A Cottage by the Sea
  • Home
  • On My Mind
  • Quotes
  • New Beginnings
  • Secrets of an Old Woman
  • A Solitary Traveler
  • Compassionate Reading
  • About me
  • About me and my blog
  • Comfort food
  • Books
  • Suggested reading
  • Poems

Where's the snow?

10/29/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
There’s something simple about getting a project done quickly. Today from the Angel Room I thought that maybe I was watching a fast forward YouTube clip entitled “How to shingle a roof quickly, simply and silently.”

    Next door ladders went up, shingles went up, three men went up; old shingles were thrown down; new shingles stapled; three men came down, ladders came down. Job complete in eight hours. They beat the storm. What storm? Where’s the snow that everyone else is getting? So far, it's simple rain for us.


0 Comments

Can we 'out pray'?

10/28/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
Where does it say "OUTPRAY"?
Having watched all twenty-three seasons of Survivor, I have experienced the many twists and turns the game has taken over the last eleven or so years.  Nothing really surprises me,  but I was taken aback the other night when one of the teams gathered in a circle and asked Jesus to help them win the challenge; then when it was over, they thanked God for being on their side.  Here was the “just war” theory in action, along with all the exclusiveness that accompanies it.

        I trust that the scene might be offensive to many people of faith, be they Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, agnostic…; in fact to all of us sitting in the mystery of faith. I can understand individuals privately praying for guidance and wisdom to do their best; but I can’t get my head around the idea of a God who could possibly care who wins Survivor South Pacific. And what about the woman, who later  “on camera”, but not to the group, admitted she didn’t believe in the prayer and felt uncomfortable being part of the scene, but because of the dynamics of the game, chose to remain silent? 
     I could go on and on but I won’t. This sure gets in the way of  silence, solitude and simplicity.


0 Comments

The gift of solitude~

10/25/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
This morning I decided to give myself four days of solitude. Actually, I think it’s good to give yourself a gift. My idea is that if you give yourself a present, you won’t be disappointed, especially when it’s Christmas morning and you’re a grown up and you can be pretty sure that no one is going to wrap up a stuffed animal for you.  When my kids were young I gave myself Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle. In fact I just brought her into the AR (Angel Room) for company for these four days.
     Now obviously I can’t wrap up solitude, but I can enjoy the gift of four days without any obligations or commitments.  After the heartfelt memorial service for my mom and all the activities of the weekend, I don’t have the psychic energy for any B&F (back and forth) conversations with anyone. Not to worry--having read The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, I can trust that my Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle won’t interrupt me. She is an extremely solitary soul who loves her silence. We'll do just fine together.


0 Comments

Searching for solitude~

10/24/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
I’m sitting here wondering what in heaven’s name I want to blog about. Mom’s service, as well as the family gathering was more than I could have hoped for or imagined, and now I am home so desperately wanting solitude but not able to take it when offered. Today I’m meeting the daughter and sister of a long time college friend who died about four years ago. It is just the right thing for me to be doing. And then the rest of the week is mine for silence, solitude and simplicity, if I'm able to take it. I guess it be a while for this adrenalin surge to abate.

     Only now am I able to take in that Mom is not alive any more. Only now do I dare open up the flood gates. Oh, and please, don’t try to make me feel better by telling me something like the line that my mother will always be there. I'll come around to that in my own good time.


0 Comments

Janet Ross Eberman 1910-2011

10/24/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
Mom on her 101st birthday.
My mom’s memorial service was more than we could have hoped or imagined. We celebrated the life of this fabulous woman, who lived every one of her 101 years to the fullest, full of grace and love.


0 Comments

Waiting~

10/19/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
Rainy, dreary day here. I made myself drive over to BJ’s for a few supplies that I purchase in bulk; soy milk, pasta, soft scrub, grated ptarmigan cheese. I guess I saved a little, but every time I shop there I have to remind myself that my best way to save is by staying out of stores like that. I can’t believe that I almost bought a package of fifteen non-scratch sponges. I don’t even use sponges.

    Why am I writing about my boring shopping event on this dreary day? It really has to do with this waiting time before Mom’s memorial service on Saturday. When someone lives to be 101 years old, there isn’t a big need immediately to have the memorial service. Mom’s slow fading away, plus her age, helped us prepare for her parting, and so waiting for two and half weeks seems just fine and logistically sensible—and it is.

    And yet the waiting…. All the arrangements have been made—the service itself, hotel reservations, family gatherings, even what to wear. It’s a restless time, so what better day to stock up on soy milk. I doubt that I’ll want to do it a week from now, and anyway,   maybe then it will be a cheerful late autumn day.


0 Comments

Come walk the beach~

10/17/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
      Open Studios in my town this past weekend. Half of the artists displayed in the Town Hall and Grange, the other half in home studios. I headed to the Town Hall to see my friend Sandra’s seascape watercolors. Fabulous. Check it out.  http://www.sandyewilensky.com/

      As I walked among the exhibits of paintings, photography, ceramics, jewelry, clothing and more, I observed the sociable side of the artist as they chatted away with the public. But in truth, these folks spend most of their time in solitude. The creative process is like that. 

       I invited Sandra to come to my cottage-by-the-sea this winter and walk the beach. In solitude she can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell the sea, sand and waves.


0 Comments

Never alone with a book in hand~

10/14/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
I thought I’d update you on my current reading project—read two or three books a week and only read one at a time. I’m doing okay but I’m not rigid about it. What’s most important is that I’m getting more reading done now that I’ve given myself permission to read all kinds of books. As the expression goes--Just do it!

    Yes, I’m reading more. I finished that silly mystery, Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell, by M.C. Beaton, set in the Cotswolds. Not worth recommending, but I’m not going to put it in the reject pile either. I loved that Agatha Raisin, had so many rough edges, my favorite being her rudeness, or shall I say, her blatantly honest—no glossing over her truth telling. 

    Although reading one book at a time is a goal, it can’t be a hard and fast one for me. Some books are meant to be enjoyed, a little taste at a time. For example, take Let Evening Come, Reflections on Aging, by Mary C. Morrison. The very word ‘reflection’ in the title tells me this is not a speed-read book. And so I read and reflect, one journal section at a time, while also reading Caleb’s Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks, set on Martha’s Vineyard during the settling of the English Puritans in the 1660’s. Here, in an entirely different situation than Agatha Raisin’s, we have another woman living outside the box; in this case, Bethia, the minister’s daughter befriending a young Wampanaog.

     As Nina Sankovitch tells us in Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, reading widely opens us to different ways of being, most of which will remain in our imagination; but a few of these book friends may just nudge us to try something new, and some may even burst forth from within us.

      What does all this have to do with those of us who are looking for silence, solitude and simplicity and who sometimes like to be alone? Somehow it all feels especially comforting to sit alone in the Angel Room with the two books I’m currently reading on the table and with my ‘anticipation stack’ of future reads on the floor by my chair.  Books are the perfect friend for people who love solitude. We are never lonely and yet we are alone in the best ever way.


0 Comments

Scurring squirrels~

10/12/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
I used to think that in my animal reincarnation I was a squirrel, and maybe that was so when I was younger. When I was a child I was told that squirrels scurried and I like to scurry. If you look outside this fall, squirrels are still scurrying. It fact it seems that they are in more of a frenzy than other years. And then there are sooooo many of them, even though there seems to be a plethora of seeds and nuts. Don’t they know that there is enough for all? Clearly, the squirrels in my yard are not looking for silence, solitude or simplicity.

      Maybe years ago I scurried around in a frenzy to be sure to get my share of the goodies. Maybe I still identify with the intense, compulsive energy of the squirrel. I may remember, but this running about doesn’t appeal to me; I’m just not in a squirrel’s body any more.

      And yet, I love squirrels. Um, undoubtedly I’ll always have a little squirrel spirit in me. Just yesterday I put an over-ripe (call it rotten) pumpkin on the back stoop. This morning when I opened the door, a squirrel scurried off, leaving sunflower seeds behind in his newly created orange play fort. I’m glad he’s enjoying our playground. I’m reminded of all the days I spent as a nine year old scurry about outside, creating magical worlds. Now that I think of it, it was a silent, solitary, and yes, a simple life.


0 Comments

One book at a time~

10/10/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
I didn’t want Tolstoy and the Purple Chair to end but I kept on reading. And now I’m into another book, a simple, humorous mystery, Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell, by M.C. Beaton, set in the Cotswalds. Next, sitting on my table is Mary C. Morrison’s Let Evening Come: Reflections on Aging given to me by my long time friend from preschool.

     Nina Sankovitch has me hooked on reading, but I’ve always had a book in my bag, so what’s the difference? As a start, I usually have three books going and consequently read a couple of pages of this, a chapter of that, and end up deciding I don’t need to finish any of them, particularly the non-fiction— I’ve got the gist, and that’s good enough.

     Those of you who know me, are probably aware that I am pretty active. If ADHD were around when I was growing up, I would have been tagged. My Uncle Don would offer me twenty-five cents if I could sit on his lap for fifteen minutes and I never earned the coin. So, I’m in awe of anyone who can sit all afternoon, and evening for that matter, reading a book, which is what Sankovitch did during her book-a-day year. She read fiction and non fiction, one at a time, and that’s what I’m working on now, the one at a time part. And oh, not a book a day, but maybe one every three days.

     Sankovitch accomplished this with no built in solitude. The givens in her household were four school aged boys and a husband. If I weren’t so hyper, I should be able to read two books a day, but first I need to learn to be lethargic. I’ll let you know how I do.


0 Comments
<<Previous
    Contact me: [email protected]

    Categories

    All
    3rs
    3Ss
    3S's
    Aging
    Andre Dubus Iii
    Ann Patchett
    Anticipation
    Art
    Assisi
    Barbara Kingsolver
    Being Alone
    Beyond Words
    Boo
    Books
    Cantice Of The Sun
    Celebrations
    Choices
    Christmas
    Churches
    Community
    Cor
    Cottage By The Sea
    Cottage Day
    Courage
    Curiosity
    Dad
    Dalai Lama
    Death And Dying
    Depression
    Desiderata
    Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Donald Hall
    Dostoyevsky
    Dr Alex Tang
    Edinburgh
    Eleanor Lerman
    Elizabeth Strout
    Emily Dickinson
    Environment
    Esther De Waal
    Faith
    Field Trip
    Florence
    Fo
    Follow Your Bliss
    Food
    Friendship
    Frugal
    Gifts
    Giving And Receiving
    Gratitude
    Health
    Heart
    Hermits
    Hope
    Humility
    Impermanence
    Independent And Close
    Inspire & Affirm & Encourage
    Introvert
    Iona
    Ireland
    Italy
    James Hollis
    Jane Austen
    Jan Sutch Pickard
    Joan Chittister
    John Dear
    John Masefield
    Joseph Campbell
    Judgments
    Katherine Paterson
    Knitting
    Li
    Lonely
    Longing
    Love
    Luke Russert
    Marsha Sinetar
    Mary Oliver
    Max Ehrmann
    Meaning
    Memories
    Mom
    Moving
    Museums
    My Day
    Nature
    Nina Sankovitch
    Now
    Oliver Herford
    Pamela Dalton
    Pandemic
    Paris
    Passion
    Paulo Coelho
    Peace
    Philip Koch
    Place
    Play
    Prayer
    Present Moment
    Quiet
    Rachel Carlson
    Radical Compassion
    Read
    Reading
    Resolutions
    Restlessness
    Retirement
    Retreat
    Richard Rohr
    Rilkie
    Rita Golden Gelman
    Robert Kull
    Rome
    Routines
    Rumi
    Sankovitch
    Scotland
    Seen In A Draper's Shop
    Service
    Silence
    Sim
    Simplicity
    Skye
    Sol
    Soli
    Solitude
    Soul Work
    Space
    St Catherine Of Siena
    St. Francis
    Stress
    Susan Gain
    Tenzin Palmo
    Thanksgiving
    The Uncommon Reader
    Thomas Keating
    Thomas Merton
    Three Sieves
    Time
    Travel
    Tru
    Viktor E. Frankl
    Walking
    Wonder
    Writi
    Writing

    Archives

    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

Proudly powered by Weebly