THE ENCHANTED LIFE

Hello everyone!   Thank you so much to all that left or e-mailed get-well wishes.  Mere words cannot express how much it meant to me.   Well, for the most part I'm all better now, although my legs are still as shaky as a fawn, newly born.  Doesn't take much for a body to fall into disrepair does it?  Must say I was very economical in both time and money with being sick.  One little vial of pills costing less than five dollars cured three different illnesses in one week.  You know, I'm a foolish old woman, stubbornly holding onto the belief that if I can just ignore being sick it will go away.   Wasted five days of life, just lying  about alternating between chills and fever, expecting to get better.  It wasn't until Ran threatened to hog-tie me and drag me to the doctor that I agreed to go.  Once I got one of those little miracles called anti-biotics into my system it wasn't long until I felt better.  So if you are like me, and would rather be on a forced march to Burma than go to the doctors, I hope my little confession here helps you to see that doctors can be helpful.  Sometimes you have to humble yourself and ask for help.  And that's not just help from doctors either! If you catch my drift here, whilst I'm trying not to sound too preachy.

Anyhow, I am finally able to get outside and walk about a bit.   The apple orchard is in all of it's glory at the moment.  There's something so calming about an old orchard with bent and lichen-spotted trees.  A connection to the past.  Always reminds me of this quote:

We plant trees not for ourselves, but for future generations.
-- Caecilius Statius

Martin Luther said if he knew he had only one day left to live he would plant a tree.  Makes  my answer about eating cake seem pretty shallow!  But then, I could never hope to be as virtuous as Mr. Luther.

 While I was on my walk-about, a flock (?) of Monarch butterflies flew up as I passed.  They were feasting on the ground ivy which is blossoming at the moment.   I hesitated to write this, as it really does sound like something out of fairy tale.  Who has butterflies rising up to greet them?  Or deer sunbathing in their front yards?   Or snow geese flying overhead, daily?   Or a nesting robin tame enough to feed strawberries? Perhaps you think the next thing I will tell you is that little bluebirds help me dress each morning?  But the truth of the matter is anyone can live an enchanted life.   It's just a matter of really taking the time to notice the little things.  Something anyone can do anywhere.  For instance,  these long-legged tulips that grow on the side of my house are some old variety that have been blooming for many decades.  Because they are so long stemmed, the slightest  breeze will cause them to sway.  Every time  I pull into the driveway, it makes me smile because they look like they are waving "hello" to me.  How many people pass them without even noticing them?    While I was  abed, the moon was shining in my window.  It was so close, so large, so bright, that it seemed like it was near enough to touch if I were to reach through the window.  The enchanted life is out there like that big ole pumpkin moon.  We just need to reach out and grasp it!  Keep that child-like sense of wonderment even if we have very un-child-like burdens in life.