One Day In Savannah

One Night In Savannah

Exploring with my daughter.

Into The Wild Blue Yonder

It's time to move into the "Beyond" portion of this blog.  My divorce became final the last week of March 2011.  Last year was a hell of a year. It started out with a bang on January 2, 2010, when my husband of 22 years informed me that he was leaving because he said he "met someone while Christmas shopping".  Then things got really weird.

I don't have any clear direction of where this blog or my life is headed.  If I could choose, I'd like a life filled with fun and adventure, love, and great joy.  I'd choose health and happiness and live well every day for the rest of my life.  Yes, I think that's what I'll do.

The Trickster or The Messenger?

I looked out my kitchen window and saw Coyote in the rain.  He approached gingerly from the west, passing by two of my favorite thinking rocks where I sometimes like to sit alone and think a lot.  He crossed over the swollen little creek where a Bullfrog Friend of mine once lived.  Walking right up to the wooden fence, he poked his nose through and sniffed.  He might have been looking for Rabbit.  Finding nothing of interest, he moseyed on his way.  I watched as he sauntered through our neighbor's yard and disappeared without a sound:  not a single Dog barked to mark his passing.  I wondered if it made him sad, having caused not even the slightest stir. Or perhaps, instead, he felt rather pleased, imagining himself invisible on his soggy, solo trek through town.

The Day I Found My Heart (Rock)

When I took these pictures, I thought it might be the final outdoor fire ever in the backyard of the home I've shared with my family for the past six years.  In April 2010, on the last official burn day of the season, I privately said goodbye while savoring my time here.  A fat, utterly handsome bullfrog came out of his wet cave and watched me and kept me company as I worked to burn winter's fallen debris.

I love this backyard.  I love the trees and wild growing things like the jack-in-the-pulpits, trillium, cross vine, mountain laurel, and wood violets.  I love the creek and the boulders and all the creatures that make the woods come alive with movement and sound.  It's a magical place and I will miss it dearly.  But I've been granted a reprieve.  I can stay here until June 1, 2013.  That's just after my youngest daughter graduates from high school.  I won't miss the house so much, but I will miss this sylvan paradise.

On that spring day last April, I climbed down the bank into the creek bed looking for inspiration.  I was hoping to find some little token that would offer me comfort or a bit of insight.  Walking across a sand bar, I looked down and the first thing I saw was a heart-shaped rock.  It was almost perfect.  I picked it up and have carried it with me ever since.  It accompanied me on all my medical visits.  It went through a biopsy, an MRI, two CT scans, and six weeks of radiation therapy.  Had I a place to hide it, my heart rock would have gone into surgery with me as well. 

With my court date and cancer treatments behind me, I guess I've learned that no matter what happens I still have my heart.  Mostly intact, it's only slightly damaged, just like my almost perfect heart-shaped rock.  I can live with that.  Perhaps one day my beating heart might even be whole again.

Impressions of Autumn

Leaves Floating on Water

Follow The Stream, See Where It Leads

 

Don't be afraid.