Do you think ...?

  Could she become a model?  Or should we hide her away

in the uppermost tower?

It's been a crazy couple months for me, actually.  As some of you may know, I lost my mom November 2, after several months

of hospitalization and rehab.  Thanksgiving was different ... and Christmas will be, too, I'm sure.  That place at the dinner table

will remain empty.  As will that place in my heart that only she could fill.

My own mortality has become a very present realization, and I'm gathering rosebuds where I can.  Tucking them away in my

feeble brain to be reviewed and relished at later dates.   I'm letting go of a lot of garbage that's been weighing me down for a

very long time, and am finally (Finally) able to love myself.  As a result of that, I find I'm able to be so much more compassionate

to others - even strangers - than I was before.

So just for the record, if you still read me, I love you.  I mean it.  You know who you are ... and so do I.

xoxo

Michigan, my Michigan

Had an awesome week with our daughter from Louisiana last week.  Saw some beautiful trees and cows and water and rocks ... all those freebies so many people take for granted.  I love seagulls, and we both love longhorn cattle.  The brutes in this picture let us pet them and scratch their noses!  Talk about a thrill! The old man Tonya's scratching in this photo eventually let her brush the straw off his head. 

xoxo

Small but Mighty

Two years ago we were able to rescue littermate kittens.  Kujo is being "featured" today, as she is on my list today.  She and her sister, Boomer (aka boom-boom-larou) take turns getting into mischief around here.  If there's something to get into, one or the other of them will.  Today it was those pretty round red things on the kitchen counter.  One by one my tomatoes went flying off the counter, aided by a playful paw batting them into the air, onto the floor, and then across the carpet, under the keyboard, into the bathroom ... oh joy!  Tile floor!  Look at 'em goooooo!!!!

(scamper scamper scamper)

My Heart

She's a teenager now.  Yesterday she was a little sweetie with a pixie grin and tiny little sparkles in her eyes.  Oh, she still has the grin, and she still has the sparkles.  But somehow they're not the same.  She used to call me Namma.  Well, she still calls me "Namma", but she refers to me as her GRANDMA.  Lord, how old that makes me feel.  I guess I AM old.  But I don't think my spirit has aged quite as quickly as my body has.  I still like to play with frogs.  And baby tomatoes on the vines out there still make me happy.  I could still go barefoot in the lake when the ice is still on, if it didn't take me so long to get down.to.the.lake....

She's growing up.  I'm growing older.  My fantasies don't inspire her as much anymore.  She's got Friends that take her to those delightful places I can't take her anymore.  It's not that she doesn't still love me.  To pieces, even.  She just doesn't seem to need me anymore.  And that's a rude awakening.

Springtime in Michigan

April 18 opened merrily with a 31 degree reading and feathers falling from the sky.  We love it here.  Really, we do.  The changing of the seasons is always a welcome challenge, especially for those of us who are so SICK AND TIRED OF COLD AND SNOW!!!!!

!