Sunday, March 29, 2009

Bookends -- jcarolek

I've known them for several years now. They go together -- white haired, slim build, neatly dressed, and always cheerful. Their smiles and greetings routinely catch me off guard, jolting me into a happy mood and smiling in return.

As I watched them today, he leaning in to tell her something, she laughing in that genuine "you tickle my funny bone," laugh and patting his shoulder in gentle admonition of his humorous communication, it occurred to me I was looking at a

Monday, March 16, 2009

Comfortable Gray Rainy Days -- jcarolek

All weekend it was raining. The skies were gray and the temperatures too cold to enjoy the outdoors anyway. I was recuperating from surgery and thinking about how, in another time, I would have felt trapped, claustrophobic. And yet, this weekend I did not. We spent our time lazing around, eating delicious soup and bread, and just being comfortable.

Today was another work day, but since I am able to work from the house, it was more of the same...gray and chilly outdoors, warm and comfortable

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Belated Birthday Greetings -- jcarolek

Yesterday we took a drive. The cold weather had finally surrendered to the promise of spring and exploration seemed inviting once again. I'd located some local properties that looked charming but forgotten and we set out to explore.

Our first stop was an old house, advertised as "needs TLC," which we both agreed was a gross understatement of reality. The house was built in 1890 and probably once had significant land associated with it. Today it stands on a little over an acre and the overgrowth is slowly reclaiming the structure, growing up through the cement steps at the back door and over the front porch entry. We parked the car, grabbed the camera, and set about the exploration.

Though the back door was unlocked,

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

A storyteller's impact -- jcarolek

Paul Harvey passed away this past week. When I heard the news, I was immediately taken back more than twenty years. I used to catch Paul Harvey's "the rest of the story" during my lunch break, or on my drive home from work. Most of the time I found these little nuggets interesting, made more so by his delivery, to be sure, but part of it was truly that he told stories about people and things about which I simply did not know... he educated, in just a short couple of minutes storytelling time.

The story which had the greatest impact on me was one he told about a young aspiring actress, a teenager, a dancer, a talented youngster who was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis. She was, in fact, bedridden with her affliction. She was so crippled she was unable to walk for a year. And she agreed to subject herself to an experimental treatment,