100 Days of Hope | Week 10

100 Days of Hope | Week 10

Let the rain sing you a lullaby. — Langston Hughes

We had a delicious taste of spring in Pittsburgh this week…warm temperatures, sunshine, and yes… some rain. It pattered on the roof all night and reminded me how lovely it is to be tucked into bed when it rains. It is the perfect invitation for sleep! Overnight my grass was suddenly green and it smelled so good outside! In the hushed winter world there are not any smells…but spring rains bring a smell overload!

And what could be more hopeful that the changing of the seasons. The forsythia bushes have taken on a yellowish-green hue as they wake from their winters nap. The maple tree in the front yard has been waiting patiently all winter for the right moment for its buds to open…and her wait is almost over. Those buds are a lovely red that looks even redder against a blue sky!

But this gives me such hope!

Last night President Biden gave me so much hope and I will gladly encourage everyone to get vaccinated when it’s your turn! (and in case you missed him last night…here you go!)

It makes me happy to hear about friends that I have worried about getting vaccinated. It makes me happy that Steve’s mom got her first shot this week! It makes me happy to hear about YOU getting vaccinated. And it makes me very happy to think about celebrating freedom from this virus on the 4th of July. And it will make me extraordinarily happy when it is finally my turn! Sometimes the best hope of all comes in a little glass vial.

Have a great weekend everyone! See you all back here on Monday!

100 Days of Hope | Week 10

100 Days of Hope | Week 10

“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.”
― Pablo Neruda

This week hope began to leap forward in a most glorious manner! My little snowdrops have come up and while their little flowers are not open, these hardy little flowers are the most pleasant bits of green in a very brown garden! Mine look very similar to the image above. No open blooms yet…they are waiting for a warmer day! (Which might happen here next week… 70’s are in the forecast!!)

And how about the hope that the COVID-19 vaccines are giving? When I listened to President Biden on Tuesday, I burst into tears at his news. Tears of hope. Tears of joy. In that moment I thought of all of us who have been unable to physically see our families during this pandemic… it has been so hard and seeing that light growing so much brighter at the end of this very long tunnel was exactly what I needed.

Finally, I leave you with this… since winter solstice way back on December 21 we have gained almost 2 hours and 14 minutes of daylight. (at least here in Pittsburgh!)

Have a good weekend all… it is Get the Taxes Done Weekend here. Wish me luck, lol! See you all back here on Monday!

Photo by John Griffith from Pexels

100 Days of Hope | Week 9

100 Days of Hope | Week 9

Hope itself is like a star — not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity.
— Charles Haddon Spurgeon

This quote has been so true for me this week. Sometimes, when life is just grand… why do you need hope? It is in the moments that are, well…less than grand…that the light of hope shines through.

I want to thank everyone for their incredibly uplifting comments to my word update on Monday. You all provided little beacons of hope that lifted me this week.

Words continued to bring hope…pleasure, attention, flesh, friendship, power, struggle, and loss. I thought I’d share a couple of the “poems” I wrote this past week. It amazes me how when I read the prompt in the morning… I am worried, what will I write? Yet a day of meditating on that word brings such delight and hope when I sit down to write. Bonny was brave and shared a couple of her poems, so I thought I’d do the same.

Power:

Simple little words
lifted my soul and warmed my heart
a much needed balm

Pleasure:

Knitting stitch by stitch
slowly building row by row
time just disappears

The other thing that has brought over-flowing hope this week has been the ever-increasing daylight here in Pittsburgh…and days with sunshine! I confess to being giddy with hope on Wednesday this week when we inched our way to the 60’s! I opened windows, breathed deeply, and savored even the rainfall that happened ever so briefly during the day.

I hope you found some things that brought you hope this week! Have a fantastic weekend everyone, I will see you back here on Monday! (and it will be MARCH!!)

 

100 Days of Hope | Week 9

100 Days of Hope | Week 9

“The snow doesn’t give a soft white damn whom it touches.”
E.E. Cummings

Winter reminded us over that it was far from over this week. We got snow, on snow, on snow, with a bit of freezing rain thrown in for fun… Oh, and bitter cold temperatures for the exclamation point, just in case you weren’t paying attention! However, next week’s more moderate temperatures bring hope!

This week, I found so much hope in conversations…conversations I listened to.

You and Me Both is back for season two… the first episode is titled Hope and seemed so appropriate for Hillary’s Full of Hope conversation with Amanda Gorman.

The other conversation I discovered this week came from Pádraig Ó Tuama in The Corrymeela Podcast. Episode one was one that really made me stop and think. If anyone knows about differences it is the people of Ireland. This first conversation also brought hope.

I have been contemplating the options for a virtual spinning class but I don’t know what kind of class I want to take. I feel like I spin the same yarn ever.single.time. and am sort of feeling like I am stuck and I need a new perspective. Last night I discovered the perfect solution! Jillian’s Patreon!! Hope sometimes comes in a joyfully exuberant person!

Finally, hope was found in writing thanks to remember, commitment, and interdependent.

And that is all I have for this week! Stay safe everyone and I will see you all back here on Monday for my word update!

 

 

100 Days of Hope | Week 9

100 Days of Hope | Week 8

This week I was reminded over and over and over how poetry brings hope.

“Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness.”
― Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver must have been seeing what I see when I look out my windows this week. Yes, it is still winter here in Pittsburgh and we have had lots and lots of snow this week. It it just so beautiful… clean, bright, and hushed.

There was nothing hushed about Amanda Gorman’s poetry before “the big game” last Sunday. I have no idea who had the idea to ask her to write a poem to read before kick off, but… imo…this needs to be something that happens before EVERY sporting event! It was simply the best part of the game because it focused on the hope that is working in our communities.

Next Wednesday, Lent begins and with it a journey. I confess that I am nervous and excited for what lies ahead – writing poetry for 40 days…but that thought also fills me with hope.

Finally, I listened to Chaplain Barry Black on Wednesday as he opened the senate impeachment session with these words from James Russel Lowell’s poem The Present Crisis: Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,           
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side;” I did not know this poem at all, but I have read it a number of times this week. I am stunned that something written 177 years ago has such relevance today…and hope.

Have a great weekend everyone! See you back here on Monday!

 

 

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