Not a Care in the World

This morning I got out in the garden pretty early. The sun was finally shining and clearing my head as well as the sky. As I stood on the south hill, barely visible from the street, I heard a little girl singing.

She was singing the ABC song as loud as she possibly could. When I looked up to see her I saw a pink bike, fully equipped with handle bar tassels and training wheels. Her helmet matched her bike, and her blond curls escaped from underneath. Her Dad and other siblings accompanied her as they strolled slowly down the street.

I spoke out loud to myself with a smile, "remember when times were so simple...". I shook my head and then answered myself, "when you didn't care who heard you...pure and utter joy".

I barely remember ever feeling like that.

How come as children we are able to experience complete ignorance and bliss but we lose that capability as we age?

Does it count that I regularly talk to myself and to the critters in the garden?

Growing More Beautiful with Age

I spent last weekend with my Girlfriends.

We have these Girlfriend Gatherings on a somewhat regular basis. One of my friends has a lovely house that she graciously opens up to us a few times a year. She spoils us with her culinary delights. She gives us an escape to nature that most of our suburban lives don't offer.

I always look forward to these visits. I think I need the laughter we share more then anything. As I've written before, my world is fairly small. I work in a small office, I have the same routine day to day, week to week. So escaping once every few months gives me a chance to break free and let go.

It's hard for some of the girls to commit each time as they still have young kids at home. But I can tell that when they do get the chance to get away, how much this time is needed. On Sunday morning everyone looks so...released. Released from the stress, the chores, the computer, the errands. They've taken time to relax, to drink and eat, to connect and to laugh.

I've shared a lot of years with these women. Some good, some bad. Some distant, some close. I've seen them go through puberty and marriage. I've seen them go through death and birth.

And I've noticed lately that my friends are more beautiful to me as we have aged. Oh sure, we are starting to show some wrinkles around the edges... Most of us need cheaters to read these days, a few grey hairs are starting to show, some of us have a few more pounds then we once did.

But none of that matters.

What's beautiful is the concern that's expressed for each other; and the generosity of spirit and soul that shines through each of us in our own little way.

We all have crows feet when we laugh now, and knowing I was a part of some of those laugh lines makes them all the more appreciated.

"Rock on with your bad selves" girls.....