Saturday, August 28, 2010

Awesome Things Volume XXIX

My niece's wedding last Saturday. It was a big, lavish, classy affair. We haven't had a family wedding in a while. There were four generations of my family present. I come from a large family and my extended family is huge. It was good to see all my elderly aunts and uncles. My mother is one of nine children and six of them are still alive. There are also many cousins, other nieces, nephews, in-laws and outlaws, not to mention my own brothers and sisters. It was a wonderful celebration.

A quiet evening at home. At some point in their lives most people lose their desire to always be doing something and to be "out there". Maybe it's my age showing but at this stage of my life I would rather be home than anywhere else. At the end of the workday I love it when I finally cross the threshold of my home. It is always a welcome sight. In the evening and on weekends I can usually do anything I want. It's all about relaxation and pursuing whatever interests me. It can be reading a book, watering the flowers, listening to my favorite music, watching a movie, or emailing a friend. It can also be about doing nothing but looking out the window. As one of my favorite Zen sayings goes, "It is better to do nothing than to be busy doing nothing". If you don't appreciate home yet, you will someday.

Noticing things. The Color Purple is the title of a book by Alice Walker that was also made into a movie starring Whoopie Goldberg and Ophah Winfrey. My favorite line from the book goes "I think it pisses God off when you don't notice the color purple". We are often overwhelmed with the challenges and troubles of life. All of us struggle with life and some struggle more than others because life isn't fair. Still, however, in the midst of all our troubles, beauty exists. We need to notice things like a morning sunrise, a cool breeze, a child's smile, a friend's laughter, birdsong, and all the other wonderful things that fill our lives. When was the last time you noticed the color purple?

Whenever my granddaughter spends the night she usually wakes me up at the crack of dawn and says, "Pa Paw, it's time to go make your coffee". This past Sunday she woke me up and said, "Pa Paw, we'll make your coffee later". Then she rolled over and went back to sleep. First Grade must be tough.

The weather. The weather has been beautiful this week. If this was a typical week I would actually like summer. This morning it was quite cool walking in from the parking garage. We are also experiencing a full moon that lit the sky as I walked out in the early morning darkness to get my morning newspaper. I am hoping we have gotten past the brutally hot weather we have been experiencing most of the summer and that the current weather will take us into autumn.

Family. Yesterday my sister sent me a birthday list for our family. I counted 35 people from my 80 year old mother to the newest great-grandchild. This list includes my mother, brothers and sisters, spouses, children/grandchildren, and great grandchildren. I could not help but notice that the only person on the list older than me was my mother! Since my Dad passed away I guess I am now the Patriarch.

It's Friday! Thank you, God! It's also another beautiful morning and the cool weather feels great. I know we will have more hot days but as far as I am concerned next week is the end of summer. Can you believe it is almost September?

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