A good day

A good day is not the one where the exciting things happen.

A good day for me is a quiet one, with some work, some reading. My husband is doing his own good things, but we come together for a meal and a walk, and always, talk.

That is the start of a guest post that I wrote for Shirley Hershey Showalter, writer and memoirist and blogger friend. I have learned so much from Shirley as she considers how to make a good life. I treasure her quiet wisdom.

Shirley is exploring what makes “a good day.” Everyone probably has a different idea of what a good day is. She invited me to share my version of a good day.

Shirley is the author of Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World. It is a lovely memoir about growing up in a Mennonite community in Pennsylvania and learning to connect the way she grew up with the “big life” she wanted to live. I put this book on my Christmas list last year, and it is now a treasured addition to my bookshelves.

I invite you to read the guest post HERE and consider what makes up a good day for you. And read more about Shirley and check out her book. You will not be disappointed!

What ingredients are part of a good day for you?

Knitting and getting rid of perfect

I am loving this knitting.

As I told you in a post last week, I just started knitting. I’m really enjoying it.

 

See Chase Bird on the right side of the photo? He's sitting on the treat bag that he knocked off the table.

When I think of my father’s sister, my Aunt Esther, the first picture that comes to mind is of her sitting in her house, holding a conversation while knitting away. I hear the click of her knitting needles. I see the movement of her hands and arms.

She would glance at her work every now and then. Otherwise, her focus was on the person she was talking to.

I still have the lavender sweater and long stocking hat she knitted for me when I was a small child. I have the afghan she knitted my parents. The work is beautiful.

Now I’m knitting, though not nearly as well as Aunt Esther.

I find it challenging, especially the purl stitch. My fingers still feel awkward with that stitch.

It’s also absorbing, holding my attention even when I’m watching TV. It’s meditative. It’s soothing. I like the rhythm.

And I like the freedom of creating something. At first, I ripped out the whole piece when I made a mistake. I don’t yet know how to fix a dropped stitch or other mistake, and I wanted to keep my work “perfect.”

But that wasn’t any fun. And I decided that, by golly, I was going to enjoy this. We need to enjoy what we do as much as possible. Do you agree?

So I stopped starting over and just went on knitting even when I knew I had dropped a stitch or somehow added one.

Chase Bird likes knitting, too. Rather, he likes the yarn. He thinks it’s terrible that I don’t let him play with it.

He makes flying leaps toward my lap, his mouth aiming for the yarn. I tug it away from him. He jumps on my lap, trying to get at the soft thread. Alas, I take it away again.

And to make matters worse, I then takes pictures of him.

Maybe someday I’ll knit as well as Aunt Esther. I’ll click my needles together and not even look down. Then Chase Bird will have a better chance with the yarn.

What activity soothes you? Do you practice any skill that an older relative also practiced?

Finding joy in plants

Raised bed garden, May 10, 2014.

Someone told me last week to find what gives me joy. (You know who you are!)

I had written about the toll that covering court cases takes on me, what a difficult time I was having dealing with it.

So my friend gave me advice that we should all follow: find the joy.

Saturday morning I mothered my fledgling garden. I pulled a few weeds, loosened up the dirt and looked over the plants. And, of course, took pictures.

Here are some photos to catch you up on my growing plants.

Carrots and broccoli.

Cucumbers. We lost some of the early plants to a freeze.

 

Cucumber plant up close.

 

Onions.

Prize Head and Romaine lettuce.

 

Lettuce up close.

What has brought YOU joy lately?

I’ve posted my second blog post on my editing website. It's called "Just Start Writing." If you’d like to check it out, go HERE.

Gardening update: The thrill of watching things grow

Lettuce

As I write this on Tuesday night, it’s falling into the 30s outside. There’s a freeze warning, with temperatures expected to be in the 20s by morning.

I didn’t get home from the newspaper office until 9:30. Then I went outside to help Larry put a tarp and other protection around our tender plants.

The little green shoots are so pretty.

Radishes and onions in an open part of the raised bed.

On Saturday, April 5, I planted a variety of vegetables, including two kinds of lettuce, two kinds of onions, radishes, carrots, broccoli, and cucumbers.

Larry did the watering during the following week because work kept me inside much of the time.

On Saturday, I checked on the progress of the plants and watered them.

I was so excited to see the little bits of green popping up.

Radishes on Saturday.

Little onions on Saturday.

Lettuce on Saturday.

I know many of you have gardened for years, but it has been a long time since I’ve enjoyed the wonder of planting a seed and seeing something grow from it. It’s a thrill.

Sunday morning, I watered again and thought I noticed a little more growth.

Monday evening, things needed water, but I knew that the forecast was calling for heavy rain overnight Monday into Tuesday. So I just checked on the progress.

And boy, did I see progress. The radishes had grown significantly, and there were more onions popping up.

Radishes on Monday.

Onions on Monday.

Enough lettuce had grown to see the rows that I had laid out.

Lettuce on Monday.

On Saturday, I feared for my broccoli and cucumbers. But by Monday, little shoots were popping up.

Broccoli.

Cucumbers.

Now if they can just withstand any freezing.

Do you like to see new plants popping up out of the soil? What’s your favorite vegetable to grow?

Note: I am still a bit frustrated with my new computer. Bear with me if this page doesn't look like normal!

A movie, hope, a soaring bird and joy

Larry and I saw the movie “Gravity” this weekend. This post is not a review of the movie, and I won’t include any spoilers for those of you who haven’t seen the movie but want to see it.

I will say that it profoundly affected both of us.

We talked about it later. I asked Larry what he thought the meaning of the movie was. He thought about it and said, “Don’t lose hope.”

I agreed.

And, I added, my favorite line was when Sandra Bullock’s character said something to the effect that she may live or she may die, but either way, it was going to be one hell of a ride.

Her statement was a strong one, especially since she had, up to that point in the movie, been hiding from life, not quite wanting to die, not quite wanting to live.

This movie reminded me that whatever life handed me, I wanted to live with hope and joy. To live fully and die gracefully.

So that’s the movie part of this post. The soaring bird? I saw him on Sunday. I went out into the yard to get some photos. I haven’t meandered around like that in nature since we lost Sam almost two weeks ago.

The temperature was perfect, the sky was blue, the sun was bright. We still have a lot of green left on the trees, but I saw some changes in the leaves.

When I take photos, I try to remind myself to look up, look down, turn around and look behind me—see the different perspectives.

I looked up and saw a large bird sailing through the sky.

I lost sight of it, but then when I was filling up the bird bath, a shadow crossed over me. I looked up and saw the bird again. Then another.

I thought I was seeing a pair of hawks, though I realized later they were vultures.

I snapped photo after photo. I walked around with my neck bent backwards, focused on the sky, trying to follow the lovely path of these birds.

The birds, the sky, the sun, the trees—they are all so much bigger than me. Nature is so much bigger than me. God is so much bigger than me.

It all pooled together: the movie, the hope, the bird, the joy.

I wanted to cry from that joy.

What is something that has given you joy lately? And if you’ve seen “Gravity,” what did you think of it?

This is what my life looks like: Random 5 Friday

I blog about living with OCD, depression and anxiety. I write a lot about what OCD is like and how I deal with it, how I handle the resurgence of depression and what happens when anxiety seems to overwhelm me.

But part of what I want to do with my blog is to show that life can be full and happy regardless of the obstacles that we face. Everyone has obstacles, hard times, illnesses, troubles, pain. And everyone can find reasons to rejoice in life and to keep on putting one foot in front of the other, moving towards a life that gives them satisfaction and contentment.

With that in mind, I’m sharing five random facts again this week, linking up with Nancy Claeys’ A Rural Journal.

These random facts about me and my days are just a few examples of how even the little things in life add to its beauty.

April snow at dusk in our backyard.

1. On Thursday, April 4, in central Virginia, it snowed. I couldn’t believe it. It looked like large cotton balls falling from the sky. We only got a light covering, but it was still strange to see the snow mixing with the dogwood blooms, the flowering pears and the daffodils. The photo above shows the snow in our backyard. On the right side, about midway up, you can see a small stand of daffodils. I didn’t get close enough for a really good shot—still wearing The Monster Boot and using my extra paws!



My new haircut.

2. I got a long-needed haircut on Thursday. I haven’t gotten one in almost a year. Larry already had an appointment to get a haircut, and when I mentioned the other day that I thought I’d call the stylist to see if she had an opening for me, Larry said, “Well, if she doesn’t, you can have my appointment.” Yes, he was being sweet. He was also apparently telling me that, yes indeed, I needed a cut! Getting a new look always raises my spirits. Do you feel like that when you get a haircut?

3. Also on Thursday (a busy day!), Larry and I ate at a fabulous Indian restaurant in Lynchburg. They have a lunch buffet with many delicious foods, plenty of vegetarian selections for me and plenty with meat for Larry. Whenever I walk into the restaurant, the scents and sights take me back 25 years to when I lived in Ohio and had a good friend from India who loved to cook. I learned to love Indian food and hospitality by spending time with her.

4. I’m getting ready to start a new book. It’s Ransom River by Meg Gardiner. Gardiner writes exciting mysteries/thrillers that you don’t want to put down. And she’s an intelligent and talented writer to boot. I love the anticipation that comes before starting a book that I know is going to be good!

5. April is National Poetry Month. I plan to reread some favorites and discover some new poetry this month. My favorite poet is Mary Oliver. I read and reread her poems, always catching something new: a new idea, a new way of seeing. I memorize my favorites and recite them to myself some nights as I go to sleep. Reciting her poems is a way of praying for me.

To read others’ random 5 facts or to participate, go to Nancy’s blog.

What’s a small thing that makes life more enjoyable for you?

Snow and hope

As I write this, it’s snowing outside, and I love it.

We haven’t had significant snow yet this winter, and I’ve been yearning for it. I love watching the snow as it falls, especially as it falls in the dark, as it is now.

I’m taking pleasure in the beauty of nature. I’m finally able to feel something besides the deadness that has been inside of me.

I was able to see both my therapist and my psychiatrist this week, and it was such a relief. It has been weeks since I’ve been able to match my schedule up with theirs.

I was able to talk about how low I’ve been, about what might be causing this downslide.

My therapist said it was probably a combination of the recent change in medication and an upsetting encounter I had in December that left me feeling helpless.

My psychiatrist increased the dosage of the medication that I’m still on. I was relieved not to have to start on a different one because I’ve tolerated the one I’m on quite well.

The increase in dosage hasn’t had time to work yet, but I’m feeling a bit better just from seeing my medical team and from all the little things I’ve been doing to help the depression.

I’m thinking more clearly. Though much of my thinking is still negative, I’m catching myself more quickly and trying to set my mind on more positive things.

And sometimes it’s just a matter of distracting myself with a book or a conversation or action.

Tonight it has been the snow.

As soon as it really started to pour, my husband suggested going out to eat. He loves to drive in the snow.

So we climbed into his truck and drove to our favorite restaurant. After eating, we walked back out into the falling snow.

I stood in the parking lot and looked straight up. A million snowflakes fell out of the dark straight towards me. I let them land on my face and chill it before I straightened up and walked to the truck.

What has given you joy lately?