Taking My Old Body To Sing

The beginning of last week was great!
I did stuff.
I even did more stuff!
And then my body said, “No.”

Somewhere towards the end of the week fatigue whacked me over the head, and I’ve been trying to sleep/rest enough to replenish.
I’m glad I did all the stuff last week 😀
Just might have been a bit more than my recuperating self was expecting! 😆

So, the boys are in varying stages of recovery from the “virus-that-has-no-name”. And my Babe started coughing Friday morning, and stayed in bed for a couple of days. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have caught what we had. Or he just heals really quick…

Today was a new day. Yay!
I still needed to sit and rest.
But I also managed the washing, and my share of the cleaning/dishes. Double yay!

In my sit-down-before-I-fall-down time I read some Mary Oliver.
Then I put my headphones on, closed my eyes, and listened to a CD I picked up a few weeks ago ($1 at a charity shop!)

Here are two poems that sang to me.
And two songs that spoke to my (weary) heart.

I Worried
Mary Oliver

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.

How Would You Live Then?
Mary Oliver

What if a hundred rose-breasted grosbeaks
     flew in circles around your head? What if
the mockingbird came into the house with you and
     became your advisor? What if
the bees filled your walls with honey and all
     you needed to do was ask them and they would fill
the bowl? What if the brook slid downhill just
     past your bedroom window so you could listen
to its slow prayers as you fell asleep? What if
     the stars began to shout their names, or to run
this way and that way above the clouds? What if
     you painted a picture of a tree, and the leaves
began to rustle, and a bird cheerfully sang
     from its painted branches? What if you suddenly saw
that the silver of water was brighter than the silver 
     of money? What if you finally saw
that the sunflowers, turning toward the sun all day
     and every day – who knows how, but they do it – were
more precious, more meaningful than gold?

Published in: on June 2, 2025 at 10:08 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Clearing A Path To Joy

No more boxes!
Upstairs, at least…
My bookcases are sorted, my DVDs are arranged, and my decorative touches are placed around the house. Some things might be moved again, but it still feels like home.
I didn’t have a good health week last week, but this week has been OK. It was lovely to be able to sit in the lounge and enjoy the space!
So far, this house has been easy to keep clean – not much dust on surfaces, haven’t noticed much in the way of unwanted wildlife (just an ant or two).

There are lots of surfaces to fill with trinkets.
Here’s a metal crayfish I found the other day.

He lives in the bedroom at the moment.

I also picked up a little cat dish type thing.

The head tilts slightly downward, which apparently helps cats to not get furballs when it’s used as a water dish.
This one holds our keys – as Sweet Bean says, we get to decide what the cat’s brains should be 😆
I thought my camphor chest could be an emergency seat if we get hordes of visitors all at once, so it needed some cushions.

My bits and pieces for the glass display cases are downstairs, but I decided to let my giraffe sit on the bookcase for now.

Because everyone needs a random giraffe 🙂

There’s a quiet joy in a lack of clutter, and in knowing you’ve accomplished everything you set out to do in a day.
There’s also joy in finding new songs!
These are two I’ve been listening to the last few days – one because I looked up the song we’d been singing in the online service Sunday, and the other because YouTube recommended it to me.

I hope you have been able to find joy in your day.
And maybe you’ve even been able to find your very own decorative giraffe!

Published in: on October 10, 2023 at 9:53 pm  Leave a Comment  
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