“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”
I’ve always liked this quote, and as we honor Earth Day, it continues to resonate.
I’m grateful to live in a state with strong environmental laws, beautiful lakes and streams, access to clean drinking water, and a commitment to combating the climate crisis. I hope we’re not too late.
“The earth is what we all have in common.” — Wendell Berry
I’ll write a blog post tomorrow, I thought, and then, and then, and then. Tomorrow becomes next week, then a month, while life serves up challenges big and small.
I miss blogging. My time on WordPress has yielded wonderful friendships, rich connections, and thoughtful and thought-provoking conversations. How could I be away for so long? In short, life is full.
My youngest son went away to college in August. This included helping him get ready, attempts at helping him get ready, a one-fell-swoop shopping trip and a day-long drive to Southern California. Within a few weeks my oldest son went back to the dorms, and is now into his senior college year.
We celebrated our wedding anniversary (23 years on September 23rd)
After dinner at Santana Row
and ten days later I turned 59. Dear friends visited from Canada over my birthday week, including a few days in beautiful Carmel.
My volunteer work at Lifted Spirits kicked into full gear. If I wasn’t working with organizing clients, I spent time volunteering in the boutique. I work two shifts a week, and I’m often there on Thursdays organizing the boutique or other areas of the program. It feels like home. The work is challenging and rewarding. It also allows me to serve women in need in my community. I’m learning so much as I go. My favorite organizing project so far is the computer lab. We needed extra space for other programs, so I split the room in two using an abandoned old chalkboard and a fancy shower curtain found in a drawer. How’s that for using what you’ve got?
Mike and I are enjoying our evenings and weekends as a couple once again. In many ways, the empty-nest blahs seemed worse leading up to the boys respective departures. It eased once I knew my young men were and getting on with life.
This past weekend we planned to fly down to see our youngest son for parent weekend. I ended up going alone. I took Mike to urgent care the night before, where they referred us to the ER. They diagnosed Mike with a blood clot or Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). It was a long, scary night, but he’s home and receiving good medical care. He’s not allowed to fly for at least three months so we’re adjusting to the idea of possible train travel. Mike’s not in pain and he’s able to work, so those are both a plus.
Our felines continue to cozy up the place. As the weather cools into a California autumn, I hope to haul out my crochet once again.
Meanwhile, I’m on the committee for our Front Door Communities, Lifted Spirits fundraiser in early November. I’m putting together the program, a soup recipe book, preparing a raffle item and working with another volunteer assembling silent auction items. It’s a busy time.
Oh, and the garden I used to blog about? It’s still here. The tomatoes were a complete bust this summer, with four huge plants producing about two dozen tomatoes in all. I planted late-season cantaloupe, only to see them munched under cover of darkness. I did manage five small pumpkins so all is not lost in the produce department. Overall though, I feel like I lost my gardening mojo. As that tired cliché goes, there’s always next year.
Here in the States we’re gearing up for mid-term elections in three weeks. Once again our garage will serve as a polling place. Change is in the air. I can feel it.
Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you are doing well.
Gardening Nirvana 
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