A Time to be Social

There were a number of things I enjoyed about "Alice Munro Puts Down Her Pen to Let the World In" by Charles McGrath:  the title of the interview, Ms. Munro's reenactment photo taken on the railroad tracks, her numerous quotes throughout, and her electric blue toenails.

She's an 82 year old after my own heart.  

To Infinity and Beyond Bridget

Sometimes you think you're going to write about one thing, then you click a link and your morning outlook changes.  GBC Kate posted a link to a LemonDrop article "What Dying of Breast Cancer (at 26) is Teaching Me About How to Live".  It's a good article.

Not content with this snippet (with my root cause background), I clicked to Bridget's blog and started reading.  (Going back to GBC Kate's comments to the link, I wasn't the only one tearing up over an electronic reading device.)

So, this morning, if things seem a little rough, remember Bridget.  Also revisit your calendars and as my Uncle once advised me, spend your free time with the people you love, not those that you like only a little.

Death and a Funeral

Bits of this poem have been repeating through my head since I heard the news last Friday that a dear friend had lost her mother.  Yesterday when I received news of the death of another friend, I came back to the lines.  The opening stanzas are included below with the full text available at Poets.org.  

Do not go gentle into that good night 

by Dylan Thomas
Source:  Poets.org

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
...

Symphony, Chocolate, and June

Euonymus fortunei
'Silver Queen'

Celastraceae
(Staff-tree family)

American bittersweet.

"Its rootlike holdfasts enable it to climb on any rough surface." 
    The Book of Outdoor Gardening p. 472

June, you were bitter.

And sweet.

I Remember...

      Arms wide open

      Swirling, turning

      Head back, laughing

      Eyes bright, twinkling even

      Debating, explaining, listening.

      Laughing, loving,

      Loved.

Peace and big love from the GBC to one of our own.