simple life

Garden Awakening and Hope Dances

Posted by Barbara Techel

Garden Awakening and Hope Dances

As I sit at my desk in my writing cottage the soft blue sky has just a few wispy clouds that slowly float on by. It’s a brisk one out there this morning in the lower 30s.  But there is a flurry of activity with clear indications that spring is truly on the way.

Little yellow finch seems to have found a small patch of open water in the frozen make shift bird bath. While Ms. Sparrow is more than likely keeping a close guard over new eggs laid, while at the same time curious about all the buzz outside.

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Next door, a landscape crew, decked out in winter headbands, gloves, and heavy jackets puts down fresh topsoil on the neighbors garden.

I’m dreaming of our own new landscaping that hopefully will begin too in the upcoming weeks. After living here for over 25 years and not care taking the gardens all that well, it’s time for a fresh start.

This time I’m hoping the garden bug will bite me a little harder and I’ll be better at the up keeping. Though as we planned our landscaping with the landscaper company in the bitter cold of winter, I did ask for it to be as maintenance free as a garden can be.

And so that is the view out my writing cottage this morning — a fresh start for all creatures, great and small. Hope dances outside my windows.

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This Really Got Me Thinking

Posted by Barbara Techel
This Really Got Me Thinking
photo credit: John Techel

I read something recently that really got me thinking. It’s about how “busy” is a sickness. Did you ever notice that is the stock answer so many of us give when asked how we are?

My intention for many years has been about living a life that is meaningful. To be busy feels like my life is out of control. While at times it does truly feel that way, I try to make a conscious effort to ground myself and look at why I might be feeling that way when I find myself in this place.

And I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asks my husband, John if he is busy. He owns and operates his own construction business. It’s funny though, because no one has asked me in a long, long time if I am busy. I find this fascinating.

In the article, a woman responds to a man who asked her how she is and she replies she was crazy busy. She was surprised when he asked her what it was she had going on that day. She frantically rattled off everything she had to do.

His response?  “Sounds like a full day. Have fun!”

Whoa!  What a seriously, cool way to look at one’s life, I thought. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. So I checked in with this idea of a full life instead of a busy one, asking myself these questions:

  • Am I doing things that are meaningful to me?
  • Am I making a difference?
  • Am I tired in an accomplished feeling way and not a stressful way at the end of the day?
  • Am I, for the most part, happy every day?

The answer is yes, this is the majority of the time, and how I feel. This, to me,  is a full life and not a busy one.

And when I think of life as full, I think of it as rich, content, and wanting more.

How about you? Full or busy?  How does this feel to you?  I’d love to hear!

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This is the article I refer to if you’d like to read more, “Busy is a Sickness.”

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Life in Sharp Focus

Posted by Barbara Techel
Life in Sharp Focus
My family. I love them.

It’s so easy to take life for granted. Then someone you know dies and life is put back into sharp focus again.

A teacher that John had in high school, who was also his wrestling coach, died in a car accident a few days ago. Someone blew a stop sign and ended his life. He was only 71.

How fast life can change. I think of my mom often with a similar situation, her husband passing away while up north last November. Never to walk through their front door again.

I try to remember to not take life for granted.

Sitting outside this lovely summer Sunday morning, Gidget and Kylie hanging out and my Johnnie with a cup of coffee in hand.

I sat on the front stoop and felt immense gratitude for my life with this little family of ours.

We live simply. We laugh often. We love deeply.

It’s all I ever want. And it’s something I remind myself is here for only a short time. So soak it all in and give thanks.

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PS:  In case you are wondering what all the white/yellow fuzz is on the grass, well, that is Kylie’s fur. She is shedding like crazy lately. Many little Kylie tumbleweeds float through our house if I don’t keep up on combing her out. I love my time with just her when I brush her.  I think she likes it too.

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