Congrats & Good Luck

An email from my friend Richard in South Africa told of some good news....Andrea agreed to marry him! (Congrats!!!!!!) If he is cancer free early next year, they will marry on Valentine's Day. I am thrilled for them! I hope they have many happy & healthy years together. (by the way, my hubby & I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary tonight....and now I am blogging?????)

Richard starts chemo tomorrow so I want to send him good health wishes...you will be in my thoughts R. Let's hope the chemo tracks down every one of those cancer cells and leaves the healthy ones.

We leave on our big journey in 34 hours.... I will be back at this computer in about 450 hours, God willing. I'll send posts from the blackberry and maybe even upload a photo or two when we have the chance... Take care all.

The Land of "The Midnight Sun"

Thinking back on past packing mistakes, I went through some of my photos from Norway. (the above photo was taken from atop the hill behind our friend's island cabin) Going to Norway in '04 was one of the hi-lights of my life. I cannot wait to go back. BUT, we made some HUGE packing mistakes. I get embarrassed when I think about how much needless stuff we brought with us, and not enough of the important stuff, like warm clothing. The island we visited was just outside the artic circle, and although it was July, it was still pretty cold. I am assuming that Alaska could also have the same similar weather...hopefully this time I haven't completely botched the packing.

When we were in Norway, my friend Asle took us to a mountain called Torghatten...and there is an actual hole right through the middle of the mountain! It's quite the 'MUST SEE' of the area. We hiked up and walked through the hole to the other side.....this photo (above) is a view from inside the mountain looking out. You can see how big the hole is when I tell you that at the left corner of the hole, that is a person standing there....!

This photo of Katie, Kaja & Tora is a good example of "The Midnight Sun"...it was around 10:30pm when we were out enjoying the evening.

Norway is truly a beautiful country, but it's the kindness of the people that really has made a lasting impression on me. There is much we could learn from our Norwegian neighbors.

Warm Breezes...Blue Waters

I am such a procrastinator. We are leaving for our big, hopefully excellent adventure in 5 days and I have to narrow down what we are taking with us. We will be in Utah, Vancouver, and Alaska. Alaska this year could be wet, cold & raw and it also could be warm & sunny; Utah could be very hot; Vancouver, somewhere in the middle. We need formal clothes for the 2 formal nights on the ship. I should be going through the piles of clothes I've made, but instead I went through my photos from the trip we took in March to Nassau ...where packing was simple and super easy. This flower (above) was at the resort...the warm blue waters just feet away...the powdery white sand....the cocktails...the food...heavenly.

Heavens! I have to stop procrastinating and get a move on!

Sleepless, on Sofa

"O bed! O bed! delicious bed!
That heaven upon earth
to the weary head!"
-Thomas Hood


Whenever I have a big event to look forward to, I stop sleeping weeks in advance. By stop sleeping, I mean...tossing, turning, taking hours to fall asleep and then maybe getting 3, maybe 4 hours of sleep a night. We have one week left until we leave on our big adventure...I wonder if the airline will charge extra for those two bags I'll be trying to smuggle in under my eyes.....?

Stormy Seas

Unfortunately, it hasn't been smooth sailing for my friend Richard. Due to some complications from his surgery he was not able to start chemo today as planned.

Let's pray that he gets some calmer waters and gentle warm winds very soon.

Slowly Unfolding

"Time does not change us. It just unfolds us."
— Max Frisch

I was fortunate this morning to walk with my friends Dan & Ali. (by the way, Ali writes an awesome blog called Henbogle…the link is on the list below and to the right) During our walk I mentioned that now that I am almost 40, I'm getting to the point of not caring what others think and just 'walking to the beat of my own drum', as they say. This certainly has not happened overnight, but has been a very slow process. Being able to simply be myself and being able to do what I want, even if I do look silly, is liberating.

This past March my hubby & I were in the Bahamas, and right along the beach we were staying at there was as company offering to take people parasailing. I was a teenager that spent a lot of time waterskiing, and I have dreamed of parasailing for years and years....and so I finally did. It was amazing. Floating high above the water, seeing parts of Nassau I couldn't see from down on the beach was wonderful. It was so peaceful up there, and strangely quiet. Although, the best part for me was that I stepped beyond the boundaries I had set for myself long ago. I don't look like the person you would visualize parasailing and until recently, not looking the part, would have certainly held me back....(or in this case, would have kept me on the beach)

I have a new 'sport' that I have just recently been doing called 'Nordic Walking'...which is basically walking with modified ski poles. Nordic Walking is an excellent way to work your entire body because you use the poles to push yourself along...your arms, shoulders, back & abs are getting a workout along with your legs. There are enough benefits to Nordic Walking to forget about just how silly one might look. I was quite nervous about going out for the first time on the street here in our little town with ‘ski poles’ in the middle of June. Somehow though, my ‘drum beat’ was playing just loud enough in my head that I was able to push through the embarrassment...although...I only have one route so far...haven't dared to venture outside of this comfort zone yet. When I find the volume button so that drum plays a bit louder, I'll unfold the map and see where else my poles will take me.

Faith

"Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys."
— Madeleine L'Engle


Richard begins chemo tomorrow.
Everyone, please,
wish him well.
Thank you.


Posted Thursday morning, June 22nd

Happy Birthday Shelley

Here is a view from home that you might remember....didn't you see Paul Newman not far from here when he was making the movie 'Message in a Bottle'???

Lovely Surprise

My friends Attila & Anna from Hungary sent me a lovely surprise. A beautiful table runner & doily in a traditional Hungarian pattern called Kalocsai, which is also the name of a Hungarian town. Attila's mother made them. These will be treasured always. Thank you my friends! Isn't it nice when someone surprises you? I need to make an effort to give more surprises....

Happy

A butterfly seemed to follow me on my walk today. Happiness for me comes in the whispers from nature....the shape of a leaf, the sound of the cardinal when he is near...and today, when the butterfly fluttered along next to me.

Spokes

There have been many big 'events' around here lately. (our daughter graduated high school; my father-in law had a heart attack; one of my best friends' husband is actually being persecuted in India for being a Christian trying to help street orphans; and we are getting ready to go on trip to Utah, Vancouver & Alaska that will last 18 days) These are momentous events in my quiet life...but there is something else I didn't mention that has an even greater impact on my my heart & soul than all of these other things combined. My dear friend Richard from South Africa has cancer. I go about my day with this always on my mind. I now wear an annoying yellow "LiveStrong" wrist band in his honor. There isn't a lot I can do for him, except pray and try to send as much positive energy his way as I can. I meditate often, trying to enrich whatever energy that I do have before I "send it off" to him. ( I recently read something that explained what I have believed for some time now....that our spirits / souls are all connected like spokes on a wheel...close together / connected at the center (hub) and then we branch out (at the rim) to live our individual, separate lives) I visualize my positive energy traveling up the invisible spoke to the invisible hub where Richard's soul connects to all of ours.... I send it with the hope & prayer that he will make it through this.

The photo above is for Richard. I had wanted to go out on the day of his surgery and take a nice photo just for him, but what happened was not as planned. Instead, I took 5 minutes snapping a few pics in a tiny garden I have next to our house, before going off to the hospital here to be with my in-laws. The results were lousy at best, (helped out afterwards by Photoshop) but the original intention remained. The photo below is for Andrea, Richard's partner, who very kindly kept me informed while he was in the hospital. She is keeping his spirits up and is a tower of strength, according to Richard. He has a long road ahead of him, but thankfully Andrea is by his side.

Lupine

The lupine are in bloom here in Maine. As I remember, my friends in Norway will have to wait another 2 or 3 weeks before the lupine will bloom there. (I wonder if Alaska also has lupine? We'll be there in about 3 weeks, so I will find out...maybe with some luck, they will be on the same blooming schedule as Norway)

This photo of the lupine in front of the lighthouse was taken almost a year ago in Port Clyde, Maine. We had gone to Port Clyde to celebrate our 20th Anniversary.

My love of lupines began years & years ago when my then dark-haired hubby brought me a huge bouquet, swiped from along the roadside. I had never noticed lupines before that day...but they've been my favorite flower ever since.

There are certain seasonal 'markers' that I look forward to each year. The first sign of spring for me is not a crocus pushing up through the thawing ground, or the trees forming the tiny buds on their branches....it's the Canada geese flying overhead announcing gloriously to the world below that they are back....spring is on it's way. The summer announcement doesn't come with such majesty from above....for me, my eyes look lower on the newly greened ground.....for the carpet of purple & pink lupine alongside the roads & highways here in Maine. Summer is here, better not blink.....


Here are a few more photos from our foggy trip to Port Clyde:


Maine Harbor Seals


Atlantic Puffins

Flowers at the ice cream shop


















Port Clyde shed

And so this begins....

Welcome! This space is for sharing what makes my heart soar; what gets me out of bed each morning; a photo that I took; a concern; or a simple wish. Enjoy.