Five Minutes of Breathe

Linking with Five Minute Friday today. Here's the drill-write for five minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word. Link back to Five Minute Friday and invite others to join in too. Consider yourselves invited. Finally, be generous and leave an encouraging comment for the person who linked up before you. Here we go-

Today's prompt-Breathe

I haven't written much of substance on my blog lately, mostly because we've been going at mach speed round here since November, but also because everybody is so dang cranky all the time about all the things. Have mercy it is ex.haus.ting. Does anybody have the patience or stamina or time in their day for all the endless whining and complaining and judgy judgmental judgment we're living with right now?

Breathe. 

The online world that once upon a time connected us in so many fun and positive ways feels downright ugly. The real world feels that way too and it breaks my heart a little. A lot if I'm being honest. I don't want to dip so much as my pinky toe into the sea of nastiness that's out there right now and I honestly don't know how to navigate social media anymore. If the Internet were my child I would send her to her room.

Breathe. 

I was talking with friends recently (in person and face to face which is how ideas are best shared), and we all agreed you can't go to even the simplest of social gatherings anymore without considering what you're walking in to. Will anyone be there who doesn't demand you explain and defend your position on a whole laundry list of sizzling hot topics that you'd rather not get into with casual acquaintances? Can't we just talk about what's in the delicious chicken salad or some other equally inoffensive subject matter?

Breathe. 

I don't want my blog to be a place of controversy and I work hard to keep it a welcoming little corner of the Internet. It's just that anymore it's hard to know what in the world is going to set people off. And by set people off I mean what is going to cause someone to insult my intelligence, my thinking, my education, my part of the country, my belief system and more.

Recently I replied to a comment on Twitter and a woman who doesn't know me, who knows nothing about me, called me a liar. She also identified herself in her profile as a 'Christ follower'. Okay. Somehow that didn't feel very Christ-like to me. I let it go with a polite 'we disagree', because she doesn't know me and I don't know her and we're not going to know one another communicating 140 characters at a time.

Sometimes it's hard to breathe.

I think our parents generation got it right in their efforts not to bring politics into polite conversation. And Facebook? Facebook is just a mess, and because in real life I do have people I love and who are dear to me on all ends of the political spectrum, well it's a mess. It's not a place I want to be anymore.

I want to extend birthday wishes, learn about your travels, see your babies and your grandchildren, find out about great places to dine or hike or vacation, discover new music, hear about random acts of kindness encountered throughout your day, but that's such a small part of my news feed now it's almost not worth checking in.

So how do we blog when the air is thick with smoke and opinion? When voices thunder in ways that make you want to pull the covers over you head? How do we breathe?

For me I go back to what is true. I spend less time reading Internet words and more time reading God's word. I pray for our nation and her leaders and a world gone mad, and when I want to make a point, let my feelings be known, fire off a response to an unkind word or misstatement of fact, I take a step back and I breathe.

I think our natural desire to be right, to be heard, to make our opinion known says go-hit send-now-immediately.

I'm learning to fight my natural instinct.

I'm learning to let my words sit on the page overnight and see if they look and feel the same in the bright light of a new day. I ask myself does this need to be said and most importantly, do I need to be the one to say it? We all think we need to be the one to say 'it' but really do we? Does everything need to be said?

My girls called yesterday. We talked about grandbabies, pregnancy, smocked rompers, car troubles and sick puppies that strain our nerves and our bank accounts, the triumphs and challenges facing a kindergarten teacher, and how God knows about all the things. All of them. Every last bit of our everything. He is the air I breathe.

When I remember that breathing is easy.

So Long January, Hello Hodgepodge

Here we are at the beginning of a brand new month, and with it comes a brand new edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. So glad you're starting your February here! If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post. And be a good neighbor by leaving a comment for the blogger linking before you. Here we go-

1. Can you believe it's the end of January? What was the best day of January 2017 for you, and why?

We had a busy January so I'm looking forward to a little less on the calendar this next month. Best day? That's easy...January 4th. Nothing like stepping into the waiting arms of your grown up daughter on the other side of the country to make it so.   

2. What sounds make up the background noise in your life?

To be honest I love a super quiet house. The world is noisy and our lives are busy so I enjoy a quiet home. We do play a lot of music here, but if you dropped in on me on an ordinary Tuesday morning you'd find a quiet house. I almost never turn on the TV during the day. 

I love to hear the bass boats out early in the morning. The splash of a fish leaping out of the water. We have a lot of birds in our yard too, and I enjoy listening to their songs. Nature is my favorite background sound. 

3. I read on the Power of Positivity website a list of ten things to drop from your life right now. They are-

anger outbursts, people who put you down, regret, negative self talk, being a people pleaser, the notion you need to be perfect, the past (but keep the lessons learned!), gossip and judgment, comparing yourself to others, and the word hate (focus on what you love instead)

Which thing on the list do you most need to drop? Are you trying or will you try?

Gossip and judgment. Spending less and less time on Facebook helps. It's just a horrible place right now and while that sounds like a judgment I bet most people agree. When hubs and I were stuck recently, sitting for a day in the Seattle airport,  a gentleman struck up a conversation with me that has stayed on my heart and mind. 

He looked like an average Joe, had a good job, education, was in Seattle to visit friends, etc. but as we talked he began sharing with me how he'd left his wife four months prior and it wasn't turning out the way he thought it would be, how he was feeling so lost, and how his two teenage daughters were struggling with it all. He just kind of poured out his heart, and our time together reminded me that everyone has something going on 'behind the scenes' and to just be a little more gentle with the people who cross my path. 

4. What is sacred to you?

I've seen this word defined in a couple of ways, one relating to spirituality and the other used to describe something very precious to you. I always associate it with the spiritual and also think it applies to something I couldn't or wouldn't want to be without. God's word is sacred to me. My faith also feels sacred. It's a very personal thing and something that impacts every area of my life. It's what carries me through hard times, and helps me navigate the ordinary days too. I treasure it, rely on it, and would feel lost and alone without it. 

5. January is National Oatmeal month. Are you a fan, and if so how do you like it?

I do like oatmeal and in fact made myself a bowl for breakfast this morning. I have it at least a couple mornings a week and my favorite is cooked on the stovetop as opposed to instant packets. I love it with a little sliced banana, a few dried cherries, and a splash of cold milk. I don't like warm milk on my oatmeal. 

6. What feelings does twilight stir up in you?

Sometimes I feel a bit wistful when twilight settles in. It's not sadness per se, but there's a longing for something at that time of day I can't quite define. It's much more noticeable in winter months when we have shorter daylight hours, but I feel it in the summer months too. There's something about twilight that makes me think of childhood, my own and also my girls. 

7. Something you're looking forward to next month (February)?

A free weekend? We've been away most of January so I'm pretty happy to think we're sticking closer to home for most of February. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Super fun weekend with girls I've known almost forty years. Forty years? That can't be right can it? 

Apparently it can and it is. We were all sorority sisters way back when and whenever we're together we pick right back up where we left off. 

Hubs acted as photographer/cabana boy/D.J. so we included him in our selfie. He's known them all nearly forty years too so he's used to us. More or less -ha! 




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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 295

Here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to share answers with the universe. See you there!

1. Can you believe it's the end of January? What was the best day of January 2017 for you, and why?

2. What sounds make up the background noise in your life?

3. I read on the Power of Positivity website a list of ten things to drop from your life right now. They are-

anger outbursts, people who put you down, regret, negative self talk, being a people pleaser, the notion you need to be perfect, the past (but keep the lessons learned!), gossip and judgment, comparing yourself to others, and the word hate (focus on what you love instead)

Which thing on the list do you most need to drop? Are you trying or will you try?

4. What is sacred to you?

5. January is National Oatmeal month. Are you a fan, and if so how do you like it?

6. What feelings does twilight stir up in you?

7. Something you're looking forward to next month?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Antigua

I started to recap the craziness that was my January, but it was almost too ridiculous for words so how 'bout we go back to the islands instead?

We spent a few days with a handful of hubs colleagues on the island of Antigua, and it was fabulous. FABULOUS! I love the Caribbean, but this was my first trip to this particular island and I loved it. We stayed in a smaller resort that was super chill and crazy beautiful.

I've always wanted to stay in my own little beach cottage with doors opening up to views of the sea, and ours even had mosquito netting over the bed if you wanted to leave those doors open all night long.

We like air conditioning and also there were some critters larger than a mosquito roaming around the island, and since I wasn't too keen on uninvited nighttime guests we slept with the doors closed. Think mongoose, which apparently eat snakes so no snakes, but still...mongoose. Mongeese? Mongooses? Mongi? Whatever they look a little like a meerkat and are not something I welcomed in my little pink house.

Our little cottage was perfect. As I mentioned it was PINK and we faced Montserrat, which is an active volcano in the Caribbean about 34 miles from our island. Actually Montserrat was smoking, but I just swam in the sea and read my books and sipped a coconut crush without giving that volcano too much thought.

One couple in our group were out and about on excursions around the island nearly every day, but the rest of us designed our own daily excursions.

Our excursions consisted of a leisurely breakfast in the on-site outdoor restaurant, then a short stroll to the beach where we set up in comfy chairs for the duration of the morning.

Then it was back to the restaurant for lunch because you know time flies and all that.

After lunch we relocated to the infinity pool, also beside the sea, and there we remained until the sun set spectacularly before our eyes at about 6 PM every night.

Once the sun dropped we'd all get showered and changed for dinner and meet back at the restaurant. As an aside, the food was delicious. Sometimes the food at an all-inclusive can feel a bit institutional, but this was wonderful and I think being a smaller resort helped.

After dinner we'd meander under the stars back to our own cozy cottages, climb in under the mosquito netting, and sleep like babies until it was time to get up and do it all again the next day. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. It's my favorite thing.

The weather was perfection, bright sun all day every day, but only about 79 or 80 and with a soft breeze blowing that made it just about the nicest setting we could have asked for. We did rent jetskis one morning and even though I'm pretty sure the last time I was on a jetski with hubs I said I'd never get on the back of another jetski with him I did get on the back of another jetski with him.

The other guys driving all shared the same adrenaline so we agreed we'd take a fast ride and then they could drop us on the beach and have the last few minutes to do all the dipping and spinning and nonsense they wanted. We went out around the island a bit and it was a lot of fun to see the landscape, beach homes, and some truly gorgeous boats.

I'd only met one other person in our group prior to the trip, but we all just clicked and had a marvelous time together. I'm not posting any up close people pics here because not everybody wants to be on a blog in their swim suit, moi included.

It was a magical little getaway and hubs and I have decided we need an island holiday every January. Or February?

Or maybe both?

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A Sandsational Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge. So glad you've joined us this week. For those of you who are new, answer the questions on your own blog, then add your link at the end of my post. Before you run off, leave a comment for the blogger before you because comments make the world go round.

1."The cure for anything is salt water-tears, sweat, or the sea." (Isak Dinesan) Would you agree? Of the three, which has 'cured' you most recently?

Agreed. I cry easily and there have been many times a good cry has made me feel better. It's a release of pent up emotion and I have a tendency towards penting up, so crying can be a good thing. 

If I'm feeling angry about some little something then a good long walk or swim definitely helps take the edge off. I'm not sure if it's the sweating or the thinking I do while sweating, but either way exercise helps.  

And the sea. Well of course. Is anyone going to tell me they don't feel better about life while sitting beside the sea? Of the three, most recently the sea has cured what ailed me. 

2. What's something you can't eat without salt? Do you normally salt your food a lot, a little, or not at all?

I guess there's nothing I can't eat without salt, but there are definitely two or three foods I think need salt. Mashed potatoes for sure, and a plate of home grown sliced tomatoes are both much improved with a little salt.  

I don't add salt to my food, and we don't keep a salt shaker on the table. I salt less and less as I'm cooking these days, but if a recipe calls for salt I make an assessment as to whether its critical to the dish or not. I dislike overly salted foods and assume people can add salt if they want. I use a lot of seasonings other than salt, because I also don't like my food to be bland. 

3. Sands of time, bury your head in the sand, built on sand, or draw a line in the sand...which sandy phrase could best be applied to something in your life right now? 

I've been home exactly six days this month so sands of time is probably most applicable. What day is it again? 

4. A favorite book, movie, or song with an island setting or theme?

Anne of Green Gables is my favorite book and takes place on Prince Edward Island so I'll go with that. Another island favorite would be Bill Bryson's Notes From a Small Island. His book is set in Great Britain, which we sometimes forget is an island. 

Castaway is probably my favorite island movie, but I like Couples Retreat a lot too. 

As far as songs go? Barbados by Poco. 

5. Yesterday-did you run your day or did it run you? How so?

I'm answering these questions on Tuesday evening, which means yesterday was Monday. I was at the mercy of the airlines on Monday flying from Antigua to Miami and finally to Charlotte NC landing there at midnight. We spent the night in Charlotte before driving home today so I'd say my day ran me.

6. You're on an island holiday. Will I most likely find you parked in a beach chair, shopping in town, on the back of a jet ski, or snorkeling off the back of a catamaran?

Parked in a beach chair with a stack of books. Mostly. I was on the back of a jet ski last week and I love to swim so spend a lot of time in the water too. 

7. What do you think we humans most take for granted?

Time, mainly that we'll always have later, tomorrow, next week...

Several things have happened in recent months that remind me life is unpredictable and we need to love our people well right now. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Best random ever right here...I'm going to be a grandmother! Daughter1 and her hubby are having a baby this summer! We are over the moon and I'm sure to be talking about it way too much here on the blog, but I'm going to be a grandmother! 

I really want to write that in all caps. 

In my head it's all caps. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 294

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to share answers with the universe. Here we go-

1. "The cure for anything is salt water-tears, sweat, or the sea." (Isak Dinesan) Would you agree? Of the three, which has 'cured' you most recently?

2. What's something you can't eat without salt? Do you normally salt your food a lot, a little, or not at all?

3. Sands of time, bury your head in the sand, built on sand, or draw a line in the sand...which sandy phrase could best be applied to something in your life right now? 

4. A favorite book, movie, or song with an island setting or theme?

5. Yesterday-did you run your day or did it run you? How so?

6. You're on an island holiday. Will I most likely find you parked in a beach chair, shopping in town, on the back of a jet ski, or snorkeling off the back of a catamaran?

7. What do you think we humans most take for granted?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Willy Nilly Silly Old Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! Can you believe it's the middle of January? If you've played along today add your link at the end of my post. Hodgepodge links only here on Wednesdays please! And be sure you leave a comment for the blogger before you because that's what good neighbors do. Here we go-

1. ASAP typically stands for 'as soon as possible'. What else could it stand for in your life right now?

Always Seems we Are Packing? 

2. Are you the last person to speak up in a group or the first to have an idea? Why do you suppose that is? Is it a good thing or no?

I'm probably too often the first to speak up. Why? I'm kind of a take charge person, some might say bossy, but I will stick with take charge because that sounds nicer. Is it a good thing? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I hate being in a group where no one takes charge, but I don't always need to be so quick to jump in either. It's a fine line and I'm working on it. 

3. What do you remember best about being 12?

I was in the 6th grade and back then 6th grade was the last year of elementary school. In other words 6th graders ruled the world, or at least it felt that way. I remember running around the neighborhood with my friends, hanging out at the Duck Pond, walking to and from school, skating at the roller rink which in hindsight was kinda sketchy but we loved it, BOYS!, riding our bikes to the pool, that sort of thing. I also recall spending a week with the entire sixth grade at an environmental camp which is where I heard my teacher swear after she drank from a cup another student had put soap in. That I remember, because it was shocking. 

4. January 18th is National Winnie the Pooh Day. Which character do you relate to the most, and why? If you're stumped go here for inspiration.

I loooove Eeyore. I am not an Eeyore but I love him. The quiz said I'm most like Kanga and I'm okay with that. The description said 'caring and supportive, more adventurous than people realize, up for anything reasonably safe and somewhat sane, and a protector especially as a parent'. Sounds pretty accurate for an online quiz. 

5. What's an app you use that helps simplify or make life easier for you in some way?

I love Map My Walk. It records routes, distance, pace, elevation, and calories burned although I always feel technology overstates that last bit. I can add a playlist too and I like music when I walk so I use that feature a lot. Other favorites would be Goodreads for keeping track of what I've read, want to read, and what others are reading, Pinterest because it's my go-to place for saving all the online things I want to save, and Restaurant Finder which is handy when you're in a new city and are looking for a nearby place to eat. 

6. San Francisco (CA), San Diego (CA), San Juan (PR) San Antonio (TX) Sanibel (FL)...you have an all expenses paid long weekend to one of these destinations. Which one do you choose and why?

I was just in San Francisco and as much as I'd love to see San Diego the thought of another cross country trek just now is not that appealing. Today I'd choose Sanibel because it's a short plane ride away and a weekend at the beach is never a bad idea. 

7. Share with us a song that makes you feel nostalgic? For what?

Lots of songs make me feel nostalgic for various seasons of my life, but I'll go with the first thing that popped into my head-White Flag by Dido. Not what you were expecting is it? 

The song was released just as we were moving to the UK, same month in fact, and they (over)played it all.the.time there. In fact hubs couldn't stand it back then, but here in America on a random Tuesday when it catches you unawares? Well, we are taken back to a place in time, to that first year in England with all it's highs and lows, and we feel all mushy inside. Nostalgic. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We left the rain and chilly temps in California and woke up Sunday morning to 70 degree weather on the lake. 

My daughter2 teaches school and had snow days Monday and Tuesday, a delayed opening on Wednesday, and then on Friday was out walking her dog in shorts and a t-shirt. I love winter in the south. 

Sunday was so nice in fact, that friends of ours put their boat their boat in the water and took us for a ride, and it was glorious. 

 Everyone agreed. 

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