Returning to Normal. Whatever Normal is.

Posted by Barbara Techel

g and flowers 12It is the busiest weekend of the year in our little village of 950 people with the vintage race cars in town. I am always blown away by how filled up our little town becomes for this weekend. There are wall to wall cars up and down our small town streets. I don’t know how they pack ém all in each year, but they do.

It has been a busy week with my birthday, which I loved every. single. moment. of it. But today I breathe a big exhale as I sit quietly in my writing cottage writing this post. I can hear the race cars humming in the distance, but the calm in my cottage feels amazing today. Returning to normal – though I really don’t know if there is such a thing as normal.

One last surprise was awaiting me when John and I got home last night. It seems the Birthday Bandits from last year struck again! Evidence of this can be seen on my Facebook page. It was a sweet way to end my birthday — though it will continue into next week when I have lunch with my dad on Friday. But for the most part, I think I shall ease back into simple, quiet and normal again, which I’m looking forward to.

I had a fantastic week with lots of eating out, which is always nice, though I’m ready to get back to making meals at home too. Miss G and I headed to the Farmer’s Market and came home with the back basket on my bike full of goodies – lettuce, tomatoes, potato crusted pizza, beans, zucchini and squash. Time to get back to healthy eating!

While I feel tired, in a good way from all the excitement of the week, Miss G is tired too. She could barely keep her eyes open for me to take the photo of her with the flowers I bought today. I have a feeling the sofa will be a place we will find our way to this afternoon for a sweet nap.

The celebrations are memories and treasures of the heart I carry with me and feel very blessed for all the love and good I have in my life. While I loved all the celebrating, I also relish in the peace and quiet of what life has to offer too. Excited and ready to see what the 51st year of my life presents to me.

Thank You to the Beautiful Lady Who Gave Me Life on this Day.

Posted by Barbara Techel

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFifty-one years ago at 11:55pm my mom brought me into this world. The older I get the more I love life and am so thankful for all my mom is to me.

I’ve thought about this with a deeper sense this year as my best friend celebrated her first birthday at 58 without her mom here. Her mom passed away last fall. As we walked home from breakfast on Wednesday it hit my friend that her mom wouldn’t be here to wish her Happy Birthday. She began to cry.

I put my hand in hers and we continued to walk down the street. There really are no words in times like those. I know my time will come too and I know when it does, my friend will walk with me on that journey.

But for today and for all the days my mom continues to be here to celebrate with me, the greatest gift I can give her for my life is to continue to pursue what it is that makes me happy. To live life to the fullest that I can. To be of service where I can. To love and live the best that I can.

My mama, who I love so very much. Who means the world to me. Thank you seems such a small thing to say for all you’ve been and continue to be for me. Connected soul to soul, we will always be.

The Unexpected Life Lesson from an Orange Daylily.

Posted by Barbara Techel

day lilyYesterday morning as my friend, Victoria and I were walking downtown she was sharing with me how she just does not like orange daylilies. She has a clump of them in the garden along the back of her house. But she does not like them because they bloom and last for one day, then the next day they already begin to wither and brown.

I thought about what she said and then related it to life. I said, “I’ll bet even though it only blooms for one day it makes sure to enjoy that one day to the fullest.”

It had me also recalling a funeral I went to years and years ago for a young person who was only in their teens when they died. I remember the minister having two people stand on either side at the front of the church. They were holding a string, each holding an end.  The minister walked up to the string and with his fingers about half inch apart he told us that this is what it looks like in the amount of time we are really here on earth. The remainder of the very long string is eternity. The message was that life is so very short. Just a blip in time. Enjoy it to the fullest.

After breakfast as we walked around town perusing the sidewalk sales, we ran into a mutual friend we had just been talking about earlier, wondering how she was doing.

We sat for about an hour outside a shop on a bench and got caught up the best we could with the three of us and just in the span of an hour. But it was the most enriching hour!

I relayed what I said about the daylily living life to the fullest. Our friend then shared with us something she recently read from a spiritual teacher (not recalling the name right now). But the teacher saying that the way to live each day is that at the end of the day if you have no regrets, and you enjoyed it to the fullest, that when you closed your eyes if you didn’t awake again that you would be okay with that – that you lived that day doing what made you happy.

I thought about these conversations as I lay in bed last night before drifting off to sleep. I truly had the best time with my friend, Victoria celebrating our birthdays, feeling especially happy about our time together. Though there is so much of life I wish to live yet, I felt that if I didn’t awake today, I would have left this world a happy lady.

I think every time I now see an orange daylily I shall recall my time with Victoria, as well as, bumping into our mutual friend, who shared some beautiful wisdom with us. Though the daylily only blooms in full, rich, brilliant orange for a day, the message they carry will always be my reminder to enjoy the present moment. It’s all we have.