OH, make my soul a many windowed place,
Catching the sun from morning until night,
That I may see the glory of the dawn
And, in the evening, stars of splendid light.
Oh, keep my heart alive to wind and rain,
My soul attuned to happiness and pain.
Oh, make my heart a mirror to reflect
A thousand images that break and pass,
Like dormer windows facing on the street
Catching small happenings upon the glass,
Oh may I keep myself aware
Of clouds of glory that plain people wear.
And may I see, beyond a tired face,
The heart of immortal shining through;
Dreams lovely as the day, hope's tender wings,
Brooding above the things that people do;
Father's and Mothers planning in advance
To give their little son his precious chance.
Oh, may I keep the mirror of my heart
Untarnished by the sorrow of the world,
To voice the wonder of a common life:
Smoke from a cottage chimney softly curled
Above a little yard where glory lies
In the bright splendor of plain people's eyes.
~Edna Jacques, Oh, Make My Soul
Back-Door Neighbors, 1946
This poem of Edna's that I am sharing this morning really spoke to my heart. In a week which was filled with lots of sadness in the world, a world that is becoming increasingly divisive, it was a call-out to my heart to dwell on more important things, eternal things, things which never change, and which never cease to make my heart swell with gladness. Yes, here is much sorrow in the world. There always will be. But there is also a great deal joy, and if we can keep our hearts attuned to that, then all will be well.
This is the last day I will have Eileen with me. Tonight is our last night. Tim will get home at midnight tonight and she will go back to the apartment with him tomorrow. Hopefully the wasp situation will have calmed down. I have enjoyed having her with me these 12 days. It has been fun. We get along really well. We don't see a lot of each other normally. She and Tim lead quite busy lives. I know she is missing him and will be quite happy to see him tomorrow. They have been voice messaging each other all week. It's cute.
They would both like to move into a bungalow and hopefully they won't have to wait too long to get one. Their friend Calvin just moved into one. Oh, they have great plans for what they are going to do when they get their bungalow. Things like have a hummingbird feeder and getting a cat. A black cat that is a girl and about a year old. They want pots of flowers outside their door and lots. Simple dreams and aspirations. Happy is the man who seeks only to have the simple things in life. They are easily achieved and bring much joy.
My church's general conference begins today with the talks starting at 1 pm. Eileen knows this and is okay with me listening to them. She has her phone and Netflix and Disney on her phone, plus she has earpods that she can use to hear them. She and Tim are quite up in the World technologically speaking. They both have iPhones and know how to use them. They also have the Internet in their apartment, which is something they both wanted for years. Eileen's dad wouldn't let them have it. I think he was worried that they would sit on it all day long, or at least that Eileen would. Also there was the cost. Because they are in the CSS program this is covered and at a reduced rate, so that is good. Their phones are free as well. The CSS pays for it all.
At any rate I am looking forward to General Conference and listening to the talks and hearing what wisdom is to be shared with us. I always enjoy General Conference as you know. Anything which brings positivity and peace into my home is always more than welcome!
All week-long Eileen has wanted to make biscuits and enjoy them with butter and jam. This we did early last evening. Simple pleasures. I had a can of the Pillsbury biscuits in the refrigerator, so they were not from scratch biscuits, but it didn't matter all that much. They were quick and easy to make, and she got so much joy out of waiting for them to bake and then having two after they were done with some butter and strawberry jam on them.
It was an opportunity as well to remember my late mother-in-law Elizabeth, Eileen's paternal Grandmother. I used to love watching Elizabeth eat toast and jam. She got so much pleasure out of that.
You only ever got homemade bread in Elizabeth's house. It was never store bought. It would be carefully toasted and buttered. Then she would sit with the toast and the jam nearby. The toast would be broken apart, small piece by small piece and she would slather the jam onto each piece of toast as she broke it off. I have never seen anyone eat so much jam with their toast or enjoy it as much as Elizabeth did. She was a woman who was very strict with her eating habits when nobody was around, but when company came, all rules were off, and she enjoyed eating everything with great abandon!
She used to love to treat us to brunch at a certain hotel in Charlottetown. Of course, she was not interested in the regular brunch things but the desserts. She would enjoy half a dozen of them. All the pies would be scraped of their filling and enjoyed with abandon. She would scrape that pastry clean, again and again. Every mouthful bringing her joy. It was so much fun to watch Elizabeth enjoying herself like that. I loved my mother-in-law very much. I think the most difficult part of the divorce was losing her.
Are these not the cutest little dolls. I found them on Etsy. The shop is closed at the moment. I think they are so sweet with their little sweaters, scarves and hats. There is nothing really complicated about them, but they are adorable in their simplicity. They look well kitted out for the "ber" months.
The leaves are right at their height now. Another week and the trees will really start to look bare. I so enjoyed our drive up the valley on Thursday, getting to see them all in their splendor. To be able to look at the North Mountain and seeing the flush of color on that which is normally just dark and green was beautiful. Ambers, golds, russets and ruby. All so very beautiful. And of course, the road we were travelling on was bordered with beautiful trees decked out in their finest autumn splendor.
This was Nutmeg last evening polishing one of the legs of my coffee table. He was so funny to watch. I was going to try to take a video of it but he stopped doing it almost as soon as I pressed record. Isn't that always the way. He is such a funny little character. Eileen has gotten so much pleasure out of watching the two cats and their antics this week with their unique little personalities. They are as different as chalk and cheese. One a big bumbling oaf and the other a delicate little rose. I will let you decide which is which and I am quite sure you will not have any problems figuring it out!
The bin men didn't pick up the garbage earlier this week as the day was on Truth and Reconciliation Day, which is a holiday here in Canada. (It is a day to remember all of the terrible things that happened in the residential school system.) They are coming to collect them today. I had put it out earlier this week only to discover that it wasn't being picked up, so I had to bring it all back in. Then yesterday we put it out all over again. Of course, the bags were that little much fuller, which is no bad thing.
I have been thinking about priorities this week, about my Blueprint for a really rich life . . . wealth beyond money. The things of life which I really desire. About core wants.
My core wants are comfort, stability, beauty and peace. All are within my reach. In fact, I probably have all of them already. It's about living within my means and tempering my desires against my needs. Enjoying the beauty I already have all around me. The artwork I chose specifically to put on my walls in a desire to bring peace and meaning into my environment, harmony. In getting rid of the clutter and only keeping that which brings me light and joy. Creating a cozy living space. In fostering relationships which do the same. Staying away from people and situations which seek to steal my light. Prioritizing experiences over possessions. Feeding my creativity more.
It is all do-able and within my reach.
Eileen is still sleeping. She said she was going to sleep in this morning. She was up early the last two mornings because of things which we/she were doing. Thursday it was our road trip, yesterday her bible study. At her bible study yesterday, she found out that Tim's mother's cancer has spread. She was shocked to hear that and more than a bit upset. Tim's parents have not said a lot to them about any of it, probably in an effort to keep them from worrying overly much. Their learning disabilities cause them to hyperfocus on certain things. I am sure that the subject was brought up only so that people at the bible study could be aware of the situation and put Jean on their prayer list, but it was also quite insensitive at the same time . . . with Eileen being in the room. It was not a nice way for her to find out.
Now she is a bit upset about how Tim is going to cope with it. I told her maybe to just keep it to herself for now and to keep Jean in her prayers . . . to let Tim's parents tell him in a way that will be easier for him to understand. They may have already told him while they are away together. Or it may be something they don't want him to know at all. It is hard to say.
I have kind of fun out of steam here this morning. I have been battling that half-cold, or whatever it is. It cannot decide if it is going to be a cold or just a minor irritant. I vote for the latter and hope that it stops soon, rather than hang around half-baked for a week before developing into something nasty. Cindy says now she thinks she is getting a cold.
It is that time of year I suppose.
A thought to carry with you . . .
☾ ° ★° * 。
• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 。° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★*To know even one life has breathed easier because
you have lived; this is to have succeeded.
~Ralph Waldo Emmerson • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 。
• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 。• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
In The English Kitchen today, a delicious Vanilla Glazed Spice Loaf. Not too sweet, full of lovely warm baking spices. Moist and dense and really tasty! Perfect with a hot drink, or a scoop of ice cream for that matter!
I hope that you have a beautiful weekend, filled with light and love. Whatever you get up to stay safe, be happy, and don't forget!
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And I do too!
