Prairie, Here I come!

This afternoon has been a bit boring. There is not much work for me to do, so I was asked to walk to another building to retrieve files. My client at the moment is in an office park located in the out skirts of Pittsburgh, quite suburban. The office park is “campus” style. Little clusters of buildings spread out over about 2 square miles. Like a college campus. Sounds very institutional, doesn’t it? But it isn’t. It is so absolutely lovely. The entire “campus” is intermingled and surrounded by a nature preserve. All the paths to the different clusters of buildings on the campus are through the woods and fields of the nature preserve. It really is quite spectacular.

Needless to say, I was quite thrilled to have to go get the files, which were in another building about .30 miles away. You ask yourself, “Is she whacked? I would not want to walk .30 miles to get work files. I barely can walk 3 feet to get my printouts!” But it was an exquisite .30 miles to walk. I went passed the most stunning field of tall grass being tossed about by the spring wind. It is such an incredibly calming sound. I just closed my eyes and listened. I must have come down about 10 levels during the walk. All the calming sounds of the wind and grass, as well as the awesome sunshine, made the walk back to the office very difficult. It made me want to keep on walking and toss in the corporate world, while I lulled my days away in field. What did I have to go back to anyways - filing, reviewing tests, stabbing my eyes out with a red hot poker? I wanted to be free and run in the open field, just Laura Ingalls from the opening credits of Little House on the Prairie.

But, alas, I did return and I am so very grateful for the fifteen minutes of pure bliss and perfection. Maybe tomorrow I will have to go retrieve my favorite pencil that got left behind??? :)

Namaste

The Number 6

I am so grateful for the number 6, especially when the number 7 closely follows it.

These were the two numbers on my car outside thermometer today. And no, it is not a cold spell for Phoenix or Tampa. It is a lovely warm, spring spell for Pittsburgh!

It is amazing what a little, okay large, spike in the temperature will do to my, as well as everyone else’s dispositions. I just want to hug everyone and give them a kiss on the cheek. Everyone is actually smiling and saying hello back to me. It is all puppy dogs and cotton candy. It makes you want to sing out loud on the nearest hill or mound. Just like a scene out of the movie “The Sound of Music”. I want to spend my whole day outside walking, running, exploring, and smiling. I want to be around people and not cuddling up by myself on the couch. I imagine this is what a bear feels like when he comes out of hibernation. It is so exhilarating.

Today, I am so, so, so, grateful for the number 67 and a vacation from the winter blahs.

Namaste

Head Music

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and beyond I am grateful that the head music is going away, slowly but surely.


Namaste

My Backyard and its Voices

Saturday, as I looked out onto the soggy, brown, leafless backyard, I thought how grateful I was for my backyard and the voices. I live in a city neighborhood of Pittsburgh, where green grass, trees and space are highly prized. But I am lucky because I have a very clever husband who found this lovely house and its backyard.

My backyard is so peaceful. The perfect mixture of grass, trees, and dirt. Well, I could do with less of the dirt and more of the grass, but beggars cannot be choosers. We have put a lot of love and sweat into the back yard to make it a sanctuary. This past spring the Inventor made a babbling brook with a lotus flower fountain in one corner of the backyard. Then I put my birthday hammock under the perfect tree, so you get a bit of the nice warm sun in the early afternoon, and then shade when it gets too hot. A soft tinkling wind chime was hung on a nearby tree branch. So with my hammock, a cool breeze and the sound of water, you would never, ever image you are in the city. It is my little refuge from the world. I love just swinging and daydreaming. Listening to the sounds of summer while you just swing. Aaahhh…

The other feature that makes my backyard perfection are the voices from over the wall. Sometimes in the middle of a lovely dream about saving the world or Robert Redford, I hear the melodious tones of my friend and her husband over the brick wall. They will be chatting about mundane topics, but giggling and laughing the whole time. All I hear our happy, peals of laughter. Just enjoying and living life. It is such a lovely, little, unexpected snippet interjected into my moment. It just makes me smile and thank my husband for buying the best backyard in town.

So, I am grateful for my backyard at its voices. I cannot wait for spring.

PS – AWM, I am stalking you...no, no, no just thinking about you and your situation :)

The Inventor, Geritol, and I

Friday, I was grateful for the open environment in my marriage. My marriage is by no means the perfect marriage or the worst. It is very easy and fun loving at times, while at other times it is very trying and difficult. However, the one thing, I can always depend upon is that it will be there. I do not have one doubt that this is not the person I will take Geritol with when I am 75. This is a wonderful feeling and a bit eerie. When we disagree or have “discussions", I never have a second thought not to speak my mind. Albeit sometimes I need to phrase it softer or more cushioning for my husband’s much more sensitive nature, but I feel I can say whatever I need to say. This comfort or eeriness is something I have never had in a relationship. I was always on pins and needles about everything. Always watching everything, I said or did. It was extremely exhausting and tiresome. But that feeling went away and stopped when I met my husband. I would like to think it is because he is the one, although realistically I think it is because I grew up and relaxed, and I was more receptive to finding him.

So, I am grateful for our open and understanding marriage and comfort that comes with along with it.

Namaste