Sunday’s Seven 12 May 2024

Mother’s Day will have come and gone by the time this posts, but the sweetness is worth recalling. I hope it’s also true for you.

I was able to start the day with a Skype session with my daughter, have an in-person lunch with my son and his crew, and end the day with dinner with a beloved cousin who rearranged her trip plans so we could share time together.

All through the day I was aware of how the smallest efforts mean so much, and maybe especially to those who recognize the gift of mothering and being mothered.

Texts and photographs and smiles and kind waitresses and the backstories of double shifts and kids at home and take your time—and knowing those three words are like an I love you to the world.

Flower images from extraordinary people who are not mine to claim, but who were moved to send them my way. The grandness.

Children’s handwriting and how a busy parent had to be patient while that was created…a precious moment.

A toast to the mothers who have gone ahead—and shared between grateful daughters at a leisurely and extraordinarily simple but beautiful reunion—To Life…

That waitress mom who happily took our picture and asked us for a funny pose, too because we all need to laugh more.

Amen, honey.

I know that’s more than seven…at some point, there is no need for numbering…just know.

Oh, here’s a bonus that really captures motherhood/busyhood to me. I wore black slacks yesterday…I thought. After lunch, I realized they were navy. Left them on anyway. The world spun on regardless. 😆

May all your clothes and shoes match this week, but if they don’t, you’re “up and at ‘em” and all is well. 💙

💐💐💐💐💐💐💐

Flowers from afar

More flowers from afar

Sunday’s Seven 28 April 2024

I saw geese mamas ushering their new broods to the water on a walk break this week—which led me to remember how many good and wondrous things happen just out of sight a lot of days…

like the driveway feather waiting for me to find…

Nature’s Gift

…the way our world smells after a clearing rain and the child who reminded me of that…

…how rain led to some happy mud puddles but also some necessary clean outs

and progress in increments or big versions still counts as win here.

Take out pizza because 🍕is gift, actually,

in so many ways, and eating it for breakfast is evidence of plenty/leftovers/choice…

…and we are already at the end of April and this list, so I choose this poem to share as we go on about our busy days:

Right Now, Somewhere by Jess Janz:

✌️

Sunday’s Seven 21 April 2024

Gift

Dutch irises in a recycled cappuccino bottle

A sunny visit in a new coffee shop with an old friend

Words on the page…and finding old words that remind me of the value of ritual and routine and returning to oneself

Sofia’s rainy day list of things to do-those small sincere joys we can give and reciprocate

The power company’s lineman who repaired my transformer in a steady rain

His genuine and almost surprised tone You are most welcome, ma’am

Which left me considering how small it is to say thank you and how rare for some of us to hear it

Taylor Swift’s new album and the student who met me as I arrived on campus with the news of that. Words as gift. More on this I’m quite sure…but a quick one thing I admire about Swift is her bullshit detector and her refusal to be a victim. More of us doing that, please and thank you.

Seven good things in a brief lineup here…so many more. When we start noting, we are rewarded.

I hope you are rewarded in the coming week. Be good to yourself. Listen to someone new. Thank somebody.

✌️

Sunday’s Seven 7 April 2024

Another birthday in the books last week, and gratitude for family and friends who honored the day with special moments. 🎂

Granddaughters who are currently enamored with the magician’s code and how one keeps pulling all manner of objects from my ear. The best part is her reaction to my reaction…is there anything more joyful than a child’s laugh? Listen for that in your comings and goings this week. Notice it as the gift it is. 🪄 🎩

Wildflower bouquets. Receiving one and knowing these moments are simply a window of time. Children grow and become busy with so much; when someone offers a wildflower bouquet, I hope you recognize the gift of that. Added bonus: a child who agrees to a picture. That sometimes is fleeting, too. 🌸

Beautiful offering

Funny stories told and shared… 🤭

Daily routines and rituals…and freedom to choose how our days will run in the background of life… 📝

Spring’s gifts of puddles and purple irises this week. 🌧️ 💜

Knowing how to prepare a meal and realizing that, too, is worthy of praise. 🍽️

I hope in this month of April (oh, it’s National Poetry Month…I’ll add one as a bonus 😊 below), you’ll honor the gifts of your life. I hope, like me, you’ll never exhaust the list. The more you notice, the more arrive. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

                                    A Gift

By Czeslaw Milosz

A day so happy.
Fog lifted early, I worked in the garden.
Hummingbirds were stopping over honeysuckle flowers.
There was no thing on earth I wanted to possess.
I knew no one worth my envying him.
Whatever evil I had suffered, I forgot.
To think that once I was the same man did not embarrass me.
In my body I felt no pain.
When straightening up, I saw the blue sea and sails.

—-

And, as all things are connected it seems, this poem reminds me of a young man who read the poetry of Milosz to me in Prague…and how that moment’s memory has always stayed with me.

This is one of the many gifts of poetry. ❤️

✌️

                              

Sunday’s Seven –Plus 7 31 March 2024

Easter greetings to the Christian readers here… I hope you’ve had a lovely day and made good memories. The bloom in the picture was only a bud the afternoon of Easter Saturday…what a difference a day makes, right? 😉

That full bloom iris greeted me this morning and reminded me how much good can come in a truly short time. Always be on watch for it.

It’s been a busy few days here with grandchildren dyeing eggs (and that brought back memories of my children doing the same— as well as my mom doing the same with me so many decades ago. Memories hang with us.) Traditions. ❤️

Little Easter baskets and fillable eggs and cascarones and children’s happy voices …

…and those children coming in with pre-birthday gifts as we were able to celebrate together this weekend…

The mailbox has been a treasure trove of happy mail recently, and I will always marvel at the magic that seems to bring a card or parcel from place to place. Today, it held homemade baked goods, too…all the ways friends show up with love and light.

I sent some good mail of my own during the past few days: a stitched contour portrait is on its way to Australia thanks to India Flint and her ever busy way of connecting creatives through stitch or words or art.

Friendships…and the ways we witness one another through good times and bad 🌟

Full moon glow a few days ago that led me to stand in wonder…the beauty of this world…

Books and journals and coffee cups and flowers…all the usual suspects that bring joy 🦋

Recipes…and time to make them…

And as I enter a new year, I honor the tradition of staying up to meet the day—happy to see another year and hopeful for the good it will bring…

So many times I wanted to post because I knew I missed last week, but I decided a catch up today would do. The message really doesn’t change:

Find beautiful moments. Surround yourself with good people. Learn from a child. Laughter is life. Carry on.

Be good to yourself. ✌️

Happy Easter Bloom

Sunday’s Seven 14 Jan. 2024

A quotation from a quick search on Pinterest starts tonight’s weekly seven good things.

Contentment ❄️

We are in the process of flurries as I write tonight; the day has been spent mostly looking out of windows, keeping tabs on friends far and near. Checking thermostats and dripping faucets. Eating probably too many snacks. Letting the day slide by without too much grief over things left undone. Tomorrow is a new day, and we might wake to measurable snow on the ground.

The week sped by; new responsibilities appeared at work, and weather forecasts changed the routine…preparations turned into “hurry up and wait” for those elusive snowflakes to appear.

Small goodnesses appeared…camelias near the front porch that haven’t bloomed decided this is the year. An amaryllis is also gearing up to show out. Winter is their time.

Special mail arrived from long time friends, and I marvel at the ways we get to stay connected through the years.

Children have been here, and four distinct personalities brought lots of joy and laughter. Small permissions were granted, big love was shared. I’ll always be glad for the lessons and life children bring.

I’ve cooked quite a bit this weekend, and I offer thanks to all those who came before me who taught me how, who shared their tips, their recipes, their happiness in the kitchen. We learn best from happy people, I do believe.

The stack of books continues to grow…and there is time carved out to read. That is also a gift of the new year.

A sweet dog is content sleeping in the kitchen. She actually loves the colder weather, but during these frigid “feels like” temps, I coax her inside. She’ll sleep soundly and be ready to conquer the cold at daybreak. And I’ll try to keep up. ☺️

I think that’s a lot more than seven, so I’ll sign off for now. I hope you can be content in the in between times and find days or hours of rest and restoration. ✌️

Sunday’s Seven: 123123

Greetings and an early Happy New Year to you all, dear readers. I hope you end the day happy and shout 1-2-3-1-2-3 to bring in 2024.

A friend of mine posted a quotation that sums up my current thoughts about resolutions:

“Every year you make a resolution to change yourself. This year, make a resolution to be yourself.” —author unknown

And, as is custom, 7 good things from the past few days:

Docents at the RW Norton museum in Shreveport, Louisiana who welcome children lovingly

Surprise packages in the mail

Those printed pictures fell into my hands this season—-happy heart

Tree lights

Stocking stuffers and the realization your children have grown up to be the most thoughtful givers

105.9 is still playing Christmas music…because we are still in the season 🎄

These moments of connection. Hope for tomorrow.

Sending you a warm hug. ✌️✌️✌️🥂🎆

Almost 2024 🌟

Sunday’s Seven: 29 Oct 2023

🌟Reminder 🌟

My eldest grandchild left her Color reminder taped to our sunporch-art porch wall, and I did not see it until early this morning. Little lights people leave for us as they journey on…

…another GC reminded me to please take care of her works in progress. I will. So much more in those words than non- creatives might hear—I’m returning. I like what I was doing. Protect it for me. I had fun.

Witnessing is a big part of life—I’m pretty sure Bradbury said “Witness and celebrate”—and I am. Those around me are, too. Spider webs in many trees and quick lizards playing hide-and-seek in patio rafters and rocks to be claimed and puddles to jump in were here and noticed as we say farewell to October. A two sides carved pumpkin will be in transit to its artists’ home later. And that is its own simple story for today:

I planned to carve with children, but time got away as it does. Then I recalled an October decades ago when my mom was away. My new husband and I came to check on her place, and at some point I realized he’d never carved a pumpkin before. As an elementary teacher at the time, I carved them yearly with my students. Anyway, we had a little memory making that day and my mom was welcomed home with a grinning Jack-o-lantern on her porch steps. Fast forward to other Octobers, and my husband carved many pumpkins with our kids. And, he carved a final one for us his last year here. Today, I laughed as I used his hunting knife to carve our latest rendition. He would not approve of this use I’m quite sure…then again, it’s for our grandkids, so I’d likely get a free pass. I bet some little kids smile tonight when they see their pumpkin friend on their own porch…and the little things keep unspooling through the years. Because the little things often cost almost nothing. And they become part of our being. Kids remember far more of what we do than what we spend. 🎃

On the pumpkin theme, my young friend Mirren made a glorious pumpkin fairy house and her mom texted me a pic. All of us creatives hanging on in spite of distance and circumstances. 🥰🌟

So many good things to list this week, but the latest one involves another “little thing- big thing”—my sister and her husband are traveling abroad, and my daughter is there to welcome them and show them the sights. My sis has been sending me pictures, and knowing the happiness we can give by simply honoring another for good…well, gift.

Of course, we don’t have to be travelers to find joy. It’s right next door, down the street, in the next aisle over. In our own homes. Witnessing. Celebrating. Honoring what another might need. Don’t let the magic in front of you get away.

Happy Halloween time. ✌️✌️✌️✌️🍁🎃🍁

Sunday’s Seven 15 Oct 2023

Nature-y Magic Days

This has been a fun and entertaining week…the last few days spent as a “single mom” of sorts…keeping three precious granddaughters for a few days while their parents are away. Tonight is the last sleepover of the stay, so after school drop- offs are complete in the morning, my regular busy life will resume.

I knew these days and responsibilities might be challenging, so I reclaimed what I’ve done in any challenging time: stay in the moment…only the moment at hand.

Thinking back over the time and happy kid moments, I remember cookie decorating outside, cracking pecans and “sailing” their empty shell boats, collecting wishing leaves on our way to the pond, making mud when the puddles dried up, taking some impromptu grocery store trips (3 in tow) and some solo kid excursions this morning while the bigger two were briefly partying with their aunt.

Add in the suppers and breakfasts and snacks and baths and potty breaks and boo-boos and bedtime routines and art times and story times and tv times and homework and well, all the unnamed things that happen between point a and b… and

I surely would have been overwhelmed had I allowed myself to think too long or plan too much.

So, I stayed in the current moment…advice I hope to continue taking as the days roll on.

The week gave me other good things in addition to grandchild love…

deer sightings, meaningful exchanges with strangers, a coffee break with a dear friend, laughter, my mom’s Santa light glowing in the kitchen.

And the week to come promises to hold a lot of good, too…because I desire it, look for it, find it.

God bless you…and especially all the single parents among us. ❤️💐💐💐💐💐💐

Sunday’s Seven 1 October 23

The calendar says fall. TX says where… but maybe by week’s end we’ll get a not 90 day. One must hope. Forecast says likely. 🙌🏼

Leaves have not been up to their usual autumn magic, but there are signs of trying.

Beginner

The garden spiders are busy and a few littles have joined in the naming: Sally and Izzy are still daily regulars, but Sunny Star Scout (fave name 🤩) must be otherwise occupied …we expect her return any day. 🕷️ I know all are not spider lovers, but these are my returners. Sally always sets up on the side of the garage. Izzy chose the dog food bin this year, but she waves a happy leg at me each morning as I gently get Ada’s breakfast without disturbing her glorious weaving. We seem to understand one another.

Sally

The days aren’t fall cool, but outside is bearable, so that’s the win. Little girls were joyful with jump ropes and sidewalk chalk and swings and driveway races. That’s good. ✅

Little boy wearing a cowboy hat greeted me at his house with “ampoline ampoline!” on his busy way to the swing and see saw and trampoline…then sat happily in the backyard dirt and sifted through his goldmine …stopping multiple times to bring me treasures. A child who notices. 🫶

Gifts from a 2 year old 🍂

I hung the pumpkin front door decoration, and as is my custom, also plugged in the white lights on my beginning tree—this year it will live on the sunporch where it’s already bringing us moments of joy. We have decided it will be our art tree. I’m looking forward to how it transforms by December. So much to be said for creating spaces that we enjoy. The days are busy. White lights in the early morning and late evening are luxury. 🌟

Beginning tree 🌟

Little things. Passing moments. Noises and silences and all the gifts those hold.

May your week be filled with treasures you are able to notice. ✌️