Learning the value...

of opposable thumbs!  Last week I slipped going down some stairs and caught myself with my right hand.  I figured it was slightly sprained but didn't think too much about it.  I proceeded to do all the many things I needed to do, not realizing that the overuse of my hand was delaying the healing process.  It became very painful to do even ordinary activities.

Yesterday evening I decided that I had to do something to force my hand to remain stationary, so I ran to Wal-Mart and bought a thumb stabilizer. Oh dear.  Have you ever realized how many simple, everyday things one does using their thumb?

I look pretty silly, and I am awkwardly trying to forge ahead with Thanksgiving preparations.  I am doubly grateful for helpful daughters this year. They have been great in helping get all our preparations done.

I had already decided that the underlying theme for our family celebrations this holiday season would be "Relax; enjoy, and just do the best you can do".  Little did I realize how important that attitude would be.

So, that is what I am going to do.  I am going to relax as best I can, enjoy the great company that I will be spending the holidays with, and toss perfection out the window while just doing the best I can do.

Have a wonderful holiday.  Count your blessings, while I find someone to take the turkey out of the oven for me...

Thankful for...

Thanksgiving Roses!!   Can you believe it?  I glanced out my back window amidst all my pre-holiday rushing about, and could hardly believe my eyes.  The trees are bare, the leaves have fallen and have been gathered, and still there are flowers that are working hard to dazzle.

Who ever said that roses were tempermental? that they have to be pampered and babied?  I don't think so!

This gives me hope.  This gives me confidence in myself, somehow.  I often struggle through the gloom of Fall, pining for the sunny days of summer, thinking that my days of happiness and blooming have been curtailed for the long winter months.

Not so!  We can take a suggestion from these brave roses and find the best in ourselves even on a cold, gray day.

Go Team D'eRica!

That's what we affectionately call Erica and her good friend, Derek.

In the wee, small hours this morning, I heard them downstairs having breakfast and preparing to participate in their very first Half Marathon.  They had consulted the internet to find the best food to eat before long-distance running.  They were dressed in high tech running gear, most of it provided by Erica's generous dad.  They had been training for months.  Today was the day!

The event was in Eugene, and we made arrangement to meet them down there later in the morning.

It was so much fun to wait for them at the finish line.  The energy and excitement was palpable.  I wished that I wasn't there just as a spectator.  I thought it looked like so much fun to be a participant. 

It was a gorgeous day, down by the river in Eugene.  What had started out in Salem as a cold and rainy day, turned out to be perfect running weather.  Here they come!

I was so proud of them.  This was a huge achievement.

Obviously, I was not the only proud parent.

Way to go, you two.  There is nothing like setting a difficult goal and finding a way to make it happen.  And I knew that you would take good care of each other.  What a blessing to have someone by your side that's always got your back.

The Bubble has Popped...

and I am back home again, surrounded by suitcases that need unpacking, a pile of mail that needs attention, a refrigerator that needs to be restocked, hampers that are overflowing...well, you get the picture.

It seems like forever ago that I was here, sitting at home, at my family's beck and call.  That part of being home I actually don't mind at all.  Wish I could say the same about that other nonsense. No, no, no.  I'm just kidding.  I have actually been reminded recently that I am the woman who loves her life, and isn't there great power just in saying that out loud?  I dare you; try it! 

And it is particularly appropriate at this time of year, to pause for a few moments and reflect upon the abundance of blessings we have received, and that indeed there are so many reasons to love one's life, both the great stuff as well as the challenges.

I have had several inquiries about my "pet" seagull, and whether or not I actually gave in and fed the silly bird.

He (or she) and I became quite well acquainted during my stay at the beach.  He made his presence known everyday, several times a day, for the week that I was there.

I was surprised by his tenacity.  He never gave up hope that the grumpy lady would give in and throw him a crust of bread.  And I wrestled with my dilemma every time he would come knocking at my door, literally banging his beak on the window.  I worried that he was starving because instead of foraging with the rest of the birds, he was pinning all his hopes and energy on me.

The most difficult times would be when he seemed to be looking me straight in the eye, challenging me, summoning my charity, compelling me to give in to softest part of my heart.

He perched on the driveway this morning as I was driving away.  As I looked back I wondered if I would see him again; when I return next week for Thanksgiving, will he still be there, waiting for a handout, waiting for the pretty, generous girl instead of the grumpy old lady?

I guess we will see...

More from the Old Lady

Journal Entry No. 2

It has been an interesting  24 hours.  I have witnessed wonderfully powerful storms; I have witnessed beautiful skies filled with interesting clouds and rainbows; I have experienced a solitude that I can hardly ever remember feeling.  I know that I will "wake up" from this dream world soon, and be quite happy to go back to my life of laundry and errands and making dinner, but for now I will marvel at this opportunity to become reacquainted with myself.

I was also faced with a moral dilemma this morning, which was made all the more difficult by the ideas that I have been absorbing through books read during my hiatus.  Here is the scenario:

My daughter, Erica, who was here at the Coast a few days before me, had made friends with a seagull that would come to the back deck.  Of course, when you feed a bird an entire bagel each day it will be smart enough to come back repeatedly for a delectably easy meal.  In fact, she asked me to note the bird's markings so if it came while she was gone I would know to which bird I was to give my breakfast.

So this morning, right on schedule, at seemingly the same hour that yesterday Erica had offered her bagel, I hear a terrible racket outside on the deck.  Sure enough, there was Erica's friend yelling at another bird that had the nerve to encroach on his territory. Soon the other bird left and our greedy friend remained, waiting for his daily handout.  Here comes the moral dilemma.  I had just read the beautiful sermon by King Benjamin, Are we not all beggars in the sight of God?  Should we not give part of our substance to the less fortunate because it is a way of serving our Father in Heaven?  I had an extra bagel.  It was not taking food away from me or my children. 

But then as I watched the bird's tenacity at defending it's territory, as I watched it's boldness in pecking at the window to get my attention, as I watched it moving from one window to the next to improve it's vantage point, I realized that perhaps the situation was not as simple as it seemed.  If I continued my daughter's innocent gesture, would this bird continue to come back every day, even when we are not here, to pester and annoy the next residents who had come for a peaceful stay at the beach?  How would they feel about having to put up with the noisy, greedy bird?  Would they find it charming to have a feathered friend, or would they be upset by the shortsightedness of the previous inhabitants?

How does our society handle the "needs" of its dependents?  Have they become helpless because of the continuous string of easy handouts that are readily available?  Have they wizened up, having figured out the system, and are demanding their entitlements at the door of those that are working by the sweat of their brow for their daily bread?

Well, it is all food for thought, I guess.  And thankfully it is not yet frowned upon in our society to think or to reason.  Will the moral dilemmas continue to present themselves?  I'm certain of it.  Will there ever be an easy answer to them?  Probably not.

Old Lady and the Sea

Journal entry No. 1

I spent my first night in our new beach house.  And it happened to be a night that saw 90 mph wind gusts and torrential rain that beat at the windows most of the night.  There is an interesting conflict  that comes when one feels the security of being safely inside and warm and protected from the elements, and yet the vulnerability of wondering if the windows will hold against the gale force winds.  Brian and I chose to remain upstairs in our room that has the best view, being surrounded on three sides by windows that look out to the mighty ocean.  The constant pounding of the rain was a small sacrifice to be able to wake up this morning and enjoy the overwhelming view from the comfort and warmth of my bed.  My girls had other ideas; they abandoned their upstairs room to go down to the most tucked away, inside bedroom to escape the disruptive rhythm of the pouring rain.

When I arrived yesterday afternoon to join the rest of my family that had already been enjoying their stay, I found a small gift on my pillow that was accompanied by the most lovely card and handwritten message from my husband.  I hope he doesn't mind if I share his sweet words:

"My dear wife,
I hope you find absolute joy in your new home.  I think it is a special place.  I look forward to years of gathering our growing family.  And I look forward to quiet time with you.  I love you and I am happy that we have a chance to sit side by side on the edge of land and see all the wonders that are here."

Sitting side by side on the edge of land.  Beautiful.  He can be quite poetic without really trying.

I think this will be an important place for me, both as a gathering place and a place of solitude.  I hope that I never fail to marvel at the beauty of the ocean.  I hope that I wake up each morning that I am able to be here, and watch the waves with the same sense of wonder that I did this morning.

Meanwhile, I intend to acclimate myself to the place over the next few days.  I brought a couple of projects to work on, and I have an intriguing book.  Maybe I will venture out to stroll the little shops in between storms.  Then again, maybe not.  There will always be next time...

Missing a Birthday...

Not something I like to do!  Saturday is Erica's birthday, and not just any birthday, she turns 21 and I am not going to be around.

I adore my daughter, Erica.  She fills my life with joy, with music, with energy, with adventure, with love. 

I hope you have a delightful birthday, one that will be memorable in so many ways.  Enjoy the Coast, and I will meet you there when I get back from Idaho!