Too Long In Exile…?

Far be it for me to offer socio-political commentary or lay blanket judgments over any group as a whole–hell, I don’t even read or watch the news.

All that I know is my personal experience and observation on my own little patch of ground. And this is enough to manage on any given day.

One thing I notice is how I miss dressing up and going out on the weekends. How I realize it helped to define our relationship in my mind and how we presented ourselves to the world as a couple. And weren’t we something.

Exploring the world outside our nest–hand in hand. The travel, the food, the art, the nature, the shopping…all of it. I miss it. But in an appreciative way. Not in a desperate way.

Our approach to the situation is wait and see. We don’t attempt to power through and act as if the world is still the same–but now it’s just like one of those old Gap commercials: “Everyone in Masks!”

We accept. We adapt. Instead of looking outward for entertainment, we find ways to make home, each other and ourselves more comfortable. Because whatever is going on in the world we are here in our own skins and I know I want to be here–alive and healthy for as long as I can.

Nurturance. Good food, good music, comfortable clothes and surroundings.

Enjoying nature from my own back yard…over days upon days of early morning sunrises– I learn the distinctive call of the blue jay when he is hungry, the unmistakable swoop of a woodpecker gliding in for breakfast at the feeder.

Take it all away—all the stuff…and what is left? So much more than I ever took the time to notice before.

I turned to Steve the other day, “Can you remember the last time we had an argument?”

“Nope.” he says.

“Me neither.”

“A little gratitude goes a long way…” he says.