Like many, I often think about downsizing. Living in less space and with less stuff would be good for me – and our planet. Then I think about what to keep and what to step away from. Recognizing I needed professional advice on how to minimize, and with less pain, I asked a new friend if we could have coffee. Loyd Dillon is an interior design professional with an outstanding reputation, so he would know.
We’ve all seen two runners matching stride for stride in the park or on a greenway. They run with a paired choreography. But what if one in the pair doesn’t have the confidence and freedom needed to run alone? That’s where my new friends at Para≈Guide enter our story. “Sight by side” is more than a tag line for them, it’s the perfect description of what this group does everyday.
At age eight, my bait casting reel would always end up in a knotty mess. Dad called them “bird’s nests” because the tangled interlacing of fishing line looked like the complicated weave of its namesake. I have a lifetime of creating knots. Not all the same. Neither are the ways to untie them, but the arc is always there. I create the mess and then help comes to my rescue …
Today, I’ve come to rely on the large green signs to get me where I’m going, and the faster the better. At least they WERE my choice until a friend told me about the signs he follows. His signs aren’t placed to speed up the trip but to slow it down. Beverly and Richard Darlington follow brown signs on road trips. They’re the ones that direct travelers to historic buildings, museums, state parks and other places that put the “entertainment” back in driving …
Every life has its woulda, coulda, shoulda memories. Mine is a 1953 MG-YB. Morris Garages only built this car for three years. It looked old even when it first rolled off the assembly line in 1951. People were looking for something new and her pre-war design was not “the look.” Sales topped at only 1,301 and production was halted in ’53. Her timeless beauty turned my head when we first met …
“I don’t go to church every Sunday, but when I do…” I spend some time in prayer. Or at least I should. But sometimes I get caught up in the routine of my church-going and miss obvious opportunities for spiritual growth. Vivid Divina helps me get there …
A guy cuts in line at the store and I sigh. I’m walking with the sign and the driver of the car turning right never even looks my way as I feel my blood pressure rise. A conversation seems normal except I’m never allowed to finish my sentence and I get angry. These things happen to all of us. When they happen to me, I wonder what to do. I don’t feel like flicking away “flies” as JFK told Jackie.
Louisa met her first busker this morning. Our new friend, Greg, said he was pleased to meet her and appreciated how friendly and interested she seemed. Do buskers add to the cultural richness of a city – or is a busker just another panhandler with a guitar instead of a cardboard sign?
Our annual Snipe hunts took place on Thursday evenings after Taps. The hunters were instructed to quietly assemble so as not to waken the Scout Master, who, of course, knew exactly what was going on, and then we would head up the mountain together. Lately, I find myself identifying with the Snipe.
Annual rituals are important and need more thought-time than a few quick hours between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. More planning produces better results. So I’m making the choice to join author Pat Conroy and create a new tradition – a tradition of using a few of my long summer evenings to reflect back on my last New Year’s resolution and start planning for the next.