Rainbow Connection (Kermit the Frog)

Has it really been two weeks since my husband and I visited Ft. Myers Beach to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary?!?  Apparently so!

We drove across the state on scenic Alligator Alley... saw McMansions (ugh) north of Bonita Springs where shabby beach cottages used to be... checked into our beachfront room (the same hotel we used to vacation with family decades ago)... spent time at both the gulf and the pool... had some of the most delicious pizza we've ever eaten... applied aloe and cucumber peel-off face masques (!)... saw a rainbow (above)... read (a lot!)... walked along the beach and collected shells... visited The Silver Witch and picked up trinkets for the kids... saw an almost-perfect sunset... enjoyed another delicious dinner... begged for (and were granted) a late check-out... sad to leave, but reconnected and grateful for the experience... ☀🌈

It is indeed Feel Good Friday (coming in just barely under the wire!) and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy!

~ Face the Music: Singer-songwriter Dar Williams is back with ‘I’ll Meet You Here’:  The album is scheduled for release on Oct. 1 (TODAY!!!).

And this Spotlight Album Review: Dar Williams "I’ll Meet You Here"

~ The Melting Face Emoji Has Already Won Us Over:  Of the 37 new emojis approved this year, one has stood out as a visual proxy for our collective malaise.

~ Michaela Coel's Inspiring Emmy Speech in Full: 'Do Not Be Afraid to Disappear':  Accepting her award at the 2021 Emmys, Coel, becoming the first Black woman to take home the prize, dedicated her prize to "every survivor of sexual assault" and gave a nod to aspiring writers across the world.

~ Disney updates content warning for racism in classic films:  When played on the Disney+ streaming service, films such as Dumbo, Peter Pan and Jungle Book now flash up with a warning about stereotypes.


~ The Caring Community Newsletter (scroll about halfway down):  I hope this comes through.  It will be out officially tomorrow, but had to share a sneak-peek tonight.  I am very proud of my work... 😍

SONG:  Rainbow Connection (Kermit the Frog)

BOOK:  Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Prasadam-Halls, David Litchfield (Illustrator)

POEM:  If You Want the Rainbow by Amy Baskin

—inspired by Dolly Parton’s infinitely wise words

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow

you gotta put up with the rain.”

But storms can hit harder than any blow.

Just when you need relief, the skies will flow

and pummel you with tears and aches and pain.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,

kiss your hurts and hug them close. Above all, take it slow.

And breathe! Losing your shit cannot be called “a gain;”

your storms can hit harder than any blow!

Get wet. Jump in puddles toe-to-toe.

Take a stroll, hand-in-hand with a friend. This is sane.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,

thank the rain! It saturates you ‘til you know

you cannot get any wetter. Head inside. Get dry again

once storms have hit harder than any blow.

Towel off. Drink tea. Cuddle. Then work hard! And throw

aside the fears that you can’t take it. Let those wane.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,

know storms hit hard. They’re part of getting clean and letting go.

QUOTE:  “This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Waiting for the Storm (Richard Shindell)

The weekend was weird, in that we were dealing, or not, with the unpronounceable hurricane Isaias (four syllables - WTF?!?).  We experienced heavy rains Friday night, calm Saturday morning, more rains Saturday night, back to calm today, with a few scattered showers.  I'm not complaining, and certainly do not miss the days of installing shutters, taking down windchimes, and bringing patio furniture inside.  Plus I have plenty of non-perishables stashed away (PopTarts and canned soups and peanut butter, oh my!), and a Category 1-possibly-2-which-stayed-a-1-and-then-downgraded-to-a-tropical-storm, given all that we've gone through, is not even on my radar (pun intended).  Hoping the rest of the East Coast is as lucky as we were.

However, it did allow me to make good on a promise to Colin, in that I had given him a pair of dinosaur rainboots for his birthday a few weeks ago and vowed to accompany him on his first puddle-jumping adventure.  I had an extra pair, which I brought for Sarah and, by the time he woke up from his nap yesterday, most of the leftover rain had evaporated, but the *one* in her apartment complex parking lot did the trick, and we all stomped and jumped to our heart's content.  What a blast!

NR:  The Travelers by Regina Porter


SONG:  Waiting for the Storm by Richard Shindell

BOOK:  A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes by Eric Jay Dolin

POEM:  Visitor by Brenda Shaughnessy

I am dreaming of a house just like this one

but larger and opener to the trees, nighter

than day and higher than noon, and you,

visiting, knocking to get in, hoping for icy

milk or hot tea or whatever it is you like.

For each night is a long drink in a short glass.

A drink of blacksound water, such a rush

and fall of lonesome no form can contain it.

And if it isn’t night yet, though I seem to

recall that it is, then it is not for everyone.

Did you receive my invitation? It is not

for everyone. Please come to my house

lit by leaf light. It’s like a book with bright

pages filled with flocks and glens and groves

and overlooked by Pan, that seductive satyr

in whom the fish is also cooked. A book that

took too long to read but minutes to unread—

that is—to forget. Strange are the pages

thus. Nothing but the hope of company.

I made too much pie in expectation. I was

hoping to sit with you in a tree house in a

nightgown in a real way. Did you receive

my invitation? Written in haste, before

leaf blinked out, before the idea fully formed.

An idea like a storm cloud that does not spill

or arrive but moves silently in a direction.

Like a dark book in a long life with a vague

hope in a wood house with an open door.

QUOTE:  "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning how to dance in the rain." ~ Vivian Greene

Something to Get Through/The Beauty of the Rain (Dar Williams)

I have been doing so well with Acceptance, until this last week, when I have fallen into a funk.  Didn't sleep well last night, because of back pain as well as anxiety.  Being gentle with myself today, and tomorrow I will focus on re-finding the balance between peaceful and productive.  Many things on the To Do List, and I am in ostrich mode!

Speaking of rain, we had a family meet-up yesterday at our old neighborhood park, after days of deluges (which we needed, mind you, after our April drought).  Sarah attempted to keep Colin in the parking lot with chalk, but the "puddle pool" was too tempting.  He basically dove headfirst, and, after a few minutes, looked at me and said, "Lala in?". I of course had to take off my shoes and cavort with him for a while...  :-)

Twenty-four hours later, and the thought of it still makes me laugh!

It is raining again, hard, and that's okay.  Back to my book, The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, which is absolutely exquisite (you may have read The Night Circus, her previous novel, equally breathtaking).  A recent passage, positively swoonworthy... 💖

“Spiritual but not religious,” Zachary clarifies. He doesn’t say what he is thinking, which is that his church is held-breath story listening and late-night-concert ear-ringing rapture and perfect-boss fight-button pressing. That his religion is buried in the silence of freshly fallen snow, in a carefully crafted cocktail, in between the pages of a book somewhere after the beginning but before the ending."

SONG:  Something to Get Through / The Beauty of the Rain by Dar Williams

BOOK:  The Gifts of Acceptance: Embracing People And Things as They Are by Daniel A. Miller

POEM:  Just Now by W.S. Merwin

In the morning as the storm begins to blow away
the clear sky appears for a moment and it seems to me
that there has been something simpler than I could ever
believe
simpler than I could have begun to find words for
not patient not even waiting no more hidden
than the air itself that became part of me for a while
with every breath and remained with me unnoticed
something that was here unnamed unknown in the days
and the nights not separate from them
not separate from them as they came and were gone
it must have been here neither early nor late then
by what name can I address it now holding out my thanks

QUOTE:  “Resilience is very different than being numb. Resilience means you experience, you feel, you fail, you hurt. You fall. But, you keep going.”  ~ Yasmin Mogahed

Buckets of Rain (Bob Dylan)

Lots of rain these last few days - a bit of a pain driving back and forth to work in it, although we desperately need the increased precipitation to make up for the horrendous drought we've been experiencing (water restrictions in effect). It's been a crazy and difficult last two weeks, as we've been short-handed in the office and I'm working longer hours - I just can't seem to check off items on my To Do List fast enough. However, it is Friday evening and, at this point, I welcome the continued downpour - I'm donning my bunny slippers, pouring a glass of Pinot Grigio and curling up with a good book. All is right with the world - relaxation mode on...

SONG: Buckets of Rain by Bob Dylan

BOOK: Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema

POEM: The Rain by Robert Creeley

All night the sound had
come back again,
and again falls
this quiet, persistent rain.

What am I to myself
that must be remembered,
insisted upon,
so often? Is it

that never the ease,
even the hardness,
of rain falling
will have for me

something other than this,
something not so insistent—
am I to be locked in this
final uneasiness.

Love, if you love me,
lie next to me.
Be for me, like rain,
the getting out

of the tiredness, the fatuousness, the semi-
lust of intentional indifference.
Be wet
with a decent happiness.

QUOTE: “May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all your heart might desire.” ~ Irish blessing