Meme - Seven Random Things

My friend Val at the Stepping Stones of Truth has tagged me for this intriguing meme, and here we go.

(1) When younger, I wanted to own a working mill and came very close to actually doing it. I still have vivid dreams of mill wheels turning, of sitting by mill ponds stocked with trout and visiting quiet channels graced by herons on warm summer nights. The dream remains, and who knows? It may still come true. If it happens, I shall acquire a good cello and sit by down the water, playing Mozart for the trout and the herons and the ducks.

(2) I've always wanted to visit Iceland, have already been to Baffin Island and absolutely adored the untrammeled rocky wildness of that far northern place. The north calls to me in the voice of the sirens, and Iceland, a truly northern place, has more book shops per resident than any other nation on earth.

(3) My favorite color is ultra-violet, and one of these fine days, I shall tint my silvery hair that very same color to match my favorite old Doc Martens (if the Docs hold out for another year or two).

(4) I'm a cancer patient and am hanging in there with a combination of forbearance, obdurate self-sufficiency, the occasional temper tantrum and a mountain range of hope as high as the Himalayas. I sing and dance whenever I can, and when I can't sing and dance, I croak and totter around to the best of my ability. I also spend a lot of time peering into hedgerows and wandering around with a camera, no matter how I am feeling.

(5) The little blue house in the village does have a television set, but I can't remember the last time I turned it on.

(6) When younger, I assumed that I would be a wise entity by this ripe old age, but as I move further along this meandering journey, I am realizing that I don't know anything, not a single thing, and that makes me laugh. Becoming wise or enlightened is an undertaking for many lifetimes, and several more will probably have come and gone before I have learned anything at all, however small and insignificant. I shall be content in this lifetime, if I have managed to acquire even a small scrap of mindfulness and compassion.

(7) Today is my birthday, and I am beginning the day with a fine large mug of fair trade Java. I have already received a wonderful gift from Gaia - there is a whole flock of Bohemian waxwings cavorting in the crabapple tree out in my garden. It looks as though this is going to be a long cold winter.

In my turn, I am tagging:

Caroline's Crayons
Daring To Write
Endment
Goddess in a Teapot
Kate Smudges in Earth, Paint and Life
Magic in These Hills
Rapunzel's Castle