Returning Home

It's a particularly splendid day after the torrents of rain of the past few days. The flowers continue to flourish, the table invites a sit to take in the view and enjoy the warmth.

While I've been away the hot peppers matured from green to bright red and have already been shared with eager neighbors. The little ones from Thailand are extra zippy. The bigger Italian ones don't skimp on the heat, though, and are plumped out well. All are grown from seed this year and thrive in this southern exposure.

The air is fragrant with lavender as the flowers not picked die back and scatter grains of scent on the balcony near the table. A good book (I'm currently re-reading The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings trilogy), a cup of tea, Bocelli and Brightman singing in the background and a slant of sun under the awning complete the scene. Ahhh, it's good to be home.

And dusk falls.

Home at Last

I thought I would jump right into blogging as soon as my hungry self could sit down at my mightily missed Mac and type away, but it didn't happen that way. It has taken time. Time to sit and relish being home after two months away. With my Honey after five weeks apart. To reclaim my space. In my beautiful, chosen surroundings. Unpack. Settle. Really be here. In my town, eating the local pizza, shopping the farmer's market, admiring the snow, now in the distance. Watching the dogwoods bloom.

Into the flow of contact with friends, sharing coffee and confidences. Back with our beloved language tutor, Marcello. After time in my favorite chair  in the morning sun by the french doors onto the balcony. After time to be around the books that matter to me. Is it possible to miss books? After time to read poetry with the luxury of so many books to chose from. To sit and think, sift through and take in the experiences of my time away.

After time to luxuriate in decorating magazines (my favorite magazines) picked up in the US, enjoy their seasonal spring color spreads and the endless clever, creative ways people express themselves through their home. After recognizing the signs of something brewing beneath my surface that needs attention, to be honored, to emerge in its own time.

Now, here I am, ready to write, share and, hopefully, gain clarity in the process.

The Books You Love

Live for awhile in the books you love. Learn from them what is worth learning, but above all love them. This love will be returned to you a thousand times over. Whatever your life may become, these books—of this I am certain—will weave through the web of your unfolding. They will be among the strongest of all threads of your experiences, disappointments, and joys.

Viareggio, April 5, 1903

Letters to a Young Poet

Rilke

I just read the post on Synch-ro-ni-zng about Ruth's excitement of sharing wonderful books  with her yet to be born grandson. It's delightful with her choices and her joy and her anticipation. Memories of doing that with my grands flooded through me. Those exact books and more  and how much we loved them together and how we snuggled and they'd squeal or cry or laugh or beg to have it read again. And then this quote  of Rilke rang so true.  Because it keeps happening all through our lives.


Have books changed your life? Of course. Share them with your grands, or adopt a grand to read to or a whole Kindergarten class in your area. Pass this love on to the next generation. It will change their lives, too. 
Books "will weave through the  web of your unfolding" .

10 Simple Joys

Loving life's simple things today:

1. Ate strawberries from our own plant, sweet and delicious.
2. Measured the tomato plants (23 inches so far).
3. Welcomed 3 lovely new family members- rose, jasmine and lavender.
4. Finished a book that warmed my heart: "I Heard the Owl Call My Name" by Margaret Craven.
5. Cherished memories from yesterday's talk with my daughter and grandchildren.
6. Studied Italian and found a fun word game Italians play which will increase my vocabulary.
7. Agreed to help a friend finish a fun craft project.
8. Sat in the sunshine and enjoyed it.
9. Read a Rumi poem here.
10. Realized again the importance of gratitude.

It is a good day.

Books, Kindles and True Love

Our other favorite art pieces are up now (finished today) and it's fun to see how they look just a little different in their new environment. I get to see them in new light (literally) and appreciate them again.

The books have their new cozy homes and are already inviting me to peruse them yet again. I'm going to accept that offer for sure. When something has saved or changed your life, it's important to spend time with it and maybe reap further benefits. They beckon me: "come, sit awhile, cherish the words, the turn of phrase, the stories...". They think I'm two-timing them because I bought a Kindle while they were away. And I love my Kindle but it's still books, right?

And that reminds me, I LOVE my Kindle. It links to the internet so I can buy books right off Amazon, dangerous but so convenient. It will hold a thousand books, is the size of a book and has the same heft to it. It has a dictionary built in so I just put the cursor in front of the word and get the definition without having to get up. That's the best! The screen is such that I can read it in the brightest sun with no problem. I can earmark pages, underline and retrieve my notes when I want. It has a keyboard to write notes or change font size. And even I learned to use it quickly and I'm no techie. All this and the sheer joy of reading too- like I said, I'm in love.

Goes for days on a charge and can be recharged via computer or plugged in an outlet. I like to read multiple books at a time (anyone else do that?) and the Kindle lets me do this without an armload of books. When I went to Trinidad and Antigua this winter, I carried a ridiculous number of books to keep me supplied while there and ran into weight overage on Ryan Air! No more. Yup, it's true love!