The Brimming Edge

Bending down I touch her arm.

She holds her gaze towards her baby

In the hospital bed.

What can I do? I ask.

I’m OK she says.

I believe it.

She’s had to be.

How else could she have taken care of

Her baby

For all these decades.

Now her child is slipping away breath by breath

While she waits

Sitting in perfect posture in the straight back chair

In her little suit.

Stalwart.

Full of prayer and trust

In her God.

Not just God but her God.

Through all the years of suffering and trial

She has become familiar with God.

With a groan I push myself up from a squatting position.

I speak a short prayer,

And she whispers “in the name of Jesus” throughout my little words.

I’m self-centered enough

And insecure enough

To wonder if this little, old saint

Knows how shallow I am.

Regardless, 
I am with her,

With her grown baby,  

With the presence of God

At this brimming edge of loss.

by Candace K Hardin

Thank you, Lord, for the much needed rain!

"Some people walk in the rain. 

Others just get wet."  

                                                     ~ Roger Miller

I hope to be walking in the rain soon . . . .

Staycation Day 9 and Non-Vacay Days Following....

Bathroom finished with everything back in place  . . . and a few new things as well. Whew!

Had a meltdown about Zach the Cat. He's been puny for days. Looked like he was repeating his sick self on Staycation Day 9 the same way he did over Memorial Day weekend when I took him to the emergency animal hospital and signed over my car to them as a down payment. (Only kidding . . . I simply took out a second mortgage.)


But as I was calling my vet on Staycation Day 9 to try to get Zach in for an emergency check-over, Zach suddenly perked up and began swatting his play mice around the house. I canceled the appointment and hoped he wouldn't die over the weekend. 
So far so good. He's actually 
seeming much better. He's 
eating, playing, exploring . . .
just like the old, mischievous 
Zach. As for me, I need to see a 
cat counselor 
or whatever......


After I stored my bathroom paints in the shop and got over I'm-scared-my-cat's-dyin' cryin', I met a couple of friends for supper. What a joy. 


So grateful for friends, an improved cat, an improved bathroom, and time to enjoy my home and life.


Even though the Staycation is over, 

it will live on 
in my newly painted and decorated bath and, 
hopefully, 
in my l-i-f-e!


Grateful.

Staycation Day 8

New paint colors are on my bathroom walls! Yea!

One more coat tomorrow! (sigh)

Then I'll put the bath back together again...

shower curtain up, 

towels out, 

silk flowers arranged, 

rugs down,

wall hangings hung. Yea!

But tonight . . . 

tonight is the next to last night of my staycation.

It's almost over.

I already miss it......

Staycation Day 7
I've painted four different color places on the bath wall. 
Trying to decide.
Ceiling is painted. Needs one more coat. No roller. Had to use a brush. 
Neck hurts.
Tape is up and ready.
Drop cloth is down.
But which color?
Maybe I will know in the morning.....

Staycation Day 6

Scraped on my bathroom plaster walls and ceiling today. Then spackled. 

I used to love to spackle. 

After the awful spackle job I did on the walls, 

I can't remember why I loved it. 

The spackling was going so badly 

that I stopped and went to the computer 

and Googled "how to spackle a wall." 

Watched two videos 

where I understood I was supposed to "feather" 

the spackle outward so to avoid lines and thickness.

Let's just say my drying spackled walls remind me a bit 

of Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" Impressionistic art.

I'll get to sand a lot on Staycation Day 7.