Thanks A Lot

Thanks a lot
Thanks for the sun in the sky.

Thanks a lot
Thanks for the clouds so high.

Thanks a lot
Thanks a lot for the whispering wind.
Thanks a lot
Thanks a lot for the birds in the spring.

Thanks for the animals, thanks for the land, thanks for the people everywhere.

Thanks a lot
Thanks for all I got.   
~ Raffi
Summer 2010, North Idaho

Stone Dropper

I have been a bad blogger. Instead of writing about how bad I am I'm just gonna make it up to myself. Welcome myself back with open arms. Dive back in with my head first. I've been missed and the hugs feel good.



As you know, I look at life like a hike. A long journey with hills and valleys, mountains and streams. On my hikes in life and on the trail I pick up things. Stones, nuts, pretty things that I stick in my pocket to remind me of beauty. In life I may pick up inspiration, wisdom, friends. These things I stick in my heart. I carry it all right there but sometimes things and people get heavy.

I'm beginning to understand (especially in the past several months) the necessity of having to drop things. My time away from this, my most 2nd favorite past-time - blogging, has been spent learning how to drop things and leave them where they lie. This includes the souvenirs I have picked up over the years and people. How do you sort through all this stuff, especially when at one time this stuff was important to me?

It's not easy. It hurts. It's a decision to keep only the things you really love. It's a decision to keep only the people who really love you. It's deciding what's cluttering up your corners and what is adding beauty to the space.
It's deciding what is really important. It's looking yourself in the face and deciding if you want to be clutter in the corner or If you want to be the one adding beauty to the space.

It's really about me and how I feel about myself. It's about letting go and letting it be. It's the realization that, Yes, I am the master of me and no one or thing can weigh me down unless I let it.
So, here is another stone that I am letting drop from my pocket. . .

A Wintery Rundown of the Past Six Months (in no particular order)

Last Days of Summer.

Trip to North Idaho.

Clean sheets : )

Thanksgiving Day Nap.

Leaf tom-foolery.

Fall Front Yard Tree Climbing.

Myrtle Beach-Beach bum.

Camping in the Cherokee National Forest.