diamond Shine bright like a diamond
Find light in the beautiful sea, I choose to be happy You and I, you and I, we’re like diamonds in the sky...”
-“Diamonds” by Rhianna
Try something different. Why not get up early tomorrow to see this wonderful sight in the morning. Find “light in the beautiful sea” and “choose to be happy” during this uncertain pandemic. “Shine bright like a diamond” by helping others, checking in on family and friends, and staying positive during this tough time. Attitude is everything, they say.
Being stuck inside the house during the recent stay-at-home orders, I have had the luxury of extra time. Time seems to have slowed down to a snail pace in contrast to our busy contemporary society. People coming, people going. Even the numbers of cars on the road have dwindled, and with many “essential” stores closing early, the town looks much like it did when I was a young girl. For the most part, most neighborhood stores were closed in the evenings when I was little until the “Big Box” stores opened. That changed a lot. The days of relaxing at home after dinner were replaced by errands, drive-through pharmacies, or take out orders some time after that in many homes. In those older days, many people used after dinner time for baths for both hygiene and relaxation.
I used to take a bubble bath at least weekly, in addition to my daily shower, until a few years ago. There was always something selfishly indulgent about carving out a half hour all to myself, letting myself enjoy the moment of solitude in the bath among scented bubble baths. Tonight I decided I would steal away some time to get back into the habit of the weekly bath. I remember when I was youn, putting my head underwater so that my ears were submerged for a period of time while my nose was above the water. Resting like this, I could close my eyes and actually hear the sound of my breathing and maybe even the sound of my heart among the solitude under water. If you are short like I am, you might still be able to submerge most of your body, except the tops of your kneees, under water. Sometimes I would take a book into the bathtub and rest it on my bath caddy that sat in front of me while I soaked. Sometimes I would take a cup of hot tea or a cool beverage as well.
A modern bath tub (photo courtesy of Dreamstime.com)
Tonight, I dipped into the warm tub after turning the lights on low with some candles around the room, on the counter and along the sides of the tub. I put on some relaxing classical music, and I soaked with my head under water, except my nose, for a period of time, enjoying those stolen moments all to myself. There is nothing like the peace I feel when I hear my breathing underwater, along with the sights of the calm candlelight and scented bubbles.
After my bath during which I allowed myself to think about nothing, absolutely nothing, I began to consider the history of baths in this country and how now they are considered almost obsolete. New homes are built mostly with tiled showers instead of bathtubs. There may be ONE bathtub in a home now, where there used to be bathtubs in every full bathroom. Such a pity.
When the Pilgrims arrived in America, according to History.com, they were not accustomed to bathing regularly. They thought that submerging their whole body in the water was somehow unhealthy and immodest. In fact, History.com suggests, ” “The idea of being clean wasn’t closely associated with water in the 17th century anywhere in the western world.” Bath houses became a place for the wealthy for medicinal cures or as a place socializing. Of course, in ancient times, the bath was important for socializing among people of all classes, and there is evidence of baths in the homes of the more affluent citizens of Ancient Rome.
While coping with self-isolation, why not dip into your own bathtub again for a few indulgent moments. Put on your favorite music, take a beverage or a book, maybe light some candles and reduce your stress with some time put aside just for you.
orchid flowers and candles for the tub (photo courtesy of Dreamstime.com)
“Splish splash, I was takin’ a bath ‘long about a Saturday night A rub dub, just relaxing in the tub, thinkin’ everything was all right Well, I stepped out the tub, put my feet on the floor I wrapped the towel around me and I opened the door And then a splish splash, I jumped back in the bath…..”
-“Splish Splash” by Bobby Darin, 1958
I am grateful for the luxury of extra time that these stay at home orders have given me and plan to enjoy these extra hours while I can. Life is good; carpe diem, friends………..
Many years ago one of my best friends who shares my same sense of humor and I decided we would challenge each other to a contest to use an archaic word in a conversation with someone else that day. The word was to be used in normal conversation without a laugh or smile, never letting on to the other participant in the conversation that we put each other up to that word. Now this is my friend who has been with me through so many times where we laughed so hard that we almost cried. One time I actually choked on my food in a restaurant for real. You know when you laugh so hard that your stomach actually hurts, and you almost can’t breathe? I know this feeling well and love it. There is something about laughter that is simply delightful. One word we used that day was “hijinks.” Another was “hoodwinked”. Try using THOSE words in a conversation with a straight face!
WebMd.com tells us that laughter increases blood flow, may reduce blood sugar levels, and may reduce stress to increase an immune system response. That all may be true, but a good ol’ fashioned belly laugh simply feels good, if nothing else.
Fast forward to today. I was just on the phone with one of my best friends, laughing about one thing or another as we normally do. Reaching out to my best friends daily while I am social-isolating during these stay-at-home orders makes me smile. Game ON! I told my friend about the word a day contest I had with my friend many years ago and it turns out this friend had as similar contest with her friend in SIXTH grade! Game ON! Tough competition. Maybe the first person who uses the word first the next day could win eating the first piece of pizza the next time we met. I love a good contest and have been DYING to win a contest that would allow me to eat the first piece of pizza. I will surely pick the BIGGEST piece with the MOST toppings. When else can I deliberately eschew the good manners that my Momma taught me?
Hmmmm………what word to pick? I remember telling my friend a while back that it fascinates me that there are many words in other languages that cannot be translated and that I remember reading that there was actually a word in another language that meant something like “the roof of my mouth is burning or on fire.” A GREAT word to win the first-slice-of-pizza contest to be sure. We agreed to that word:
“Pelinti”: word in Buli, the language of Ghana in West Africa. Pelinti means “moving food quickly around your mouth after you’ve belatedly discovered that it’s still piping hot,” according to syntacta.co.uk. Evidently pelinti happens to me EVERY SINGLE FRIDAY NIGHT while I eat pizza during our Friday pizza and a movie celebration in our home. I think I should have the hang of it by now, but no.
So….. go ahead and find a reason to laugh until your belly hurts. When was the last time you did that? It feels GREAT. And throw in a contest of the day to cope with Corona. You might be glad you did. Maybe YOU can win the first slice of pizza next time.
Aerogarden two weeks or so ago with romaine lettuce
There is something about starting a plant from a seed and watching it grow. The daily anticipation of wondering if the seed has germinated. Then the daily anticipation of wondering if the first leaf unfolds. Then the daily anticipation of wondering if the the first “true” leaves unfold.
While maintaining self-isolation, we decided to get back to our “roots” as gardeners, a hobby we have not tended to in quite some years. Growing up in the northeast, gardening was so much easier than here in Florida. There was the watchful waiting of looking for the very first crocus to bloom as a harbinger of spring. There is something magical about watching a flowering plant wake up, unfolding it’s bloom among snow on the ground.
When we moved to Florida several years back, it amazed me that the plants we grown indoors in pots were the landscape plants outside my house. Something wasn’t quite right about that, but something wasn’t quite right about gardening and putting my hands in soil while risking surprising a poisonous snake at the other end of my trowel.
I had given up gardening in the fourteen years I’ve been living in Florida, but when we recently started self-isolation and social distancing from the Covid-19 pandemic, we decided it would give us something to look forward to if we started a plant from seeds. Watching and waiting for the seed to germinate somehow soothes my soul. Surrounding myself with something growing while being stuck inside was just what I needed.
Would I grow a green plant or a flowering plant? Would I grow edible flowers? Would I grown some vegetable to sustain me in case the food supply chain became scarce. I sent away for seeds for my Aerogarden with excitement. I had decided upon romaine lettuce seed pods, knowing how delicious freshly harvested lettuce is. It is too hot this time of year to grow lettuce outside here in Florida, as it is a cold weather crop.
Two weeks ago, I set up my Aerogarden indoors and inserted the seed pods into the hydroponic growing machine along with the nutrients and water that they plant needs. It always amazes me when I see plants growing without soil and reminds me that we all can “bloom where we are planted” and can thrive with less than we THINK we need.
Each day, I look forward to checking on the status of my new plants and today I tried my first piece of lettuce from one of the plants. It was the freshest tasting lettuce I had ever eaten. Romaine lettuce from the market doesn’t really seem to have much of a flavor, but these dark lettuce leaves from my Aerogarden are tender and delicious.
Aerogarden today with bigger romaine lettuce plants
The need to grow something hit me all over again. Before the stay at home orders and shortly after planting my Aerogarden pods, I went to the garden center to purchase some herbs to grow in pots on my patio so I could be less likely to inadvertently bump into a not so friendly slithering friend. Walking by and touching the leaves of aromatic plants gives me joy. Maybe even bliss. It provides me with that in-the-moment magic that I adore. There is something about using my five senses when I am around plants that gives me that same feeling as when I see a flock of birds above my head while they change direction yet still maintain formation. There is beauty all around us that captivates my eyes and soul.
It is so easy to stop doing something you live for the time being for whatever reason. There are a million reasons why we USED to love something that we no longer do. The pandemic has given us the luxury of a little more time in our homes. Why not take up a hobby you used to love all over again to find some joy.
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow…..”
-Audrey Hepburn
Find a way to believe in tomorrow, for it will be here sooner than you know. Life is good; carpe diem, friends……….
Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. These are the five stages of grief that psychologist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross described in 1969. These are ALSO the stages of any home project, I postulate. MY home project. A couple of weeks before we decided to self-isolate in March because of the Covid-19 pandemic, I decided NOW would be a good time to re-finish an L-shaped desk that we had in our computer room. It is the perfect size for the corner in the room and is solid wood. It is so old that is is actually made in America. I had looked around for a replacement desk to update the look of the room, but the words of my father, who was king of the colloquial expressions, came to mind each and every time I entered a furniture store before self-isolation. “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” WHAT was I thinking?
One of the pieces “before”
I decided I just LOVED the new gray color- washed look at Pottery Barn, but they did not have a desk with the storage and configuration of my desk, which wasn’t “broke.” I decided also that I was up for the task of refinishing the L-shaped desk with two hutches myself. I had done a few pieces of furniture in the past already with Annie Sloane Chalk paint, so I was up for the project. With Annie Sloane chalk paint, one doesn’t need to strip the finish off before re-finishing the piece. I loved that idea and somehow thought it was an easy task. Because my furniture was knotty pine from the nineties, it involved a few extra steps, but I like to stretch myself beyond my comfort level from time to time. I had plenty of time in which to complete my project, and what did Annie Sloane have that I didn’t have? What does Martha Stewart have that I don’t have? Patience. Evidently they DO have a great deal that I don’t have, and ONE of those things is patience. WHAT was I thinking?
Denial. Taking over the garage with “Graph Guy’s” (my beloved husband) and my car in the driveway, I had enough space to do the project. I started the first piece and realized that the effect I was expecting to achieve ended up a bit spotty or streaky in some spots. Evidently I was distressed about the “distressed look.” Ha! I thought my results made no sense and wondered if maybe “I bit off more than I could chew” in the words of “King Colloquial.” There was some sort of mistake. Maybe I just used the wrong rag. I probably should have used the tee shirt rags. Maybe I just used the wrong paint brush. Denial everywhere. Maybe there wasn’t enough light where I was working. The desk, as I once knew it, had changed in an instant. There was no going back. I was “in it to win it” now. There must have been a mix-up; maybe I read the directions wrong as everyone else on the net that used this technique achieved stellar results! Life as I had known it had changed that first day in the garage, so I walked away. I walked away for a LONG time, maybe a couple of weeks.
Anger. Once I had settled into the actual reality instead of the reality that I WANTED, I laughed as I asked myself and “Graph Guy” what had I done? Why me? Tongue-in-cheek, I chuckled to myself thinking Elisabeth Kubler-Ross would have a field day with me now.
Bargaining. “Hey Graph Guy, want to do a little painting I asked?” I could use a buddy in the garage, “maybe you could help me, and I can help you with YOUR project (building a wooden hood for his new aquarium) later?” Then finally, “Okay, okay……I will bake you ANY dessert you want or your FAVORITE meal if you help me paint….” while hearing the words of King Colloquial in my mind each and every time. “You hired the band,” King Colloquial would always tell me, “so now you have to hear them play.” King Colloquial would often also tell me with his wry little smile that “I made my bed, so it is time to lie in it”, too. Such wisdom. Words that reminded me that this was MY project, and I needed to see it through. Graph Guy WOULD help me, but I shouldn’t have his help.
Depression. I didn’t feel anything near REAL depression, which is a serious condition, but was sad that this project was far too big for me to attempt at the moment. It was taking far longer than I thought, far longer than I wanted. I didn’t want to talk about my project, I didn’t want to even think about my project.
Acceptance. King Colloquial’s words came back to me again and again. I smiled when I heard him in my mind saying, “Quit your bellyachin’ and just do it,” with that same wry smile. He knew what had to be done. He had told me ad-nauseum when I was a child that if I spend HALF the time complaining about what had to be done and DOING what had to be done instead, the task would have already been completed by then.
I went out into the garage quietly. I picked up the paint brush quietly. I smiled to myself quietly, glad for King Colloquial’s lessons about the need for patience and perseverance. What a gift that man was. I told myself I WOULD complete the project, one side at a time. It didn’t need to be perfect; it just needed to be DONE. Funny this is a lesson I try to teach my daughter, “Teen Traveler,” ALL THE TIME. Evidently I need to learn the lesson myself first today.
THREE out of FOUR pieces completed, I am glad I took the time. They look great. I tell myself that they look great because the metric I am using is they they needed to look BETTER than they did originally in some way. I might even do my kitchen table, too…..the sky is the limit!
One step (side) at a time….
Life is full of trade-offs. Life is full of challenges. Life is full of less than ideal from time to time. I’m thinking that is true with our Covid-19 situation right now. Self-isolating means not sharing a meal with friends and precious extended family. Plans with precious extended family in other towns or cities have been cancelled. Bread won’t be broken together right now, jokes won’t be shared together right now. BUT at some point, life will be BETTER than it is right now. I’ll use that metric. Six feet apart is better than “six feet under” as they say.
So remind yourself to “quit bellyachin” and try to do something you need to do but don’t quite WANT to do today. Stretch yourself. Move out of your comfort zone to stretch yourself in some way. Practice patience and perseverance today. We’ll all “get there” (wherever there is) , some day, even if it is a long, long road…..
“The road is long With many a winding turn That leads us to who knows where, Who knows where. But I’m strong, Strong enough to carry him He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother...“
So on we go….we’ll get there…”
-“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by Bob Russell and Bobby Scott
Life is good; carpe diem, friends…….
(Annie Sloane chalk paint purchased by The Purple Painted Lady at https://shop.thepurplepaintedlady.com/. She is one of the THE best sources of supplies and education/information about using Annie Sloane chalk paints on the internet. She even draws designs and pictures on her boxes before shipping to put a smile on your face when the package arrives. She often sticks in a little surprise like a can opener or a paint chart as well. Customer service here is FANTASTIC! She also operates a retail store in NY. I strongly suggest buying your paint and supplies here.)
Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the appearance of meteors in the sky meant something, either good OR bad, was about to happen. On April 16-25, if you look up into the dark night sky you will likely see some “shooting stars” bringing a little bit of magic to the spring sky. Although at it’s peak on or around April 21, you might be lucky enough to witness ten to fifteen meteors per hour Often these Lyrid Meteor showers can sometimes show one hundred “shooting stars” per hour!
I can still remember looking up into the night sky on a kayak late at night here in Florida in Mosquito Lagoon over the last years with my head tilted toward the heavens in pitch darkness to witness the bioluminescence of the dinoflagellates (plankton) in the water. I heard a splash in the water, wondering if it was an alligator or merely a fish jumping out of the water. One time, a fish jumped from one side of the kayak to the other, right across my lap. While my head was tilted toward the heavens, I stopped paddling the kayak for about ten minutes, during which time I witnessed a breathtaking display of meteor showers. It was so exciting to look around in anticipation as to where I would see the next shooting star. I used to be mesmerized by meteor showers when I was a summer camp counselor at W. Alton Jones Campus in Rhode Island in my early adult years. On our nights off, the other counselors and I would lay supine upon a narrow causeway between two ponds, listening to the sounds of the summer, such as the crickets and bullfrogs making chirping, rasping, and grinding noises that would take my breath away. The stillness of the black night along with those sounds were almost magical. The Perseid Meteor Showers sparkled above our heads as we heard those enchanting sounds, and being in the moment was almost perfect. The timelessness that we felt was extraordinary. Seeing the same spectacular events in the heavens that those that went before us somehow linked us to our past in some profound way.
Although it is not yet summer and not quite time for those same Perseid Meteor Showers in August, the Lyrid Meteor Showers in mid to late April is still something to look forward to. Even though most of the country is in a stay at home or shelter in place status, why not go into your backyard and lay upon the grass with your heads up toward the heavens……listening, watching, waiting for some magic to appear to take your breath away. We all need something GOOD to look forward to.
The Ancient Greeks may have believed that the appearance of meteors in the night sky meant something bad OR good was about to happen. I, however, think that something GOOD will happen if you gaze upwards and take a moment to yourself to watch the sky.
“…Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket Never let it fade away Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket Save it for a rainy day
For when your troubles start multiplyin’ They just might It’s easy to forget them without tryin’ With just a pocket full of starlight….”
Go out and look up into the night sky with watchful waiting for something GOOD to happen at a moment’s notice to take your mind off the Corona situation. I’ll bet you’ll be glad you did.
Laughter, the BEST medicine (photo courtesy of dreamstime.com)
I am always of the impression that there is usually a little slice of humor in just about everything, even if we have to look hard to find it.
Picture this. A few weeks after experiencing difficulty obtaining toilet paper from our normal local stores, I decided I would order from Amazon to replenish our supply in mid-April, trying hard to avoid the pandemonium and hoarding of supplies that reduce product availability that others have experienced.
After seeing that Amazon did not have my normal and customary toilet paper brand, or really any other known brand for that matter, I decided that toilet paper is toilet paper for the most part. Some brands are thinner than others, but ALL serve the same purpose, right? On March 15, I decided to order the toilet paper that was assuredly silky, smooth, soft, professional series premium 3-Ply toilet Paper, home/ kitchen, enviro- friendly toilet tissue. The one that was soft, strong and highly absorbent for daily use (White)…….how bad could it be, really? I ordered ten rolls, thinking it would last a while and looked forward to the silky smooth premium THREE- ply toilet paper suitable for daily use. I looked forward to the cushiony and absorbent layers of comfort for the clean feel (I) expect and the luxurious feel (I) desire.Wow. Who knew that DAILY use of said toilet tissue would yield such a comfortable and luxurious experience!
I waited for the toilet tissue to arrive, much like a child waits for Santa at Christmas. Every other day, I checked the status to see if said luxury- in- a – package would arrive as scheduled, or maybe, just maybe, it just MIGHT arrive sooner than I expected. One day, there was silver lining in the clouds above my home, and I was quite certain it was because the day that I had been longing for, the day I had been anticipating, the day that gave me joy, FINALLY arrived. My toilet paper had SHIPPED!
I waited and almost counted the days until my premium three ply toilet paper, which was home and environmentally friendly, would arrive, but then I noticed that is not just ANY toilet paper. I re-read what I had missed originally. And re-read it again. Could it be? Evidently I did NOT see that it was RECYCLED. I also wondered how, exactly, the seller, might think in our sector of the galaxy that it was also KITCHEN friendly? Evidently I missed THAT part, too. Immediately my mind drifted to all kinds of scenarios in which the toilet paper may have been recycled. I was hoping that it was recycled from soda bottles, maybe, instead of being recycled from toilet tissue. Recyled from USED toilet tissue maybe? I couldn’t stop laughing at the scenes that were flashing before my eyes in my mind.
As it got closer to the arrival day, I waited with excitement (or was that feeling more like trepidation) when I found out from the shipping status that the toilet paper was now in Florida. The next day, my excitement mounted when I found out it was in my area and out for delivery. Delivery to ME. Silky, smooth, soft, professional series premium three ply toilet paper, which was home and kitchen environmentally friendly was on its way to ME. Toilet tissue that was soft and strong (a quality I loved in my husband, “Graph Guy”, but not normally in TOILET tissue!). Highly absorbent toilet tissue that was suitable even for DAILY use! Whoa! The bar was high here. I waited and waited, longing for those cushiony and absorbant layers of comfort for the clean feel I expect as well as the luxurious feel I desire! Wow! It doesn’t get any better than THIS, I chuckled to myself.
On Saturday, the paper was here! Hooray! A cause for celebration, of course. “Graph Guy” went out to get the package and called me outside with an index finger beckoning me to its final resting place. It was like a delivery from the Easter Bunny. We walked out the front door. No package. We looked in front of the garage. No package. How can this be, when Amazon assured me it was delivered that very day? “Graph Guy” had an idea, as he cutomarilly does. He deduced the ONLY possible place for the placement of the toilet paper. He is always of the mindset, spoken by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in “Sherlock Holmes” and echoed by Spock in “Star Trek”. “Graph Guy” also believes that “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” The truth is out there. The truth is………………………………..in my MAILBOX!
LUXURIOUS TOILET TISSUE IN MY MAILBOX!
Evidently, all TEN rolls of toilet tissue that were suitable for DAILY use fit into my MAILBOX. Evidently suitable for SINGLE use only, NOT daily use as suggested. Or suitable for an American Girl Doll. Had I missed that description in the write-up? Suitable mostly for 16 inch dolls or dollhouses? Can’t be.
Toilet tissue next to “Graph Guy’s” shoe
“Teen Traveler” (my daughter), “Graph Guy”, and I all laughed hard at this arrival, chuckling even more at the “business card” that was left inside the package. I’m sure it said, “Let the buyer beware…..” If ONLY I could read Chinese.
You see, there really IS a slice of humor in just about everything, even if you have to look hard for it amidst today’s corona situation. Despite the price gouging ($20.00 for these diminutive rolls), they were PRICELESS as a source of entertainment in the daily “safer at home” monotony here in Florida. I just knew the story would also be a great ice-breaker at a party some day, too!
So go ahead and find SOMETHING to laugh about today. Find the little slice of humor in some situation today. Laughter really IS the best medicine.
Carpe diem, friends………(and don’t forget to take the time to ensure your mailbox is re-painted with all this time at home, too!) Guess I overlooked THAT!
Tonight is a very special night, but you probably know it already. Tonight is the last one exactly like it. Tonight, we experience the moon in the closest position that it will be to Earth all year, 17,000 miles closer to us than it is on average. That means it will look HUGE. That means it will be BRIGHT. In fact, it will be approximately thirty percent brighter than the average full moon.
The name “pink moon” has been used to describe tonight’s moon, but this is actually the name of the first full moon of any spring (in April). The “Old Farmer’s Almanac” says the name is “pink moon” because it happens at about the same time that pink creeping phlox blooms in some climates int he spring.
Looking at the moon tonight approximately one hour after sunset, it did not appear as silvery white as when I normally see it high in the night sky. It had an orangey/subtle pink tinge to my eye, even though it isn’t supposed to really be pink. Despite what I see, I tell myself again that it is only called the Pink Moon because of the “moss pink” or creeping phlox bloom that happens around the same time.
Isn’t that the way, though? We see what we want to see. We open our eyes, yet what we see is what we expect to see. C.S. Lewis said it best:
““What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew
Tomorrow I expect to see beauty. I expect to see joy with a touch of whimsy. I expect to see laughter. I expect to see people coming together for a common cause because where I am standing, the world looks beautiful.
“Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moondance With the stars up above in your eyes….”
-“Moondance” by Van Morrison
Today IS a marvelous night for a moondance, a cause for a celestial celebration. Carpe diem, friends……….
Carpe Diem with Caye 