Options tested for
here and there,
why and why not,
for maybe and for sure
take up too much space
in a muddled head,
while ordinary tasks
get done. People say
‘you think too much’
and maybe so but I want
the goshawks and sparrows,
the robins and meadow larks
to know that their beauty is
part of life that lifts
‘too much thinking’ to the skies of
possibility for each tomorrow.
“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
~ Lewis Carroll
Outsized ideas are full
of words and images,
tangled together,
a myriad of balloons
released into the morning air.
To pick one thread, one string;
to catch the most important one
can seem, at first, impossible.
Not to the scientists who see
the possibilities.
They each take hold of
any string and begin.
“Touch a scientist and you touch a child.”
~ Ray Bradbury
Out of the Blue
“My, my! Elizabeth will be very pleased.” Digby had come early to his office at the back of the kitchen. Even the coffee machine had a high polish on it. The water reservoir and the coffee bean receptacle were both filled. Clean mugs set out. Spoon container filled with clean spoons. All that was left was to choose a mug and push the right buttons. Not a dirty dish in sight. Clean table cloth on. Elizabeth always left the kitchen just as spotless, but on the few occasions when someone else was tasked for cleanup, it was never as good. He wondered if the excellent work was just Miss Emelina and Dez, or if the men had helped. Sure he’d learn those details from his wife, he just smiled.
On the way in, he picked up the mail and planned to open it when he got to his office. “Coffee first.” Martha was still asleep, so he just slipped out of the house quietly. It wasn’t really a work day for him, so he was dressed casually. For Digby, casually meant he didn’t have a tie on and a suit jacket was replaced by a ‘Mr. Rogers’ cardigan. Martha had been teasing him about that for years. Once at this desk, he set his mug of hot coffee and the mail down. Settling in to his chair he leafed through the mail. A power bill, a letter from the Estate lawyer, two requests for donations and ….. he set them all aside. The last was a letter from his brother Tom! He hadn’t heard from him since he and Martha had visited them in the summer.
Hello James!
You know I’m not much of a letter writer any more, but I’ve just come in from clearing snow. More than there was last year. Purchased a pretty heavy duty snow blower that can clear a side walk a lot faster than the old one I had. But it still takes a lot of work and shakes my arms half off my body. Been watching the news and heard the reports of the snows you’ve had. Probably all gone by now with the rain.
Sofia and I have taken up this new sport ‘Pickle Ball’. Do you have it on the Island? Strangest name for a sport I ever heard of, but we have fun. The town has a community building with a gymnasium where they set up the nets. It’s kind of like tennis, ping pong and squash all combined. Sure beats clearing the snow. After our games, the group always goes for hamburgers. There’s the usual cranks that want to run the place, but we just let them be with their worries.
That’s about it for us. Drop me a line when you have time and maybe we can get together again this summer. Say hello to everyone at the Estate ~ we enjoyed meeting everyone.
Hope you and Martha are well. Sofia and I enjoyed your visit this summer.
Love Tom
Digby read the letter over again. On his desk, he kept the photograph of the snowy forest that James had sent him. Out loud he said to Tom’s letter “Yes, Martha and I do need to make another trip up, but in the snows this time. Not sure that’s a good idea. I’ll have to talk it over with her.” He heard footsteps at his door. “What do you need to talk to me about?” Surprised, his wife must have been up practically after he left for the office.
“Martha, I’ve had a letter from Tom. Mostly it’s about snow blowing and Pickle Ball. That sport you want me to get involved in. He wants us to come visit again. He said this summer, but what do you think about a winter trip?” Seeing a frown pass across her face, he hesitated. “Well maybe not, but could we think about it?”
“We can think about it, James, but isn’t travel in the mountains in winter dangerous? We’re Island people and if anything happened…. We’d have to buy new winter clothes and boots… How would we get there safely?” Martha was already planning and worrying at the same time. “Well, let’s just discuss it and I’ll call Tom tonight and see what month is usually the best for travel.”
“Breakfast’s ready, you two.” Martha had already spoken with Elizabeth about their lack of breakfast before leaving for work. She hadn’t eaten either. Almost speechless about the polish that had her kitchen shining, she almost hesitated to get cooking. “Just scrambled eggs, toast and tomatoes.” Martha finished setting the table. The three friends sat down and over the simple breakfast, James told Elizabeth of Tom’s letter, Martha filling in possible travel plans while they ate. After the excitement of Christmas had calmed down, it felt good to look forward to this new possibility.
~~~~~
“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement
of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.”
~ Gloria Steinem
Eyeing the possibilities around me this last two years has challenged me. Returning to Regina after living away for over thirty years has taxed my heart, brain and body. The prairies of Saskatchewan, my home for longer than I was away, never left my soul. When I left, I drove my own car, had a nursing career and several goals. Encountering life’s unexpected twists and turns along the way, I was away far longer than my original idea. And that’s all it was ~ an idea ~ without much of a plan at all.
Returning to the prairies without a car and retired, my goal was to be closer to family. Rebuilding those relationships stretched by time and distance is an ongoing and very precious challenge. This brings me to possibility. There have been bleak days - kind of like the winter we just passed through! But there have been more days with tiny hints of possibility. Like two brand new great granddaughters! Like learning to snowshoe at 74! Bus passes and taxis. Learning independence in this broad, spread out city. Enjoying life as it arrives each morning when I awaken.
All the while, I have wanted and needed more, but didn’t know what or how to get it ~ whatever ‘it’ has been. Possibilities as scattered as clouds across the broad blue prairie sky. Asking the question ‘What if?’, wondering if it made good sense, taking a lot of deep breaths and many steps forward, I have eyed each possibility and chosen one………to be continued……
“If we all did the things we are really capable of doing,
we would literally astound ourselves.”
~ Thomas A. Edison
Searching for…….
Eyeing the possibilities……
Nailing things down…….
Setting up…….
Eagerly moving……..
“If you want sense, you’ll have to make it yourself.”
~ Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
**Re Situationally Theirs: I have usurped Wednesday’s story spot to introduce this month’s new theme: “Sense”.
Situationally Theirs, Chapter Two, Episode Eighty Seven will be posted tomorrow evening and will begin with Searching for……
I love a good puzzle and a murder mystery usually fits that bill. This murder mystery was indeed a puzzle, but not especially satisfying for this reader. Diana, the mother-in-law and Lucy, the daughter-in-law, the two main characters, did not like each other from their very first meeting. Preconceived notions and expectation of their roles prevented them from softening and understanding one another. Diana, a wealthy and privileged woman in a solid marriage. Lucy, was young and just engaged to Diana’s eldest child, Oliver (Ollie). Set within the bounds of a family and all their secrets, the clearest character development was for Diana and for Lucy. Character development could have been improved for other family members, however this lack did not distract from the story. There were several possibilities of who the murderer was, however, I was wrong on all counts, giving me a surprise at the end.
The Mother-In-Law was a relatively easy read with short chapters. As the story moved forward, the previous lives of Diana and of Lucy were revealed, suggesting how their present behaviour was related to their past experience. Some areas of the story were not to my liking. The first was the formatting of the book. For this reader, there was too much back and forth - from Lucy and then Diana; and from past to present. Although the chapters had clear headings indicating which character was speaking and which time period they were in, I found this too distracting for my taste. In book group discussion last evening, there were those that liked that format. As far as the final chapter, the ending was not satisfactory as there was no clear indication of what the final police report said.
“I worked hard for everything I ever cared about, &
nothing I ever cared about cost a single cent.- Mum”
~ Sally Hepworth, The Mother-In-Law
Sally Hepworth’s previously authored books:
The Family Next Door
The Mother’s Promise
The Things We Keep
The Secrets of Midwives
Author: Sally Hepworth
Copyright: 2019
Publisher: St.Martin’s Press
Type: Domestic Fiction (LCSH), Mystery Fiction (GSAFD)
Format:Hard Cover
LCCN: 2018046838
ISBN: 9781250120922 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9781250225177 (International, sold outside the U.S.
ISBN: 9781250120946 (ebook)
Coming into the kitchen I could see possibilities. They were well hidden but I knew they were there. How many times have any of us spent time opening cupboards, the refrigerator, kitchen drawers with a blank stare? What’s there? “I’m just cooking for me. I guess it doesn’t matter what’s there. But the refrigerator is kind of empty. I’m hungry but there’s nothing interesting there.” Or “It’s just the two of us ~ maybe we could try a new restaurant ~ but we’ve already used up our eating out budget for the month.” 
Archaeology is a such big word. 
Trapped
