It’s my 11 year* blogging anniversary. Thank you to those who come by from time to time. A special thank you to Dawn who is often my lone commenter along the way.
I think I’ll make this list about seven good things or truths I’ve learned since writing this blog.
You really can count your true friends on one hand. My mom was right.
Good things are always around the corner. Keep watch.
Strangers have been some of my sweetest encouragers. Remember that when you encounter another.
Children really are sages. When you spend time with them, know that.
Travel is underestimated. Book the trips.
When something feels off, it is. Trust yourself.
Nature, in all her forms, is a guide.
✌️
I know I started out with a post a day back in 2012, and I know I kept that promise to myself even when my life was crashing down around me. I could not see where I was going, and I am here to tell you it doesn’t matter. Just keep going, and you will find yourself as you go.
This blog is not about fame. Surely you know this. 🤣 It is about a promise to myself to return to the things that are important to me, to honor them, to know them, and to share them.
Blessings to you. Onward! ☀️☀️☀️🌟
*initial post listed 10…I lost a year in there…thanks for walking with me for a long while. 🌟
Ah, my elusive egret has returned, and what an entrance. I’ll start with her story to top my list today:
I have been looking for this egret, and while I’ve seen some at area parks this spring and summer, no egrets at my place. Really unusual. I felt a surprising sadness about it, honestly. But this morning, as I was writing near a sunporch window, Ada barked and I looked up to see this beauty swooping in and rounding the corner of the house, almost clipping the siding on her way. It was a moment I would not have believed if I hadn’t experienced it…a true Mary Oliver moment, I really do think. 🤩 Majestic moment.
I immediately went outside, but by that time, she was a distant shadow among the trees. An hour later, though, she returned to the place I have been missing her from…and she posed for me for a good while. Little gifts, dear people. I marvel at nature and her offerings. May we never be indifferent to them. ❤️
Other things making the list this week:
an impromptu patio visit with a dear friend (thanks, Dee)
a gift of international stamps from a loved one (thoughtful giver)
a Burger King crown 👑…that’s its own story, but let’s add late night drive thrus to the list and one grownup thinking another might accept it…and did 😅
cast iron skillets and all the stories and sustenance they’ve helped provide…
the four slot toaster it took me far too long to buy…it really is the little things 😄
My adult children. They listen to me, help me in ways they cannot imagine, and they really are the invisible listing here each week. Always present outside/ inside/between the lines. ❤️❤️
The week has been a busy one, and I have noticed myself ranting a bit too much, irritated a bit too often. I tell you this as a form of disclosure. While this blog is about the good things, it’s not always easy. Sometimes we ( I ) have to look harder. But sometimes, a great egret will appear right in front of our eyes, and we will remember: look.
As Mary Oliver told us:
Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.
Bye for now. I hope something memorable and beautiful greets you this week.
Good morning wherever you’re reading from, dear ones. I’m starting my day early because three little granddaughters are coming to play in a little while and while they are here, I will be in hide and seek mode or may be directing sous chefs or throwing rocks in creeks or who knows, really. I predict joy, though. 🌟✅
The week flew by again, but it brought sweet remembrances and always some good glimmers.
The farmers’ market brought delicious delights. I sat shelling peas this week and thought that indeed is a very good thing. Knowing how to cook and season them is, too. ✅
My son sent a text midweek inviting me to come eat one of my faves — home cooked grilled food—and as I drove up, just seeing through their window—him and his beautiful family all around a table, talking and spending precious time together touched my heart…and made me think of all the other tables across this world with families gathering. ✅ That reverie brought to mind a poem—this one:
Perhaps the World Ends Here—by Joy Harjo
The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.
We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.
It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.
At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.
Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.
This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.
Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.
We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.
At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.
Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.
A beautiful poem, I think—and gratitude that my inner world can call up poems and poets. It tells me a good thing about what matters to me. ✅
Other good things:
Butterflies and dragonflies and fireflies are still active and so lovely to watch✅
Rains come this summer, mercifully, and a text from a dear friend: Did you see the rainbow? Go look now! No, I hadn’t…but I am grateful I’ll still get up and rush to see and be rewarded by beauty. My pictures do not do it justice, but it was there and so odd in a way…because half of the sky was bright white and blue while the other half was a deep bruise of darkness…but there was the rainbow…✅
…which led to a quick rainy walk to the mailbox and on the way, a deer stopped to stare me down ✅
…and I stood in gratitude at all of the gifts ready for us when we are ready to see them.
Have a good week. Look for the light. Be ready to see the gifts right in front of you. Linger at a table this week if you can. ✌️✌️🌟
A lot more than seven good things this week, but I’ll start with the rain break that came early this afternoon. I’m in Texas, and we have made the news lately with stories about our oppressive heat. All true. So, when I opened the door to see wet front steps, I took full advantage of a rainy day walk. I could breathe. I could walk without effort. I even coaxed Ada out to join me. I’m not sure she shared the delight, but she came for awhile. 🐾 ☔️ Sunshine is usually associated with lifted spirits, but it was all about rain for me today.
Other good things in no certain order :
Dolls and trucks and a trail of toys meaning 4 little grands were on the premises recently …
Read to me, Loulou —-not sure there are sweeter words…
Stories shared by my face to face and online students…stories that simultaneously broke my heart and reminded me that we do indeed survive some hard moments. When someone tells you their story, it is a holy gift.
Leap frog. Haha…the inside version was brave but brought laughter.
The lone zinnia in my raised bed. I have not gotten around to planting this year, but one came along anyway. There’s always one of something good, I’ve found.
Speaking of…while I have prolific gardeners in my life, I’m not one this season. However, I do have one tiny tomato on a vine-in a pot-in need of water-which it received today. Proof that some things survive regardless. Some good things.
That’s a fast seven. Hope yours are just as fast.
✌️ and Happy 4th of July time to my USA readers. May you remember that freedom is for all of us. In all its forms. 🇺🇸
A blog reaching out to victims of abuse and others in need, providing insight about abuse, hope for the future, and guidance to see THE LIGHT that lead Secret Angel out of the darkness of her own abusive situation and helped her to not only survive but to overcome.
agnestirrito 