It has certainly been an afternoon rife with instruction. I sit here before you a far brighter soul than I was this morning (ok, I’m looking at a computer screen, but that didn’t sound nearly as wise). How much can one learn in an afternoon? Prepare to be amazed..
1. Do not try and untangle the vacuum cleaner hose in a swimming pool while it’s on. Definitely do not do this right before you are heading out the door. Unless you like driving in wet clothes, in which case – please invert this lesson and go right ahead and try this regularly. You will get the result you seek. That said, you could also just hop into the shower after you’ve got your clothes on, make-up done and hair dried – it will serve the same purpose..
Although this isn’t a picture of me, the resemblance is uncanny. I will say, that if you can do this while your dogs are happily barking at said dancing vacuum, or better yet, while you have people around watching you wrestle – even better.
2. My sister can still silence me with one sentence. This time it was (I’m paraphrasing) ‘the one who drives the narrative, drives the response’. Now you tell me – how lyrical is she? How smart? Yeah I know I have typical younger-sister-syndrome – I think she rocks the world every which way the world can be rocked, but come on – who comes out with stuff that good off the top of their heads? The good news for me is that we’re genetically connected, so I may come up with something like that without a script or an edit one of these days.
3. Laughing over lunch with a new friend is the best way to spend part of an afternoon. Perhaps sitting outside when it’s ridiculously hot and humid isn’t the best idea, but if you’re both glowing it makes it okay.
4. While we were away, I was given ‘The Commentator Award’ by the very inspirational and candid author of the blog GenieSpeaks.wordpress.com. My understanding is that this is an acknowledgement of my comments when she posts. She makes it easy – I enjoy her blogs and her sheer delight in the world around her. Travel.Culture.Food.wordpress.com was kind enough to give me ‘The Sunshine Blogger’ award. If you ever want to be transported visually and carried away in your daydreams, visit this blog. You will enjoy the commentary – the exuberance is almost palpable. I have received this award once before from SimonMarsh.wordpress.com, but have just figured out exactly how to post these images without the assistance of one of my kids or kids-in-law. If there’s a ‘Really Smart Blogger Award’, I hope no one ever thinks of me as a possible recipient – it would be disingenuous, I think.
5. I don’t want to minimize this praise, nor diminish the fact that I am continually surprised by such largesse. I am beyond appreciative and I thank you. But today I learned that there aren’t sufficient written alternatives in the English language (or perhaps it’s my limited vocabulary) to express the sheer joy that I have found in this welcoming, forgiving and generous new group of friends. For I feel that those who read this blog have become my friends. I look forward to your posts, I run back to the computer to read your comments, some of us have emailed separately, others reblog…And in this way, we continue to get to know each other and show each other who we are without some of the filters that might exist were we to be introduced in person. I started writing this blog in January – since then it’s been visited by over 10,000 people (presumably most of them have come in error) and there are hundreds of people who are following with intention. I’m not sure why. I do know that five months ago I thought I would try this and see where the road led. It led me to you. You give me far more than awards – you give me your laughter, your stories, your tears, your encouragement, your opinions, your perspective, your talent. Certainly you have given more than I could have asked for or expected. How do you thank people you feel you know but have never met, for the gift of trust and love and friendship? This is a meager attempt to express the abundant gratitude and joy that you have given me. Which leads me to…
6. There are surprises in each day. There is krazy karma and indescribable, head-shaking moments of wonder and humility. And if you know that, no matter how drenched you may get, you’re never all wet.
Waiting for the Karma Truck 