What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?

Early

What strategies do you use to increase comfort in your daily life?

If I drink a lot of water, eat pretty well, and exercise moderately (yoga, fast walk), remember to be grateful, take steps to stay upbeat (meditate, read, music) I feel the most comfortable on a daily basis

Doing a little art every day, eating something special, a fun outing, hanging with friends, or grandkids, makes a day even better.

Lately, the weather has been interesting. Wet and warm in the mornings. Hot and foggy all day. Maybe a tiny bit of sun in the late afternoon. Then out come these invisible flying bugs which bite and itch. I’ve been told that if there was a breeze or some wind, they wouldn’t be out. Getting comfortable has been a little challenging, but doable.

I have dabs of pale pink calamine all over looking especially bright against my tanned legs and arms.

How could I not be reminded of childhood? Running up and back from the dock, barefoot in the damp grass, gardening (I’m not even sure what that is, mostly I’m picking little weeds and counting green beans, wishing a tomato would just turn red already), all day long and into the evening. Who can remember going out to play AFTER supper? Walking and walking, and walking…there are so many places to check out. Kiddie Beach, Pleasure Beach, Musquamict, our beach, the forested roadsides, Millstone point, there’s even a little store we can walk to.

This must be comfort. The comfort of nostalgia and nature, of fun (my boat, a new dock…) Something about appreciating what is, but it definitely helps if what is, is lovely.

What are you most excited about for the future?

Tomatoes. My boat in the water. Seeing my kids.

I’ve been living a very unpredictable life. I don’t know what my future is going to look like outside of this next few weeks. I’m actually getting used to not knowing. It’s an interesting exercise for sure.

The latest development is the passing of our patient. He died quite suddenly, though his health has been getting worse and worse, (we were getting used to him pulling through always). Another round of steroids and he’d be fine-ish for a little while.

But no.

The rest of us have been getting used to life without him. Sad

But relieved that he is no longer suffering.

It’s been a little surreal around here. A twist in the plot.

Life for me isn’t so much like starring in my own movie, as it is staring in someone else’s sitcom. I don’t know what to expect, I just show up and do what I’m doing, no telling if it’s right or not. Character development. I think maybe that’s what it’s about, maybe…who can say…

Meanwhile, I have a boat to name and launch (it’s a whole thing). And a garden to tend…

What could you let go of, for the sake of harmony?

Being right.

Would I rather be right or happy (harmonious)?

Mostly saying so.

This I get to practice almost daily. I’m not right, always, in fact Im often wrong and easily admit it..

But when I am, it’s obvious. Still, I run into that Emperor’s New Clothes situation so often. There are plenty of reasons for people not wanting to know, I get it. If the story is told well, you see some of the whys.

Today’s not saying anything, is about the dock.

At the end of the dock, what the storm didn’t destroy, is a floating plastic eyesore of a jet ski launch. I’ll take a picture

The neighbors and I have discussed it. It’s ugly. The plastic jet ski launch piece for a jet ski that no one has, could be sold for almost $1000. (?!!) The rest of it is just floating ugly plastic.

If it were mine, I would sell the one part and put a wooden facade over the rest.

I don’t understand why after all the trouble and expense of building a dock, you wouldn’t want it to look good. In a world of New England charm, function wins over form,

again,

leaving me perplexed,

again.

I don’t entirely understand the function part, probably plastic floats better than wood, and never breaks down…

Or something.

I’ve already asked too many questions. G clearly doesn’t want to discuss it. I’m having that discouraged depressed feeling I used to get when I watched ugly buildings being built as a little kid. Nothing can be done, so the best thing I can do is to let it go and NOT mention it again.

For peace and harmony right now, the answer is that. Let go.

Some things just don’t matter as much as peace and harmony do.

(Sometimes, if I’m quiet enough, people kinda hear though🤷…)

Describe your most memorable vacation.

Well it’s funny, I have had some memorable vacations in my life. Like safari in Africa, searching for pizza in Naples, camping in Yosemite…

Visited the Louve, the coliseum, the Mall, two Disneys, Banff, Lake Louise, the sequoias, Hawaii…

But I still love my early memories of going to our cottage. It was our ONLY vacation in those days. We went every year and for a little kid, it was the best!

Playing in the waves, eating outside, following our grandpa around, (he fixed things constantly). There were rides in the boat, rides on the lawn mower, or on the backs of mini bikes, eating corn and tomatoes and cantaloupe right out of the garden, beach bonfires with grandpa singing and playing guitar.

Mini boxes of cereal we never had at home, ‘pop’ in glass bottles, cherries and watermelon, things we never saw unless we were at the cottage.

Summer was summer at our cottage. Warm, even when it rained. It’s a similar climate here actually. I love how I am reminded of those younger times almost everyday lately.

Summertime is abundant and colorful and hot. Flowers, birds, gardens, bugs! Everything is at full throttle. Every day feels like more than the last. I must have relished this and internalized it, as a kid. I love this crazy in-your-face undeniable abundance. The outside world is ALIVE and flourishing. The hydrangeas are weighed down by their many blooms, the neighbor can’t find the path in her garden because the leaves of her Zucchini plants are prehistoric-huge. Green is as green as it gets and everywhere. The water is warm, but refreshing. Fruit is sweet. The air is moist, the sun is hot

These were my childhood memories of summer. Such a dramatic contrast to the rest of the year. I guess that’s why they are memorable!

What is your favorite genre of music?

I like a lot of different music genres. I think I have a wide pallete for many things so it’s hard to say just one.

On what subject(s) are you an authority?

Oh an AUTHORITY…

Well, (clears throat)…lets see

Art, aesthetics, breathing exercises… ask me anything.

I’m kidding.

As much as think I know, what I really know, is that there are vast amounts of information I don’t.

Mostly I know a tiny bit about things, enough to be dangerous, as they say, but don’t put me on Jeopardy.

After a quick Google search, I could SOUND like an authority, but trust me I’m not. This is a funny prompt question

When I was a little kid, I acted like an authority. I walked around giving other kids ‘parts’ in plays. I assigned the pitcher and catchers if it was baseball, who was Dorothy (never me) and who was the scarecrow (always me), where ‘home base’ was, named our kites, approved whether we were done with projects (like the go-cart we built- yes it HAD to be painted and numbered).

Never was anyone less equipped to be an athority (five, six, seven, eight year old me). What might have happened if I’d kept that, yikes…

Happy 4th