morning has broken

.......morning surrounds us with sweet light.......a soft promise of a new day.

bacon quietly sizzles in the pan.  green eyed Annie and little brother cat Rio are fed and sassy.  lying on the blue rug beneath my feet.......they stretch, bat paws.....stare out at the universe.....ponder this labor day as do i.

eggs ready to poach in the microwave.  fresh orange slices cut.  the organizer is at peace.  will i have fresh flour tortillas or fiber infused wheat toast with grape jam?  ahhh, the decisions that are non stressful are a joy to make.

so quiet.  frig humming and that bacon is crackling and spitting and still sizzling.  the smell is goooooooooooood. 

i donned a long cream skirt.....a white top with scallopped edges, it has cut outs at the edge.......intricate, pretty.....barefeet wonder where the slippers are.

time to check the bacon. one moment please.......

(please allow me to mention that this bacon is Kroger Brand, low sodium bacon.  it is the only bacon that doesn't give me pain, edema, migraines or achy joints/muscles.  therefore a winner winner chicken dinner!)

yes, i love bacon......and beef and all things that promise meat.  i don't know if it is simply how i am programmed or if it is becauses of my small town iowa upbringing.....where meat, potatoes and fresh garden veggies are KING!)

but really who cares........about such prattle?  not the kitties to be sure.  what will this day bring?  will i venture out?   will i lie quietly in my room and nap......watch some tv?

will i read awhile.......will i dream of greater tomorrows? 

it promises to be another hot hot day in the south........it seems sad that a day set aside to honor the blue collar workers of this nation are for the most part all hard at work today.......why?  so sad really........our company honored this day and we were blessed to enjoy a long holiday week end.  no clue what sara and her mate are up to........don't know if this is a work day for sam.....but probably.  his business, the selling of high end pianos is typically having a BIG GALA SALE...  i miss hearing from......being with.....seeing them.  why didn't i have a dozen babies when i had the chance?   seriously, why didn't I?

i think it would be grand to be surrounded with family.  to be remembered, honored, included.......turned to for wisdom and memories and love.  to read stories, to share the memories of our family down through the ages.  my children seem to lack sentimentality......yes, of course they have some, but not like me. 

the other day at a garage sale i parked in front of a home......noticed an elderly woman on a walker come to the door and peer out. 

...letting the bacon rest....slipped two slices of bread in the toaster, got the butter and smuckers concord grape jam out......nummy.

so where were we?  oh yeah, the elderly woman........i thought about how often i wish for company......and wondered if she had hope of a visit, or if she felt worried or even threatened by my big old silver buick sitting on the edge of her yard at the roadside.  so i got out and waved.....stopped still and inquired if i might park there while i attended the yard sale next door.  old fashioned manners instilled in me by parents and their parents and their parents. 

she nodded and waved......i saw a faint smile.  and felt better for it.  the yard sale was primarily clothing.  we're talking a ton of cotton......for folks of all sizes.  wee tiny socks all of two inches long to gunboat sized shoes and socks for NBA player sized feet.  they used blankets on the concrete driveway.......and had stacks and stacks of jeans, tops, sweaters, shorts........dresses, you name it they had it.  there were a surprising number of people taking the time to go through the stacks and find things.  my past experience has shown me that people won't typically take that time......they will just move on.  but maybe in this little country town it's a great way to get great clothes?  perhaps, perhaps, perhaps......

i got a tiny little blue teddy bear.....soft and dear and a talking reese's pieces lion for maria.  oh and a shadow box for fifty cents.  i've always wanted to enshrine a pair of baby pink baby doe shoes i got for sara when she was a wee tiny thing.  they were a big splurge for my beautiful baby daughter back then and as a shoe kind of girl i want to remember tham.......always.  and hope that someday they might grace a nursery for a certain daughter and her mate.  hope is the difference between joy in a day and desserted dreams.  hold onto your hopes.

the lion says:

peanut butter -- chocolate-- whew

peanut butter-- chocolate -- mmm

peanut butter cup peanut butter cup

peanut butter cup i eat it up

now reese's i want them

reeses want one now.....

(it's a child's voice done in rap pentameter) kooky but for a quarter oh why not?

on the way back to the car i mourned my own lack of courage.....i wanted to walk up to the elderly woman now sitting on her front porch taking in the comings and  goings of those at the yard sale.........i wanted to say hello, chat about the day.....just sit.  but i felt that it might be odd.........or wrong somehow.  and yet my heart grieves that i didn't take the initiative and do this one small thing.  the worst that could have happened is that she might say no.....i'm not comfortable with you here.......or she coulda whipped out a sawed off granny style shotgun and blown me away.  seems unlikely but i like to think of her as a tough on the outside sweet on the inside strong southern woman.  maybe the gun is overkill......lol, ya think.

but before i got in my car i bent down and picked up a shiny piece of stone.  brought it home, put it next to the tiny blue bear .....sitting on a flat topped clear kitchen cannister......and i have been praying for this elderly stranger every day since.  she is part of my prayer promise daily. 

small things we do, think about......ponder. 

i am hungry, time to poach the eggs.  so much simpler than when my momma made them for us.  she had a small round metal pan with a lid, inside was a circular metal piece that held three triangular shaped metal egg holders.  one put water in the bottom of the pan, then added the eggs when the water was at a boil.........we only had one egg poacher and many children so she usually had two more pans on the stove for those wanting fried eggs (from sunny side up to over hard) and another pan for the fans of scrambled eggs.......our mom was a short order cook in the mornings. 

i simply break the eggs into the microwave container, separate compartments for each egg, wave micro rays at them for one minute and voila.....poached eggs, perfect every time.  perfect and uber quick.  i like them smashed with a tab of butter and lots of fresh ground pepper on top.  my daughter likes to cut them up daintily into small bites....but me?  an egg smasher from way back......funny all the tiny little traits and habits that make each one of us US.......the people that we are.

my home is pretty tidy......so not a lot to do in that direction.  not in need of supplies, food or anything......have things i could do in the garage....but thinking fall will come soon enough and so it can wait.  not too crazy about taking on big chores as that brings on big pain issues and lots of down time to recuperate.

we always have to weigh it all out, what can we do, should we do.........i have some thawed chicken breasts that i need to marinate.  i can broil them or grill them later.....make a baked potato, enjoy some of that fresh sweet corn i prepped the other day.  i have treats on a stick if i want a sweet later.......a light ice cream with strawberries infused in teh creamy deliciousness.........lol, i AM HUNGRY!

and yet i am shrinking......i had to make some adjustments to my upper body girl apparatus the other day, i can put in on the tightest setting now in the back and had to raise the adjustable straps........won't be long before i have to go shopping for those things again.......what are they called again?  there was a broadway show and the singer....was it bernadette peters or bette midler or just who.......that sang about our "over the boulder shoulder holders"..........can't remember the deets (details) but it still makes me smile .........i don't mind shrinking here and there and there and here.  it's fine by me. 

so hello, hugs........high five, and a standing ovation at the end of this journal.  for when i stand i am going to applaud you for two minutes.  two minutes i promise.  i am going to clap and clap and clap for all you do in care of yourself, others........for all it takes to do these things. for the level of difficulty life brings.......we know the challenges can be so tough........but WE ARE WORTH IT

so get ready for the applause.......cause today you are being spotlighted......put on center stage......honored, remembered, thanked and celebrated!

love ya sooooo much!  sparrow