It's the little things

Over the past few weeks my grand daughters have been visiting me.  One of the days that they were here included the annual community event.  It had all the usual stuff, kids games, eating contests, chainsaw races, ax throwing competitions, lawnmower races, you know, the usual stuff.  It also included litter all up and down the road. Since I live close to where the event was held the litter was quite evident. The day after the event my youngest grand daughter asked if we could walk my dog and while doing so pick up all the trash.  How do you say no to that? So, on a walk we went.  True to her mission every little piece of paper, vodka bottle, beer can, candy wrapper, or ponytail holder she saw she carefully picked up and put in the trash bag she was carrying.  One time when she was picking up a particularly small piece of paper she looked up at me while holding the small piece of paper in her over sized gloves and said, "Grandma, we are helping the earth.  I don't pick up the earth when I pick up the garbage because I don't want to hurt the earth. Am I right, Grandma?" There was only one way to answer that. 

I love how my grand daughter intuitively understood how little thing that one person does can impact the world in which we all live. 

I've spent the past two plus years living in the cabin my husband and I bought for retirement. No, I haven't retired yet but I was craving the country life. He, however was not. So here I am. Living mostly alone. Learning about myself.

When I was little, I would dream about being "Heidi" you know, the little girl sent to the mountain to live with her shepherd grandfather.  The idea of living freely with nature so resonated with me. The fresh air, the gentle sheep.  In my dreams it was always sunny, the skies always blue.  I carried that dream, somewhere buried with me all my life. The dream, like most, didn't include dark winter days, blustery winds, and deluge rains. The dark times.

In these past few years I've discovered that there are never enough of the beautiful blue sky days, that the sunny days, when too hot can be as miserable as the dark, cold winter days; that some of my most joyful times actually stem from the darkness (though I usually don't see it until later).

The other day I was walking my dog and I noticed the street sign next to my property.  Of course I'd seen it before, but it dawned on me that it was a marker for the life we all live.  "Solitude Way." Most importantly the sign indicated the road was private.  Of course many may travel the same road but it is different for each person. The sign struck a cord with me, and so, this blog was born; Near Solitude.  It's where I live, but also where we each exist as we travel the journey called our life.