The Lost and Found

I almost feel guilty in saying this but, when the temperatures dipped down below 0 degrees this January I was blessed to be far, far away from it all.  My husband and I along with another couple booked a trip  to an exotic island.  Surrounded by palm trees and the clear, blue ocean  I immersed myself, letting the salty waters of life bob me around like a little, lost duck.  My skin went into shock and broke out into full blown body rash. Despite my skins unwillingness to acclimate,  we made the most out of every day, going from one end of the island and back again.  Beach combing and uncovering rocks this would be our get-away to see what we could find. 

One day we decided to go visit the island's light house,  off in the distance we could see it standing like a  beacon on the hill.  As we got closer the tower  grew larger then finally upon arrival it loomed over us like a friendly giant.  I stepped up to the massive shaft and there on it's door was a rusty corroded lock that surely hadn't been opened in a long, long time. I wondered who kept the keys to this light house . Up on the hill  now with all the other tourist of the world snapping photos and running around we converged for a small random moment- or was it?  The wind kicked up dust and blew my coral colored skirt up and around. I struggled to adjust to the unruliness of my situation. While looking down to keep the wind out of my eyes, there on the ground reflecting brightly, against the grit of the earth, lay a shiny silver heart pendant.  Elated I picked it up and let it rest in the palm of my hand.  I looked around to see if any one was looking for it.  I thought how sad for someone to have lost their heart at this light house, probably another tourist, who will most likely never be back.  Maybe a young girl, tan and happy had received it from an admirer.  I will never know. 

What I do know is what it feels like to have lost something.  There's a void there and for me it's hard to move on.  I've lost my heart to someone and had the overwhelming feeling of being lost myself.  Once I lost  two silver bangle bracelets while taking a walk in a park on a cold day. I think I had taken my gloves off and they slipped off onto the ground and lay there in the woods upon the soft, leafy path .  When I found out I had lost them it was too late to go back.  I found comfort in knowing that maybe some other person  would find them and have that same elated feeling of having found something special, personal and shiny.  Once, years ago I was going to have lunch at  a club with a friend.  While walking up to the entrance  I looked down on the asphalt  and to my surprise on the ground lay not one but two heavily encrusted diamond and emerald rings.  I picked them up and was astonished at what I had just found.  My friend was trying to convince me that I should keep them, that they were worth a lot of money.  I could tell by the settings that they were older and probably belonged to an older women.  When I went into the club I mentioned to the help there that if anyone called about having lost two diamond rings, to give them my number.  The person I talked to suggested I give him the rings and he would take care of it.  I declined and waited at home to see if I would get a call.  Sure enough in a day or so an older women called and exclaimed she had put the rings in a skirt pocket that had a hole in it.  She described the rings and then told me if I returned them she would reward me.  I returned them to her that day and received something like 25.00 as a reward.  The real reward was seeing how happy she was to be reunited with the rings she rightfully owned.

As for the heart pendant I confess I took it home and made a necklace out of it.  Strung with turquoise beads and pearls accented with little silver  flowers.  At the clasp on the end of a chain there is a tiny butterfly, it's new  life still lives on.  It's hard to lose things but in turn it's also really fun to find things, such is life.  As for losing your real heart, hopefully you never really lose it. The heart is an amazing thing, like a plant it wilts and sinks to despair, but with good love out of the cold cold ground it comes up to bloom for you again.  

Happy Things

Typically this is the time of year I get the blues.  When the days are short and colorless.  The darkness creeps into my soul - cold and foreboding.  There's so much to do but unfortunately the motivation is just not there.  Dry chapped hands  long for spring, to touch and smell the dirt again. Out in the yard is where I want to be hearing the birds sing their happy songs sounds good to me.

Never fear I have chosen to fill my heart, my stomach, my eyes, my camera, my lap and pockets with shiny happy things today and this is what I have to show and tell.

Here's a place to stop and wonder ..... where whimsy wins if you let it in.

A cat named Diego will be your friend.

He'll tickle you with his whiskers and most likely make you grin!

With a little bit of dusting off, old things seem new again.

DooDas! will make you smile.

Don't forget the Portobello mushrooms  down the isle.

Now I am in the mood to spice things up!

 How boring our lives would be with out the many flavors that season our world with diversity.

All of this fun and mischief makes for a good nap during  the  dead of winter,  on a colorful Saturday in Kansas City.





All of these pictures except the last one were taken today out and about and at home.  The DooDa! is handmade by Leah S. DeCapio and was given to me for an art exchange.  I love it ~ Thank you!

Paths

It has snowed here a lot  lately,  more than I can remember in a long time.  As I make my way around town running errands,  trudging through the ice and the muck I've looked down at the various foot prints left  in the snow. It got me to thinking about paths.

Life really is about carving out your own path and who you choose to go with you along the way. It's about discovering and making decisions, being aware of the journey.  It's about the people you  hang out with and if they really have your best interest in mind. As you grow you learn to take charge instead of letting your surroundings take charge of you. It's about planning, looking ahead and forging through. Sometimes it's about learning from your mistakes and looking back behind you at the suffering and pain, stepping up to the plate of honesty and being accountable for your own actions.  What can you gain from this and where will it take you, these paths that you have chosen to take?

Make the best of what you got, attitude is everything.  Wandering is part of the learning process but as they say "don't wander too far off the beaten path" it's lonely out there and there's a lot of people  who care about you and hurt when you hurt and want you close to their hearts .

As long as you live, there will always be a great big scary world out there waiting for you to march triumphantly into it's canyons or teeter precariously on it's edges.  It's all up to you and your better judgement.

 As you wander and ponder imagine this the path that you have carved out for yourself and may it embrace you lovingly and fill your heart with satisfaction.  May you walk along your path purposely with tenacious grace discovering the wonder of all things large and small.  Keep yourself grounded, secure and surrounded by people who really care about you.  If you should fall, we all fall ~pick yourself up and take that new path.