Past and Future and Mostly Now in Everyday Ramblings

This is a shot of the top of the old oddly sited apartment house from behind and the red of the cottage placed at the rear on the street side and the cottage next door, all of which are from the same vintage.

I love this picture, the shape of the chimneys. Of course it is easy for me to enjoy the aesthetics of these old buildings and imagine the lives of the folks that lived before and walked and brought their horse carts down these streets because I don’t have to deal with the inconveniences and expenses of living in the midst of decay.

There is a cottage and also an older five apartment building in the next block down as well as the house across the street that no one lives in. All, I am sure, because of the expense of bringing them up to code. A well known at the time woman artist lived in the cottage. I need to find out more about her.

Albatrosses for the owners though.

We are having a light but happily soaking rain… finally. What a relief after so much dry. Good for all the fires in the state. And closer to home all the dry gardens and scrub land and for all the creatures, including us, this land sustains.

I must say, other than this fatigue, which I am indulging by resting on this lazy Saturday, I am enjoying my life. I am feeling challenged and engaged on many different levels.

It is, I believe, a gift from those I have loved and lost, their wish for me still here, that I be fully present and utilize what blessings I have been given to inhabit the plane that is most obvious to us, this thing we call the real world.

I am doing a lot of spiritual work as well behind the scenes that I don’t talk about much here but it is helpful. Not only does it make being here now less of a struggle and more enjoyable it also completely fires up my imagination on all cylinders.

Not a day goes by where I don’t think about my sister or Mr. Finch (I was talking to the Buddhist Counselor last week about the losses, next week is the first anniversary of saying goodbye to Sammy, L’Orange and afterwards he said, you didn’t mention Mr. Finch and I am like, well, he was the major chord, the loss is ever-present, woven into the fabric of my life) and I know truly the best thing I can do to honor their companionship, encouragement, and unique capability to be both extremely annoying and inspiring is to live fully all the way out to the edge of my senses.

Carlo agrees. He is all stretched out on a nice neat pile of warm clean dishtowels I just put on the bed to fold.

One of the things I am also doing is learning some basic Spanish so that I can better interact with the caregivers that don’t speak much English. The problem with naming one cat Carlo (which I pronounce with an exaggerated Italian accent) and Diego (who came into my life already perfectly named) is that I find when I am puttering around the house repeating Spanish phrases they are coming out with an Italian accent!

I am sure my students will enjoy correcting me if I handle it all in a good-natured relaxed way.

The dinner at S.’s house was quite enjoyable. I will be invited back. Apparently I am required to watch The Life of Pi in 3-D. :)