Small stone: Jan. 31: Grateful

Small stones, you've been good
to me. Better than I've been
to you, these past few days.
You didn't change my life,
but you just might have changed
my month. I'm grateful I met you.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 29

Small patch of blue off on the horizon, you make me smile.
Wide swath of blue overhead (even for just an hour), I think I love you.
Entire sky of blue? I can't remember the last time I saw you.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 27

I feel loss
or the threat of loss
pressing in
on all sides.

My heart lodged
in my throat for hours
today, beating, thumping,
I choked on the sweet and steady
drumbeat. Alive alive alive.

I feel loss
or the threat of loss
pressing in
on all sides.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 26

Crazy-making circle
goes 'round. I judge others
for their judging of me.

Now, to breathe.
Om.
Judgement free.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 24: Thankful

It only took me about 40 years to believe it, but my mother was right: "Sher, you need a day of rest. Everyone needs a day of rest. You can't work seven days in a row."

#smallstone #thankfulforsabbath #weekendwoot

Small stone: Jan. 23

Having a short attention span is both rough and helpful.
Rough = I learn the same lessons, over and over.
Helpful = I learn the same lessons, over and over. 

#smallstone #tgif

Small stone: Jan. 22

The joy of head to pillow cannot be underestimated.

#smallstone #smalleststoneyet

Small stone: Jan. 21

Belting out both sides of a Sheryl Crow-Sting duet while driving today, grateful for the suspension of disbelief that allows me to think a) I can sing, and b) no one knows what I'm up to in my little steel-glass bubble.

#smallstone #readsmorelikeafacebookstatusupdate

Small stone: Jan. 20

Missed a day of small stone writing (Saturday), but rather than trying to make it up, I'm calling it a lost small stone. Some day I'll find it, I'm sure.

For today:



Flat, gray, somber,
winter Mondays stretch
out, hour after hour, Eeyore plodding
through Hundred Acre Wood.
Where's the sunshine bouncing
off my walls, energy
to spare? Where is Tigger
to see me through to spring?

#small stone

Small stone: Jan. 19

One day it occurs to me: Old emotions
are just that, ancient. Decrepit thoughts
I'm amazed can still be dredged up.
I clean up, then, sweeping out the dust of tired tears,
Breathing in the fresh air of right now,
this minute. Present to myself.

#smallstone #imalittleslow #emotionalgrowthishard

Small stone: Jan. 17: Grateful for love

Driving the morning commute,
I hear sweet words sung as if for the first time.

Drawn back to the past for a moment,
my heart is full and so are my eyes.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 16

Crisp air, inhaled deep, deeper, deeper still.
Tightness of chill meeting warm clears my brain from the daily fog and I gaze up.
Near-full moon, quiet sky, bright Orion float above.
Looking down then, away from the heavens to my haven, I am home.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 15

Flying over mountain ranges, I think about the people who first made this trip, and how daunting these peaks must have felt, how amazing to reach the other side. From my seat in 8A, I glide easily into a new world.

#smallstone

Midweek reminder: Speak truth in love

This text was a recent theme to a set of daily devotion emails I receive. It resonated throughout the month or two that I saw it, and even if on that particular day I didn't take the time to read further, the words about staying solid in the midst of chaos and uncertainty nudged at me in such good ways.

I was glad to see it again today and be reminded:

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4:11-16 

Small stone: Jan. 14

"I'm not liking this conversation," husband says as I pack. "Well, don't you think about it every time you fly?" I ask. "Yes," he says, "a bit."

I've been warning him of the half-put away Christmas in the basement, the recycling that's only semi-sorted in the garage, the pieces of this project and that, and oh, my messy office; all things I meant to tidy yesterday, today, last week.

"But I'll be home lickety-split," I say. Him: "You better."

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 13

The day ends with hands wrapped warm
around a mug of cocoa.
Heart wrapped tight
around a hurting child.
Home wrapped quietly, peacefully,
around us all,
Easing us all into the dark night
To wake, a little healed.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 12

Is there anything sadder
than a house newly bereft of its Christmas attire?
Why yes, I believe there is.
That list is very long, indeed.

Today, though, I choose to ignore
those other, sadder things, and indulge
in post-holiday petulance.
My vote is for year-round twinkle lights.
Glitter and sparkle in June.
Icicles hanging off the porch in July.
Holiday baking in August.

Now I'm being ridiculous,
and even I see that, as I tuck ornaments away
and brush pine remnants from the carpet.
I'll move on with the seasons
and fully embrace the glum of mid-winter.
Tomorrow.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 11

We have a special language,
the wind and I.
He howls, moans, whines
and stutters.
I curse.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 10: Grateful

Dear Gratitude,
Thanks for being with me all these years. Even when you are quiet, you're still around, and I appreciate that you're not always chirping away at me. Sometimes I just want to sit with you for a bit, and you always let me. I really don't know what I'd do without you.
Your pal, Sherilee

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 9

Small stone: Jan. 8

Caught short by the brevity of each day.
Stunned by the length of each week.
Is it true that time keeps speeding up as we age?
This is going to seriously suck. ‪

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan 7

in-freaking-somnia
black night, long night
quiet, still, laying, praying
head knows what's what
heart knows who knows what
morning is always the same:
better.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 6

Grateful on this far-too-early morning, for the breath of the one who lays beside me; the grace from the One who made me; the joy of being a mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend; and the work that is before me as a human on this planet. And coffee. Grateful always for the coffee!

#smallstone

 

Small stone: Jan. 5

Moving again.
Quickly and joyfully,
making lists and ticking items off.
Such satisfaction.
One day, some day, I dream
of the putterer's paradise, a middle state
'tween neutral and high gear.
For now, I revel in the stroke
of pen to paper,
Another box checked.

#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 4

Thirty-odd years since these hands held a flute. Certain aspects of playing return without thought, but others are gone, completely. What else is back there in the dark corners of my memory, not used? I'm curious, but also not sure I want to know...

#smallstone

Friday night grateful moment

I'm still rather undecided what to do with this space on Friday nights, whether to continue as is or adjust or stop altogether. Sometimes a reboot is the best way to get at the best new view on things, but nothing has miraculously revealed itself to me as The Next Big Thing for Gratitude, so here I am.

For tonight, I offer this:

The whole time we were gone, it was foggy and cold in Walla Walla, but today the skies opened up and look at the color that greeted us in our driveway! I was so happy to see sunshine and endless blue as we came up out of the Gorge and went into the stretch across the barren flatlands between the river and home. 

Ah, home. Grateful for that too. Love our cozy space, and the fact that the tree is still up (though I'm not thrilled at the prospect of undoing Christmas... that will have to wait a few days) and the Christmas presents are ready for actual use! When you leave the day after the holiday, it's like Christmas all over again upon return.

I'm grateful for the time we had away. It was difficult to truly unwind from the year-end stuff at work and holiday festivities, but by the end of the week I think we were both there... one more week would have really sealed the deal! I need to do better at just walking away; it will be there when we get back (just like Christmas presents!)... something to work on in the coming year.

Wherever you are, I hope your grateful list is long and your heart is full of possibility in the new year!

Peace.

Small stone: Jan. 3

Today my small stone was a visual one, with few words, as we were traveling down the road home:

Insulated from the weather - introspective conversation - coffee to go - homeward bound - happy.
#smallstone

Small stone: Jan. 2

Small space, dogs at my feet
hovering. Big eyes, sweet faces,
I cannot move without their evident affection.
Most times I love this,
some times it drives me nuts.

#smallstone #honestwriting

Small stone: Jan. 1

Reminding myself,
Blank pages of the year ahead:
It doesn’t all have to happen tomorrow.
Or even the day after that.
Pace yourself, dear one.

#smallstones