Transitions...Change...and Joy

This past weekend was a class reunion for Wildwood High School.  I went as an adventure to see who I might know and what life had to offer.  The time gave me pause ...and a conversatioin with Bill when I got home...I found lots of people reliving their high school days...and realized that I was living in the present rather than remembering what was.  Different perspectives...different memories...different people.  What I did get to see was this really cool representation of the town that I grew up in - and backed by an awesome display of clouds!!  Came home with memories - a few little beach balls - great for squeezing for hand exercises...and the queset for a search to move forward.

 One of my wishes for the weekend was to head to Cape May Point to see the monarchs on their migratory route - and see I did, though not in the batches of hundreds that have been sighted.  I felt blessed with those I got to watch - just standing in the warm sun and being still as they gathered on the goldenrod to feast before beginning their next step in the journey.  Quite representative for me and my place right now.  Now that the Uptown Pitman Farm Market has come to a close, it's time to regroup and find what engagement life has to offer next.  While I was feeling sad about the disconnect, my dear friend Lillian, wrote this to me this morning - and I pass it on to you

"Knowing that joy is present in life may require the absence of it once in awhile. Do you think that i possibly true?  Do you think that makes it something more appreciated?  Do you think that motivates one to keep seeking it and not settling for less?  What thoughts to ponder as I go forward on October 5 to see what synchronicities the day will bring!!

Butterfly Blessings: Release and Healing!!

Every year, we are invited to a picnic: Under the Buttonwood Tree.  Jim Six and his wife, Karen, call together a group of friends, some who have been together on life's adventures for thirty to forty years.  They have written songs and played together - drifted apart - and come together again.   It's special for us and has begun to feel like a family reunion.  My crazy quilting friend, Pat and her husband Jim were there.  We first met more than ten years ago and just connected in a very special way.  We are the kind of friends who really care for one another though we are not together many times in a year.  So yesterday was  a gift of spending hours together talking and laughing and just being.   Pat is undergoing chemo and we are all holding her in the light (thanks Millie for the Quaker saying).  Karen gets chrysallis for monarch butterflies. As we got to the house, two of the butterflies had just hatched out and were beginning to dry off and flap to get ready to take off.  When it was time to let her go off to her life, Thomas brought the Monarch to Pat.  It was totally special to watch the looks on her face as she held the butterfly - it just wasn't ready to go.  Then Pat and Thomas took her over to the butterfly bush and she was up and away!!  I see this butterfly as a symbol that represents Pat's healing.  It's a blessing...life is a blessing...and my friend is a true blessing!!

Jim watches attentively to every move that Pat makes to assure himself that she is ok.  What a blessing it is to watch his caring concern and her gentle spirit in awe of and appreciative of life - every day is special!!