Speaking of Spirit

Today, I took a vacation day. I slept late, lolled in bed for a bit soaking up the quiet. When I did get up, I took my tea and rice cake out into our garden (pictured above) and sat sipping the Assam tea. Birds chirped and tweeted around me. The bees were already busy visiting each blossom of lupine and nasturium.  After breakfast, I made my bed, ironed clothes, hung out wash and  did a bit of gardening. As I was hanging out the second load of laundry, I suddenly realized how happy I felt. Yes, I was happy at hanging out laundry! As I stood there, clipping towels to the line, I realized I was actually happy making my bed, ironing clothes and doing the dozens of mundane chores most of us do automatically. You see, for me, this was a treat. At 8:30 in the morning, I am usually standing before a classroom of adults, teaching English. My day is filled with meetings, teaching, planning, discussing, more planning and assessing. Once I get home, I am either preparing for evening class

When life gets too much for me to deal with, I often retreat to my garden. Within the confines of arborvitae, lupine, rose, daylily and all the other perennials growing there, I find peace and strength.  One of my favorite actresses, Audrey Hepburn said, " To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. " I had never thought of it that way, until I found myself out weeding and pruning this year. Being in the garden, tending to the needs of my flowers and plants, weeding, pruning and planting seedlings was all an act of great faith. Why bother to plant if tomorrow wasn't possible?  I believe tomorrow is possible and that tomorrow can be better than today, which is one of the wonderful things about hope. When we have hope, we dream of possibilities.  As Emily Dickinson wrote,   I dwell in Possibility –  A fairer House than Prose –  More numerous of Windows –  Superior – for Doors –  Of Chambers as the Cedars –  Impregnable of eye –  And for an everlasting R

This has been one of the toughest weeks I have had when it comes to staying current with the news. I literally hurt inside. Last Tuesday, I read that children were being separated, forcefully at times, from parents who had come into the country without documentation. As I researched the situation, I learned that children were being put into facilities with minimum comforts, their parents were not allowed to contact them or even know where their children were. At that time, I said I would not be silent.  As I have researched, I have had to wade through misinformation on both sides to the issues. Honestly, it is difficult to know who to believe.  One thing I know, because the administration has admitted doing it, is that children ARE being separated from their parents as a "deterrent" to continuing into the US.  I am disturbed that some people feel that because this or that happened in the past or the fact that the parents are without documents, this somehow justifies

When my first grandchild was born, I was overwhelmed with emotion.  In her tiny eyes, I saw my mother, my grandmother and the long line of women, who preceded them. I thought I was simply overly emotional from driving across three states to be with this new bundle of joy and my daughter. However, a recent meme on Facebook gave me pause to think. According to the meme, "A female fetus is born with all the eggs she will ever have in her lifetime. So, when your grandma was carrying your mum in her womb, you were a teeny tiny egg in your mum’s ovaries." That is to say, that the three of you were in one body, simultaneously. One!  The thought of this blew me away. I instantly teared up, thinking of my four daughters and my 11 grandchildren.  Then, came the naysayers. "An egg is not a fetus." True. But, it is part of who a person will become. That is to say, when your grandmother was carrying your mother, part you was also part of your mother!  In addition, the