Walk With Me - Fly For Me!

Walk With Me - Fly For Me!

As I walked, or should I say flew, down Sophia Street towards the river yesterday afternoon, the sun was shining brilliantly, and the wind was flexing its powerful muscles as it literally pushed and pulled me along.  A seagull, also heading towards that magnetic river, was flying along at a standstill, just above my head.  Not to be outdone, I lifted my arms and leaned into the wind, letting it fill the sleeves of my red windbreaker – an interesting name for the little red jacket that I was inviting that wind into!  I could hear my seagull pal’s high-pitched  ‘Cree edie’ cheering me on!

As I continued my walk, up on my tiptoes, arms outstretched, I felt exhilarated. The little child in me jumped up and cried out once more:  ‘Red Rover, Red Rover, I call Edie over!’ A few of the neighbours that I passed laughed and waved me on - encouragingly?  That only added to my fun; it was amazing what uplifting (literally) ripples that gusty warm wind was making as I tried to break through its arms!

Then, thoughts of my mom, laying in the Care Centre came into my heart and mind – I wished that I could invite her to come along with me on one more walk; let her feel those wonderful healing gusts of fresh air.  Mom is traveling towards her own magnetic river but her journey is a very different one: Her arms cannot lift to catch soft breezes; she is walking that difficult path that we all must eventually take, and she is doing it with graceful submission to powerful headwinds that are pinning her down.

As I let the wind continue to fill my hair, my lungs, and my jacket, I felt all of my tensions and sad thoughts just up and take flight.  At some point, a mighty wind will fill Mom’s being and lift her towards a landscape of light, with its own sparkling river, and she will answer the voice of the beautiful little child within her, who is calling out: Red Rover, Red Rover, I call Dolores over!

In the meantime, I will continue my own journey; hopefully with some inherited grace, and with a few pointers from Jonathan Livingston Seagull!     

If I Were Twenty Years Younger!

If I Were Twenty Years Younger!

Wait a minute!   I am twenty years younger - than I’ll be in twenty years!  And what was I doing twenty years ago that I can’t do today?  At 44 years of age, I was the mother of three beautiful, active teenagers, was into extreme gardening (about 3 acres worth!), was helping to raise and sell chickens and turkeys, had an active social life which included being part of an amateur theatre company with a group of wonderful friends; was involved in church activities, and danced with my husband at many weddings and parties.  I was even able to work in some artistic endeavors in between the above.  It was a hectic life, but ultimately, very rewarding – Ok, I’m losing my own argument here. 

Fast forward to today:  I am now walking and going to exercise classes to replace the gardening lifestyle, so that I can continue the dance, and I have moved on to planting seeds of a different sort – poetry and artwork that I hope will inspire hope and warm smiles for this world so much in need of those ‘plants’.

I have definitely slowed my pace, but I am still learning new steps:

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to begin playing my guitar again – It was my dad’s guitar, and every time I pick it up, it smiles back at me, adorned with its colourful stickers - shamrocks and musical notes.  I find myself inviting Dad to jump in and to use my fingers to have one more go at it.  At this point, I wonder if he is the one with the time advantage – living past the veil where time has a completely different role, enabling him to contribute to the pattern of life in unknown and amazing ways.

I figure, in another twenty years or so, I will be able to play well enough to join him in one more duet, and I’ll wonder why I ever worried so much about ageing.  Time is a wondrous journey, and our steps in time should leave sparkling gems for others to enjoy, twenty years down the road and beyond.  Onwards!