"P" is for Parasols, Prompts, and Postage Stamps
Occasionally I enjoy using sentence prompts to prime the writing pump. I like how 'you just never know' what hidden thoughts bubble up unexpectedly -- surprising me as much as anyone! So, here we go:
I never thought... I'd live to hear myself say, I don't think I'll put up a Christmas tree this year. But I did, just a few days ago. (Quick, take my temperature!) It's not a baa-humbug feeling, but I do feel a shift in my thoughts this year. For some reason it doesn't seem so important. Perhaps it's because we do have a little fig tree with twinkly white lights up all year round -- I tend to turn them on as the autumn evenings wrap their dark shawls around our homes earlier -- and so there's no fear of not having a cozy ambiance around me.
I don't really enjoy... the time of day where afternoon wanes into late afternoon-early evening. To me, it feels a little sad. Coffee shops are deserted and spoons clatter into silent heaps as customers suddenly realize they need to get home to supper and evening events. I don't feel that way during the shift from morning to afternoon, but I do at this time of day. I wonder if babies feel it too, because they often seem more out of sorts.
I have... been missing my little purr-y Miss Kitty. At hubby's request we did not get another kitty to fill our lives; we want to do a little more travelling and so we can without fretting how Kitty will get on. Yet still, having kitties in my life has been one of the truest joys of my life. And so sometimes I feel bereft. The upside is that I get great comfort from my furry friends in bloggy-land. I ADORE my kitty bloggers as they fill a place in my heart; even through cyberspace, I feel their feline purr-fectness when I visit them! (Oh.. and the doggies I've met through my blogging friends they've add lots of fun too)
I do not like... feeling obligated. It puts me on the defensive when I think I need to oblige someone when my heart is not in it. So I try not to do that to others. I like people to have the freedom to choose based on what they consider important or necessary. And I appreciate it when people do not push me into things in return. To my way of thinking, trying to 'twist someone's arm' is neither beautiful nor loving.
I'm going to... tell you a little story that helped me see something in a new light. A woman from North America (not sure if Canada or USA) went on a missions trip a few years ago to help orphan children in another country. One day, as she stood in the line-up for her share of the rice and beans, a local woman entreated her to leave the line and come with her - she had something to show her.
The woman replied that she's in the supper line-up and if she left then she won't get her meal. The local woman says, Come, come, you can eat tomorrow.
This response totally astounded the woman in the line -- and it gave her a view on food that she'd never seen before. In front of her was standing a woman who probably had experienced hungry days herself and yet she held her need for a meal so loosely that she could say 'you can eat tomorrow' because something else was more important right then.
I never forgot that story. There was something freeing -- as I realized how much value here in North America we place on eating our 'three squares' and can feel quite put out if we miss one of them. Makes me think of that word -- Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Just something to ponder... or is that chew, I guess!
A classic book I'm enjoying these days is... My Book of Flowers by Princess Grace with Gwen Robyns (1980). A delightful read as the Princess shares her joy in creating pressed flower art and shares her love of flowers, not to mention the place they have in art, literature, poetry, ballet, etc. Two of her pressed flower designs were used as postage stamps. Wouldn't they have made pretty additions to any envelope?
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Brenda
xox
