Dear Neighbor . . .

 

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FRIDAY, June 20th, 2025
Estate Lane, Nova Scotia
19*C/66.2*F  just turning 7. a.m.
Partly sunny, expected high of 25*C/77*F

Dear Neighbor,

Good day to you on this beautiful morning.  I opened the front door to let in some of the cooler air and I can hear the birds singing. It seems a lovely day is in store for us, although it is expected to get quite breezy this afternoon.

My trip to the eye doctor yesterday was without incident. Everything looks good except that the cataract in my left eye has progressed dramatically over the past six months, so they want to check it again in six months' time. I also have a cataract in my right eye now. I figured that.  But no signs of glaucoma or retinopathy. New prescription of course.  Hopefully this will do the trick and get rid of the blurriness. With the new eyeglasses I should have 20/20.  He said that as long as they are able to correct my vision to 20/20 with the glasses no surgery is recommended.  

I just brought in my old frames. I liked them and they were only worn for one year.  I did not see why I couldn't get another year's use out of them, and they agreed. This saves a bit of money, but not a lot as the lens's are the most expensive part.

 

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When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and I am free.

~Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things

I love to type out the poetry of others. It somehow sinks into my heart much deeper than if I were to just read it alone.  I begin to feel it in a beautiful way. The peace of still water and the thoughts of stars blinking in the exosphere of the earth. Just because I cannot see them, that doesn't mean that they are not there. Even at its worst we live in a beautiful world and galaxy, and it is filled with pockets of peace that are there for the taking. We just need to still ourselves and our souls and we will find them. It seems an odd thought . . .  to be able to find a peace in that which is called wild.  The two words seem quite contrary to each other, but there is a great truth that is held in that thought. It is when I am at one with nature that I feel the most peace. All the cares of the world fall away into nothingness, and I am caught in the arc of the wings of the gulls that sometimes visit from the shore, and I can almost hear the tinkling of a thousand little bells that lay in the garden across the way.  The peace of wild things . . . 

 

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I have always been fascinated with light.  The way it plays across the walls of the house in the middle of the day, flickering and undulating in a dance that changes its rhythm with the hours as they pass. It moves across the wall in an unheard song as the day progresses.  

The human eye is drawn to light. It is a natural thing. Light. I cannot imagine living in a place where they get almost 24 hours a day of daylight in the summer months.  Where the sun does not sleep. It would seem quite foreign to me, but somehow people cope with it. I know when visiting the Scottish Highlands in 2017 it did not get dark until after 11:30 at night when we were there, and it was getting light again only a few hours later.

Now, with the early mornings, I am up by 5:30.  It is the light which wakes me.  A combination of that and my bladder, and I am up.  I am wanting to get on with my day. No matter that by 3 p.m. my energy will be flagging.  I feel eager and ready to go once the early morning light hits my room.

 

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I had a lovely facetime call with my oldest son yesterday afternoon, just prior to leaving for my eye appointment. It was cut short because I had to leave but we are hoping to continue it today.  How wonderful it is when you are able to be friends with your children like that.  When they are young and needing to be cared for in the way that children do, there is no real time to relax and be friends in the same way. They need parents at that age and caring for and nurturing, but when they are older and adults, that is when you are rewarded with the friendship.  I wish they did not live so far away, but now at least it is closer and doable, not like it was when I lived in the U. K.   How wonderful it is also to be able to connect visually as we do even though we are hundreds of miles apart.  

Just think 200 years ago the fastest way we could communicate with our family members that did not live in our immediate communities was by letter and that could take weeks if not months for a letter to get to its destination.  Now within seconds we can be talking face to face with each other with only the click of a button.

Just like the Jetsons cartoon when I was a child.  Moving sidewalks, face-time communications, etc. Isn't it marvelous!

Life is slow here in my little house.  Not a lot changes from one day to the next, but that is how I enjoy it.  A new box comes in and as soon as it is emptied it is taken over by a furry ball of energy who seems not to be bothered that he doesn't quite fit into it.  I kept the paper in it that my vitamin bottles were nestled amongst, and he likes me to throw treats into the box so that he can dig them out. It is a fun game.  And when he isn't digging in the paper, he curls himself up into it. It doesn't matter that he has burst open one side of the box in order to fit his girth.  He is happy and at peace.

I was so tired the other day that I found myself going into the bedroom and laying down on my bed for a short.  He came in immediately and nestled in next to me. His purr machine was working overtime as I rubbed and massaged his head. He was arching his head back so that I could scratch his neck. I could feel his body humming next to mine. It was pretty wonderful. No sleep was had, but it was relaxing all the same.

Funny how he will settle down and nestle in like that during the daytime, but at nighttime it is all go and prancing across the covers.  Cinnamon was nice and cuddly for those few nights I kept her in with me after her operation.  She slept quietly by my feet and I never heard a peep all night.

Right now, they are both laying on the carpet by the open door, enjoying the fresh air.  Oh, that I could afford a Catio. But then again, it would be a great nuisance to the men who come to mow the lawns. I fear I would be needing to pull it down regularly to accommodate them.

 

(source)

I am going to have a cleaning day today.  I have to vacuum and dust, clean the bathroom. Wash the floors.  Do some laundry. I want to talk to my son and I have to catch up on my coursework for the course I am doing as I am a bit behind, so a full day ahead of me.  And then there is my work as well.  And with those thoughts in mind I will close this off now.

It is good to be busy.  I am so blessed to have a full and busy life. No time to be bored or lonely.

A thought to carry with you . . . 

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

 *.˛.Every flower blooms

in its own time.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

~Ken Petti° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

In The English Kitchen today.  A French Style Potato Salad, with a delicious mint and caper vinaigrette. Meant to be served warm. Delicious! No fuss. No muss.

I hope you have a beautiful Friday.  Be happy and be blessed. May you find peace in wild things and fill your day with the people and things that you love most.  Don't forget!

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⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿

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And I do too!!