All Things Nice . . .

 

 

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Tomorrow may bring me a hundred ills,

But oh today is sweet,

With a small wind coming from God knows where

And travelling up the street,

Teasing the doors and window sills,

Then travelling back to the quiet hills.

Tomorrow may bring me grief to bear

But today is bright as dawn,

With a sky decked out in an azure cloak.

And a hill with a new dress on,

Crisp and green as a lettuce leaf,

With dandelion buttons in gold relief.

Tomorrow may rob me of all I own,

But today I will have all my joy,

A table set with a yellow cloth,

And the fun of a year old boy,

Playing around on polished floors,

Coaxing his mother to come out doors.

Tomorrow is part of the great unknown,

But this morning is mine to hold,

And I'll cherish each moment with jealous care,

Like a miner hoarding his gold,

Savor its goodness and sip its wine

Making its moments forever mine.

~Edna Jacques, A Day at a Time,

The Golden Road, 1953

What a lovely reminder for us to enjoy all the moments in our "nows." Yesterday is dead and gone and nothing can be done about that. Tomorrow may never come, best not to fret about things not yet experienced.  Today is ours. Now. Here.  Golden. We must make all of our todays the best that we can and take our blessings where we find them.  Be present in our lives.  Enjoying the small and simple things which make up a beautiful life.  As I am fond of saying, every day may not be a good day, but there is something good to be found in every day.

 

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This week has gone by rather quickly. I feel that way every week. It seems  like they no sooner begin than what they are ending.  And in-between there is life. A busy, happy, joy filled life. There is really nothing extraordinary about my life, nothing to mark it out as being any more special than the next person's life. It is filled with simple joys and pleasures that are really only mine.  

Many would think perhaps that my life was quite boring, but I do not find it to be so.  I have never been the kind of person to seek out bright lights and excitement. I have always been happiest at being a homebody. A person who enjoys the simple things. I think excitement is highly over-rated! Even when I was very young I did not crave such things.  I have always been content to be in my  home, doing homemaking things.  Caring for a family. Doing simple needle works. Puttering in my house. Baking.  Cooking. Cleaning. Reading. That was all the excitement I ever craved or needed, even back then. 

I have never felt that I missed out on anything by marrying and having a family when I was young.  I was never career oriented.  All I every really wanted to be was a wife and a mother, a homemaker. I was so blessed to have been able to spend the first 45 years of my life being just those things. I know that many people do not and have never had the luxury of being able to do that.  I see my having been able to do just that as a particularly sweet blessing. One which I hold dear to my heart.

 

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I love to drive through my small valley at dusk.  To see the white houses, being lit up, and the people coming home for their suppers. The violet light on the crocus buds by front doors, bicycles leaning on steps and scooters drawn up with relaxed wheels. It gives me a good feeling. My imaginations help my life to wear wings. 

This is a secret for living, the ability to have your life wear wings. Imagination isn't always dodging reality, but its things like doing dishes and playing classical music while I do so. . .  and feeling such things, instead of like an enslaved drudge, like a "fortunate breather of the air" who can hear the swish of satin from ballroom dresses and the soft purr of velvet and the light tape of enchanted slippers from the past.

Imagination can invest any dull task with a glow. Even peeling potatoes can acquire interest. Even this boring task can become something much more than what it is.

It is fun for the mind to make a journey beginning with even peeling potatoes. You can start with thoughts of Ireland, and digging them up in the green land of Eire.  Little thatched cottages, peat bogs, horse carts and the lilt of Irish fiddles echoing in the night air through the well-lit open doorways of pubs. Before you know it your  mind is diving into thoughts of Irish faery folk . . . Diedre and Cuchulainn and the shadowy horses and the little silver trout that turned in the pan and spoke. The changeling, and the child the faeries stole  away.  These are fine tales and fuel the imagination.

"For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild,
With a faery, hand in hand,
From a world more full of weeping
than he can understand."
~Yeats

I have always been a dreamer.

 

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Oh what a wonderful day I had with Cindy on Thursday.  The sun was shining brilliantly and the sky a beautiful azure blue.  We were in the car together, chatting and listening to music. I do so love to spend time with my dear sister. She really is my best friend.

My left knee made it a bit difficult for me getting in and out of the car.  It is also making it hard for me to sleep nights.  I don't know why it decides to act up every year about this time. I remember the year we went to Scotland it plagued me the whole time and I was hardly able to move about.  

I will not let it keep me down however, or hold  me back in my life. As much as I possibly can, I want to be present and doing what I can, even if it is only sitting in the car and enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin through the windows and a breath of fresh air through a car window cracked open. Never under-estimate the joy of the sun's warmth when the cold of winter is on the wane and that fresh clean air is bringing with it the promise of many more warm days to come. 

Before we know it we will all be complaining that its too hot! 

 

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Dan and Cindy stopped by yesterday. They were going to the tip and Dan gathered up all of my old cardboard that was still waiting to be put out and he even took my compost down to the green bin and topped up all my tired with air.  The roads are so full of pot holes at the moment, it is very easy for your tires to start to go down a bit.  They were out filling some of them on Thursday, but the job is a mammoth task. They seem worse this year than ever.  Especially along the verges of the roads. I think that heavy trucks take a huge toll on them.  You have to really keep your eyes open and alert while you are driving because the potholes are everywhere and some of them are really quite bad!

I was thinking last night about how wonderful it is that I have a brother-in-law that is so good at doing things like that for me. He works hard all week in a job he is not overly fussed about and then in his spare time he takes the time to do these small acts of kindness for both my father and myself. He doesn't really need to, but he does it anyways.  I am grateful for him and for my sister. They are both really good people. Everyone should be so blessed to have people like them in their lives!

I need to get off here now. The time is marching on and I am going out with Cindy this morning to do my father's shopping.  I will pick up a few bits for myself as well. It gets me out of the house and moving about a bit more than I can do here at home. Plus I get to spend time with my best friend. What can be better than that!

A thought to carry with you . . . 

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

 *.˛.Let yourself be silently drawn
by the strange pull of what you really love;
it will not lead you astray.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
~Rumi° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 

In The English Kitchen this morning  . . .  Easy Date & Oatmeal Muffins. A very rustic small batch recipe for some simple muffins that are delicious.  Even day old and cold.  Everything a good muffin should be, not too sweet and wholesome.

I hope you have a lovely weekend. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  May the sun shine down upon you and may your hours be richly blessed!  Don't forget!

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And I do too!