APOLOGIES AND OTHER STRANGERS

Throughout this entire Coronavirus quarantine, many things about myself have transpired. One of which is something I’ve began doing I haven’t doing in forever: stopped and…well…just stopped. Stopping is a really awesome thing, especially for someone like myself who only go, go, goes. I’ve learned to stop, reflect, and meditate on all those really cool things in order to keep ourselves intact.

Ever heard of when people get a “pedi?” This means, of course, a “pedicure.” In this case, there’s a term I like to use called a “medi”, which stands for “meditation and deep thought.”  During my “medi-moment,” something out of the blue occurred to me. It’s something so simple but I don’t think I ever entirely grasped this concept: “Not everyone’s going to apologize to us—ever and sometimes that’s ok.” 

As humans, when someone does something wrong to us we not only want an apology, but we often seek out some sort of emotional restitution, in the end driving us to becoming obsessive and causing the need for unbridled vengeance. We won’t admit that sometimes for a variety of reasons: we’re too Christian for that, “when they go low, we go high,” etc.

Also as human beings, we want the villain to suffer. That’s why we get such gratification out of the bad guy or girl getting blown up or pushed off a balcony in a movie or TV show. It’s gratification in its highest regard, whether we admit it or not. Don’t get me wrong. We’re not bad people and we don’t want anyone to die. We just want “wrongs to be righted” and bad people to learn their lessons. That’s good if you live behind the silver screen, but in the real world that’s not how it always works. I’ve seen two kinds of people: those who go to their graves never admitting wrong and those who never got their much-deserved apology.

It happens, but there’s one thing that makes it OK. When we finally learn that in some cases we’re never going to get an apology. Some of us have spent our whole lives under the pressure of needing an apology that’s never going to happen, and we need to be OK if it never happens. Why? Because waiting for an apology is like being in a rut, and a rut is a grave with no end, leaving us physically drained and emotionally exhausted.

Am I saying we shouldn’t forget? Of course not! However, the one thing I have learned is if we spend so much of our time and energy obsessively waiting for an apology that will never come, we end up keeping ourselves from finally being free and living our best life possible.

HAPPY EASTER!

“In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,

You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.

I'll be all in clover and when they look you over,

I'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter parade.

On the avenue, fifth avenue, the photographers will snap us,

And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure.

Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet,

And of the girl I'm taking to the Easter parade.”

--Irving Berlin

AN UNEXPECTED HOUSE GUEST

Well, I woke this morning to a raucous in my garden. I put on my slippers, ran outside and noticed this creature hanging upside-down in my garden.

He didn't really want anything. He just flew in to say, "hello!"

I've decided to keep him. What do you think?

NOTHING SPECIAL, REALLY...OR IS IT?

I know, I know. It's another flower photo. Go figure. LOL!

Being under state-mandated lock down and quarantine as a blogger is very much a challenge. There's only so many facets of a garden you can capture, and there's only so many things you can actually write about before you begin resorting to the spoons in your kitchen pantry. With that being said, sometimes we just need a friendly reminder amid all the craziness there is still simpleness amid complexity, life among death...

...And it's quite spectacular!

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

At the Favorite Things house, we love decorating with glass. Whether it's a simple wine bottle or an ornate piece of beautifully-cut art, there's nothing more beautiful than when a ray of morning sun bursts through the sky and pierces through colored glass, creating a spectrum of colors.

Ever since I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was taking painted glass and create wind chimes. Of course, I knew not to tumble the pieces too hard against one another or the glass pieces would shatter.

Another thing I love is a mason jar. What's really neat about mason jars is you can virtually do anything with them, from turning them into vases for flowers or turn them into a regular drinking glass for lemonade on a hot summer day. In fact, Pinterest shows us there's pretty much nothing you can't create using these jars. One really cool project is taking mason jars, cutting little holes in the top for lights to enter through the lid. You can also use Mod Podge with a dab of color to create virtually any color of jar you can imagine!

I know, I know...get back to the post. :)  Now, let me take you to the back flower garden...

In one of our flower beds you will find a bottle tree with every kind of bottle known to man. If you look through the bottles in a certain light they create the most awesome prism that shines in the ground in multiple areas. For this one, we use a regular display stand and place various bottles--in kinds and colors--and put them through each metal post.

In our world of iPhones, iPad and any other device that begins with the letter "I", it's good to know there's something out there we can create that's simple and satisfying. And if the Internet goes out, who cares? You have one of the best gifts of all: the ability to make your world bright and colorful, and the ability to just, and as a friend of mine often says, "go and make something beautiful." 

SPIDERS IN MY GARDEN

The funniest thing happened this morning. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down, when low-and-behold there were two HUGE spiders who came to greet me.

Now, even though I'm a huge fan of Halloween, I knew Autumn hadn't arrived yet. What was going on? OK...now I'm just being silly. In truth, these spiders stay out in my garden. We got them back in Halloween and had to leave them out all year long, because of how amazing they look!

Some people might things it's childish to do so--to leave nonseasonal things up year-round or even wear...UGH...God-forbid...a Halloween shirt all year long (as I have three of them I wear proudly all year long).  As for me, if I love it, it stays up year-round.

Why? Because life's too-dang short, and there's WAAAAAY too much living still left to do. :) 

MY HAPPY PLACE

Just down the road from my house is a wonderful wooded area. It's a little park very few people attend, except for your occasional dog walker, bike rider, or parents who let their children play on the park's large swing set. But, however, I have found a much different use for this area, especially in the back of the park through the woods. I call it appropriately my "happy place."

Nestled in this area is a very magical area with a running stream that flows through several ornate rocks and timber. I love to come here, close my eyes, and simple take in the beauty of stillness and do absolutely nothing but bask in the treasure known as nature. 

Places like this often remind me of places my cousins and I used to go when we were children: fighting dragons with sword-branches and blowing dandelions to cast spells like wizards. We would get our feet so muddy, but we didn't care. It was all for the greater good of killing ogres and saving princesses. 

Too often, we get so caught up in the everyday rigor and rhyme of things that we forget of the solitude created by running waterfalls and the whistling tunes of birds. Out here, there are no bills to pay or deadlines to meet. The only things we have to do is take a deep breath and simple be grateful to be alive.

All this world's grief will be waiting for us tomorrow. So, for now, let's find a good watering hole. Let's kick off our shoes, wade in the water, and zap evil sorcerers with wands we made out of broken sticks. And the best part? We do this until nightfall tells us we get to do it all again tomorrow. :) 

The choice is yours and mine.