May 27, 2019
A week with Joy’s family in North Carolina on the Outer Banks brought many rewards, topped by warm interactions with Michele and Tanya, daughters of Joy’s sister Orpha whose memorial we were celebrating.
At Albemarle Airport in Charlottesville, Virginia, we met Joy’s brother Ike and his wife Millie, arriving from Edmonton Alberta. Driving together helped us catch up on the two years since we last saw them.
Earlier on my blog I posted two personal highlights of the week — a daily walk on the beach and a visit to the Wright Brothers Museum at Kitty Hawk.
It’s a long distance to the Outer Banks, long enough to turn the mileage meter to 192,000. For me, the best part of that trip was West Virginia with its lovely mountains.
Getting away for a spell almost always offers a perspective for living. On the beach my thoughts meandered, arriving eventually at the topic of my 80s. While I did not make resolutions, the wondrous location of earth, sea and sky prompted me to identify crucial intersections worthy of my attention.
- Finding and fixing on beauty.
- Slowing things down, let’s say to the rate of the waves meeting the sand. Implied here is the dedication to a simple schedule.
- Reducing the care and cumber brought on by monetary expenditures.
- Living fully in the place we now inhabit, and then, when it’s necessary to move to other lodging, to move with grace. Living fully includes for me consistent care in keeping the house and joyful husbandry of the garden.
- Continuing to make and keep friendships that bring rewards of vitality, perspective and love.
- Walking a minimum of 15 miles a week, eating less sugar, drinking more water.
- Investing deeply and happily in the lives of my spouse, our children and grandchildren.
- Nourishing soul through reading, writing, music, meditation and sharing.
- Letting go of useless habits, prejudiced judgments, ill will, grudges and all that could possibly make an older person grouchy.
Now, here, after such lofty thought, we are in Indianapolis on Memorial Day. How sad that we humans go to war, that wars bring suffering and death, that we seem not to learn from past wars. I shall try to mount Peace on my heart’s monument.
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