Just a Little Sprucing Up

Naivety misses the mark ~ 

perhaps..... 

Belief in humanity's good heart, 

before nodding hello 

to the wide world, 

leads us down a garden path that

‘just needs a little sprucing up’

Yet belief remains even after 

cruel blood shed and 

hate filled lies abound.

Goodness is in the souls 

of one person at a time. 

Hands reach out as a candle's flame, 

warming this darkened world.

“The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine.”

~ Mary Shelly

Christmas Eve Quiet

Swirls of Beethoven and Berlioz, 

a perfect ending to a lovely evening

with family present, missing 

dear ones far from home and 

  souls no longer on this earth

but their presence curled through 

spaces around the table 

in laughter and story.

“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, 

not a creature was stirring , not even a mouse.”

~ Clement Clarke Moore

Whispers ~ 2

Few of us know what we’re doing in this life unless we have created 

a design. Or one has been created for us  ~ missing the music of our souls 

that whispers new directions like the pull and tug of a magnet ~ true and strong.

Our noisy world dampens the whispers

until we are willing to listen.

“And slowly a discussion begins - as Morrie has wanted all along

 - about the effect of silence on human relations. 

Why are we embarrassed by silence? 

What comfort do we find in all the noise?”

~ Mitch Albom,  Tuesdays with Morrie

Raindrops and Snowflakes

Nature has its own design

   each tide polished pebble

     each tree reaching into the clouds

       each raindrop and snowflake

Designs that 

    wrap around the globe

      bubble up from earth’s centre

        fly on the wind’s currents

Nature has its own design

    each of us that walk this earth

      new souls just welcomed and

        ancestors alive in our memories.

“Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

~ Carl Sagan

For Goodness Sake

When the world seems to have gone topsy turvy

When we’re not quite through with what has already dizzied our lives

it is too easy 

to want to run away,

to want to hide,

to let go of anything good

Then it is time to 

stand still slowly till

our heads clear, 

our hearts stop pounding

and we stand tall again

on the surety of our own two feet

to feel the goodness within our souls.

“When I despair, I remember that all through history 

the way of truth and love have always won. 

There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, 

they can seem invincible, but in the end, 

they always fall. Think of it - - always.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

On a Morning Walk - Wind Dance

delicate pink flowers

like gentle souls 

dance in the morning wind

“Wild roses are fairest, and nature a better gardener than art.”

~ Louisa May Alcott

A Long Overdue Letter to Santa Claus - 2nd Edition

I've received so many gifts this past year, one more beautiful than any material wish ~ my great granddaughter, Rylie Rose'Marie. She's five months old now! Finding this letter, still unmailed from last year, I was quite humbled. (I did take the opportunity to add a bit to my Santa letter for Rylie Rose.) Found this letter this morning! No envelope. No stamp. Maybe I’ll mail it next year? Anyway ~ it still holds true. My belief in Santa Claus, my knowledge that Christmas comes at any time and my Christmas wishes for each of you….Merry Christmas everyone!!

Dear Santa, 

I’m not sure I should be writing you this letter. It’s been over 60 years since the last time I wrote, but I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately. Partly because it’s Christmas and your namesakes are all over the place. But partly because I miss Christmas morning and the brown stockings filled with nuts, candy and an orange in the toe. Did you really eat all the cookies and milk at everyone’s house? 

But that’s not what I wanted to ask about. I have everything I need and most things I want. But there is one thing that I have always wanted. It’s been a secret. I want a kitchen ~ a big kitchen. My own kitchen with all the gadgets I want. If I told you the truth, besides gadgets, I would like it to be a big kitchen. Two refrigerators - or one really big one. Two ovens, one at eye level and one an ordinary one. And a gas range. I want room for a table in the middle of my big kitchen. With big windows facing west on one side and east on the other side.

By the way, I have a great granddaughter now so when she's little bigger we'll be baking cookies and bread and lots of good things, so I'll also need a good sturdy stool for her to stand on, please and her own 'cooking corner'.

Well that’s all I want and really I don’t expect it. Not because I don’t think you couldn’t get it here in time, but I really don’t know what I’d do with all that space. I guess I just wanted to write  one more letter to you.

Your friend, Susan

P.s. Of course, there would need to be a corner for a window seat with book shelves lined with cookbooks and storybooks

P.P.S. And if it’s not too much to ask, I’d need just a little cottage complete with a writing room with a roll top desk and a child's table and chair.

P.P.P.S. Would it be lacking wisdom if I asked for a weekly maid service…..and a garden for vegetables and flowers? (Complete with a set of child's garden tools)

“Only now have you lived long enough 

to know the child that you shall always remain.”

~ Martin I. Green, Santa: My Life and Times

Silent Running

Abilities change over

years of practice not

perfection coming

in currents and waves

adjusting to emotional

surfing through

calm seas or stormy

while our courageous souls,

whispering silently, 

can steer us from

great depths of authenticity.

“Boredom is the conviction that you can’t change...

..the shriek of unused capacities.”

~ Saul Bellow, the Adventures of Augie March

Skin of A Heart

Easing into one’s own skin 

is seldom a simple task for 

the skin of a heart 

constricted and puckered 

by rigid expectations leaving little room for resiliency.

When roughened and scarred by being brutally kicked through life, there is room only for survival.

Rest, recuperation and kindness

~ softeners for dry and leathery souls

open doors to gradual growth and recovery.

“What we hope ever to do with ease, we must first learn to do with diligence.”

~ Samuel Johnson, The Life of Samuel Johnson, Vol.4

Attention, Please

From the Christmas Truck Convoy
last Saturday, December 1, 2018

Maximizing time means ~ what?

hurrying to fill in as much 

time that ticks on with

  each stroke of the pen,

    stir of the pot or 

      step that we take.

Maximizing time ~ not done

when rushed and flushed through

with little wisdom, attention or meaning

so our hearts and souls can keep up.

Maximizing time takes the hours of the day

and make each day ours so that 

we revolve through our days 

as the sun revolves around the earth.

Maximizing time today means 

cutting writing time short because

I off to gather ideas, food and fun at

 ~ a Tuba Christmas in Market Square and

   ~ The Gingerbread Showcase at the Plaza Hotel.

“Time is what we want most. But what we use the worst.”

~ William Penn

Speak Softly

Daring to say

what is in our hearts

frees our voices to 

speak our truth without

creating small talk

and meaningless static.

Daring to say

what is in our hearts

when discussion is needed

lets even timid voices hear 

the strength of their own souls

despite derision or ridicule.

Daring to say

what is in our hearts 

challenges us

to speak our truth kindly

or not at all ~

finding wisdom in silence.

“All serious daring starts from within.”

~ Eudora Welty, On Writing

Simply Grateful

Herb Farm, Fredricksburg, Texas April, 2005

Gratitude

For the chances we take

The risks we face in the midst of our paths

The strength we find to keep standing tall

The winds that buffet and blow our hearts and souls

The sunshine upon our faces when the wind dies down

The felt sense deep in our hearts that will ever be

Gratitude is simple when we remember all these things

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”

~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Resourceful Rhonda Rules

Resourceful Rhonda Rules

Resourceful Rhonda. That’s what they called her. Some said it with a snicker. ‘She could just go to any store - if she had any money.’ Some said it with envy. ‘Where does she find all the time to make all those things?’ Some said it with energy. ‘Let’s go and help Rhonda. She’s got a project going and needs some extra hands.’

Rhonda, however, didn’t listen to the hurtful words. She felt sorry for folks that couldn’t see the value in everything on the earth unless it was in a store. Walking the beach and finding lovely stones, beautiful driftwood was a joy to Resourceful Rhonda. Each thing she saw or heard stirred her creative soul. In parks, fields and on the beach she saw food for man and beast. She took them all as nature’s stores. At home she liked to go through her cupboards and closets to find treasures she had tucked away, or just a ball of yarn she had forgotten about. Painting a new picture with found paints, creating a new garment from forgotten yarn, or just playing as any of us did as children. Seeing her home, not just as a collection of furniture, but her ultimate resource. The beginning of all her own projects and the projects of others. The souls of her family, her friends and all those that passed through her life had given her resources beyond measure with memory whispers and love.

“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. 

Think of what you can do with what there is.”

~ Ernest Hemingway

Author's note: Edited February 23, 2024