Wildflowers in Chautauqua Meadow

I'm rather astonished to realize that it's already nearing the end of June.  We have, in fact, already experienced the longest day of sunlight for 2020 and it's just a fact that the days are getting shorter and autumn will be here before we know it. 

Since I've been a grown up ---well, when would that be? I'd say from the time I started working at the Library of Congress.  So since I was twenty-four I've felt like I've been hurtling through time.  I could understand this sense of time pressing down when I was working full time and getting two graduate degrees, then handling more responsibilities at work, and becoming a mother.  But after retiring from the Library in 2006, I expected to chill out.  Instead I picked up a job as the librarian at  Paul's school and learned that school staff work hard!  Every day and the "summers off" flew by.  Then, after coming to Boulder and really becoming retired, I expected to slow down but it just didn't happen.

Time just keeps on rushing by.  After we were in the shut down for two months and I was still feeling so darn busy I finally faced the fact that busy was a normal pace for me.  The great thing about having such a full life is that I'm never bored, but the bad thing is that I always feel time breathing down my back.

So how about if you join me in taking a few minutes to pause and stop and smell the roses?  Or, more specifically, appreciate the beautiful wildflowers that are gracing the meadow up in Chautauqua Park right now? 

Breathe deep and enjoy!  Just don't ask me their names.  As a friend said, "I've given up trying to remember, and now just admire them."  (Though I can tell you that the first one is a thistle and I think the last one is Queen Anne's lace.)

Linking to my friend LeeAnna's "I Like Thursdays" at Not Afraid of Color

Birthday Thoughts

Today is my 68th birthday, so it seemed appropriate to have my morning coffee in this clever cup that my friend Lotus gave me for my birthday present.    

"Live in the moment" about sums up how life is for me now days.  

All the big decisions and plans --marriage, career, family-- are made and all the big work associated with implementing them is over.   I can look back and see the trajectory of my life and feel grateful for my good luck and for my ability and willingness to work hard.  

Decisions related to aging and, eventually, dying,  await, but don't have to be tackled right now.   I figure if my luck keeps holding I'll have another ten or fifteen years to do what I what with all this wonderful time.  Retirement is truly a gift and there is never a dull moment.   Really, the only sad thing is knowing that all this delightful free time is going to end someday.  

The joke is that the retirement years consists of three parts: the "go, go" stage, the "slow go" stage, and the "no go" stage.  I'm in the first stage and loving it! 

I got my birthday off to an early start with a dinner out on the patio for some close friends in the neighborhood and the members of my two little art quilting groups.  It was pulled together at the last minute and I don't usually mix my "friend groups,"  but everyone seemed to enjoy each other's company, the weather was great, and we had lots of good food and wine, so what more could a birthday girl ask for?    

Well, what about magazines?  Everyone who wanted to bring a gift was asked to select a current magazine they thought I might enjoy.  That turned out to be a fun idea.  Look at my haul!

Our new kitty, Sheba, decided to give me her own gift.  She's been warming up to us, but last night she suddenly showed up in our bedroom.  Ben was out of town and Sheba made herself at home, keeping me awake by cuddling, snuggling, kneading and licking me.  After I finally got to sleep she tried to sleep on my head!  It was nice of her to show her affection on the eve of my birthday, but laying on my head was just too much.  I had to give her a gentle nudge off.   By morning she was exhausted by all her nocturnal activity and settled down for a nap as I showered and dressed. 

Ben's coming home today and we'll celebrate by going out to dinner with John and Dawn.  I may even have dessert!

For Valentine's Day: The Gift of Kindness

In the New York Times Daily Briefing yesterday I read this:  

The U.S. intelligence chief, James Clapper, expanded on the worries about the Islamic State and cyberattacks, but also noted threats from failing states, the migration crisis and, uppermost among nuclear threats, North Korea. “In my 50-plus years in the intelligence business,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee, “I cannot recall a more diverse array of challenges and crises than we confront today.”

Okay.  Now we know that ISIS isn't the only threat we should be worrying about; there's plenty of other "challenges and crises" to make us afraid. 

It's hard to know how to react to such information.  A reading of history surely tells us that the world has never been a safe place and that the average individual has little control or even influence over the wave of history that sweeps him through life.  I myself have been lucky and have not been seriously impacted by war and especially lucky to be part of a privileged group (American, white, and educated) and therefore more protected than others from injustice and poverty.  But even that good luck can change in an instance, say if North Korea does unleash a bomb.

And if it doesn't, there's still the harsh realities of life that everyone faces. We all have our individual challenges ranging from the mundane to the profound. Life is full of disappointment and pain. 

But hey, this is a happy blog and life is also full of wonder and beauty so let's move right along to the good news.  We do have a great deal of power and control over how we react to challenges. We can decide what we focus on, choosing to see and elevate the good over the bad. 

And we can have enormous influence in the lives of other people by how we treat them.  

Which brings us to the Love One Another challenge extended by the Mormon church.  I am not a Mormon though I was raised in a Mormon family.  But it is clear to me that if we all took this challenge the world around us would be a better place.  These are things we can do, that we have in our power, that don't require government or other political support and that will help brighten the lives of everyone we interact with. Here's the challenge: 

       

These seem so simple when you read them and so hard to actually do. 

It's not easy to be patient with an "I've got it, Mom" fifteen -year-old. I had to forgive my husband just the other day for a small transgression and I know he's had ample chances lately to forgive me.  It'a hard for me to take the time and energy to listen to someone and see things from their viewpoint. 

The opportunities to overlook someones shortcomings are endless, especially if that "someone" includes you and your own shortcomings. It's not just other people we need to be nice to, it's also ourselves. 

A surprisingly hard challenge for me has been the fourth: Resist the impulse to categorize others.  I'm surprised how often I do categorize others.  Even in retirement I'm a busy person and it's efficient to label someone and not take the time or energy to see them as a person. 

  

The other day I caught myself not only labeling someone as "cashier" but as a "not very quick or smart cashier" just because he asked me if I was going to watch the Super Bowl game later that day. Catching myself, I slowed down and paid some attention to him for the few minutes we interacted.  That encounter made me change my assessment to "young, bored,under-employed guy who's doing a stint as a cashier while he gets his act together and meanwhile has to act friendly to the customers or get fired." I stopped seeing him as a thing and recognized him as a fellow human being. It made me feel and act nicer to him and may have made his afternoon just a bit easier to get through. 

I hope so, anyway.  After all, I was a "cashier" once and know what it's like.  We all have to get through the days whether they bring joy or sorrow, and if everyone would "love another" it sure would be make our days easier and happier. 

"The world would be a better place if that list was posted on everyone's refrigerator," one of my friends told me. 

Indeed it would.