And So It Begins

Not much headway in the scheme of things, but did cover 3 states today - FL, GE, SC.  Worst part was packing up the last few days in 100 degree heat; whew! Ended up giving more of my things away than I planned, but there is after all only so much room in a vehicle. Have my photos, personal items and clothes, so should be enough, but oh so sad.  Glad that's over, and now the journey has begun. Tomorrow we'll just have to see how the car and my legs handle the 10 hour days and make up the itinerary as I go along -- nice to have the latitude!

A Rose Above the Thorns

The hidden shadows of my life

Thrust images toward the light

Given time their ethereal presence

Might intrude, but I forgive them.

All failures have purpose;

Limitations provide focus.

They are pieces of the woman I am

Giving incentive to the future

If not to a moment in time.

Each a petal upon a rose

Rising above threatening thorns

To bask in fullness and brilliant beauty

Becoming etched like friends in memory.

Each tear then in life provides the ocean

That keeps us buoyant and helps sustain.

So celebrate life in all its glory

And hold tight the hand of its dream!

                                              bg  2011

Early Morning Reflection

Only about a week to go and I will be leaving FL for good.  It's about 5 a.m. and rather quiet.  No cars, no conversation, no tv -- just me and my thoughts.  Will I be sad to leave?  Yes and no.  This has been a sanctuary, a hideaway, a harbor from the turmoil of my previous working life -- it was needed, it was necessary and I'm glad I did it.  Certainly didn't turn out the way I thought it might -- creating a family compound of a sort with my brother(s), but I have had the opportunity to become friends with that part of my family again, something I was denied in my youth, and I am happy that I went there.  Lessons learned, of course, are still many, one of which is you can't turn back time or wish things were as they could have or should have been, and that it is okay.  Appreciating people, especially family, for the real persons they are with faults and shortcomings (and that goes for me too) does not mean we love them less, but that we can finally accept that even with them, we have to just let them be..   Excited to see what there will be to come, so onwards and upwards to be sure!