Tag Archives: life

Jun13

sunny spirit.

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i love their sense of humor about this

despite the entire town

being under construction

enduring random outages

having traffic-related ‘disturbances’

their coffee place is open

 still standing

 it’s up to you

to creatively find your way there

the coffee is damn good and worth the odyssey.

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“humor is the great thing, the saving thing after all. the minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield,

all our irritations, and resentments flit away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.”

-mark twain

 

 

 

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image credit: roos roast coffee

 

 

Jun12

the time of my life.

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what a wonderful retirement celebration

with sweet surprises galore

very kind words from friends/colleagues

comedy, a musical serenade, lunch together

 songs i wrote with our music teacher made into a beautiful book

a fab dance act from my favorite movie

an explosion of glitter

book of words, poems, haiku, photos, glittered pages, memories, hopes

and of course

so many wonderful pinatas

you can never have too many

filled with special things for my journeys ahead.

they know me so very well

thank you one and all

i had the time of my life.

 

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“always surround yourself with people who inspire you to be a better person.”

-d. denise dianty

 

Jun6

less to do.

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how i imagined my first day of retirement

but alas

it’s getting my tires switched, finishing report cards, and running errands

but i did sleep in until almost six

so  there’s hope for tomorrow….

—

“my goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do.”

  • -francine jay

 

 

 

 

 

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art credit: by kilkeny killkeny cats

Jun5

like a river.

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how lucky am i that this was both for me?

—

on this

my very last day of teaching

 soon to be retired

with who knows what

adventure still to come.

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“if i thought i knew what was going to happen, it wouldn’t be worth doing. the challenge is how joyfully, with what sense of fun and adventure and playfulness, we will greet it. we don’t have to look for what the next thing will be.if experience is any judge, it’ll come flowing toward us like a river.”

-stephen colbert

May31

give me time.

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my favorite kinder shirt of the week

 

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“give me time and I’ll give you a revolution.”

-alexander mcqueen

May28

tchau.

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it’s official

before the summer is over

i’ll be traveling

on my first trip as a retired person

 to visit portugal, the oldest nation-state in europe.

tchau.

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‘if there is one portion of europe which was made by the sea more than another,

portugal is that slice, that portion, that belt. portugal was made by the atlantic.”

– hilaire belloc, french/english historian and writer.

 

 

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*And the award for oldest nation-state in Europe goes to… Portugal. In 1139, Portugal appointed King Afonso Henriques as its king. Lisbon is said to be four centuries older than Rome. Due to its excellent trading location, the Phoenicians settled in Lisbon around 1200 BC.

 

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photo credit: planetware, the perched village of azenhas do mar at sunset, sintra, portugal

May25

don’t dis my gruntled.

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 gruntled on this long weekend.

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‘gruntled’

adjective: pleased, satisfied, and contented

examples:

1. after a long walk and a few treats, the dog was gruntled.

2. despite tom sawyer annoying those around him,

he always managed to keep his guardians gruntled.

 

 

 

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art credit: ‘roaming cat” – etsy

May24

‘imagine sisyphus happy.’ – albert camus

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one
digs out the sand with his shovel
as the other
fills in the sand with her feet.
both are happy
both work hard
 continue on endlessly
until it is time to go home.
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The Myth of Sisyphus ends with the sentence, “One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” Why must one imagine Sisyphus happy? Because he accepts that there is no point in pushing up the boulder up the hill forever and yet he chooses to do it anyway.
May21

new sheriff in town.

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if i had to be a sheriff

i would like to be the kind

 who rescues people

who fall in the water

run out of gas

get lost

need help

love sticker badges for their kids

i would not like to be the kind

who pulled us over one summer on a lake

because we were guilty of:

dancing.

i would rather be one

who throws frisbees to people on the beach

like the one we met on the weekend

who likes music and smiling and dancing.

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‘if time were the wicked sheriff in a horse opera,

i’d play for riding lessons and take his gun away.’

-w.h. auden

May16

unleash your kindness.

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author, brad meltzer, class of ’92, gives the commencement speech at his son’s graduation

 

“My son hadn’t had a proper graduation since middle school. Here’s my commencement address at the University of Michigan, written for him & Class of 2024, “

And here is the last line: “The world needs more empathy, more humility, and certainly more decency. If you really want to shock the world, unleash your kindness.” – Brad Meltzer

 

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*Brad Meltzer is an American novelist, non-fiction writer, TV show creator, and comic book author. His novels touch on the political thriller, legal thriller and conspiracy fiction genres, while he has also written superhero fiction for DC Comics and a series of short biographies of prominent people for young readers.

 

 

 

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source credit: Alumni Association of the University of Michigan