Margaret’s Song

-
Image
  There was a king in Thule,  True even to the grave;  To whom his dying mistress  A golden beaker gave.  At every feast he drained it,  Naught was to him so dear,  And often as he drained it,  Gush’d from his eyes the tear.  When death came, unrepining  His cities o’er he told;  All to his heir resigning,  Except his cup of gold.  With many a knightly vassal  At a royal feast sat he,  In yon proud hall ancestral,  In his castle o’er the sea.  Up stood the jovial monarch,  And quaff’d his last life’s glow,  Then hurled the hallow’d goblet  Into the flood below.  He saw it splashing, drinking,  And plunging in the sea;  His eyes meanwhile were sinking,  And never again drank he. “Margaret’s Song” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) in “Faust. Part I.”

Quarantine thoughts

-
I can sum mine up in one word: "crucible."
  • I've lost my job. 
  • I am no longer a doctoral student.
  • Our family is going through massive emotional upset due to a family member's attempted suicide and because she is underage, created quite an intense DSS firestorm for us. 
I am embracing the suck.

You know what?
  • The world is changing and we are doing things we've never done before. Or in a while, at least.
  • America's houses have never been cleaner.
  • The DSS firestorm is dying down and in a few months, she'll age out of the system. What happens next is anyone's guess. Hearts are broken, nonetheless. 
  • I am preparing to break in a new tiller on some ground for a garden. Got us some tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, lettuce, broccoli, beans. Might post some pics of the before-and-aftermath.
The sun is shining like all is well with the world, and if you stop and sit out on your porch or in your gazebo or in your swing or whatever you got to sit on, just open your eyes and ears. Nights are quieter. Birds are chirpier. Breakfast is later, but that's ok too.

I had to move my library from what was once my office, but that's all done and almost all books are reshelved at home--in order ;-) Ran out of shelf space, if you can believe that! 

I know who my true friends are and I know where to find them. Ok, I've not been the best friend to some, but that's one thing about true friends--there's this "no matter what" thing. And memories are precious.

Fitness ain't been going so well, but if I can get out and walk for a mile or so, I'm happy.

So I keep my phone charged, my playlists rolling and take each challenge as they come. Like waves on the shore. 

Things I try to remember: 
  • Pain hurts, but it eventually goes away. Fear does too.
  • Laugh when you can. And when you can't, laugh at what's coming at you. 
  • Life is abundant, so love where you are.
  • Live, love, do better. 
  • We are in this together.
  • There are times you just need to be held.
I still have tons of questions and have shaken my fist at the sky, but like the song says: 


If your eyes are on the storm
You'll wonder if I love you still
But if your eyes are on the cross
You'll know I always have and I always will.
(Casting Crowns)

Popular posts from this blog

Rock Me, Epictetus!

-
Image
“Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?” EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.3.6 b –8 
Read more

The Smooth-flowing Life

-
Image
Legend has it that the astronomer Ptolemy (1st century A.D.) suggested that falling stars were caused by the gods moving in the heavens, thus knocking stars out of their places. Somehow people reasoned that that if the gods were moving, they must be getting close to earth so they would lift their "prayers" or "wishes" (literally, "desires") whenever they saw the stars falling in hopes the gods would notice and grant a favorable answer. But how does one wish on falling star? Once you see it, it's gone before the wish or prayer can be made! The answer is simple: meteor shower. That's how to get your wish. Mrs. Ann Hodges had a wish fall right into her lap. Sort of. In 1954 Mrs. Hodges was sleeping on the couch when a 8 1/2 pound meteorite fell through her house and into her living room where it bounced off the radio and struck her left hip leaving her with a bruise. Not sure what she was wishing, but that's not how to do it. Epictetus hel...
Read more