Of Laundry and Life Left Too Long

Writing an over due blog post can be a lot like laundry...

Ideas accumulate and gather like laundry that has piled up over days of neglect.

                                             

Sometimes I think I'll wait until I have enough thoughts and ideas to make a worth while post.

Suddenly like laundry piles on the floor, the ideas have run a muck and I can't seem to make heads or tails of them any more.
                                         

Leaving things doesn't seem to lessen the loads waiting to be addressed.
Only makes the ideas larger yet

 somehow more unattainable and daunting...
                                        

A little like a weeks worth of laundry..
Simply waiting patiently as life scuttles along...
                                         

                                                       

Blog posts and laundry..one obviously necessary to the function of life here at home, 
and one obscured slightly;by life fully functioning.
                                                                      

Happy Weekend, Thanks for visiting my wee blog...

See you next week, with a 'real blog post ' hopefully.:)

Belated Love and Life

Sometimes a bouquet of tulips inspires..

Lovely in their frail vulnerability and last days...
                                                    

Purchased at the grocery store before love's official day, they seemed to want to come home with me and rest in my newest purchase from the thrift store..
                                                     

I love observing the various stages in a flower bouquet...
                                               

A poignant message of grace and beauty..

February hasn't offered too much change on the home front. My firstborn; the country girl is happily married and establishing her own farm life..filled with horses, goats and one dog. 
Second daughter is happily navigating city life...wondering which road less traveled she should choose...
Son and youngest two girls keep the nest feathered here at home and give me lots of reason to keep the cookie box replenished along with all of those we entertain in life's spontaneous moments. ( which can be many)
                                                       

I made this favourite recipe last week. As I was sharing the cookies with my Mom and sisters I reminisced a little and realized I have been making them for about 23 years! Wow! I know this because I remember taking them to prenatal classes for snack, and that would have been 23 years ago! Yes time moves along..
                                                    

Yes, I'll be nice and share the recipe..
                                      

A while ago I found this quote on love.. 
                                         

I like that. And sometimes love feels like this tree... 

                                                        

I photographed it on my ski trail about a month ago. I loved the way it was reaching out, extending its self beyond the norm..Necessary at times for all of us. 
Thank you bending tree.
                                                  

The days are certainly getting longer. This sun set was around 5:20 a month ago. Now it sets at about 6:20 and is behind those trees... Always moving in the direction of change..

                 

Growing Into After A While

When I was a young, angst filled teenager I found a poem in the Ann Landers column of the newspaper. This poem was Comes The Dawn or After A While by Veronica Shoftstall
                                           

Even then I found the poem gripping and impacting... but I was like a toddler in her mother's shoes...I had yet to grow into the full meaning of the words.

                                           

For some reason certain lines have resonated with me recently..once when I woke up a few weeks ago to see Jasmine skating before the sun had risen...you plant your own garden, and decorate your own soul..
 One  day I watched  'the end of an era' with the horses that had boarded here...with every good bye you learn..

When my daughter phones me from her apartment in the city to discuss her future plans..
you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul..

                                                      

Words that grounded and etched their mark on my life,
The other morning I sat down and penned my own After A While..because now it really is after a while...

After a while you learn that love's give and take is worth it
and even though you make old mistakes, you learn they are a bridge to new lessons .
After a while you learn to expect some clouds and you are grateful for the shadows that come into your life.

After a while you learn to risk and try.. and you learn to drive in the city, and water ski and knit, and sing loudly sometimes, and love unconditionally.
After a while you learn the only person you can change is yourself,and it too is worth it.
After a while you learn to forgive sooner than you thought possible, and you learn to treat not only others but your own soul with dignity.
                                                                          

After awhile  you learn that grace is a flame that must never be quenched.
and flowers and gardens  grow where they are planted and tended.
After a while you learn that kisses and presents can't replace devotion and communication, and that beauty found in diversity defeats the trap of comparison.

After a while you learn you can always give a little more than you thought possible...
and wait a little longer than you knew you could.
and you never stop learning the meaning of good bye, but also hello 
and you keep believing in a future brimming with  possibility.                                                                  

To read the original After A while and a beautiful sequel click here.