Pinkies up!

The BBC series, Cranford, is a genuine delight!

Often, movies of mid-18th century England are portrayed by characters of either extreme poverty or inherited wealth. In the small village of Cranford, however, we become acquainted with middle class single and widowed female inhabitants who are comfortable with their traditional way of life and place great store on propriety and maintaining an appearance of gentility.

In a past life, I must have resided in Cheshire county, England, for the attire, manners, and proper grammar of these genteel English women send me into ecstasy!


Knowing that tea tastes better when sipped from a bone china cup, my yellow Hall teapot is now being used at the office, along with a dainty bone china cup.

Pinkies up!

Anguish of soul

A beloved family member is rejected by his spouse who asks for a divorce.

A co-worker's wife hemorrhages and loses the baby only days before baby's due date.

A close friend receives a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Unemployment continues and a couple face losing their home to foreclosure.

Pain. Agony. Fear. Despair.

How is it even possible to give comfort to those who are facing crises like these?

Like minnows frightened by a shadow, my sympathetic eyes dart away from the anguish found in the eyes of the sufferer.

Words, although dredged with substance, feel empty and trite.

Cowardly, I feel bested in the presence of such pain.

Then I remember - this isn't about me, is it?

Sometimes there is no comfort that can be offered in a situation.

But listening, touching, sharing tears, sitting quietly in the presence of despair can lessen its power.

I can simply 'be' with deep compassion, true caring, and healing love.

Worthy goals

'What do you want to do with your life?'

Some noteworthy responses via www.43things.com:

"reach level 60 in World of Warcraft

have the most wonderful underwear collection

tame my tongue

lose back hair

solve this sudoko rubik cube thing

learn to smock

be simple

send a message in a bottle

stay clean

do the splits

find out who I really am

be on Extreme Makeover Home Edition

eat more fruit

love without fear

give myself credit

stop using the internet to distract myself"

(I didn't write the last one but it's a worthy one...)

Some things never change

Last week I volunteered in the high school library.

Arriving at 9:30 a.m., there were nearly 125 students gathered in the library for 'flex time'. One half hour of each school day is devoted to flex; a time in which students can do homework, get help from a teacher, catch up on one's social networking via cell phone texting (no calls allowed) or socialize the old fashioned way by talking face-to-face.

I would say about one-half of the students were intently working on homework or projects of some nature. The other half were socializing (quietly and respectfully, I might add).

As my eyes scanned the room observing the mix, I saw a sea of green and white shirts and realized that the football players, wearing their jerseys, were occupying the tables at the far end of the room with pretty girls filling in the cracks.

Amused, I thought some things never change.

Athletic prowess will forever be held in high esteem in our society. Back in my day, many of the jocks were barely able to maintain the C average required to keep them involved in sports. Their high school careers revolved around practice and game times, girls and hormones. Not history or class projects.

Perhaps times have changed and these jocks are current with their homework and have better than passing grades, eliminating the need to utilize a small block of study time.

Or.... not. And the stereotype of the strong, obtuse jock with his Barbie doll cheerleader girlfriend lives on.

Flashback

During the wee hours of Sunday, 4 a.m. to be precise, I had a moment.

A moment that held me captive by its sweetness and softened the rough edges of my heart.

At 3 months old, Cooper was having his first sleepover with Grandpa & Grandma. He's sleeping remarkably well at nights, his folks tell me, with an 8 hour stretch becoming the norm. When I put him to bed at 10 p.m. I sent a silent prayer to whatever deity might be listening, asking that Cooper would sleep long and hard that night.

I heard Cooper stirring around 4 am and took him into the next room to change his diaper before fixing his bottle. Still half asleep, he was cuddly and warm. While he lay stretching and awakening with soft baby noises, I began quietly murmuring nonsensical grandma talk. He stopped his squirming, looked me straight in the eye, shyly smiled and gurgled softly. Such a sweet hello...

It catapulted me back nearly 26 years ago when I was an exhausted mother of a fussy infant and busy 2 year old. Nick would only sleep for 2 hours at a time before waking up to feed. Nearly incoherent with sleep deprivation I would drag my tired self out of bed to once again change & nurse my baby.

But, in those wee hours of the morning, when I was groggy and disoriented, my baby would gift me with a sweet, shy smile and a soft coo. Happy to see my face. Content with the closeness we shared. He needed me. The sweetness of those moments lessened the agony of those nightly feedings.

Cooper reawakened the memories of those tender moments shared years ago. Love was communicated between two people, one an infant, the other an adult.

Love given.
Love received.
Love in action.

Early Fall days

Yes. It's a SPIDER time of year! They are BIGGER than ever and seem to especially love the space between the wall and ceiling right above our bed!

I heard on the national news this morning that the Pacific Northwest is not the only region that is experiencing fall's sudden onslaught. One day was summer. The next was fall. Even the birds that have hogged my bird feeders all summer have disappeared. Sigh...

My yard is not yet ready to be put 'to bed' for the season. Look at the various varieties of sunflowers, one with 3 busy bees.
How is it that my one pumpkin ended up growing comfortably on top of a stump?

I call him 'can-do Glynn'. Notice the little red tool box mounted atop his mower? He would be away from his tools in his shop when he needed to fiddle with some component of the mower. His solution? Take a few tools with him!

My evenings are cozy. Summer can be tiring and fall is my time to mellow and rest. Most evenings find me in my easy chair with a stack of books on one side, my computer on the other and Otis by my feet.

Life is good.