i'm gettin' there

I am trying. I keep thinking of FriarLawrence in R&J, “În that thou art happy”

“Thy Juliet is alive,

For whose dear sake thou wast but lately dead—

There art thou happy. Tybalt would kill thee,

But thou slew’st Tybalt—there art thou happy.

The law that threatened death becomes thy friend

And turns it to exile—there art thou happy.

A pack of blessings light upon thy back,

Happiness courts thee in her best array….

YES indeed, I just have to keep reminding myself how lucky, how blessed, how fortunate I am.

Just tired, is all.

the hurrier i go the behinder i get

I looked it up. See, I was totally wrong. I always thought that was an Amish saying, but it’s from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The Rabbit, who else?

It wasn’t my intention to delve into the provenance of those words. I was feeling sorry for myself: too much to do, so little time, worries (desktop died), compllcations (lost copy?), oh, and Christmas.

I’m facing the wrong way. I’ve been having a good time but I haven’t appreciated how fortunate I am. Last week I went to the live performance of Antony and Cleopatra from the National Theatre in Great Britain at a Cineplex screen near me - a stunning production starring Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okoneda. And this week I saw “Dames at Tea”- no, a friend of mine called it that - “Nothing Like a Dame” or” “Tea With the Dames” is a comedy documentary film, a delightful, indulgent, informative, poignant conversation with four old friends. talented Dames (so titled by the Queen): Judy Dench, Eileen Atkins, Maggie Smith and Joan Plowright, sharing 342 years of experience. Delightful !

I ate what my daughter-in-law calls “torture pie” at a family tree-trimming party; had a great conversation with someone even older (by a decade) than I at another family party where the cynosure of all eyes was my great granddaughter, Mia, eight months old on the 22nd. And I have baked lots of Amish Friendship Loaves (small ones) starting 50 days ago (each starter takes 10 days from stir to finish).

So why am I complaining?

Not.