American Beautyberry - a glorious gift

Here is one of my favorite plants in my yard.  It is currently covered with these lovely clusters of purple berries.  I am embarrassed to say I cannot recall her name (can see her face) but the plant was a gift from a friend at the Lutheran Church in Greenwood.  It has thrived over the last several years (in spite of, or perhaps because of my ignoring it) and is now a real showpiece!  It has never been pruned, watered or fertilized by me!  If you haven't yet noticed it, take a look when you come out to classes at The Yogatorium.  It is just to the left of the parking lot as you face the building.

American Beautyberry

American Beautyberry

Am I loved? Did I love well?

I am still in "The Five Invitations."  The second invitation is "Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing."  The section begins with a quote from Mizuta Masahide (never heard of him or her before) -
"Barn's burnt down -
Now
I can see the moon."
This is about the ninth time I have read these wise words.
But, this morning, I have been most struck by my post title "Am I loved?  Did I love well?"  Or more relevant today - Do I love well?"  The author, Frank Ostaseski, is writing that these two questions are what those who are near death ask.  Perhaps I am near death now?  Certainly nearer than yesterday.  Whatever.

Learning to Love Better

Again, from my Five Invitations book - introduction.  I keep coming back to this and as I do, I come closer to an understanding - my understanding of what it means to me.
"The purpose of every life is to grow in wisdom and learn to love better." p. viii
I have often said "I want to be a wise woman."  But, I don't recall ever saying I want to love better.
But I do.  Somehow seeing it in print brought it home to me as perhaps a more important desire than being wise.  Or maybe it is simply the basic characteristic of a wise woman?  

"Don't wait."

I am now studying "The Five Invitations - Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully."  You will see more from this study, but for now:

"Don't wait is an encouragement to step fully into life.  Don't miss this moment waiting for the next one to arrive.  Don't wait to act on what is most important.  Don't get stuck in the hope for a better past or future; be present."

The above all comes from the first invitation - DON'T WAIT.  Perhaps the challenge here is figuring out what is most important!

Day 26 in Vermont - Last full day - Busyness?

The last three days have been full but not too full.  Saturday and Sunday were mostly just being here in our lovely lodge or sitting on the deck listening to the loon calls in the mornings and evenings and simply watching the sugar maples and other trees blowing in the winds.  Monday Breck spent the afternoon here, Tuesday Bob and Ruth, and today we're going to John and Judy's home for lunch.
Tomorrow we begin the three-day trip home.
Friends - from thirty years ago or more - have been so welcoming and charming.  This has given us food for thought that goes very deep inside and gives us a feeling of belonging that is comforting, inspiring, and connection that is quite rare, at least for me.   It makes me eager to work on building closer relationships wherever I am whoever they are.  Each one has added a dimension to my life that is worthy of much more attention on my part.
Just being busy seems so empty and thus unimportant.  What would all the busyness be for?  Why do I find myself used up by being busy with little left over for the truly good.  Some day I need to write about this more - maybe even several days or even weeks?  Our hours of watching the trees, the flowers, picking up apples from under the neighbor's tree across the street, watching the clouds during the day and stars and moon at night, listening intently to friends and actually hearing them, selecting rocks from the pile next door to add to the labyrinth, waving to the walkers and bikers as they go by our front deck.
Enough.

Day 22 in Vermont - Saturday morning

Two of my favorite sites on the way from Elmore to Morrisville  are the little chicken house and the circular red barn three miles down the road (where the internet kicks in).  About there our ears pop - quite an altitude change.  The chickens are fenced in but have the lovely little house to spend the night,  even with a tiny side porch!  By the way, the chickens sell for $5.49 per pound at the Elmore General Store where I buy earrings - and other stuff, of course.
Upper left photo is me during the lomi lomi Hawaiian massage Joni Martin gave me yesterday morning.
Then, the corn roast last evening with about a dozen friends - including four guitarists - Kyle and Tom, plus Frank and Judy.  To get to the site in the woods, we drove a long way through fields of pumpkins, tomatoes, and who knows what else.  I actually led a Nitchi Tai Tai chant around the fire to move the guests from picnic tables to chairs around the fire to the accompaniment of Judy's drum.  (Maybe we need to have another drum circle at The Yogatorium?
Does it sound like we're having fun?  We are!
Not much time for philosophical ponderings except to say Life is good here!  We even wear sweaters morning and evening.

Day 20 - Vermont

The Theater

Sugar Maple

Highest View of Mountains in Distance 180 Degrees

Not a Typical House in Vermont!

A view of the beautiful sights on a road trip on Tuesday.  We spent a delightful time with Breck first having lunch at the 14 million dollar opera house modeled after Shakespeare's Globe Theater. Then to the top of a hill to see the mountains (in the distance above the trees) and simply driving through the beautiful countryside.  The house is the most unusual one we've seen!  And then this morning I spotted the lovely fallen sugar maple leaf in our yard.
Then yesterday, a beautiful rainy day all day long except for the usual sunny break in the afternoon.  A trip to Stowe for guitar picks, a stop at a glass blowing factory, a quick stop at Ben and Jerry's and back to our lovely vacation home.  Once again, hundreds of cars in the parking lot at Ben and Jerry's so we passed on entering the place - for the third time!  It is truly amazing how many crowds of tourists are here!  But, in our little village of Elmore, you would never know it!  

Day 18 - Tuesday - Yoga, Massage, Vermont Woolen Mill, etc.

Yesterday we went back over to Johnsonville to the Vermont Woolen and Flannel mills store and bought a few small Christmas gifts and flannel pants for each of us.  Now eager for cold weather!  Not really, still enjoying the beautifully cool mornings and evenings with lots of sunshine in between - and pretty regular rains at night.
Last night I had my second yoga class -this one with a different teacher in the Methodist church right in Morrisville.  Odd, only two students and a massage therapist and the yoga teacher.  But, the massage therapist did a super job with my neck and shoulders.  So good, in fact, I've now made appointment for a full massage - 90 minutes - of Lomi Lomi massage.  You must see it on google - couldn't possibly describe it in words.  Now that I've seen it - I'm really excited about my chance for this new experience on Friday morning!
Today we're meeting Breck to tour an opera house in Hyde Park - someone gave them 14 million dollars to build it!
Otherwise, a normal, do-nothing day.
I'll try  to come up with some  deeper "ponderings" tomorrow.  Bear with me, please, as I continue my "do-nothing" time.

Photos

Day 17 in Vermont - Just checking in

Where did the weekend go?  Doing nothing so different.  Supper with Bob and Ruth, Judy and John, at the Woodside's home on the river.  And, a trip to the Farmer's Market in front of Haniford's grocery on Saturday morning for more grass fed beef (the t-bones don't taste nearly as good as the tenderloin did last week).  But a new find - Whoopie Pies!  What fun they are.  I'm sure my grandson, Sam, will want to try to make some of them.  Found them on line, of course!  Basically they are cake cooked like cookies (big fat ones) and stuffed between two of them, SUGARY filling.  We liked the white cake, maple sugar ones best but you can stuff them with any kind of frosting like stuff even peanut butter.   The vendor said "Yes, they are a Vermont thing," but Google attributes them to Maine.  Either way, they are a real treat.
We have had so much fun at the Farmer's Market - trying all kinds of new things - most of which include maple syrup.    Somehow or another it makes preparing a meal more fun.
And, of course, it is a stress-reliever.  I can't remember being so laid-back - even last year when we were here, but maybe I'm just forgetting.  We do spend a lot of time just visiting with friends and enjoying their reminiscing from forty years ago when Frank was their preacher at the Congregational church.
Finally, this week we are promising ourselves to do some touristing.  We'll see.  It is very rewarding to "JUST BE."  Which is what we've done most of.
We did finally get around to stopping at a car wash and getting the floor of the vehicle vacuumed out from all the trash off the farm.
And, I have been knitting - nothing fancy - just a poncho using up leftover yarns.  I really should just give the barrel-full of yarns leftover from years of knitting to some needy organization, but I haven't yet given up the practice.  It is my "meditation" time now.
Enough.

Day 14 in Vermont - Making our wishes come true

What counts is not so much the destination but the resolve to take the next step.

p. 42 of "Buddhism Without Beliefs, A Contemporary Guide to Awakening." by Stephen Batchelor

This book has been a mainstay in my reading for many years.  For several days I have been reviewing all the marked places and the one above keeps popping up as a message to me now.  Purposes and plans seem easy to begin but just as easy to get sidetracked at many points.  I believe the above quote is very powerful.  While on vacation, I have found myself considering many new possibilities for the next step in several areas but come to no conclusions.  Perhaps over the next couple of weeks some of this will solidify.  Some examples are:  1)  What is the next step for The Yogatorium?  What about my own personal yoga practice?  2)  How can I simplify my wardrobe?  Why do I keep clothes I never wear?  What can I eliminate? 3)  What about my diet?  How do I improve it?
You get the idea.  These are just a few of the activities I seem to spend a lot of useless time wondering about and taking very little action..............
The weather is changing.  Much cooler now even though nice sunshiny, hot afternoons.  I'm actually wearing a lightweight turtle neck sweater this morning!
Enjoyed a free chair yoga class yesterday in Morrisville Centennial Library.  I'd forgotten how valuable such a class can be!  We did some interesting moves with a tennis ball for foot work.  A different teacher and class coming up Monday evening.

Day 12 Vermont - The Natural World

Is the soul solid, like iron?
Or is it tender and breakable, like
the wings of a moth in the beak of the owl?
Who has it, and who doesn't?
I keep looking around me.
The face of the moose is sad
as the face of Jesus.
The swan opes her white wings slowly.
In the fall, the black bear carries leaves into the darkness.
One question leads to another.
Does it have one lung, like the snake and the scallop?
Why should I have it, and not the anteater
who loves her children?
Why should I have it, and not the camel?
Come to think of it, what about the maple trees?
What about the blue iris?
What about all the little stones, sitting alone in the moonlight?
What about roses, and lemons, and their shining leaves?
What about the grass?

Mary Oliver, "Some Questions You Might Ask"
P. 53 "The Lost Language of Plants" by Stephen Harrod Buhner.

Thanks again to one of my book sharing pals, Ileana, for sharing this thought-provoking book subtitled "The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines to Life on Earth."  As it turns out, Mary Oliver is my favorite poet.  I will share more with you as time goes by.  The book is awesome and scary!

Day 10 in Vermont - rainy do-nothing day

Here's a front view of our lodge here at Lake Elmore.  We spend much time on the front deck but inside is equally pleasant - especially on these rainy mornings. Even so, we dry off the chairs and enjoy the wonderful cool air here.  We don't even need or have A/C!  Just open windows and doors (only one fly to date) and inhale the clean, clear air.
Another real joy is hearing the loons early morning and in the evenings.  We have a beautiful picture of one in our home but this hearing their delightful cries is a new experience for me.  Of course, Frank has heard them many times, especially at their camp in Maine as a child.  Much more pleasant at 5 o'clock in the mornings rather than a rooster!
Last evening we talked with Frank's daughter, Donna, in Burlington and will go visit her tomorrow.  There are still a couple more friends we haven't yet made contact with but we do have  more time!  What fun it is to be in a totally different environment!

Monday, Day 9 - Yoga on the Deck

OK.  I just want you to know that I am actually doing my morning yoga almost every day now.  The front deck is a great place to practice since to the left is the beautiful view of Mt. Elmore.
Last evening was more PIZZA from the General Store with Bob and Ruth Woodside.  Tonight John and Judy Clark will be joining us here for salmon, etc.  Veggies from their garden for salad.
All in all, we are happy and totally relaxed!
Back to my reading today - unless I get too involved in my knitting!  Amazing how many things one can find to do when there is nothing to do!

Sunday - Day 8 in Vermont

Yesterday was full to the brim!  First a trip into Morrisville to the Farmer's Market held each Saturday morning.  Beautiful, wonderful tasting grass-fed ground beef - we tried last night and both agreed we had never tasted ground beef quite so good!  Fresh cucumbers, tomatoes (three varieties), corn, and delightful sweets - one a blend of coconut, chocolate chips, walnuts, butter, flour and of course, maple syrup!  And zucchini bread that is super good!
I will be sure to return on Saturday for more good food - and sweets.  There is even a chair-massage person at work there which I intend to try.
Then a trip to Johnson Woolen Mills factory store in Johnson, VT.  Fortunately I had checked it out on line before the trip so the prices were not so much of a shock!  At any rate, I did buy some woolen pot holders, but may succumb and return for a pair of somewhat less expensive flannel pants.  They manufacture and sell both flannel and woolen wear.  Truly beautiful clothes and etc.
Late afternoon found us being taken on a pontoon boat ride all around Lake Elmore.  Joe and Flo, Ciccolo, our landlords, are very thoughtful and kind to us as they were last year.
So the day was full and today is to be a quiet one.
Photos tomorrow.

Saturday, Day 7 in Vermont

Bob and Ruth Woodside's view from dining room

We helped Ruth celebrate her 81st birthday Wednesday evening by joining her and Bob for a delicious supper prepared by Ruth.  For 50 years or more they have lived right beside his work - running the hydroelectric generator for the local town.  All of the equipment is underneath their home!  The roar of the falls is mesmerizing.  I can only imagine how beautiful their surroundings are in the winter snows.

Maple Woods Farm Pizza

Last evening we shared this pizza with Breck and then to Stowe for "Mission Impossible" movie.  All of the ingredients of the pizza were produced on a local farm and prepared at the Elmore General Store which is truly a general store - everything from gourmet pizza (beets, zucchini, basil, sweet potato, tomato, etc.) without cheese!  Absolutely scrumptious (my opinion, not Frank's)  - general store in the sense of providing everything from pizza to locally hand made earrings and the post office

Day 6 in Vermont - Doing Nothing Yesterday

Great Room in Maple Lodge

Yesterday was a day of "do nothing."  We did leave the lodge about noon for a quick drive into Morrisville, about 5 miles, to pick up some supplies.  Otherwise the entire day was spent here just being.  I did again repeat my morning yoga routine but still haven't begun my leg strength exercises or formal meditation.  In fact, most of the time here is spent on the deck or two outside porches and picnic table out back watching the clouds move across Mt. Elmore and the sugar maples moving in the wind.  We did walk over to the lot next door where our cottage from last year was torn down and now they are building a new one.  Lots of truck loads of cement, gravel, etc. and workmen have nearly completed the basement and basic foundation for the garage and house.
I knitted about ten inches more on the poncho I'm making from leftover yarns.  Still have about 15 or 20 inches more to go before beginning another one.
We played solitaire for hours - me with cards I purchased in Ireland many years ago when I first began blogging - while Frank plays two-suit solitaire on the laptop.
We ended the day with a Glenn Ford cowboy show of cattlemen vs. sheepmen that ended with an agreement to live together and share the water and range.  And, of course, the two main characters rode off into the sunset with their women.
All in all, it was a day worth repeating often - I just wish I could learn to "do nothing" at home!

Day 4 in Vermont - I am.

Well, I have just spent the last two hours changing passwords and sending chat notes and so forth in order to get to this site and write a few thoughts.  First, I'm getting a cup of coffee and blowing off a bit of steam.  How I HATE having to communicate with the unknown actors who never say anything but simply send cryptic notes!  How I wish I had one of my granddaughters living with me.  But, they don't so I suffer.
At any rate, what I intended doing this morning was sharing a quote from my favorite "read" right now, and for the past several months.  So here it is: (my underlines)
Like all the great spiritual Masters, Jesus taught one thing only: presence.  Ultimate reality, the luminous, compassionate intelligence of the universe, is not somewhere else, in some heaven light-years away.  It didn't manifest itself any more fully to Abraham or Moses than to us, nor will it be any more present to some Messiah at the far end of time.  It is always right here, right now.  That is what the Bible means when it says that God's true name is I am.    Source:  Stephen Mitchell, The Gospel According to Jesus, p. 10.
Somehow all of this relates to our concentration on mindfulness and "the power of now", listening, paying attention, etc.  Becoming awake and aware.  But, in addition, I FINALLY understand the words "I AM."   Thank you, Stephen Mitchell.
Tomorrow I'll go back to more photos and chatting.  I promise!

Day 3 in Vermont

Somehow I cannot figure out how to eliminate the 

underline!  

Anyway, first photo is view from front deck  looking at Mt. Elmore in the distance with the lake between the mountain and the trees across the street.  This is where I do my morning yoga.The second photo is the deck looking toward the sugar maples that surround our place.    All is well, except for my difficulty relearning how to use my blog!   Can't get rid of the blue either!

I give up!  I'll do better tomorrow maybe.

Grandchildren Update

Here's a photo I've been wanting to share - taken July 4 at Hilton Head while on family vacation.
My grandchildren Walker and Jack, Sydney, Sam, and Kelsey.  What a joyful time we always have together  wherever we are!

In Vermont - Day 2

A bit of trouble connecting to the internet here - just like at home!  Anyway, we arrived Saturday evening after a lovely night with friend Harriet and her daughter Libby in Delmar (near Albany NY). A delightful meal of scallops at Libby's restaurant and fun connecting up with friend of more than 50 years!  That's one of the benefits of making this trip each year in August.  Weather here is same as in SC but hopefully will cool off soon.
The trip was much better in my new Highlander than in the 13-year-old 4-Runner.  Much fun learning all the high-tech attributes of the new vehicle.
Our house this year is a new one built almost entirely by the owners over a two-year period.  I'll add photos as time goes by - assuming this post works.
Well, this one from last year worked!  We'll be checking in at the airport today to set up time for us to soar again.

First Night In Vermont

We're here!  Dead tired - ready for a day of total do-nothing!

A Day at Litchfield Beach

So here we are - me our first morning here on the ramp in front of our condo on the ground floor.  And Frank (not quite awake yet) on our screened porch.
Today is Monday, two days left here and it seems the only sensible thing to do with them is "keep on keeping on" doing exactly what we've done most days.  Tea and blog writing in the morning for me, then to the porch with  coffee and  my Kindle or iPad for reading...usually romance novels but one truly attention-grabbing one - "Manhattan Beach".
 The sun shines onto our porch until noon so I often apply sunscreen and sit there for an hour or so.  (Applying sunscreen is a first for me - I never did before and probably it's a bit late to begin.)  But, that is one of my activities this month - taking care of Jaquie.
About 10:00 Frank comes alive - well, actually he just gets up and begins the process - coffee is the awakener.  Then he plays SpiderSolitaire on the laptop and eventually splits his time between that and his "episodes"- Longmire, NCIS, Hawaii 5-0, etc.  I also play solitaire - but with my deck of cards I bought in Ireland years ago.
There's always a nap mid-afternoon and usually a run to Fresh Market or Bi-Lo, which is nearer.
So you see, there's plenty of time to cogitate, which I'm doing much of.  On the other hand, I also find myself with a blank mind.  It has simply stopped whirring and I'm no longer aware of the inner boiling pot.  Oh how I hope I can continue at least a bit of that!

More Lovely Things

 

Anthurium from Frank

This beautiful anthurium plant was given to me by Frank on Valentine's Day.  It is another "lovely thing" to add to my list.  The interesting instruction that came with the plant is to water it weekly by placing 4 to 6 ice cubes on the soil.  What a clever way to water plants!

And another item:  Grass-fed rib-eye steak from The Fresh Market.  We broiled it last night for dinner along with brussel sprouts and sweet potato - a truly lovely meal, both in appearance and in eating!  Sorry I didn't photograph it.

Now we have only three more days of our month of vacation.  And it's enough.  We will enjoy winding up our stay here with a second dinner at Frank's Restaurant and a visit to the lovely consignment shop just across the causeway on Hwy 17.  But mostly we'll continue our routine.  I arise at 7:00 and write a blog post, read an iBook   in the sun on the porch with my green tea, honey, and apple cider vinegar.   Go to the Inn's lobby for yogurt, bananas, and blueberry muffins.  Return to our condo with breakfast and switch to coffee, back onto the porch.  Frank arises about 10:00, I move with yoga practice, and sometimes a walk on the beach.  And so our days begin.

Lovely Things

Here is the scene from our screened porch.  We don't even have to leave our condo to feel right on the ocean!  The other photo is of a few of the muses in Brookgreen Gardens - a "must-visit" in the coastal area of SC.
In my beach reading I have run across a suggestion that keeps returning to my mind - Write a list of lovely things.  So this morning, I am beginning with these two photo reminders of lovely things.
1.  The beach-ocean-sky
2.  Sculpture at Brookgreen Gardens
3.  Visits from friends - Diana
4.  Family members who visit - Jim and Anne
5.  The sun rising ever higher over the waves
6.  My cup of green tea with honey and apple cider vinegar each morning
7.  Afternoon naps
8.  Morning naps
9.  Waking and the first stretch in the bed
10.  A clean floor
11.  Laundry fresh from the dryer
12.  Smiles upon meeting sales associates in the grocery stores
13.  Older couples walking the beach
14.  Sautéed veggies
15.  A distant friend's occasional telephone call
16.  Salt baths
17.  Sun bathing
18.  Spa massages

In a way, this was similar to writing "gratitude" lists, but a bit different emotion erupts here.  A very pleasant one.  Perhaps I'll continue my list tomorrow, but now - the tea is finished and it is time for coffee with stevia and almond milk on the porch.

Tell me, what is it you plan to do......Mary Oliver

Litchfield Beach, at Pawleys Island, SC.
Here we are - My brother Jim, Anne,  Frank and I strolled through a small part of the gardens yesterday.  Frank took the photo and then Jim took the one of Frank and me.  As you can see, our vacation since February 1 has been good for us!  It was special having Jim and Anne here to enjoy the gardens and then a delightful supper at Frank's Restaurant here in Pawleys Island.  Truly one not to miss.  Also enjoyed a lovely lunch at Brookgreen.  Now the ticket into the gardens is a 7-day pass, so Frank and I will return at least once more before we leave on the 28th.

Last night during our Pod call - Kathy, Faye, Nancy and I - I mentioned a line from a Mary Oliver poem - Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your wild and wonderful life? and I am still pondering that question.  Beginning in 1996, more than 20 years ago, I pondered that question seriously for four years prior to my retirement from Clemson.  It was well worth the effort for my final answer to the question is still valid.  I discovered six things that make me happy:  travel, learning, clothes, center stage, physical activity...and for the life of me I can't remember the sixth one this morning....but all of these factors are important parts of my life
In 2001 I began teaching yoga at a Senior Action Center in Greenville and I have never stopped teaching and practicing yoga - the answer to Mary Oliver's question.  And, indeed, my life is wild and wonderful!

How is yours?