Grace & Dignity

Two words I hope to embrace more in my life. Enjoy your day.

Private Eye

Private Room

Private (rank in the Marines or Army)

Private Practice

Private Dectective

Private Benjamin (my earlier blog code for therapy appointment)

Private Party

Private Conversation

Private Matter

Privacy

Things have been messy and hard and I am not at liberty to divulge here. Trying to remain standing in grace rather than lying in misery and fear.

41 Minutes by the Blue

Life can be scary. Nature is healing.

Today I drove Sis’s car, with Sirius XM radio and good A.C., to Sherwood Island State Park, exit 18 off Route 95 North. It’s a little beyond Westport, Connecticut (the town where Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward raised their family).

I had to get the car back in time so Sis could go to spin class. Traffic was bad. I had 41 minutes at the beach, 4:19 p.m. until 5. 

It was enough. Nature in my heart, my soul, my pocket. I took off my Peds and Nikes, minced my steps over a dense carpet of whole and jagged seashells, and walked into the Long Island Sound--ankle-deep. 

Many gifts if eyes open to see them:

• A sailboat, crisp white wing against June sky.
• Seaweed. 
• Shells in hand, an oyster shell for Sis.
• The promise of summer in my heart. Joy, sand, sunscreen, water, waves. Always and forever.
• Walking the path, which climaxes by the quiet "living" 911 Memorial, designed to change naturally with the seasons. It’s a beautiful pocket by a rocky coast. 
• A few Wednesday sun umbrellas and small beach tents.
• Beach roses, pink and promising white. Just like Cape Cod! (Dan even planted a hot candy-pink one in our backyard.) We can’t pick flowers in public places, so I plucked a single pink petal and held it to my nose.
• White clover in green grass. I remember that in the lawns and parks of my girlhood. Wildflowers. How pretty. Flowers that grow wild, whether we want them or not. Determined blooms. Rugged.
• Quick prayer.
• Lungs filled.

I asked the nice guy at the snack bar if they had iced coffee. Not today, but they will, come summer.

I was back in time for Sis to get to spin class. #grateful

Good night.

Little Mistakes Were Made 🧽 🧽 + My Cold Brew Coffee Article 💧💧💧

🧽🧽  That’s why sponges and erasers were invented...you get a clean slate in life again and again.

1. I braved DMV for driver’s license and registration renewals without eating a proper lunch or bringing a big cup of caffeine on ice. 
2. I took the wrong route, ignoring wise Google Maps, and added a 13-minute backup on Route 46 West to my drive.
3. I hit ShopRite (to get cranberry juice for Skipper) on a still hungry stomach. Not a good idea. Not when Cheez-Its, in their pick me! love me! red boxes, were lined up for sale on an end cap display not far from the milk case. Oddly enough, I was also drawn to the steamed, shelled mussels I reeled in at the seafood department. At least that was protein.
4. I didn’t let last winter’s amaryllis bulb sleep/go dormant the right way--it was all crumbled, crackly and, well, hollow--there was no there there. But my friend Denise is a gardener and I’m going to ask for advice with this year’s bulb, because it just gave me four beautiful red and white candy-cane blooms.

Not a mistake: Link to my latest Reader’s Digest website article, about cold brew coffee:

https://www.rd.com/article/what-is-cold-brew-coffee/

Until tomorrow.

*Pink eraser link here.