And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten …”
—James Russell Lowell
Welcome June!
Paperback Writer – The Beatles
The above song, by the Beatles, turns fifty years old. I loved it because it reminds me of my dad, and his love for that band which goes way back, but also because it is about a paperback writer, something I wanted desperately to be, myself.
So guess what was discovered off the coast of Canada last month?
Two Blue Lobsters Found In Canada
Something so rare and beautiful; sometimes, the rarest of the rare ends up being most precious of all.
Some things aren’t meant to be, no matter how much we wish they were. That is a hard reality to face. One of those weeks, with some stress and anxiety, many ups and downs, but I am thankful overall.
For lobsters of all colours.
One in two million. What are the chances?
Yay Canada!
I love colour, the colour blue. I love lobsters. This story made my day, my week, and more.
If these odds can be beaten, anything could happen.
😉
For the help that came from far away.
South African firefighters dance as they arrive in Canada to help battle wildfires
This happened across the country from me. I didn’t experience these horrible wildfires up close. I can’t imagine what it’s been like for the residents of Alberta who did experience the wrath of nature.
This story about the firefighters from South Africa who came to offer their assistance to the people of Fort McMurray made my day, when so much injustice and anger exists, but then these guys came all this way, to do what they could to help.
For a dramatic return to my writing group this week.
Okay, so we usually talk a little, casually, before we get down to the actual writing. This time, things got a tad intense for my liking, but it got me thinking.
It started with nobody remembering to bring in a mystery object for us to base our stories around. I just happened to have my keys and the beaded, handmade pink cross from my grandma. I keep it because it reminds me of her, helps me feel close to her, but on this occasion it seemed to spark a whole religious thing that I never would have expected.
The one member of the group spoke up and held up his new found religion, his bible. This launched us into a discussion where he swore the earth is flat.
By the time the debate had gone on and I should have just got the ball rolling for the purpose of us all being there, meaning I should have just started to write, but I broke down and had to challenge some of his statements.
“So, can you heal me? Can you cure my blindness?” I asked. This may have been a mistake.
I have a lot of feelings on this, possibly better suited for a story because I don’t begrudge anybody their beliefs or the faith they’ve found. I just can’t spend my life hoping to be cured.
It got my brain working, anyway. Thankful I can think these matters over in my own head, as well as discussing them with people I’ve grown to love spending two evenings a month with.
For progress seen by my violin teacher, if not entirely noticeable by me.
There is this thing called long tones. I am loving all this violin lingo.
Doesn’t “long tones” sound so smooth and lovely?
🙂
Well, it’s like practicing scales. You just go from one string, back and forth with the bow, and then onto the next.
I need to keep my shoulder down and move through the note with my elbow, and less with my shoulder or wrist.
Well, my teacher said she noticed somewhat of a breakthrough, a milestone I’ve arrived at. I don’t feel it the same as she sees it, but that’s okay. I’m getting there and it feels really good.
For the cooler weather this week.
I love having my AC there when I need it, but it’s nice not to need it too.
While the end of May grew to be quite humid, June is starting out with cooler temps and even rain. I don’t mind.
For a beautiful song for me to try writing more lyrics to.
My brother has recorded a full version of “Decade Adrift” and now I will spend the coming week writing the lyrics.
They will be based around the theme of feeling lost for an entire decade, but I plan to use being swept out into the ocean as the metaphor for the feeling.
For care of loved ones when I felt like crap.
I regretfully had to miss out on a family day, due to one of my more nasty headaches. I was sorely disappointed, but it wouldn’t have been any fun if I had attempted it.
So, my parents felt bad and knew I would too. They told my sister and her husband to check up on me and they did.
I was feeling nauseous and couldn’t eat much. The fruit smoothie they brought by was greatly appreciated.
For a thunderstorm overhead.
I enjoyed the cool air that ushered in a storm this weekend. I enjoyed staying indoors, upstairs, with my nephew watching the rain through an open window.
I still wasn’t feeling my best. Whether or not he was just pretending is debatable, but every time there was even the slightest rumble of thunder in the distance, he would run whimpering over to me and would hide his face beneath a sheet.
Then he cuddled up against me and we sat there, not moving, for a time. It was the best.
For nineteen years and counting.
I put out a request for suggestions on Facebook earlier, but sadly I got no responses.
😦
I am looking for something HUGE to do next year, on the 20th anniversary of my kidney transplant from my father: any ideas?
For those doing their part to bring awareness.
I hope more of the world comes to see blindness, not as something to be frightened of at all costs, but as something many people deal with, successfully, on a daily basis.
I hope the stigma is worn clean away. I hope…I hope…I hope.
I do know I am grateful to be here, even with all the downs, because I eagerly anticipate the ups that follow.
“I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is a touch of yearning at times, but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers. The wind passes, and the flowers are content.”
Her Headache 
lovely writing and lots of things to be thankful for 🙂 have a great week!
Thank you so very much. Hope you have a lovely week also.
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writing group, huh? I’ve thought about finding one (or starting one), but though they seem like they’d be awfully helpful/useful/productive, maybe I’m not really understanding what they entail. (My thinking is simply that it would be a group of people trying to find an improvement in inter ability to write their stories (whatever that might mean! lol)
good work on the continued practice of the violin! (Other than drums), the bowed instruments have always struck me as the most difficult to learn, so many physical variables.
(funny you should mention bibles and religion, phyllis and I were discussing something along those lines and at one point I said, ‘thank god for the Wakefield Doctrine, it allows me, as a clark, to deal with a disparity (among beliefs) that would have been un-reconcilable (and therefore a constant source of self-induced negative feelings) for me. With the perspective it allows… I’m able to understand a thing that is, by definition, non-understandable.
ya know?
Oh I know. We were just discussing how there is so much we don’t know. Those who find solace in faith are fine, but it’s those who think they must live every word of a book like the bible, to a T, and that just feels wrong. I’ve been through too much that I need to believe in something, but having “line faith” doesn’t seem right to me either.
Yes, so so so many variables is what I struggle with during my lessons and when I practice on my own, but it is all about the feeling. I hope my body finds that out at some point, so as to have made this crazy impulse to learn this beautifully difficult instrument turn out alright.
Oh, different writing groups, I’m sure, operate differently. Ours we can bring anything we’ve written in to read to the group, if we so choose. Otherwise, we write for most of the time, when we can shut up long enough to buckle down that is.
🙂
Then we read back what we’ve come up with and receive feedback from the other members. It is good for me, but perhaps not for everybody.
My son had a supervisor who claimed that oil replenishes itself in no time, because the earth is only a couple of thousand years old. He also claimed dinosaur bones and fossils are ‘plants’ and not real. I was speechless when my son was telling me this.
Yes, just what do you say to something like that?
I just don’t know. So I eventually had to speak up and I challenged him, there on the spot. He said he felt totally unprepared, but perhaps he was being tested in his faith and ability to help heal, so I told him no pressure. I just don’t know how it could ever be settled, either way. If he did pray over me and nothing happened, it could easily be turned back in on me, like that I just didn’t believe hard enough. It’s all so wild.
For your 20 year anniversary, might I suggest a question that’s had me thinking lately. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Would you travel somewhere you’ve never been, do something that scares you, or take a risk? Happy twenty years!
Thank you for this. Actually, that’s the mindset I’ve been taking for a while. I’ve done several things lately that I didn’t think I could ever do. I am learning to play the violin, something I’d always dreamed of attempting.
Travel is high up on my list of things and I wish I could do more. Money is definitely one of the things holding me back, but then there is the fear of travel without sight that plagues me. It’s a fear I would like to challenge.
I appreciate your suggestions though and I will certainly think on it a lot more. I have a year now to figure out something, but I just have this feeling it needs to be something monumental.
Ah – my father is also a lover of all things Beatles (so I noticed this news story too!) – every now and then I like to weave little pieces about how awesome the Stones are into conversations with him just to get a reaction 🙂 But he knows I’m team Beatles, so it’s all in good fun.
Sounds like a week with much to be thankful for.
Ah, Stones are nowhere near as good as the Beatles.
🙂
Glad me, you, and your father are all in agreement about that, all jokes aside.
🙂
Hi Kerry; Thanks for sharing so openly. Hoping you have gotten some peoples eyes, ears, hearts, and minds opened. have a better week than last, Max
I hope so too Max. I really do. Thank you.
Two blue lobsters. I never even knew that that was a real thing!
Your family sounds wonderful. I too feel awful when I miss out on functions due to my chronic pain or my mental health. Sometimes it’s absolutely necessary though. It’s helpful when you have a family who understands and the fact that they brought you a smoothie and checked up on you — well that is just wonderful.
I hope this week is good to you.
They are very attentive and understanding. I know I am lucky because many don’t get that from those closest to them. Thank you and hope you have less of both chronic pain and mental health issues. Both aren’t easy things to live with. Support is key. Thank you for reading.