So I was cruising through my Photos, all 37, 654 of them and realized I'd had a great year. I try to practice gratitude and enjoy the moments, big and small, that show up in my life coloring the days with joy.
But sometimes I forget.
I've had a rotator cuff thing going on for almost 3 months and the pain and sleeplessness chafed at the edges of my usually optimistic self. I became a crank. The silver lining is that my empathy for those with any kind of chronic pain has grown and I learned to use my pain as a prompt to pray for others enduring something I'd never really experienced before.
I'm celebrating the small triumphs like finally finding the right light and conditions to get a houseplant to bloom. It's not as easy as you might think.
We renovated our backyard this Spring and I've fallen in love again with juniper, the old garden staple of western landscaping. My years of coddling ground covers like baby's tears or Isotoma are over. Give me a bulletproof plant that can hold its own against crabgrass, heat and drought and I'm happy.
I have five Iceberg rose bushes that outdid themselves this Spring. They all burst into bloom at the same time and I had a billowy carpet of dazzling white blossoms under the kitchen window. Here in the Sacramento Valley roses bloom about 9 months of the year. More than worth the effort of a little pruning and fertilizer.
I was tired of all the green in our landscape, but didn't want the pruning that seemed to be part of flowering shrubs. To my delight I discovered a new plant and have high hopes for all the hype the Nursery tag touted. It's Coprosma Pacific Sunset and it grows 3' X 3' and has shiny pink and chocolate leaves.
Another group of our grandkids are morphing from kids to adults. We took four of them to Universal Studios and had a blast riding rides and enjoying the shows. They're all Harry Potter fans so we spent lots of time in that part of the park. We drank Butterbeer and ate roasted meat while gazing up at Hogwarts Castle.
In the Fall Gary and I took a Mississippi River cruise. We've never really traveled in that part of the country so it was a good way to see a cross-section of the old South. Highlights were The Rock & Soul Museum in Memphis, Oak Alley Plantation, and Vicksburg. We came home and watched Ken Burns' Civil War and felt we had a better understanding of that part of America's history.
And Chicken and waffles is a revelation :)
We also snuck away to Mendocino for a few days alone. It's quaint and quirky and a great getaway whatever the weather.
. . .tomorrow's another day,
Kelly