As I’ve been pondering blogging, what it once was, and what I imagine it returning to now, I remembered The Simple Woman’s Daybook. Months ago, when I was really struggling, I began listing things in my journal that I saw, smelled, tasted, heard, and felt as a grounding practice. It sounds simple, but it helped.
I stand on the sidewalk listening to the scrape of a crisp golden leaf skating across the driveway in the wind, feeling both delighted and dismayed. I wouldn’t have heard the sound a few days ago. My sixty-year-old memory had forgotten the song of fallen autumn leaves whirling in the wind. A few weeks ago,
I spend a good part of the day on the sofa in the den, heating pad on high, surrounded by books. I can’t even muster the strength to go to the garden, so I send Gerry to water and harvest tomatoes and Swiss chard for supper. It feels like a wasted day. Countless things, indoors
I putter around in my kitchen putting lunch dishes in the dishwasher and wiping counters. I empty the coffee pot and grind beans for the next morning’s must-have elixir. I snip Thai and Genovese basil leaves from plants growing in my Aerogarden, putting them in dishes for later use. I rub my thumb and forefinger on thyme
It’s cliche, but at some point it becomes reality, and doctors start looking like they’re teenagers. We’re in a specialist’s office and he has just discussed a course of treatment. He picks up a little voice recorder and dictates notes that will be transcribed into my husband’s chart later (I know this because he indicates,
Maybe the hardest thing in writing is simply to tell the truth about things as we see them. John Steinbeck I get frustrated; then I get testy. It starts at the bank where a quick stop turns into something more complicated. We arrive to find it has been transformed into an automated futuristic place with
Don't let go too soon, but don't hold on too long. Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie The Geek Squad remotely takes over control of my computer. I pick up my thermos of tea and watch, fascinated, as the cursor flies, and windows open and close on the screen. Once, long ago when mainframes ruled and