handwritten on January 17, 2019
Tonight I arrived home from a beginning orchestra concert (where my third graders had their first musical concert experience) and I immedietely conversed with my husband about where "date night" might occur tomorrow evening. For whatever reason, we began talking about Industry and their giant pretzel (as well as wings.) It was 9:00 on a Thursday and my husband said, "Let's go to Industry now." I said, "I'm not so sure about that." "I can wait until tomorrow I think."
And that one pretzel turned into a talk about food and food cravings and our experience at a Korean restaurant last week and then future experiences we wish to have. I think for about one hour we talked about all the places we...
handwritten on January 16, 2019
Although today's whimsy is not necessarily an account, it is a realization. As I have learned in my encounter with writing and contemplating life every day, realizations are sometimes small pathways leading to new branches and new whimsies. Driving to work today I realized how unwhimsical silence is to me. In the car but also in everyday life=silence is the opposite of whimsical. It could be described as undesirable but even more so almost frightening. Deafening. All-consuming darkness.
This realization is not to be depressing but enlightening. Because I do think there is whimsy found in silence but I have yet to understand how to tap into it or realize it or even find it. Most...
handwritten on January 15, 2019
My mother introduced me to the Old English Rhyme on my wedding day "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue." If you are interested in the origins of such a rhyme and the symbolism behind it, a good little google search will give you all the information you need.
For me, I realized today that all four parts of this verse reflect the ingredients needed to create true whimsy. Today, after a long few weeks and continued driver's anxiety, I finally was able to secure a new/used car.
Something Old: For me, this car is old. Certainly, it's not old in age but it represents an older version of myself. I am no longer a college student, I have endured a few roadside battles...
handwritten on January 14, 2019
Today's blog is meant to be sweet but short. For Monday evenings, I do think this is all anyone can handle. If we are honest with ourselves, Mondays can be rather exhausting, but we remain triumphant in knowing we made it through another day with as much zest and passion as we could possible allow ourselves to give. At around 3:13 PM this afternoon, following bus duty, I opened up my phone (smiling but tired) and received a text from my dear friend. My grandparents had given her small calendar filled with Zen quotes for the year. On the occasion that a quote is uplifting and memorable, she always sends it my way. This person spends much more time than anyone I know thinking of others...
handwritten on January 13, 2019
I have always been one who greatly dislikes BIG surprises. I can handle small surprises but not large ones. I think this has something to do with the feeling that I need to be in control. With surprises, there is almost a fear behind them, a "what if" an "unknown." Perhaps this is why I like to just listen to conversations sometimes without actually participating. Same idea. In my mind, the quieter I am, the more information I can gather about the person or the people or life events so that there are "no surprises."
One of the most vivid surprises I can remember in my lifetime was my dad's surprise 50th birthday party. Everyone came. We were waiting in the family room and when he walked...
