On Sunday morning, clocks in the little blue house in the village turned back an hour, and Daylight Saving Time waved goodbye until next year. This week also marked thirteen years of pottering about in cyberspace, thirteen years of logging on in the morning, posting an image or two (sometimes three), sometimes muttering along for a few paragraphs, once in a while spilling coffee on the keyboard. There are times when I can't believe I had the audacity to set this "book of days" up in the first place, let alone do the blogging thing faithfully for thirteen years in a row. There are other times when I look at stuff I posted here years ago and am absolutely appalled. Yuck.
These are my vägmärken (road marks), my morning or artist pages, and they will probably remain pretty much as they are in the coming year. There may be a bit of font and banner tinkering now and again, but that is as far as it goes. I don't foresee any significant changes to this place, and I expect life will simply go on as it has been doing so far.
We three will meander along at our own pace, watching morning fogs enfold the eastern Ontario highlands and oak leaves rain like honey in the autumn woods, feasting our eyes on skies alight with winter stars, on the sun going down like a ball of fire over Dalhousie Lake at the trailing edge of the year.
Two cherished traveling companions, Penny and Dolores, passed beyond the fields we know last year, and so did my sweet Spencer. Now it is Beau who wanders along with us, and our little guy is a treasure. Big life stuff (the ongoing health issues) notwithstanding, it's grand to be here and all wrapped up in what we call simply, "the Great Round". Some days are easier than others, but every morning, the small adventures of our journeying will continue to make their way here and get spilled out on the computer screen with a bad photo and a whole rucksack of wonder. The incandescent Mary Oliver still says it best:
The years to come – this is a promise –
will grant you ample time
to try the difficult steps in the empire of thought
where you seek for the shining proofs you think you must have.
But nothing you ever understand will be sweeter, or more binding,
than this deep affinity between your eyes and the world.
(excerpt from Terns)
In another poem titled It Was Early, she wrote that sometimes one needs only to stand wherever she is to be blessed, and that is something I try to remember as I lurch about. Thank you for your kind thoughts and healing energies, your comments and cards and letters, for journeying along with me this year. You are treasured. Alas, my fingers are still not working very well, but if they were, I would write each and every one of you.
8 comments:
Congratulations on 13. That says a lot about how you've been sharing beauty and inspiration daily for so long. A BIG thank you. My mornings have to have a bit of your blog or I feel lost.
THANK YOU! And Congratulations!
Congratulations on 13 wonderful years. Many, if not all, of those 13 years I've started everyday with your words and photos and unique vision of the world, and I'm grateful for every one of them and for you. Thank you Cate. I wish you well. :)
Amazing this connection to strangers across the electric atmosphere, is it not? You touch so many and I am sure you are touched as well. This is a good electric energy, is it not?
Thank you for your ongoing presence here all these years. I too love reading your posts and seeing your lovely photos every morning, and sharing in your journey, meandering through your beloved woods for about 9 of those 13 :) Your postings are an encouragement to many to keep meandering, to keep seeing life anew at every turn, no matter what the obstacles... Thank you
There you go again...blessing this day with wonder and words...thank you.
Hi Cate
"the Great Round" is a lovely phrase. Mary Oliver is a poet, not necessarily flashy, for whom I feel a real kinship. She is a keen observer of both nature and eternity, much like yourself. I cannot remember how many of the 13 years I have followed but I have enjoyed all of posts I have found here.
As always, thanks.
Guy
Wow! I bow to your faithful tenacity!! Not easy, even in easy circumstances, which I know it has not always been.
May all the magicks of 13 bless you, dearest one. I am so grateful to you for all the lore, beauty, wisdom, and joy that you have so generously shared here.
Frankly, I think I would be lost without these 13 years of your potterings.
Thank you with all my heart. Wishing you brilliant days ahead.
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