Tag Archives: there’s a crack in everything

Working Under the Gun

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October 15th, halfway through the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I am still here almost 100% but not quite. It is good enough in that I step right back in after a slip. I’ve never cared for perfection. There’s a crack in everything as Leonard Cohen said. That’s how the beauty gets in. I do wish though that I could be a little more organized, had a plan and the discipline to come to the keyboard earlier in the day. Alas! I do not so I almost always have to work at writing a post at the end of the day. I think that’s what they mean by working under the gun.

Did I tell you that I like doing things the hard way? I do. A friend offered me a ride to our group lunch today. It’s not exactly out in hell and gone but it is a little outside the city. What with our crazy traffic and the price of gas nowadays, you would think I would jump at it. Well, I didn’t. I declined saying I want to take my own car. Why? Because it would help to keep my brain working. I am forever getting lost. I need to keep working on finding my own way. Another reason is I need to keep driving to keep from aging before my time. Traffic has increased so much in our city that if I rely on getting rides, I might get too scare to drive altogether. I need to keep up the practice.

Lunch with the girls was wonderful. It’s lovely to know and meet each other now that we are no longer working. We no longer ask each other: Are you on days off? Are you working nights/days/the weekend? We no longer ask each other how we’re sleeping. Life outside the hospital is wonderful. I, myself, do not miss the bedpan alley. I am not one of those who identifies once a nurse, always a nurse. I do not miss the shift work and the stress. It took me 3 years of retirement before I could shed all the trauma of caring for human bodies and souls. Even with all that, I can honestly say that I enjoyed all the experience of working with and caring for people. I don’t think there’s such a thing as stress free work or life.

It was wonderful driving a little into the countryside solo for our lunch. I had a little walk around the grounds before heading home.

There’s a Crack in Everything

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It’s July 31, the last day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Cooler breezes prevail. I can feel a change in the air. I can feel a cascade of emotions within me. No optimism, no joy, just a sense of sadness for all the cracks that are present in our world today. It makes me think of Leonard Cohens song Anthem. It’s true that the crack is where the light gets in. Equally true, it is where the darkness comes in, too.

It’s good to remember to ring the bells that still can ring and forget about the perfect offering. And I like to remember to smile the while when I can. Good things still exist. I made a good run at this July UBC, missing only one day. That was the day when I had to take my father in to Emergency in respiratory distress. He has recovered remarkably well for a 95 year old. He continuous to be his old mischievous self, getting into trouble unnecessarily.

Just a few days after getting over pneumonia, he has to truck down to the basement to cut his hair. Yesterday morning at 8, he went outside and a tumble on the front lawn. No serious injuries except painful ribs on coughing. He’s not confused. He’s been warned not to do these things many times. It’s just who he is. I’m almost over getting angry at him because it is a waste of my energy. I’ve just made another trip over to see how he is. He is ok, not owning up, of course. He is always very clever at explaining. Those incidents are what are called accidents. How can you argue with that?

I do understand the elderly. It helps to read this post about how Clint Eastwood feels about getting old. Whether he wrote it or not it rings true. I wonder how I will be when I get to be 90. I hope I can participate in the UBCs That’s something to aim for. LOL. Thank you, Paul for hosting the challenges. Thank you everyone for writing and reading.

Anthem – Leonard Cohen

The birds they sang
At the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don’t dwell on what has passed away
Or what is yet to be

Ah, the wars they will be fought again
The holy dove, she will be caught again
Bought and sold, and bought again
The dove is never free

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in

We asked for signs
The signs were sent
The birth betrayed
The marriage spent
Yeah, and the widowhood
Of every government
Signs for all to see

I can’t run no more
With that lawless crowd
While the killers in high places
Say their prayers out loud
But they’ve summoned, they’ve summoned up
A thundercloud
They’re going to hear from me

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in

You can add up the parts
But you won’t have the sum
You can strike up the march
There is no drum
Every heart, every heart
To love will come
But like a refugee

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in

That’s how the light gets in
That’s how the light gets in