There is light ahead, a purplish hue.
I wonder if it’s a good sign
for the year that is new.
Beyond the trees I see a few stars
Twinkling greetings with beams of light.
My ancestors from afar.
Will they bring us good fortune and peace
As they guide us through this dark night?
In time we shall see.
We shall see.
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
Each day of the week has its own style. Also its own memories of how those days were spent.
Sundays always stood out as different from other days throughout my life. The years of Sundays as a child were not the same as those as an adult, but did have similar feelings.
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| 📷 xuanduongvan87 on pixabay |
As a child, Sundays were about going to mass with mom and my sisters. I did the whole catechism thing. As years went by, instead of Sunday mornings, we went on Saturday evening, eventually as a teen I went by myself.
But Sunday afternoons were the best. Our uncle (mom’s brother) would visit for the day. We always looked forward to seeing him. He was good to us kids.
We never had a car as I was growing up. Our uncle would drive us around on Sundays. If the weather was good, we would go to a local park to play. It always felt so fun to ride around to see the town.
After an afternoon of fun, the best part was next: ice cream and soda pop! He would buy what we wanted, then we would feast at home. Yum! Yum!
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| 📷 JamesDeMers on pixabay |
On Sunday evenings after all the activity was done, I would start to feel quite sad, especially if it was during the school years. I always dreaded returning to school the next day. I wanted every day to be a Sunday.
In late Decembers of yore, our uncle would stick around just after dark so he could drive us around to see the Christmas decorations all over town! Wow! I still get emotional when I hear the song “Silver Bells” as it always reminds me of those evenings. The lights, the colors, all the decorations were so much more than we ever could afford. But I was grateful to see it. I was fascinated! That magical feeling sticks with me today when I see Christmas decorations - the awe and wonder of a child. I wish more people would give in to their inner child during the holiday season. Theresa M
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| 📷 Michelle_Raponi on pixabay |
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| AI by prompart on pixexid creative commons |
Merry Christmas and
Happy Whatever Holidays
you celebrate! 🎄 ☃️ 🎁 💝
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
As much as I like to write this blog, after five years I think it’s time to take a break. Long or short, I want to step back and maybe read again some of my previous posts. I don’t know what else to write about, although I really would like to work on some more fables.
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| 📷 by Capri23auto on pixabay |
Feel free to read any of these posts. At the right, there is a list of years, click on, then months, click on, then see each post from that month. Also on the right, under the years, is “Posts ABC List” another way to look up a title you might be interested in. Although I didn’t make it easy for you from there - you can’t click on the title from the ABC list. I couldn’t figure out how to set that up! I’ve tried to keep it all simple here, but you can at least see what month/year a specific title is listed under.
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| 📷 by ivabalk on pixabay |
I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog. It’s staying up for a few more years. It’s been a pleasure preparing this, writing, typing it up, searching for meaningful pictures to go with each post.
Blessings to all. Thank you. 🙏❤️ Theresa M
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| 📷 by louda2455 on pixabay |
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
What is it that I feel whenever I look at abandoned places? The old houses especially have a solemn effect on me.
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| 📷 pixabay |
Looking through cracked windows, roofs caving in, broken boards, all hold stories of lives once lived there. I didn’t know those people. I didn't live there.
But my spirit did. There is some kind of connection, a kind of understanding that life was once vibrant there. Whispers can even transport through their photographs. Hear them, along with the laughter of children, the birds singing, the tears weeping over losses.
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| 📷 Tama66 on pixabay |
Losses are universal. We yearn for the past, what was, what shall never be again, no matter how much we cry. Old abandoned houses seem to be stuck there, as time passes, slowly deteriorating the framework, dropping bits and pieces of memories. Is anyone left to remember?
There is a word - Hiraeth - (Welsh) meaning homesickness for a home you cannot return to, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.
Discover your hiraeth, acknowledge the lonesomeness, the loss. I believe it is a process everyone goes through, at various life stages. And at some point, you will be able to let go, move on, new home, new life, renewed hope. Occasionally you’ll get a glimpse of the broken places, and feel a pang. It’s okay. Grief will always be a part of you. It’s a reminder that you do live and you do love. May your home always keep you safe, creating new memories lasting lifetimes. Theresa M
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| my pic |
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| my pic |
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| my pic |
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
How do I describe those moments when I sense I know something is going to happen that is going to be both painful and good for me? Does everyone have these mini-awakenings?
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| 📷 by jplenio on pixabay |
Early recovery is such a struggle. One afternoon driving on a highway, listening to music, I take an exit. Stop at the light. A sense of “knowing” comes to me: “God wants you to be happy, joyous, and free.” I smile. It’s okay to be feeling good. I can give myself permission to be happy. Living with so much pain and difficulty doesn’t have to be constant. Search for the peace within. Enjoy life, even if it’s in bits and pieces.
On my way to work one day, in the distance I saw the emergency vet clinic. It’s been there for a long time, but at this moment I saw it, I thought: “Bon Ami (my cat) will be taken care of there.” I felt a punch to my gut, thinking of him getting ill, but I also felt the sense that he will be okay. Not long after this, he fell gravely ill and was treated at one emergency clinic, and then I took him to the one I saw that day, to be followed up until he healed. He did live six more months. His death was sudden. I immediately took him to the same follow-up clinic, where the vet pronounced him dead, likely due to an aneurysm. His spirit lives on over the rainbow. He is okay, at peace.
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| Bon Ami circa 1991 |
Unemployed, my own fault, as depression at times would overwhelm me, I’d quit a job. But I would have to look again for work to survive. One sunny afternoon I was turning a corner to park my car. I glimpsed the hospital up the street. “You’ll be there soon, working.” That moment I felt a sense of relief, “knowing” things were going to turn out alright. I had to go make resume copies and continue the footwork that would lead me there. Not long later, I was employed at that very hospital.
After writing thus far, I see these three incidents all involve me driving a car! What the heck is that about? But then, there were a couple of times I was walking along…….
I was working at a data entry company. On dinner break one summer evening, I took a walk along a riverside path. This felt wonderful! But it was getting dark and I had to turn around to go back to work. All around me were lightning bugs - fireflies - as I walked the path. They lit my way along the darkness that was trying to consume me. I felt such a delight “knowing” they were there to guide me. All the way back to work their tiny lights led the way. I felt safe. And grateful for God’s little gifts.
Suffering a deep depression after Bon Ami’s death, I returned to work after a leave of absence. It’s hard to describe the lethargy I felt. And I was working a night shift, which has always been difficult for me. But luckily I didn’t just sit there on the inpatient unit. When we had an admission, we went to another area to gather information, etc. That night as I walked a long hallway and through an alcove, I felt a breeze going through me. It was as if the Holy Spirit itself was guiding me along. I “knew” I would get through this pain. I “knew” I would be all right, that I would gather my strength again through God’s grace. Empowering.
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| 📷 by jplenio on pixabay |
Life happens to be challenging, but also rewarding.
Life with the Spirit gives us enlightenment, just enough to know that what we are going through will not overtake us, but will strengthen us, if we trust in the Lord and the direction He leads us in life. I know. Theresa M
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
You’ve stood there on the in-between
In every kind of seasonal scene
The snow steeped along your wooden boughs
The showers glistened, beloved by flowers.
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| 📷 my pic 2009 |
Your slats of wood bent outward in time
And even broke some places in line
The moss spread through their colours of green
You once were pretty to be seen.
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| 📷 my pic Merci 2022 |
Now the middle of the yards are bare
As they took down your sentry from where
You once stood there on the in-between
To keep the neighbors from making a scene.
Theresa M
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| 📷 my pic kittens 2009 |
The old neighboring fence is gone now. But there will soon be a replacement. It was there for years and oversaw a lot of stuff: birds, snow, flowers, trees, cats and kittens. The middle picture above is Merci when he was a visiting cat, a few months before I adopted him. The bottom pic is two neighbor kittens who used to play with their other siblings in my yard. Must have been a cat paradise in its day. Love and light-Theresa M
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
Once again I ponder the changes of a house. Not my house though. It’s the next-door house. Workers have been sawing, hammering, piling up old materials as they work to upgrade and improve the old two-story structure.
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| 📷 by 652234 on pixabay |
But I don’t like having all that noise, especially in the morning. That’s just the way it is for a while. I hope the people who move in will be quiet folks.
In the meantime, I do enjoy seeing the improvements. The contractor gave me a tour of what they’ve done so far: a bigger kitchen, new windows, and other rearrangements. They’re even going to tear down the fractured wooden fence (oh, there they go! I hear the sawing now!) and replace it.
Now I’m feeling like my house, or yard at least, will definitely need some upgrades. Of course, maybe I could convince the new owners to purchase mine and I can move somewhere nicer and closer to family. So this is not about “keeping up with the Joneses.” It’s about trying to move away from them altogether! Ha!
Alas, I probably won’t sell or move. I’ll just have to adjust to the changes around me and hope for the best. Looks aren’t everything. But having good, decent neighbors does make a difference, I hope I am one. Theresa M
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| 📷 by rusterche on pixabay |
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
Being a part of stardust is an amazing situation. How old does that really make me? Am I as “old as the hills?” Am I billions of light years old?
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| Supernova explosion NASA 1987 |
Think of all the interactions since the beginning of time - there is no way anyone can trace that type of ancestry! The heat and cold, the flames and waters, mingling, exploding, flying throughout infinite space. And parts of which landed on this old earth, only to further merge bits and pieces of these and those elements. What a miracle!
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| Crab Nebula - NASA JPL-CalTech |
Indeed. But for particular pathways, led by a power greater than ourselves, we keep forming into these beings. If only there was some element that helped us learn from past mistakes of humankind, wouldn’t we be able to evolve into wiser, kinder beings? Theresa M
"Are We Really Made of Stardust?" read at Natural History Museum:
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/are-we-really-made-of-stardust.html
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| Human body elements and stars - nhm.ac.uk |
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
Recently in the news there have been strange floating objects going across the U.S. and Canada. Initially the focus was on what was thought to be a Chinese balloon of sorts, possibly monitoring our nation. It took days but it was finally shot down on the East Coast.
moon beyond trees - my pic
About a week later two more of these balloons (one over Alaska, another over Canada) were discovered and taken out immediately. But there is uncertainty as to what they really were. Weather balloons? Spy craft? Who knows.
At least we got some laughs out of it, as people kept joking about UFOs. I preferred the Cat World Domination theory myself. Some said aliens would not want to bother with this planet (it is quite a mess here isn’t it?). Of course others were serious and thought it was really alien technology. It could have been China or Russia or someone trying to infiltrate and damage various systems here.
Well now more close watch is being held so I hope we don’t encounter more. But for a while didn’t anyone wish it were an alien takeover to give us a makeover? Sigh! Guess we have to keep on working for change ourselves. Theresa M
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
Mid-winter here I feel a bit down. Trying to write something for this blog, but I seem to be somewhat stumped. I do hope the clouds lift before long and bring in the sunshine. Till then, here's an old poem I wrote.
Dusty Rooms
Turning a forgotten corner
Along her memory of old time,
Faint traces of childhood toys,
a rocking horse still,
as shadows obscure
the lonely corners;
webs cover wonders
of long ago noons
in the dusty rooms…
Where once she held a doll beloved,
she saw it lay broken and bruised.
A mirror image of herself,
and there a toy box,
turned and torn apart,
scattered in places
hidden by traces
of gray-color doom,
covering dusty rooms…
No dolls to hold no bears to hug.
Windswept rains washed little lives away.
Summer days without the sun
kept shadows around
as she walks through time
she remembers now
all the weeping sounds
of those afternoons
in the dusty rooms.
Theresa M
©1996
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
This winter so far has been bizarre,
Frigid with ice and Christmas near,
Disrupting the plans for holiday cheer.
Gotta wait to see folks till next year.
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📷 Turkkinen on pixabay
Now January is unordinary
As temperatures rise by sixty,
Warm winds blowing in with storms on their way.
This is not a typical winter day.
📷 susan-lu4esm on pixabay
Don't know what to wear, I go out there.
Shiver my bones, what is my fate?
Guess that snowman is gonna have to wait
As my seasons are all out of date.
❄Theresa M❄
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
As I am writing this post, the hours are winding down for this day, this week, and this month. They are also winding down for this entire year 2022.
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| 📷 Kellepics on pixabay |
All at once so much time in itself is weighing down on me. Memories float about of the events - both good and bad - that happened this past year. Thoughts of things to change come about as some people talk of making a resolutions list. Should I make a list?
Why put so much pressure on myself to look on this particular day as to what I should strive to do next year? Wouldn’t it make more sense to make an assessment each day as I live life and encounter problems?
Why yes it would. I don’t have to make a new year’s resolutions list. Each day I deal with what is at hand. If scenarios pop up and start worrying me, I can list actual solutions to deal with things. Many times the answers have already presented themselves from my life experiences and often too from what others have taught me. 
📷 Free-photos on pixabay
It’s kind of like a self-inventory (12 step recovery). An ongoing blueprint of discovering what changes need to be made for one’s self. It is a really good tool to help me live in the solution and not in the problem, one day at a time.
Happy New Day! 🙂
🌟🙏 🎉💛 ⏰ Theresa M
Blessings to you and your loved ones each and every day of 2023. 🙏💝
Poet, blogger, artist, twitterer. Over 20 years work experience in behavioral health field. Pro - animal welfare, civil rights, 12-step program. Genealogy enthusiast. Also, tend to be a comedian. That's all for now, folks!
