I read a newspaper article and got inspired. Barbara Hillary is a 75 year old woman who became the first black woman to ski to the North Pole. Yep, 75 years old and she SKIED. To the North Pole... When she was 67 she battled ( and hopefully won) Lung cancer. She thought of all the things that she wanted to do. She found that there had been women at the North Pole just not a black woman. There are two ways to get there. You can fly by helicopter or you can ski. A trip that takes 21 days !! She took ski lessons and just a few weeks later, she set out. I felt like cheering when I read the article. I needed that article. Lately,I've been thinking of all the things that have passed me by. Things that I really want to do. I kept thinking that I was "too old". I'm not. I CAN go to Ireland, I CAN hike the Appalacian trail. I CAN fall in love again. I CAN move West and build my cabin. I'm not too old. I only thought that I was. I should start packing...

This is our calling: to heal wounds, to bind what is broken, to bring home those who are lost. St. Francis Of Assisi


I love this quote. I have it hanging above my desk. THIS IS OUR CALLING.. OUR calling. us. This is what we are put here to do. I have been to places in the world where the meal for a DAY is half a cup of rice. I open my refrigerator and see a bounty. Food. Lots of food. Enough to keep families alive for weeks. I am blessed. You are blessed. Not all of use can heal wounds or bind broken bones. WE can heal the wounds that we have created in friends and family though. We can help heal broken hearts. WE can hold someone close that is hurting. We can run errands for elderly neighbors, cut thier grass or remember to take them to the cemetary if they can no longer drive. We can open doors for strangers, smile at them. Offer to help. WE can never again say something hurtful...Never. Bring home those who are lost...Reach out to others. There was a time in my life that I would ask lonely people to come into my home for Thanksgiving. I have stopped doing that. I got lazy and I got complacent. I forgot that I was blessed. I hope that I can stare at this quote enough until I remember to do that again. WE all have this calling. We are all blessed.

Hello friends,
It is good to be back among you. I was thinking of this prayer that I heard a while ago. It's been around for awhile and I suspect that it has been Americanized because it is so "wordy". Native Americans tend to say more with less words and mean so much. Nevertheless, because of the state of this world, I thought that it would be a good thing to think about it again. It would be a gentler place if we all followed the meaning of it.

O Great Spirit, whose voice we hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life,
to all the world
hear us.

We are small and weak,
we come to you to find strength and wisdom.
Let us walk in beauty
and make our eyes
ever behold the sunset.

Make our hearts respect
the things that you have made,
and our ears sharp
to hear your voice.

Make us wise
so that we may understand,
the things that you have taught
our ancestors.
Let us learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.

We seek strength,
not to be greater than our brothers
and sisters,
but to fight our greatest enemy,
ourselves.

Make us always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes,
SO when life fades,
Our spirit may come to you,
without shame.

Hi fellow bloggers,
Early in the morning, I am going to go stay in the country with my friend until Wednesday the 9th. She lives waaay out in the booonies and I can't wait. Just going to go smell good, clean country air, stare at the pond and read some good books. I am going to refresh my soul.She has twin grandchildren that she is helping raise, so we will be surrounded with babies. A good thing. I didn't want you to wonder where I was. Would you? Anyway, no fighting, share, care and love each other. See you soon.

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting thier ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul.
Written by General Douglas MacArthur when he was 78 years old.

If we are lucky enough, we will all grow old. I remember as a little girl, thinking my mother was ancient when she was FORTY. I could NOT imagine being "that old". Yuck..I have passed that mark now by several years and I am thankful. I am not the same person that I was when I was younger. When I was younger, I thought that I had forever. I couldn't imagine a time that my body would age. I look into the mirror and I wonder where that young girl went. I can see a wrinkle where once was a smooth face. I can see a stray grey hair, where once was raven black. That very wrinkle is the beginning of a road map to a life well lived. That grey hair is a mark of fortune to have lived this long. I have lost many people that I loved that didn't have a chance to see my age. I am 52. I am proud to be 52. I do not hide my age like some women. I have earned every year. When I was younger, I didn't know the joy of a sunset, rain on a tin roof. I couldn't imagine that hearing a baby laugh would be a symphony for my ears. I am old enough to have loved. Loved deeply. I am old enough to have mourned the loss of that love. I am old enough to have learned from that pain. I hope that I have many years left on this earth. Many years left to perhaps love again. I hope that the younger folks here can appreciate thier youth. It will never come again. I hope that they can learn that age isn't something to fear. Or dread. It comes to us all.. if we are very, very lucky.