A Collection Of Moments, is my attempt to actively notice the changes and beauty within each month. Because what is life, but a series of moments strung together like twinkling lights on a string?
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MARCH is …
Melting snow.
Madness.
Eyes smiling.
Saving daylight.
Jumping puddles.
Verdant.
Noting the other half.
The fours.
4th, 14th and 24th
Celebration, mourning and laying to rest.
Getting away.
Seasons change.
Time flows.
The way of the world.
Good morning! Usually this blog features interviews with other people as part of the You Pick Six interview series.
Well today, I’m just popping in for a minute to share a different kind of interview. Boston Voyager Magazine interviewed me for their Inspiring Stories from Quincy series.
I really appreciate the opportunity to tell a bit about myself and my story. Thank you Boston Voyager!
Hope you’ll take a look at the interview when you get a chance!
There’s no need to go into the details of what’s causing Americans stress. There are way too many. It’s impossible to keep up. This country is a horror show.
A Bloomberg article called Freaked-Out Americans Desperately Seek to Escape the News, says it all. Many of us are probably familiar with what is explained in the article.
“Just this morning I had a guy come in who is so distracted by the news that he can’t get his work done,” said Jonathan Alpert, a New York psychologist. “The levels of anxiety and stress I’m seeing are profound.” Those heightened stress levels are reflected in Americans’ chosen leisure activities.
This phenomenon explains my obsession with British gardening and interior design shows. Season 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale has to wait. I cannot bring myself to tune in.
When I tear myself away from rage tweeting, I’m tuning out the dystopian nightmare that is life under trump. I no longer capitalize that monster’s name.
Anyway, below are three wonderful shows that I’ve been watching on Netflix that will get you blissed-out instead of stressed-out.
The Great Interior Design Challenge
I’ve also been sprucing up my own indoor garden and hope that my new basil plant will keep growing. It’s quite nice picking a few leaves in the morning and adding them to a salad that I pack for lunch.
After learning that wild strawberry plants can grow indoors, I’m hoping to add one of those as well. Just looking at plants calms me down. Sort of like mini forest bathing.
Any good shows that you recommend? Please let me know and have a good weekend!
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Screenshot: Big Dreams, Small Spaces
This is a favorite photo of my father and I. It was taken about 25 years ago or so.
The day of my last post on this blog was March 11th. It was also the last day that I saw my father alive. We had a family dinner with my mother and brother. He seemed very tired, but I had no idea that he would be gone so soon after. He died on March 14th.
I’ve gone through such an array of emotions since then. Shock, disbelief and sadness being the biggest. I wrote the obituary and the eulogy, which I delivered at his funeral last Saturday.
He lived to 85, very close to turning 86. He had a very full life and 85 is a good age, but I still feel like it was too soon and I wasn’t ready.
I appreciate that I have so many good memories of him and that I got to spend so much of my life with him. I was blessed to have him as my father and I’ve blogged about him several times.
There was a post about his favorite birthday cake, a tour that we took of Turkey Shore Distilleries, a lovely card that he sent me right before Father’s Day, and his being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He even wrote a guest post at one point.
A lot of what I have been thinking about is how glad I am for the times that we spent together.
This is definitely a new era of my life. I have never lost someone so close to me. It’s an adjustment and I have to learn how to think of myself and “just be” without a living father. I’m still trying to find my way. I guess it’s a lifelong journey.
