#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
. . . I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again. . .
~ Excerpt from “To be of use,” by Marge Piercy
A quiet, lovely Sunday morning to wake into, as November nears. Days shorten and cool. Today was so much cooler than it has been, I put on a coat for my walk. Still, Suzi swam, of course. My daughter joined me for the first part and then had to turn back. I said, look how much November is coming. The foliage past its peak, the trees growing bare, the gold fading. I walked for a good long time, enlivened by the spirit of reds still bright. I am thinking about the holidays, of course, still, and the way to have them be so different. I walked after writing my Aim for Astonishing writing prompt, my Sunday morning activity. It made me happy to create this, send it off to my subscribers, inspired by a poem from Czeslaw Milosz, The Gift. And, after my walk, I prepped for my How Pictures Heal live webinar, today being a make-up for one I had to cancel. And it was a wonderful webinar that brightened a cloudy mid-day: our small group, from Dubai and all over the US, Texas, California. . . The writing from the prompt was lovely. And then I walked to the river and sat on the bench with Frank and he said something that surprised me very much. I know he has been missing playing tennis, his passion, for a couple of weeks now, as the weather has changed and his tennis league and friends are playing indoors, and we aren’t taking those risks due to Covid right now. And, I was talking about the winter, the change of seasons, the effects of Covid, and, instead of complaining he said: “I’m going to have the best winter ever. That’s what I’m declaring.” And I loved that. And, it’s very much Frank. And I want to declare that for myself too, get my heart and mind around that. Because, despite Covid, that’s how the summer was. One of our best ever. Why shouldn’t the winter be that way too? Ah, I hear the screech owl in the trees agrees with my idea. This owl outside my window says, yes. The best winter ever. Let’s plan for that.
