this came today
inside of a box of something else I had ordered
maybe it was added as a surprise free bonus
for being such a good customer
there were no directions
and no warranty
but I am
looking forward to using it.
—
“even in empty space, time and space still exist”.
-sean m. carroll
you know you’ve been waiting quite a long time
at the secretary of state’s office
when even a minivan load of nuns get restless.
—
“I sometimes think I was born to live up to my name.
how could I be anything else but what I am having been named madonna?
i would have either ended up a nun or this.”
-madonna ciccone
shopping in the happy garden section today
gloves, pots, dirt, candles, seeds, fairy lights…
and this.
machete much?
—
“if you’re doing something new there is always a sense of fear or foreboding,
but you’re in new ground
and you have to get out your machete and cut a new path.”
-jeanine tesori
what’s on your list?
—
image credit: mindful travel
50th anniversary of the week of the Apollo 11 moon landing
I was 11
on the cusp of everything
we went over
to my parents’ friends’ house
everyone was transfixed
air was electric
all gathered around the tv
watching
silent and awestruck
gobsmacked
as the first man walked on the moon
spoke his first words on the moon
lots of emotion in the house
I ran to the window to look at the moon
hoping I would see him up there
right in the middle of all of this
the hostess
left to go to the hospital
to have her baby
she named him neil
after that man on the moon.
—
“we ran as if to meet the moon.”
― robert frost
—
image credit: Ann Arbor district library archives
grandie f and his friends take a short walk
through their neighborhood
(and now mine)
to help bring a few first things over to my new digs.
the friendliest movers ever.
—
“i get by with a little help from my friends.”
-John lennon
so creepy unpacking from the family tripand finding this giant scary baby surprisein my suitcase.could have been most anyonethere’s more than one suspect in the groupwith this sense of humor.once narrowed downit was clear that she may soonbe making a surprise appearancesomewhere elseI’m just saying…
—“I tend to scare myself”– stephen king
headed off on a family fun river raft float trip
not real relaxing as expected
but lots of adventures/misadventures instead
so many laughs and we all survived
who could ask for anything more?
—
“rejoice as summer should…chase away sorrows by living.”
-melissa marr, darkest mercy
—
argo park, huron river, Ann Arbor, michigan, u.s.a. – summer 2019
what a year it’s been
on July 15th of last year
I put my 100+ year old cottage up for sale
through 2 sales – (the first a near miss, the second a hit)
showings, open houses, fixing, cleaning, clearing, minimizing, negotiating
a roller coaster ride
filled with lots of ups and downs
lessons learned
money spent
tears and laughs
fingers crossed
then moving and storing and staying with family
while waiting for the place I wanted to be next
hoping someone would be wiling to sell it
at just the right time
at just the right price
and with all this
somehow
it has fallen into place
here I am
exactly 1 year later
on july 15th once again
and today
I’ll be taking ownership
of the place that is exactly where I want to be
a simplified life begins
in the perfect home for me
happy to make it my own
in the ‘july’ of my life
near family, near the trees, near the water, near the town
what a wonderful difference 1 year can make.
—
“my life, i realize suddenly, is july.
childhood is june, and old age is august,
but here it is, july, and my life, this year, is july inside of july.”
-rick bass
—
photo credit: mark bugnaski – MLive.com
