Coffee in Barcelona...

I remember the smell of my grandmother's coffee. 

She would make it in a little  stove top percolator first thing in the morning.

Water, coffee and heat...coffee was coffee. Simple and pure.

When I was seven grandpa gave me a little cup and saucer of my very own and I would get coffee with the grownups when we had company.

My coffee; one part coffee, four parts milk and three tablespoons  of sugar.

A cup of coffee has the fragrance and feel of  home no matter where you happen to be...

Sarah the superhero...

 

There was the depression and then the drinking...

. That whole socially acceptable thing that spread as fast as the Covid had.

That had landed her in the psych unit of the hospital for 2 weeks.

that's where she met Sararh.  

Sarah seemed to feel as though she had to be invited into the conversation.

or activity.

Sarah was round and soft, young and quite...

she was old and thin, frail and short. -

They had nothing whatsoever in common until then.

Sarah was so timid and introverted.

But her heart was as big as the great outdoors of the planes of Texas she loved, and it seeped through. 

and showed itself. in everything she said and did.

They kept in touch over the months then years.

But they were always texts and emails.

Happy birthday, Happy holidays...how are things...

.

One day recently she was at a very low point in her life. 

Medically, legally, monetarily, 

She was sitting at the kitchen table crying...

The phone rang, it wasn't a number she recognized but something posseted her to answer anyway. 

It was Sarah!

Not a text not an e mail but Sarah!

It was as if she had known.

She had sensed that the woman needed her.

There she was out of the clear blue Texas. Sky and she cried even harder.

She called Sarah 2 days later.

Sarah the magnificent!

Sarah the quietly shy who had swooped in and rescued her from the depths of despair.

Sarsh the sensational

her very own superhero

Somehow Sarah had known.

Zap

Bam

Swoosh

Zoom

...

If you are ever fortunate enough to meet a Sarah and have one in your life

hold om to them with everything you have.

They are few and far between.

 

 

 

Shifting...

The air began to stir.

That’s how it always started.

A slight tingling in the breeze above your head that made its way to the hair on your arms.

Something was coming.

She remembered the first time she had felt it.

It would gradually get stronger until it was a force.

They had become known as the X-winds.

A meteorological shift in weather patterns.

That’s what they had told everyone.

Very few knew what really caused the disturbances.

Standing there now feeling the buildup of the wind she knew exactly what was coming...

freedom...

She woke up different.

Done with trying to find out who was with her and who was against her  or walking down the middle
because they didn't have the guts to pick a side.

She was done with everything that didn't bring her peace.

She realized that opinions where a dime a dozen, validation was for parking and loyalty wasn't a word but a lifestyle.

It was then that her life changed.

And not because of a man, or a job,
but because she realized that life is way too short to leave the key
to your happiness in someone else's pocket...

-unknown-

Closing in...

When she was little it was just a greyish haze not too oppressive and she could shake it away.
She was young and strong then.

Later it became more like a fog that would roll in from time to time but there was a part of it that was always there hovering just above her.

Now it hung over her like a thick black cloud day by day getting bigger and closer and thicker and darker.

It had become a part of her.

She couldn't escape it no matter how far she went or how fast she ran or how old she got.

And one day it would envelop her and she would be gone forever.

And maybe that was okay.

Beads and things...

They hang on my wall collecting dust and holding memories.
I found them in Morocco on my way to the desert.
I have never worn them, not once.

These aren't the only ones.

There are the big silver beads on leather that I brought back from India and gave to a woman named Mary.

Years later when she passed away her grand daughter sent them back to me with a beautiful note saying how much she had loved them. And that Mary had wanted me to have them back when she was gone.

There are the cherry amber beads on twine given to me by the chief of a Zambian village as a gift of thanks for my visit to do an art project with the children at the little school there.

There are the antique ivory beads, that I would never wear but they are beautiful even though they represent the senseless slaughter of endangered species.

There are the ones that where purchased in Tanzania from a woman who needed to feed her children...

Will I ever wear any of them?

Probably not.

But each strand has the ability to take me right back to the moment and the place where I acquired them.

Hold on to this jewelry you will never wear. Hold on to the moments they represent for they are precious.

Respect and cherish them...

And be grateful for the opportunities that lead you to them,

Life...

Life is hard. It's the hardest thing any of us will ever do. But then maybe that's the idea.

Life can be cruel it can beat you up and knock you out...
It can shake you to your very core and leave you bruised and bleeding in the depths of despair.

Life is not fair.

The good die young, the poor get poorer and nice guys finish last.
We stumble and fumble our way through life believing there is some grand plan.

Life is not a rehearsal, it's the real deal.
There are no do-overs.

Life is messy...

But in the small unexpected moments there is the stuff that keeps us going.

Those things that bring a faint hint of hope into our otherwise chaotic lives. Those are the moments to pay attention to because those are the things you will carry on into the rest our your days.

But you must be vigilant, these are not grand important things. They are small, quiet, seemingly irrelevant things hidden throughout life like a scavenger hunt.

Treasures to be found and kept to reflect on when things get difficult and times get tough. They are the things that matter most in the end.

So be vigilant.


This has been a test, it was only a test, had it been an actual...