Five Glorious Things

1. I was on TV last night. Yes, I was. Speaking about the importance of commemorating an Irish speaker's legacy. And more I can't say until I hoover up this blog and breach my own anonymity. Fame. Such a fleeting thing. Note to self: make the most of it.

2. A blue jay starting to build something outside my window. Awfully sloppy if it's a nest but she's busy so this must be - whatchamacallit again - Spring?

3. A lovely lovely lovely St. Patrick's Day lunch out in the middle of the country. I felt I was part of a movie set. You know, the big open fire to the ceiling welcoming all guests, the gallopping horses outside the window, the table groaning under the weight of all the food. Getting a prize because I was the most "Irish" there even though I disqualified myself at the outset. And getting to sing a duet - The Isle of Inisfree - with another guest.

4. Gordon-the-Gift freshly at home from his Labrador work life, putting many of the finishing touches to The Tigeen. We now have beachstones set in around the wood stove. Pics to follow.

5. Finally meeting someone I really, really wanted to meet for a long time last night and HIM saying to me - I love your writing, I'm so glad your words were in our local newspaper! Gulp. Silence. What on earth does one say? This man is one of my heroes.

Five Glorious Things

I've meant to post this weekly, to keep myself mindful and thankful. Mondays. Must remember.

1. Some would view this as a chore but I don't: Every morning in the cooler temperatures I come downstairs and set and light the fire in the woodstove while the dog runs around the meadow in joy at her morning release and I put on the coffee and oatmeal and get her food together and come out again to the now roaring fire.

2. My daily walks along the shore where I get to see the scene above called "Winter Blues".

3. The postmaster, yeah, I've written about him here, but where else would I get a call from the post office to tell me in an awestruck voice: yeah, there's four packages for me today. Two with work. So come down today.

4. My tax software wasn't working. I de-installed, I re-installed over the past 24 hours. Nah, wouldn't work. At all. I called the software support line and just as I started to tell the technician my problem it began to work, all by its little ol' self. We laughed for 5 minutes as I insisted it was her particular ether magic that got it rolling.

5. Finding a new editor through my daughter and her huge network of fab people. And this time, maybe this time, I'll be finally putting out the book of short stories. Soon.

Five Glorious Things

{Picture was taken near my house in Newfoundland before I left}

I'm in the great city of Toronto for some days. Reigniting connections, spending time with family, cruising through the changes in infrastructure since I was last here in September.

My needle was stuck and I was devoid of feed for my blog, whether it was revisiting past writing, fresh writing, any writing. Daughter put me in touch with a new editor, as my last one and I, well, best to say we had far, far different perspectives on how my stories should present themselves.

1. To prepare for the editor, I reviewed some of my short stories and was a little charmed at how the distance from the writing of them made the re-reading of them fresh and interesting. I honestly did not remember how some of them turned out so was deliciously surprised. Does that sound vain? Who cares?

2. I had lunch with a dear old friend yesterday. He is off to Mexico on the weekend, so meeting with each other was a priority. A lingering 3 hour lunch at a wonderful Jewish restaurant which he had never been to where we caught up with life's doings and beings and felt intensely satisfied with how relatively stress free life is today after years and years of angst, problems, death and suffering of cherished ones.

3. I had dinner with another long established friend. This time a 5 hour dinner where we covered the grounds of the persecutions of our ancestors, in my case the Irish Famine Genocide, and in hers the Anabaptists of Switzerland who made their way to Pennsylvania and onward to Ontario. She shared a wedding experience in France where the charming custom is for the bride to enter the church alone and proceed up the aisle talking to relatives and friends on her way. This was followed by a week in Provence for all 350 guests. Her vivid description of her time there had me enthralled.

4. Timewise, I lagged a few minutes after Grandgirl in my returning to Daughter's house last night. But she quickly joined me in my room where we behaved like two schoolgirls with secrets and jokes until the wee hours, not aware we were preventing Daughter from getting to sleep down the hall.

5. Calendar is full both with social and business meetings while I'm here. I am replenishing, topping up the batteries of friendships and family.

I am so very lucky once I stay where my hands are.