PRACTICING

Photo by Cliff Booth on Pexels.com


The second day of the rest of my life finds me here at my keyboard. I’m practicing what I’ve been talking about doing – writing daily. I try not to think too hard and fast and just write from what pops into my head. My head is multi-tasking this morning. It is skipping from one thought to another. It makes it hard to sit and stay here. I had to get up from time to time, do a little of this and a little of that. There’s a pot of little cherry tomatoes simmering on the stove. I’ve paid the bills online. I made a cup of tea and had a walk in the back and front yard gardens. I’m feeling a little more settled.

I’ve discovered that the Sweet One Million cherry tomatoes make excellent tomato sauce. I am sure I have about a million of them. I’ve been giving them away but they keep producing, ripening and piling up on the dining room table. They’re good attraction for those damn fruit flies when they get over ripe. That’s how they ended up in the pot this morning. There’s only so many I can put in salads or just pop into my mouth. I’ve also discovered it is much less labour intensive cooking up a small batch of sauce at a time. Smaller batch, smaller pot, smaller cleanup. I am a happy camper.

Small anything and everything is good when I am starting up. A small practice every day will get better. That small can get bigger with practice. There’s no right or wrong way, no good or bad time. It just have to work for you. And you find what works or doesn’t work by doing. I’m not looking for magic nor am I trying to write a great novel. I love the tap, tap of the keyboard. I rather tap out all the mess that’s circling in my head onto the screen. I’m just trying to stay sane.


LET’S TALK ABOUT LOVE AND LIFE

Here it is, 5 pm already. I’m sitting here with my cup of tea and a large serving of rhubarb crisp. I won’t be a slim Jim Jean any time soon. I guess it is not that important to me. I rather stay reasonably calm and sane with food than a starving screaming Barbie Doll. I have been screaming some. But somehow a screaming chubby woman seems more attractive than a screeching skinny Minny. Of course, I’m justifying, trying to make myself feel better.  There’s something to be said for self control and courage. I really admire Lexi Reed of FatGirlFedUp for having lost 300 pounds on her own. She has a very inspiring story.

Things are not as dire as I sound. Today I awoke with no pain in my left hand. I did not have to pry and snap my ring finger straight as I have been the last couple of months. No pain is good. One less thing to rag about. It does not make me an attractive woman at all. Another good thing is the temperature is normal. No extreme heat to fire me up, then wear me down. Life is good as they say. Any yay! No more summer cold or bad cough.

My brain and temperament are cooled to optimum. Going to Mass yesterday gave me peace. Today I am able to put aside everything that is unnecessary and focus on the necessary. My pile of life have been waiting patiently on my desk to be delt with. It’s surprising how much energy it takes to sort, scrutinize, answer, write out the cheques, put them in envelopes and file away the records. Then there are items that needed tending online – downloading and filing into folders, changing my charge card number and notifying the appropriate payees. This part of life is not romantic at all. But at the end of it, I feel a sense of satisfaction. I care enough about myself to tend to the matters. There have been times when I haven’t. I just let things to happen to me. I was lazy.

I’ve turned over a new leaf. I expect I will slip now and again. I won’t promise I won’t ever scream again. I would if I could be guaranteed not to be ever sick or stressed again. I have been sorry too many times already. I want to cut down those numbers. Whoever wrote that “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” must know what he’s talking about. Maybe it only applies in movies, to Ryan O’neal and Ali MacGraw. What do you think about that line? You’re probably too young to know the movie Love Story. It is kind of sappy.