Gone With The Wind

While in Atlanta recently Charles and I visited the apartment building where Margaret Mitchell and her husband lived while Margaret wrote Gone With The Wind. It's hard to express how I felt as I walked through the three-room apartment where she sat at her manual typewriter spilling her story onto hundreds of pages, not knowing where it would lead--but in the meantime doing what she felt nudged to do as she recovered from an injury.

When someone brought attention to her story and wanted to take it to a publisher she was reluctant, almost scared to release it. But she did finally, after a publishing representative persisted. It was to be her only book, but what a book it is. Today as I think of her after touring her home and the museum of memorabilia from her life, I'm inspired to keep on with what I've been nudged to do with my life--to write books and blogs and magazine articles and stories and letters. I don't know if one day anyone but my children and grandchildren will remember the homes where I lived, and I doubt a museum will be erected in my honor, but what matters is that I do what I'm here to do...and for now that is more than enough.

Adult Children

Yesterday my stepdaughter Cathleen came to visit. She bought our condo in San Diego last year just before we moved to the Central Coast of California--Watsonville--between Monterey and Santa Cruz. It was so good to see how well she looks, how happy she is, and how glad she was to see her dad and me.

Charles kept talking about her last night after she left and this morning too. He was relieved to see for himself that she is doing well. That's what we want for our kids, right? To know they are okay and to be sure they know that we are here for them no matter what.

I remember when Charles' parents were still alive. His mom referred to us as 'the kids' even though we were grayheads at that point and had 'kids' and grandkids of our own. I felt good knowing that I was still a 'kid' to someone. Now that they've taken the train to heaven and my parents have followed, we no longer have that buffer to old age. We're closer to heaven ourselves and though I hope to remain on earth another 15 to 20 years or more (God willing) I'm aware that there is less time ahead than behind. And I want to spend the time I do have with our family--our adult children, their spouses, and their kids.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of family, and the joy we share.

An Extraordinary Life

Extraordinary! That describes my life today. It's more than I ever could have dreamed or imagined. Does that sound a bit pretentious? I don't mean it to be. I'm just aware of how good my life really is--not perfect, not without challenges––but still extraordinary. I am able to think clearly and to feel deeply. I am grateful for my family, my work, my friends, opportunities to give and receive, to learn and to teach, to grow and to reflect. And I appreciate the gold and green hills surrounding the community where I live, the ocean only minutes away by car, the stately pines along the Central Coast, and the fields of farm land for miles around. On another day I want to talk about that in detail. But this is all for today. Thank you, God, for all of it.

Flower Power

I walked into my garden this morning as I do each day to say hello to the zinnias, roses, gardenias and other blooming things. I can't get enough of them. They fuel my day! I spent a couple of hours yesterday trimming the trailing limbs, nipping off the dead heads, cutting back some of the ailing buds, then soaking them well. Today they appear rested, refreshed, and vital. I feel the same way. Now I'm ready to work at my computer. I have plenty of energy for my creative process. If my flowers can bloom where they're planted, so can I. I'm off to work.

From the Garden

I'm back and it feels good. I haven't posted in over a year. During the interim my husband and I got caught in the snare of selling our condo in San Diego and moving to a new house on the Central Coast of California to be closer to part of our family. We're in now, settled, happy, and making a new life. The best part is having a garden with flowers and a bird bath, and a climbing rose bush. We bought an outdoor table with matching chairs, a big umbrella that offers plenty of shade, and lots of pots for annuals. I'm surprised at how much I love getting my hands in the dirt, trimming trailing vines, picking out the weeds, and then sitting back and simply looking at the wonder of it all. Birds abound--and so do ants! But it's okay. I can be friends with all God's creatures. Today I'm grateful, very grateful for all of it. I have a new window on the world now and I love what I see.