KAREY SHANE

Serenity Please

I've been listening to Debbie Ford's 21 Day Cleanse on Oprah.com, and although right now I'm having a hard time doing things that require a lot of mental concentration, like write a letter, or write out statements about forgiveness, it's wonderful to discover that this is just one more drop to quench my thirst for peace, for meaning, and for love. It is, in a word, joy rising. Even with my physical limitations, how wonderful to discover that nothing can stop my spirit.

One thing I've come to realize is that I want serenity in my life. Just that: a little serenity, please. I want to be able to respond to life with serenity in the same way tend my garden--with love. In my mind I see those images of a Buddha who's laughing, unbothered by the challenges of life, because he sees beyond the trivial.

Megan's Happy Tree

So I'm finally catching up after getting back from our trip to see our daughter and her family in California. I won't post close up pics of our cute grandsons, but I will post pics of what Megan calls her Happy Tree. Just by looking at the pictures you'll know what I mean. They are pure Joy Rising.

 Here are all three trees that comprise The Happy Tree: (Every time I try to load the photo it goes sideways. Shuckie Darn. You'll just have to turn your head to absorb the full effect of Joy.)

 

 They took pity on me (since I missed my flight, missed going with them to Disneyland, and missed the only sunny day of our trip) and took me to a place called Morton's for the absolute, bar none, by gosh by golly best steak dinner I've ever had. Here we are at Morton's: (Megan said it was alright to post pics of her kids as long as I don't say where they live and give their names.)

Here are a few photos from our trip out to see them last year:

 

Is Megan beautiful or what? Even the way she walks. A lovely daughter.

What are Your Favorite Places?

This is your place to write about favorite places of yours. What sorts of places feed your soul? What places are filled with your best memories?

My best memories are backyard memories with my family, children, nieces and nephews, Mom and Pops--swimming, making homemade rootbeer and sitting on the lid while dry ice smoke puffs out, playing "Chicken" on the diving board, watching my sister try to do a swan dive and halfway through realizing she wasn't sure how to do it so it turned into a cat-claw clamber complete with a yowl.

And singing around the piano memories. Those are some of my favorites, too. By myself memories? The places I walk. Singing at the kitchen sink. My bathtub, who has seen me through many a sore ache many times a day. it's amazing the jacuzzi pump still works. And children memories? Bedtime stories. Smelling like lavender after their baths. The small moments: "Sadie, we don't put pennies in cakes. Let's take them out." Being with my son in D.C. over spring break and watching him convulse after eating way too much Wasabi. On purpose. And maybe this sounds corny, but I like wherever Patrick and I kneel and hold hands while we pray morning and night. It's like being wrapped in a blanket that's soft, fluffy and deliciously thick. And I just like being at home when he's there, too. Two souls living parallel, loving lives without being needy.

Simple Joys.

   

These last few weeks I haven't felt like writing or doing anything remotely associated with Secret Speakers. If I lived by "shoulds" it should already be in the hands of reviewers at Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Review, Booklist. Sigh. What were those names I just said? I forgot. I should be finishing up the audio post production and getting it ready to go to press. This is your place to write about what you've been enjoying lately--the simple things. 

I haven't felt this at peace in a long time. Instead, I've been enjoying watching our chickens feather out into some shape of what they'll look like as laying hens. In three weeks they've gone from balls of downy fluff to darting demons with four-inch wings. (Cupcake and Shella actually fly up onto my knees while I sit and watch them. They let me stroke and pet them. I love it.) I've been wandering outside to watch my nasturtiums grow in the front yard. I could have a whole hillside of nasturtiums--if we had a hillside. Here is a picture of our California Poppies next to the mailbox. What a wonderful flower; it blooms over and over.

I've loved having the little neighbor girls stop by to help with the chickens, along with my niece and nephew. I've enjoyed our California Poppies by the mailbox. Sigh. It's all feeding my soul. What simple things have you been enjoying lately? I'd love to hear about it. Tonight I think I'm going to see if my husband will sleep in the back yard under the stars with me.

Do You Have Funny Eavesdropping Stories?

I accidentally eavesdropped on my husband. I've finally caught my breath after laughing so hard. First, you should know that My twin sister would be so proud of me. I've been doing absolutely nothing that has to do with Secret Speakers. I've been VEDGING.

So, today while in the middle of doing absolutely nothing that has to do with writing and INSTEAD getting my hands dirty in the garden, and eating lunch on the front porch followed with some good Amano chocolate (which I bought from the place where they make it, three minutes from my house), I called my husband to see if he's up for watching my sister's dog Piper (alias Pooper, Peeper, Hyper: names given by my sister, NOT me) for a few days since she and her family are in Mexico--a trip I decided NOT to take so I could stay home and take a vacation. (Whew. I'm out of breath. That was a long sentence.)

Well, he (Patrick, not Piper, who is a girl) tends to get distracted, and he hit the answer button and forgot he'd answered, so I listened to him hammer, chat and work away while building some sort of Hacking Tower for his falcon with his buddy Ricardo Velarde (master knife maker as in worth hundreds of dollars a piece) up in Park City. I haven't had such a good time eavesdropping in a long time. I've had all sorts of peeks into his world when he gets distracted like that. But I won't tell. By the way, that's my guy after he spent a couple of days building raised garden beds.