CHALLENGES ARE GOOD! FALL SPRINT CHALLENGE

"You are not too old. And it is not too late to start."               Rainer Maria Rilke

As we get older, sometimes, not always, but sometimes, we fall into ruts and we can't seem to pull ourselves out. You know what I mean. If you are like me, you are at the end of your career, or maybe already retired. Some of us might be in the this rut, for example. We come home. Make a little something to eat. Drink a glass of wine, maybe. Go for a walk, maybe. And then we are in front of the T.V. until we fall asleep, later dragging ourselves to our beds to prepare for the next day.

SIMPLE LIVING - SMALL SPACES

Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify. Simplify.           Henry David Thoreau

I have loved Thoreau for decades. His message of simplicity always rang true for me. And don't get me started about his adorable house in the woods. Alas. No house in the woods for this girl (yet), and my simplicity is a work in progress, but I am convinced that to grow old peaceful and to be able to retire in some way, simplicity - at least a more simple existence is called for.

FRIENDS ON THE PORCH

"The summer night is like a perfection of thought." 

Read Wallace Stevens' Poem, The House Was Quiet and The World Was Calm

Summer is winding down in Ohio. In another month it could be so chilly here that a sweater will be necessary, or I suppose it could be hot enough to turn on the air conditioners again. It is Ohio, and the saying goes, if you don't like the weather, just wait - it'll change.

It's Friday before the long Labor Day Weekend. My friend Julie and I sat on my front porch this evening, waxed philosophically about life, and ushered out summer with gin and tonics and laughter - soul repaired.