Life in Lakeside

After several months of writing about computers and business, I am ready for a break. I've enjoyed a change of pace, especially since I felt that my writing was becoming repetitive for my topics. However, I also like a change of pace and writing about the seasons and daily life is easier for me.

I am enjoying the holiday week with my family so my normal blog post will be delayed a few days. Instead, here is my prayer for this day.

To a higher power, a divine being of love and light
On this day of thanks, I thank You for the good in my life
The roof over my head, the food on my table,
Time with my loved ones, my health,
Freedom from fear and my safety
In these troubling times.

Folding laundry tonight
Memories popping up as I pulled things out
A sheet, a memory of folding wet sheets at our motel
Pinning them to a clothes line under a sunny, blue sky.
Later collecting them, crisp, fresh, folding them and
Placing them in our rolling laundry basket

The world needs more grandmothers
(grandfathers too)
Old people with time to visit
In comfortable rooms with younger people.
Offering a cup of coffee or tea
Perhaps a shot of whiskey
Along with cookies or a slice of bread from a loaf fresh from the oven.

This morning I had a sight that filled my heart and brightened my day. I was returning from my run on the trail when I saw a large group of school children who were out for a walk. Teachers were with them and the children were busy observing the plants, bugs, lizards and other things that weren’t frightened off by all of their noise. It was a modern group, carrying computer tablets instead of notebooks, many of them taking pictures and notes about what they saw.

As this year unfolds changes continue to occur in my life. I am grateful the changes are not as momentous as events in the last two years. However, they are changes, both sad and happy, which I am gradually navigating.

With the events of the last two years, it seems important to think about grief and how to heal from it. Many people want to ignore those events which shifted so many lives. Myself, I think that attempting to ignore things like this cause more problems but I also understand that not everyone is in a good place to work through the grief and pain in their lives.

Measurements are what we use to track success, failure, progress and other parts of our life. The usefulness of a measurement is dependent on choosing the right way to measure an item, activity or event. Using a ruler to weight a piece of paper  sounds nonsensical if we report “This piece of paper weighs 8.5 inches by 11 inches!”. We expect to hear “The piece of paper weighs .16 ounces” or “The paper weighs 4.536 grams”.