Giving Thanks

The trip south had an auspicious start: I spotted a red-tailed hawk hovering above the side of the road and a few miles down the road, I saw a bald eagle sitting a tree. Traffic was relatively light and drivers were polite. If anything, they were driving just a wee bit too slow. Maybe they had a little too much amended egg nog for breakfast?

It was good to gather with family. My youngest brother and his family chose to celebrate Thanksgiving elsewhere this year, so the family was incomplete. My youngest nephew kept everyone in stitches. When the talk turned to snow, inevitably the topic of yellow snow came up. When asked how he knows about yellow snow (it doesn't snow much down here), he replied "I know all about pee!" Totally cracked us up; totally!

My brothers and their families left a little while ago. The Oakland/Dallas game is on and my husband and my father are napping. Mom is reading on her Kindle; I'm tapping away on my laptop. I think we're all going to go to bed a bit early tonight. And tomorrow will bring more visits with the family.

Every year I'm thankful for my family, friendships (current, lapsed, and rekindled), good health and prosperity. This year we'll all very thankful that my sister-in-law's cancer is in remission.

What are you thankful for?

Grasping Reality

The weather the last couple of days has been a bit tempestuous. It rained yesterday and poured last night (I'm afraid to see how much water is in the basement). Today was windy and there were snow showers (sadly, the snow didn't stick). Now the sky is clearing and stars are twinkling, which foretells a cold night.

I still have to keep reminding myself that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, else I will forget. Which would be very bad because we're supposed to go to my parents' for Thanksgiving dinner. The cranberry sauce is made (thanks to my dear husband) and as is the mac and cheese (to kill for). (Seriously, that's its name.) I make a couple of modifications, sautéing onions or shallots in the butter before making the white sauce and substituting peas for ham. It is by far the best macaroni and cheese I've ever eaten.

Even though I worked from home today, I don't feel like I got as much accomplished as I wanted. I still need to find the #7 interchangeable needle tips for my shawl project, which are probably stuck in the Basket of Shame, or some other bag that is holding unfinished objects. I need to find my Brittany size 0s because I'm not happy with metal 0s that I'm using for a sock. And I have to pack, pack up the food, get ice, get gas… So much more to do!

There are times when I'm grateful for the four-footed feline alarm clock that goes off at 5:00 a.m.!

It's a Buggy Life

Some days at work are better than others and some are more frustrating than others. Today was one of the frustrating days. It started out innocently enough. I plowed through some release management tasks, wrote a couple of status reports, then turned my attention to opening defect reports for a few problems I found while working on one of the user guides. Sadly, one defect led to another defect and another defect and before I knew it, there were defects on the defects. That's an exaggeration, but not by much. I think I can safely say that I haven't quite lost my knack for software testing, even after 10 years of being in management. But really, all I want to do is update the user guide and not find bugs! Is that too much to ask?

In other news, November is almost over. It's hard to believe that I've managed to write something every day. Of course, it's not over yet and I'll be traveling for Thanksgiving, which adds a little bit of a challenge. I've actually enjoyed writing these little posts and perhaps will strive to post every day in December. Oh wait, I've declared December to be NaDaYoPraMo. And I'm not sure that I'll be able to swing a daily yoga practice and a daily blog practice. NaDaYoPraMo first, then blogging. And I also need to find time to knit. And spin. And do all of the creative things that I never do, even though I say I'm going to do them.

I've already started thinking about January,which means I'm getting way ahead of myself and will most likely be setting myself up for failure. So, before I get into any more trouble with myself, I'm going to say "Good night and sweet dreams!"

Challenges

Confession: I decided to do NaBloPoMo as a lark. Elizabeth was doing it and I accepted the challenge as well. And while I don't have a huge readership (like almost no readership)(thankyouverymuch if you are the readership), I've found it fairly easy to keep up with daily posts. There have been plenty of times, though, when I've been lost in my own little world after dinner when I suddenly realize that I need to write a blog post. Then I scramble for some pithy post and mostly come up short.

So Elizabeth decided that she would practice yoga every day in December. I enjoy yoga. It's a physical challenge and a mental one. But when I slip into the various asanas, I can feel both my body and mind say "Ahhhh!" I lengthen my spine, spiral my quads, and listen to and adjust my body. What I don't do is practice yoga every day. Or even every week, despite knowing the benefits I will gain from a daily practice. I resist it and I'm not sure why.

Perhaps it's because I don't have a really good spot to practice. Our house, while not small, has small rooms. But I've practiced in crowded yoga classes before and the rooms in the house can't be that cramped. Perhaps it's because our house is so cold in the mornings. I hate being cold and therefore often lie in bed, buried beneath the covers, visualizing doing yoga. But it's not the same.

But perhaps the real reason holding me back from doing yoga is fear. Fear that I'm not flexible enough (I'm not flexible at all). Fear that I'm not strong enough (totally not true, although head stand is challenging and hand stand, right now, is right out). But the real fear? Fear that I will see, through my body's inability to move through the asanas, that I'm old. But really? I'm not old. And the crazy thing is that by practicing yoga, I'll become more flexible (body and mind), I'll become stronger, and I'll stave off aging.

So perhaps I should accept the challenge, join Elizabeth, and declare December NaDaYoPraMo.

Namaste.

Perspective Shift

Hmmm…I had a post all composed in my head and what happens? The minute I sit down to write it, it's gone! I really need to start making a note of the post topics so the forgetting doesn't happen. Well, the forgetting probably will happen, but it should make the remembering a lot easier.

Ah…got it!

My soul sister has had the great privilege to rent a small apartment on the "estate" that belongs to a friend of ours. The big house was built in the early 30s, I believe, and is very elegant, in an understated way. They've done a lot of landscaping and have apricot, apple, pear, and fig trees. The apartment feels very European and has great views. But our friend is getting on in years and the work needed to maintain the house and land is huge. Their children (and grandchildren) are in Sweden and I suspect they've been getting pressure to move back home. So a couple of years ago, they put the house on the market. Given the price point, there were not a lot of prospective buyers. Until now. They finally found a buyer and it looks like the sale is going to go through. From the little bits and pieces that I've heard, I've formed a not-very-nice opinion of the buyers (he sat in the car talking on the phone the entire time they were there for the second showing; they apparently said "We want her out" with regard to my friend continuing to rent). The attitude seems arrogant and grasping and I'm feeling sad that such a beautiful, peaceful property changing hands in this manner.

As I was laying in bed this morning, trying not be move because my head still hurt, I thought about my attitude and how it wasn't very charitable, and indeed, is rather selfish. I don't want the estate to sell because I don't want my friends to go back to Sweden. I don't want my soul sister to move because she'll move to temporary lodgings, which will make it easier for her to eventually move to Massachusetts (and I'll be lost without our deep metaphysical talks while we run). Clearly, I need to shift my perspective.

Instead of the buyers being grasping and trying to get as good a deal as possible, perhaps his job is stressful and they are moving to this property to find the peace that they so desperately need. Their children will thrive in nature and will delight to find all sorts of hidden dens amongst the trees and shrubberies. Even if they aren't moving to the property to find peace, I suspect it won't take long before they do find it. That is my wish for them.

The shift in thinking still doesn't alleviate my sadness with the changes. But it does make it a little more tolerable.

A Random Connection

Today did not start well. I was wakened by a migraine at 4:21 a.m. (EST, to be precise) and despite two Excedrins, it never really went away and I still have the vestiges. Nonetheless, I managed to drag myself out of bed to meet a friend for coffee and go to the farmers market and run other errands. I did not go to yoga, nor did I clean house (even though that was my main goal for today).

It was while at the liquor store getting some rum for hot toddies (or rather, apple cider with rum), that a little connection happened. While I was debating which rum to get (bottom shelf, top shelf, middle shelf artisanal?), a man stopped on his way to the checkout and recommended a single barrel bourbon (Eagle Rare, if you must know). He was obviously a farmer: jeans, flannel shirt, brimmed cap. He chatted for a bit and told me a little story about that bourbon.

His father-in-law was a president (the president, perhaps) of Freddie Mac (or maybe Fannie Mae; I always confuse those two) and loved single malt Scotch and would always drink very expensive ones. At least until his son-in-law (my farmer) introduced him to Eagle Rare. It became his father-in-law's preferred drink. My farmer continued the story, saying that his father-in-law lived with him and his wife for the last four years of his life and how they'd always sit and look at the mountains from porch on the farm. He told me about his father-in-law's passing and how he still misses him, even though it's been eight years (we both got a little teary-eyed at this point). When he asked his father-in-law (who clearly was a very successful businessman) what was his secret to success, he replied "Always have a smile on your face and be kind."

Truer words were never spoken.

Planetary Relationships

It's interesting how relationships change over time. We develop friendships and love relationships (not to mention our family relationships) and as we move away or get a new job or have children, those relationships change. Contact slowly (or suddenly) drops away and we're spinning off in different directions.

Just because we've spun away from each other doesn't mean that the friend or lover has been removed from the heart. Rather, I see us spinning away, while others spin closer, and then those will spin away. It reminds me of the movement of the solar system or maybe one of those teacup rides at the carnival. Eventually, those who have spun away will spin towards us again.

We're in a great cosmic relationship dance, always connected, even if we don't realize it. Sometimes that dance is full of joy, as when someone we love or admire comes spinning towards us. Sometimes the dance is tentative, fearful even, when illness is taking a loved one from us or someone we have an uncomfortable relationship with spins toward us and we can't spin away fast enough.

This dance can be ever so slow, slow with the moving away and slow with the coming together (it takes a long time for a child to grow up). Or it can be lightning quick (a coup de foudre as it were), where both parties aren't quite sure what hit them.

But slow or fast, joyful or fearful, this dance should be embraced, because it adds such depth and meaning to our lives.

Namaste.