1. Goddess
2. Gerry for looking out for me.
3. Paul W. for the call.
4. Finding lost things like my favorite tote bag.
5. Eileen, my friend, said, “Centered in my heart, I live life fully. I accept my heart fully.” She told me that she learned this at a healing workshop, and finds power in saying it aloud three times and silently three times.

1. Goddess
2. Becoming friends with Julie in Seattle
3. The young woman waiting outside the hardware store telling folks when there was enough space to enter, and for her helpfulness.
4. The man who made copies of keys for me.
5. Girls riding their bicycles carrying cups of ice cream in hand.
6. Gathering of young people in the park, like a pentagram, each six feet apart from the others.
7. Rhodendrons
8. Irises bearded and monochromatic
9. My mother to me: “I’m so thankful you’re one of the people in my orbit.”
10. Also my mother to me: “gardening, as far as I was concerned, was housework outdoors.”

1. Goddess
2. The lilacs’ scent
3. The arboretum staying open and people observing safety guidelines.
4. Hemlock Hill was a good hike, but nothing much to see, except if you like Hemlock trees.
5. The little painted rocks placed throughout the neighborhood, with the brightest colors and the positive messages, like “Smile” and “Be Kind” and “Hope” and “Be Happy”.
6. Ginelle’s collage postcards with words like “Joy”, and “Self-Care”, and “Let It Go”, to name a few.
7. Gift of time
8. Gift of help
9. Gift of structure
10. Forgiveness

1. Goddess
2. Cathy, the cashier at the cafeteria, saying, “It’s always nice to see you. You have a pleasant personality.” So does she.
3. Greeted by crocuses this morning
4. Dog that barks at me when I walk past. Handsome dog. Nice to see you I say. As I walk along the dog runs alongside the fence and barks louder (glad there is a fence in between us :) ). I stop and say to the dog, you’re right.
5. Fellowship and fun and some good crying.
6. Church musicians playing outside
7. Little by slow
8. Not long yet

1. Goddess
2. Geese in flight
3. Tears inside
4. Necklace Jeanne gave me. It was her mother’s she said. Exceedingly generous of her. I don’t know what kind of stones it is made of, but the colors complement so many items in my wardrobe.
5. Thinking what if breath were enough. What if prayer were enough. What if presence were enough.

1. Goddess
2. Walking in the clear, cold night air

1. Goddess

Laura: I don’t have to change who I am to please other people “though some of the masks were fun”

Friend among friends

Birds sing

Seeing

More than seeing

Always seeing and nothing happens

The river in the night

1. Goddess
2. Michelle’s sketches
3. Renewed energy
4. Acknowledgement of colleagues’ accomplishments
5. Glimpsing a herd of deer passing through the woods
6. Dusk

1. Goddess
2. Our Arboretum (Arb). Miles of pathways, hills, curves, trees and shrubs. There are tags identifying each species. I’d only been here once before moving to the city, and now it is my favorite place. To watch the passage of the seasons reflected in the foliage and leaves is something I eagerly anticipate.
3. I have some indoor plants too, which seemed to have survived, unlike the poor lamented bonsai and spider plant of old. One is rosemary, potted and ready to grow. Another is corn. I don’t know about the other two, but they get water and some sunlight, and appear to be doing OK.
4. The bookstore moved across town to my neighborhood! I will have to visit often. Sorry for the neighbors in the old location, although the new store is not far and will have twice the space.
5. Sisterhood
6. Acceptance

1. Goddess
2. Tea
3. Kitchen chairs
4. Steps
5. Warm clothes, warm place
6. Sometimes the cold outdoor air
7. I am not feeling it today, but experience tells me I will feel differently on another day. Maybe that is something to hold and let go, remember and forget.