June 2010

We were half-way to Williamsburg, my mom and I, when
my cell phone rang. I pulled into a parking lot in West Point
and listened to my husband’s news that the chicks we had
ordered had come early! He was on his way to work and
there was no one at home to go and pick them up at the
post office. After various thoughts were hurriedly shared
for consideration, I quickly realized that I just had to let go
of the day I had planned-appointments, respite club and
exercise class for my mom, grocery shopping, alone-time
at my favorite coffee shop to write a blog post-and turn
the car around and go fetch these…

….an easy decision really, or it seemed so once I clapped
eyes upon this little party.

If the rest of today is any indication, my to-do list will
be languishing as I spend unmeasured minutes and hours
with my chin upon my arm, fondly watching our carefully
chosen chicks in their warm bower.

P.S. The chick varieties (for those who might be interested) are
Speckled Sussex, Buff Orpington, Delaware, Barred Rock,
Ameraucana and Welsummer.

…tho’ it might be more or it might be less.
Last year I read the book called The Gift of a Year.
I learned an awful lot of interesting things about
myself while I read it and did the exercises within
its pages. I didn’t end up giving myself that gift,
nor did the “gift” that kept coming to my mind
exactly fit the book’s premise of a few simple
changes, done faithfully, bringing great
satisfaction and meaning. Perhaps another
year will be the year when I finally learn to
play the piano.

What did surface for me, over and over again
was that a well-tended, pared-down-to-only-what-
we-love-and-need-sort-of-home is what would be the
best gift I could give myself. But Life didn’t really allow
me to give the attention to making the Gift a reality
until now. So I am taking the plunge, armed with
a pretty notebook and a Plan (still in the making,
but begun, that is the important thing!).

Ah, notebooks…the notebook with the graph (on the left)
was pulled out a month ago when I knew I had to lose the
six pounds I had gained over the winter. The notebook with
the clasp is an antique store find and my current daybook
(until I design a smaller and better one in the Autumn).
And the ribbony one in the middle is my Gift of a Peaceful
Home notebook, that I have begun to fill with lists. One
list per room, with every little and large thing that needs
to happen to make that room as useful and beautiful
as it can be…

…and check boxes for a sense of satisfaction when
a task is accomplished. Tho’ I know that the clearness
and order that will emerge will bring me the most
satisfaction of all. I am about half-way through with
my list-making and haven’t even begun the more
enticing cutting and pasting of magazine clippings
for Inspiration….but am close to being able to
check off a box or two.

It will be slow-going, but I am glad to have the
opportunity to do it at all. And getting it all out of
my head and down on paper means that I have
already given my mind the gift of a little less clutter,
and somehow, it feels like an act of faith and
cheerfulness for a positive outcome.