—
image credits: tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com
this summer
i’ve so enjoyed
spending time
at home
in my cozy little cottage
with
family and friends and animals
and
thinking back
to
last summer
when
i set off
on
a long journey
to see my family
in their home
so far away
and when
i returned
and walked in
i was
left
speechless
when i found
what was waiting for me
on my table
was a basket
of fresh peaches
and muffins
and notes
welcoming me home
and
they were
filled with
so much
love and caring
a surprise gift
had been
given to me
by my dear friends
who
in my absence
had
completed many projects
i had been talking about
for a very long time
they had planned it all
and worked together
for weeks
husbands, wives, children
to make
my cottage
even more of
a home for me
they had
clipboards
and shifts
and materials
and money
and sweat
and tools
and time
and hard labor
and they
asked
my daughters
for my
colors
and ideas
and wishes
and dreams
and most of all
what i saw
when i walked in
was
an incredible act
of
human kindness
and
i
couldn’t believe
what they had done for me
and
i cried
and
my daughter
said
‘mom, all of your stories end with you laughing or crying or sometimes both’
and
isn’t that the way
all things should end?
you can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
~john wooden
—
image credits: leslielane.com, mainzercats
back in my catering days,
we hosted a party in a very small, yet charming victorian house.
it was for a women’s group,
a lovely luncheon that began with tray-passed appetizers.
as i made my rounds through the rooms,
squeezing past people engaged in little groups,
i offered up tray after tray of beautiful bite-sized food.
and one woman ignored me the entire time
and continued her conversation,
she wouldn’t even look at me or make eye contact at all.
and never took one thing from me.
until finally –
she reached down and popped one into her mouth.
and i was sure she did it just to appease me
and hoped i would go away.
but –
she had grabbed the flower on the tray instead of the appetizer.
and it was not an edible flower.
and she put it in her mouth and chewed it.
and got a strange look on her face.
and delicately deposited it into her napkin.
and went back to her conversation.
and i hurried to the kitchen to let the chef know.
who asked if it was the woman in the pink sweater.
and i said yes and wondered how she knew.
and that was when she told me
that the woman in the pink sweater was blind.
—-
The food here is terrible, and the portions are too small.
Woody Allen
one of my favorite christmas eve memories, was when my aunt, a catholic nun, mother superior of her order, came to town for the holidays. she came over early, to chat and hang out at my place. the rest of the family was running late, so for some reason, my daughters and i decided to keep her busy by playing a holiday game of ‘quarter bounce.’ open-minded, liberal nun that she is, she asked the rules and played right along with us. she actually did quite well, and we secretly wondered if she might have played once or twice before.
later, when the whole family arrived, we decided to play ‘would you rather?.’ imagine our joy and endless laughter, (including hers), when the card she drew asked, ‘would you rather – a) have no breasts but saucer-sized nipples -or- b) huge breasts and no nipples? could there have been anyone better in the family to have drawn that card?! sometimes the universe just lines up perfectly and offers you an unexpected and joyous gift. she chose the huge breasts option, by the way.
Life must be lived as play. – Plato
I didn't have my glasses on.... 