memorial, quotation, support

* A fitting memorial to a forest fire, carved out of a burnt tree.

* Someone appreciated a quotation.

* Finding a helpful support group.

rusticate, plan, squirrel

* Rusticated all day...on the porch, on the sofa, in the grass, in bed,  in my office. Rusticated all day.

* Getting out the winter scarves and hats (that is, after I found where I stashed them last spring). Washing them. Trying them on. Planning to knit more.

* A squirrel dopily leaps from one small backyard tree to another. The dogs go wild. To abate the clamor I turn on the sprinkler and whoop! the squirrel dashes within 2 feet of me to a much taller tree where it disappears and the dogs eventually give up.

fresh, relief, slogan, old news,across

* I tiptoe out having let the dogs run and then fed them. I am delighted to see the water on the grasses at the front of the house. The air, the air. So fresh.

* "You absorb news so calmly--not like people from the east."
It is not calmness, it is relief.

* She bought me a wooden board with a slogan on it.

* We talk of my 50,000 units of vitamin D. "Oh, it was pea size with little satellites hovering around it. Aggressive." All said in an underdramatic way--almost a postscript. Said long after the fear and anxiety have dissipated and I can say it nonchalantly to downplay that chapter.

* Looking across the table at two of my children and feeling great, great pride.

gather, weeding, weeding, relief

* To gather round a table in a convivial restaurant with relatives by law not seen for a while and catch up, gather ideas, exclaim 'bout where lives are taking us and in the end hugging goodbye 'till another time.

* The weeds in the east garden have been haunting me--at last I clear out one third of the mess.

* Weeding out indoor possessions--the yarn stash, holey worn-out faded stained clothes, books (torture).

* Finding that someone I usually watch TV with dislikes a show we thought we wanted to follow so we won't watch it anymore. Relief.

contentment, push, poster

* In the late afternoon I sit at the scarred oak table looking out through the door, cup of coffee cooling at my elbow. The fish kite hung from the maple's limb barely sways . The grass is dappled with  sunlight, water glistening on blades. A Sunday contentment.

* Pushing him in the wheelchair through old town is quite nice. I feel the workout even in my gluts. I am in control of our pace and pause at windows to gaze at the displays--something I could not do if we were both walking. It would be, "Oh, what a lovely...ach, I cannot stop, he wants to go on." I can actually read the titles on book and gasp at the draping of clothing on the models. Giggle at posters for sale depicting sweaty male bicyclists.

* I buy a poster...the exact one that I removed from the wall when he said, "Take that down, my mother would not like it." 44 years ago. 

smoothie, meals, yellow

*  I have devised a healthy veggie smoothie that is palatable.

* I shopped at the food store for a week's worth of meal ingredients instead of higgedy-piggedy dashing to the shops throughout the week.

* Yellow chrysanthemums against a snow white wall.

Gudrun, disconnect, drifting

* Gudrun Sjoden

* A successful effort to disconnect from farce politics.

* Drifting into another plane while being given a foot massage.

sprinkler, show, tents

* One foot of the sprinkler broke mid summer and now the other foot has split apart. If I position it just so on the lawn it still ejects its arc of water, beads of wet shimmering on the grass and a fizz resounding when water touches the tree leaves.

* Prabal Gurung's spring 2016 show. Shimmering, flowing vibrant colors.

* To sit in a large white tent drenched in sound--fiddle, guitar, squeeze box. Then I enter another tent and my chest is assaulted, beaten by drums.

munch,moon,office

* Munching so loudly that the sound reverberates in my head and I cannot hear the conversation swirling around me=lovely.

* Sitting on the porch waiting for the moon to appear.

* Adding photos and snippets to my walk-in closet office.

apology

* To apologize. Simply, apologize. For throwing my frustrations onto a receptionist when she called to tell me that class had been cancelled when I was just 2 blocks away from class having organized and planned my escape from home minutely and responsibly. I walked into her office today and apologized. Simply, apologized. And I felt so much better.

net, finding, patrol

* Finding support from groups and individuals, yes, after the cancer has been yanked out of me but also as a precaution and help net if the cancer ever comes back. Knowing that I have them if I ever need them.

* Escaping into books. This day through books finding out what monastic life was like in the Middle Ages.

* The little black dog patrolling the fence line. In the snow he creates a beaten down path along the grey weather beaten fence.

Oh Bertie, quote, snooze

* Bertie Wooster (and Hugh Laurie)

* Finding a quote that perfectly says what I am thinking.

* In mid-afternoon:
  yawning 
  yawning 
  yawning
  until I give up 
  and 
  put 
  my head 
  on my desk 
  for 
  a snooze.

escape, moon, garden

*  When we had 3 kids at home we began to set aside one day of the week on which we left the house and spoke of nothing child or business related. Through the years what we did on that day has varied and the things we escaped have changed. Today we sat by the res. reading, talking of books, while watching the late summer paddle boarders glide and the eager dogs dash to the water's edge.

*  As the twilights pass we watch the moon daily change shape, always dependable.

*  I have lounged all summer without taking pristine care of the garden and it has still given me such joy.

time,plants,pups

*At the end of a long (how time morphs!) day full of medical stuff to sit on the grey deck watching the dogs cavort under the trees and on the turf. Luxuriating in their simplicity and vigor.

*It is sunflower season-so many varieties. The house is once again hidden behind a forest of tall swaying plants. I muse about the rolling seasons of various plants.

*While organizing my office I find photos of the dogs when they were puppies and I had just brought them home able to fit in the palm of my hand. Remembering again why I fell in love with them.

air, bulbs, heaven

*Letting fresh air through open windows.

*Bulbs planted last fall which survived and bloom.

*An overcast rainy day, a comfortable chair, a pile of fascinating books and knowledge of the lack of medical appointments in the next 24 hours.