Goodbye for now

Dear readers,

I have thought about this for a long time and done a lot of journaling and plain soul-searching. I have come to the conclusion that at least for now, I’m discontinuing posts on this blog.

I started this blog in November 2011, and I’ve since made many friends in the mental health advocacy world and in the blogging world itself. I have learned so much more about myself and the disorder that I initially wrote about: OCD.

I treasure each one of you who have followed me along the way.

As you know, I haven’t written much this year. I felt like I had nothing to say. And I realized and finally admitted to myself that I wanted to follow another passion of mine, a passion that I was writing about more and more on this blog: my love of animals, especially cats.

I am starting a new blog called Following Cats, located at http://www.followingcats.com/. I published my first post today. If you are interested, please go over and see if it’s a blog you think you might like to keep up with.

I consider many of you friends, and I hope not to lose touch with you. I will be coming by your blogs.

Thank you for the years of support and encouragement you have given me. Thank you for helping me through many dark times. Thank you for connecting with me. You have been gifts to me.

With love and peace,

Tina

Mindfulness and mushrooms

Do you ever get in the mode where you see something every day but don’t really notice it?

I do. For example, I walk out to the car every day to go to work or to go elsewhere. I look around the yard, but I don’t really see it.

Lately, we’ve had more rain than usual, and even when the rain isn’t falling, the days have been cloudy.

The other day, I walked across the backyard for the first time in several days, and I couldn’t believe the number of mushrooms I saw.

An abundance of mushrooms. Brown, red, yellow, off-white. Big, small, alone, in groups.

I don’t remember ever seeing this many at one time.

I took a few photos with my phone. But I knew I needed to do a real study of what was going on in my yard. And that required my big girl camera.

So I spent some time wandering around in the yard with my camera, trying to capture the oddly shaped fungi among the grass.

It has been a while since I’ve taken the camera out. I just haven’t felt motivated. The mushrooms provided me with a nudge. And I knew I needed to get outside and behind the lens of the camera and see what I could see.

It calms me to take photos. I think it’s because I have to be in the present moment when I’m taking photos. I have to concentrate on the object I’m photographing and on how I want the picture to turn out.

I don’t ruminate about the past. I don’t get anxious about the future.

In other words, I practice mindfulness.

What’s been going on in nature where you live?

The Light

(c) Tina Fariss Barbour

 

“But I also say this: that light is an invitation to happiness, and that happiness, when it's done right, is a kind of holiness, palpable and redemptive.”

― Mary Oliver

 

Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate this holiday. And peace and grace to everyone.

Snow and some randoms

Happy Friday, everyone! Nancy, of A Rural Journal, started a meme called Random 5 Friday, and I’m hooked. Even though Nancy is on a break, I still find it fun to share random facts with you each Friday.

One

Larry and I enjoyed Thanksgiving at Mountain Lake in Giles County, Virginia. If it wasn’t the best Thanksgiving ever, it was close to the top. We had a wonderful time.

The closer we got to the top of the mountain, the more snow there was.

Two

It snowed in Altavista on Wednesday, but not for long, and it didn’t stick. Up at Mountain Lake, there was snow! Larry and I are like kids when it comes to snow—we love it. We were so excited to walk around and enjoy the soft crunch of the white stuff underneath our feet.

It wasn't deep, but it was snow.

The barn with a background of trees glittering in the sun at the top of the mountain.

Three

We had a fabulous meal. There was a full array of food on the buffet, and a man stood at the carving station, ready to slice off turkey or roast beef, or both.

I had turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, a green salad, and butternut squash.

Yes, I cleaned my plate.

They had a lot more selections, including cornbread stuffing (which Larry said was the best stuffing he had ever eaten) and pecan stuffing, but that’s what I ate.

We had two baskets of different breads on our table, with honey butter and a cranberry relish to spread on them.

The dessert table was lovely, but by the time I got to dessert, I could only eat a small lemon cake.

We both ate too much, but we did manage to stop before we were miserably stuffed.

Four

We went by the gift shop and bought a pottery ornament shaped like Virginia with the name Mountain Lake Lodge on it. This is the second time we’ve been there, and we’ve had a wonderful time each visit. I wanted something to commemorate this visit.

At a fenced off lookout near the Mountain Lake Lodge.

Five

I find being in the mountains restful for my soul. That’s the only way I can say it: my soul feels at peace when I look across the blue mountains.

I’ll share more photos next week. I probably went overboard with the picture taking, but I wanted to capture every piece of beauty I saw.

12 years later

“Don't be ashamed to weep; 'tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us.”

--Brian Jacques, Taggerung

Peace and grace to all those who suffered on September 11, 2001. May God have mercy on us all.