Do You Notice?

Do you notice

a billowy cloud 

rising in the skies above

shaped like a heart

as the breeze pushes the sky around

Do you notice

the smell of lavender

as you move your plants

in your spring garden

planning and rearranging as you go?

Do you notice

all the shades of green

as spring tightens

its hold on the land

and blossoms form on every tree?

Do you notice

the beans pushing the dirt

out of their way

as they climb out of the ground

reaching upwards uncurling as they go?

Do you notice

the rustling movements

as the light breezes

move everything in sight

Trees and flowers dancing together?

I try to notice

all of the everyday beauty

that is outside of my window

and in the fields around our home

Do you?

A Glimpse of a Younger Me

I was enjoying an after dinner bike ride one sunny evening last week.  I took Thelma as I needed room for my camera and it was my second ride of the day so speed was not on my mind.  I pedalled through the back roads of our small town trying to keep the bugs out of my teeth and the stench of freshly manured fields out of my nostrils.

I have a regular route I like to pedal as it's all quiet backroads with little traffic.  I rounded the corner heading towards the golf course as usual.  Up ahead of me was a father and his two young children.  He was moving slowly watching the two kids up ahead and just enjoying the views and an evening stroll.  I moved to the left side of the road to give them all some space and soon I passed the little boy as well.  As I moved closer to the older sister she cut in front of me, trying her best to run over the pine cones on the road.  We avoided a collision, both of us smiling at her determined attempts to hit the targets.  My kind of girl.  I pedalled by her and was surprised as I could hear her coming up behind me.

This section of road is not a long one and I was getting close to the right turn as she inched closer and closer.  I could see that the race was on.

Without saying a word, and with only a quick glance back, I knew I was in a race.  She bent over her handle bars and pumped her little legs faster and faster as she pulled up closer.  I smiled and pedalled a little quicker - as did she.  We were getting a ways ahead of her dad and brother so I slowed just enough to let her pull even.  She smiled at me, picked up speed and pulled ahead.  As soon as her back wheel passed my front end she pulled over to the side, waited for me to pass and turned her bike around heading back towards her dad and brother.  I gave her a wink and a nod as she rode away.  She looked at me with victory shining all over her face.

I don't even know this girl but I love her.  I love her competitive spirit.  I love that she needed to win. I love that I saw a glimpse of my younger self for just a moment on a back road in our wee town on a warm spring evening.

Where did 47 years go?

We met in the gym and never looked back.  We didn't know then how much time we would be spending in gyms in the coming years. We just knew we loved playing the game and it didn't take us long to figure out that we also loved each other.

When you choose your life partner at seventeen there is so much about life that you have no idea about.  You don't think about how you want to raise your children, how you want to do your finances and where and how you want to live.  You just know you love being around each other, that you can make each other laugh and that you are heading down the same path in life.  The laughter was really important, it has probably saved our relationship on more than one occasion.

He went off to university and I went off to work.  In spite of so much time apart we remained together and that is how we have stayed -together. After his first year of university, we married.  47 years ago today we became life partners.  Yes, life partners.  In spite of the ups and downs (and there have been plenty of both) we knew we were in it for forever. 

May 12, 1973

It seems we went from two to six to more in the wink of an eye.  When you choose your own life partner, make sure he has a sense of humour, a kind and gentle heart, a love of family and the dedication to stick by you through thick and thin.  I couldn't imagine having gone through this life without this wonderful man by side.  Here's to another 47 years of craziness!  Happy Anniversary, Bob!