Too Many Things!

When everything happens at once,

And you feel just like you're being punk'd,

Tip your head back,

Have a good laugh,

'Cause you know you could not make this up!

This is a picture of a picture that hung in my parents' room when I was growing up.  I have had it hanging in my house in a spot where I see it every day, and I find the caption "Life is just one damn thing after another" to be as true now as it was whenever this was printed, framed, and hung up in my parents' house.  I like the motion in the picture, with everyone running, the dog after the cat, the woman from the man in the foreground, and the man from the woman in the background.  It's a bit whimsical with the Victorian era clothing and the expressions on the people's faces.

These past few weeks have been filled with "one thing" after "one more thing" to the point that I wrote the poem that began this post.  Truly, sometimes you do just have to laugh because if your life was a movie or a book, nobody would believe all of those things could happen in such rapid succession.  I assure you that no one is hurt, and with some creative adjustments to schedules everyone was able to get where they needed to go. When you have 3 adults driving 3 different vehicles and they all need servicing in the same week, it just feels like you've got some bad luck going for you! I think we all have those times in our lives that we are dealing with multiple stressful events that just seem to keep coming at us and yet are unrelated to each other. The weird thing is that I think I was given a kind of warning about one of the recent events a few weeks ago but was hoping it was just happenstance when some papers fell out of a cabinet for no reason.  How odd that the papers involved things from the past that are similar in nature to the present!  I'm told that spirits are trying to speak to me, and I'm on the fence as to whether that might be true but those papers falling on me do get me leaning toward belief. Why else would documents from a years ago fender bender randomly fall on me?  It's a little unsettling to think about, but those papers had been on that shelf for years untouched then there they are landing right in front of me on the counter when I opened the cabinet. Spooky!

Any how it does seem that there are times when so many things happen in such rapid succession that you can barely catch your breath after one before the next comes along.  This leaves you with two choices: laugh or cry.  It can be hard to laugh, I know, but once you get some perspective you have to laugh at the timing of the universe.  As if it's saying, "oh, you looked bored, so here are some things to handle", and there you are buried in stress and trying to keep your footing.  Once you get through it all, you can sit back and laugh at how absurd it is that you can go months without much happening that's out of the ordinary then in the space of one or two weeks you've got almost more than you can deal with.

Two of our vehicles are fixed and the third one is getting there.  It's all working out, just as things usually do.

Summer Gloom & the Sunny Side

Even in the rain and gloom,

I love how still the flowers bloom,

They stored up sun from other days,

To continue sharing in their own way,

The hummingbirds still flit and sip,

The nectar there as around they flit,

Let us then be flower-like,

Presenting, still, our sunny side.

I know this is hard to do, keeping things positive when it feels like life is drenching you in rain, and all seems gloomy.  Maybe you feel doomed, like you just can't win no matter what you do.  I've been there, many times.  It's a place we all visit, I think; the trick is not moving in.  Just as eventually the rain will end and the sun come out again, so will whatever is bringing you down.  At some point, things will change for the better.  When you are feeling that way, try to connect with someone who is at a point where they are feeling positive and soak in all that positive energy.  It can help you feel less victimized by your situation and more empowered to push through it.  Rarely is there only one way to solve a problem or handle a situation. Sometimes we need help seeing that, and weighing our options.  We may already be doing the best thing for us in the situation but sometimes just knowing there is another way to get through it makes it seem, somehow, less dark and dreary.  If you can't present your sunny side at the moment, find someone who can present theirs for you to draw from, even if it is a favorite author who inspires you, or a webinar or video with a positive message.  It helps me when I am having a rainy day.

We have hydrangea surrounded by hosta in the front yard and they are beautiful this year!

As I sat on the front deck I watched a bee collecting pollen from the new guinea impatiens.

Book Review

Every summer I read as many books as possible. I've always done so, for as long as I can remember, summertime was reading time. Lying in the sun, or lying on my bed I'd read away the hot days.  It's still my preferred method for beating the heat. Misty of Chincoteague was one of my childhood favorites, then as a teenager I was all about those Harlequin Romance paperbacks. As an adult I'm more likely to read a mystery or thriller, Mary Higgins Clark, Dean Koontz, Janet Evanovich,and John Grisham are some of my go-to authors. I also try to include a biography or two in my summer reading list. I hope you have time for reading all year, but especially in the summer.

Are you looking for a good book to read this summer? My friend, Idelle, has published a book, True Mercy, and it's available on Amazon. Here is my review:

Review of True Mercy by Idelle Kursman

Reviewer: Sue Donald

In her debut novel, “True Mercy”, the author depicts with skill two unlikely heroes, Adam, a young man who has moderate Autism, and his recently widowed father, Bruce. In this fast paced novel Ms. Kursman tells the story of how Adam and Bruce rescue Marina, a young woman running from Russian sex traffickers, whom Adam finds shortly after her escape.  While they are helping her find her way back to her native country, Moldova, to be reunited with her family, she is helping them find their way through the loss of the wife and mother whom the father and son depended on for care and direction.

In his child-like way Adam longs for the mother who took care of him his whole life and looks to his new friend Marina for the mother’s love he misses.  Bruce is trying to hold everything together-the full time care of his child-like adult son, his job, and his own grief when Marina enters the picture.  Feeling this is a complication he does not need, and fearing for the safety of Adam, he tries not to get involved in her troubles.  Inevitably the goodness of his spirit wins out and the three find themselves dodging danger and dealing with the police and criminals; hurling them into an adventure none had ever dreamed of.

The complex and seemingly unrelated subjects of Autism and the sex trade are woven together in a believable and easily understood manner. The drama unfolds primarily in Morristown, a rural northwestern New Jersey town. With a quiet neighborhood, pizzeria, and the local hospital depicted authentically, you get a sense of how unusual the events portrayed would be in such a quiet, bucolic setting.  The twists and turns of this thriller will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next. You will root for Bruce and Adam to find their way through their grief and for Marina to be saved and reunited with her loving family in Moldova. Skillfully crafted characters and well set scenes make this a good read for a weekend afternoon.