Dear Neighbor . . .

 

 

(source)

ESTATE LANE, NS

cool and overcast

Hello my online neighbors,

My beautiful invisible friends.  Thank you so much for coming to visit me this morning/today. I really do appreciate you. This is something many of you have been doing for many years now, and I want you to know you are an important part of my life. You have seen me through my highs and lows over these many years now and I have always felt your love and support, your prayers as it were.  They have always been so very appreciated by me. Although many of us have not met in person, our hearts have touched and for that I am grateful. Kindred spirit friends of the best kind. 

I am always fond of saying that every day may not be a good day, but that there is something good in every day. Yesterday was not a good day, not really.

Myself about six, my brother one, my sister three

We are sitting in my father's Easy Boy recliner

About 1961

Yesterday, my baby brother got the news that he has cancer of the kidney.  There is no happy way to receive news like this. My brother is a very fit, 64 years old. This has come as quite a shock to us all. Two years ago, they had noticed something on a part of his kidney which showed up in tests for something else. So, this year he had an ultrasound, and a recent MRI. So now he is going to have a CT scan to determine if there are one or two masses. If there is only one, they will remove the mass, if two, they will remove the whole kidney.  I am hoping that it will be the best-case scenario and that it will have been caught in time enough that it has not spread anywhere else.

My brother has always been one of my greatest supporters. Always. He is a kind, kind person who has always been out there helping a lot of people, but he has been especially helpful to my sister and I through the years. 

When we were teenagers and smoking the wacky tobacco, he would follow us to make sure we did not put ourselves in any danger. He has been there with his love and his prayers always, and sometimes his pocketbook.  He is just a good, good person, and of all the people that I know, he does not deserve anything like this.

But then again . . . who does. This is not something that anyone deserves, and it is something that happens to good people all the time.

As I was praying in bed last night, the words came to me, "Fear not, be believing."

We live in an imperfect world.  Bad things happen to good people all the time. We are all met with challenges. Some worse and scarier than others.  I believe it is the way we meet these challenges which matters most.  It's okay to cry and to be afraid sometimes, but we mustn't stay in the tears and the fear.  We have to believe that we can beat and overcome whatever comes our way in one way or another. Standing still and wallowing has never been a viable option.  I would ask that you all join me in prayers for our baby brother and his wife/family, both to have the strength to get through this massive challenge, and for healing.  Be believing.  He can and will get through this.  And we can help him along the way.

My brother who has so selflessly helped so many through the years now needs our help.  The gift of prayer is one of the greatest gifts that you can give to another. I firmly believe that. All will be well.

 

(source)

They say you learn something new every day.  A bit earlier on I decided to make myself some toast. I had a loaf of really nice grainy bread that was a bit past its sell by date, but it looked perfectly okay.  It also smelled okay.  I popped it into the toaster.  When I took it out of the toaster I noticed funny looking spots on it, that continued to grow and evolve as I looked at it. Mold.

Who knew?  This morning, I learned that the heat from my toaster could expose mold in my bread and actually help it to grow.   What was hidden very well from my eyes, was suddenly dramatically exposed.  I am so grateful for being able to see it.  

I hate the taste of mold. I am so glad that I noticed it before I started to eat it.

 

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The day that my sister had tested positive for Covid, I had spent a good part of the day closed up in my car with her. Thankfully I did not come down with Covid myself, but I did have a few moments where I felt like I was getting something and took an Emergence-C. I did test myself several times, and all were negative.  Yesterday Cindy stopped in and as she was leaving my neighbor across the way stopped to say hello with her wee doggie Peanut. She said something about having had a bad cold. 

I felt guilty because on the day that my sister had come down positive, before my sister told me she was positive, this same neighbor had been on my doorstep for some reason that I cannot remember.  We did chat for a few minutes outside my door, and I found myself wondering yesterday if I had unwittingly passed some germs on to her.

I will probably never know for sure I guess.

 

(source)

The leaves are coming down fast and furiously now. My back yard is full of the golden leaves of the maple that is there.  Like a beautiful gold carpet.  All of these leaves that appeared as small sprouts in the spring and that did such a great job of shading my back yard all summer dancing with their strength in the summer breezes . . . they have been busy showing me over these past few weeks the strength to be found in letting go. The beauty of letting go.

There is a lesson there I am sure.  They have let go and they will lay on the ground and become one with it, eventually nourishing and strengthening the very tree that gave them life. They will become a part of its giving birth to new leaves in the spring.  And the circle of life will continue.

Change can be beautiful in all of its forms.

 

(source)

Cindy and I have plans to go shopping today.  I have a list of things that I need to get. I have been putting it off all week.  Each day I think I am going to go and then my day gets away from me and I don't.  I decide . . . I will go tomorrow and then tomorrow comes and the cycle repeats itself.  Today I will go however because I need to. I need milk and flour, and I have no fresh vegetables to eat or fruit other than apples. I also need to do something with them.

I am thinking I will do another video tomorrow. I have not decided on the topic yet but I have a few ideas mulling through my mind.  One thing is for certain, I am not able to pause any video and whatever I chose to do will have to be done in one fell swoop, until I can learn how to do it otherwise. I will keep exploring and learning and eventually I will get it. I hope.

I did get some fabric cut out this week and so maybe I will even get some sewing done this weekend. Hope springs eternal as they say. I do not know how I managed to get all the things done that I did when my children were growing up. I had so much work to do in the home and somehow it all got done and I still had time for sewing and crafting. So much so that my sister and I had enough wares to take to craft sales. What has changed?  It defies my knowing.   My days seem to evaporate at the speed of light. I am no sooner getting out of my bed in the morning than I am crawling back into it at night and in between not a lot has occurred with the exception of what has to be done.

I do not believe I am the only one who experiences this. It seems to be a common complaint

And with that I will leave you with a thought to carry with you . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *.˛.°I will practice coming 

back to the present moment,

not letting regrets 

and sorrows drag me into the past

or letting anxieties, 

fears, or cravings pull me out.

~Thich Nhat Hanh  ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ 

I finally got around to cooking that new and different squash I had picked up at the marker. Oven Roasted Candy Roaster Squash.  This was a simple way of preparing it that really helped to bring out its natural sweetness. I am sure it would work with any winter squash.

I hope you have a great Friday my special online friends. Near or far, stay safe, be blessed, be happy and don't forget!

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And I do too!