Tea and Roses and Dreams Come True

On Saturday, I spent a most wonderful day at the Huntington Library with my husband Bruce, our son Jason and his wonderful wife Georgette.

It was splendid.

We had lunch in the Rose Tea Room

And wandered through the spectacular gardens

But it was the thought behind the afternoon that will always stay with me.

When I decided to go back to school and finish my degrees in late 90's, I was sent on one of those ghastly field trips to the Huntington. The purpose of the trip eludes me now...but the goal I set does not.

When I was there, I found out that there was a Scholar's Library that you must be a ...well, you must be a scholar in order to request admission. As I stood there with my ten little community college credits grasped tightly in my heart, I promised myself that I would one day gain access.

And now I have.

My family remembered.

And I will never forget that they did.

Thank you.

The Plod Quickens

I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.

William Carey

I have a cold.

I am rather fond of this cold because I got it from my granddaughter when I was carrying her about on Halloween.

I will probably even miss the sniffles when they go away because they are a little attachment to her across the miles.

As much as I would like to snuggle in my reading chair, sipping herbal tea and feeling cozy in a robe with my tissues close at hand- life goes on, and the cold will simply have to join me on my daily rounds.

And so off I go…on a

walk…one foot in front of the other for my daily dose of three miles.

grumble grumble sniffle sniffle

I have to do it...I don't have to like it

I guess it is a metaphor for life.

When there is something to be done…and you know what it is....then best to be doing it.

Today, as you plod and persevere, my sniffles and I salute you.

Paine-Staking

We have it in our power to begin the world over again.

Thomas Paine 1776

I saw this quote on a visit to the Huntington Library yesterday. As is the case with so much of what Mr. Paine said, sadly the ideal did not always bear out in fact. This was evident in the pictures and writings in the next display that showed the horrors and atrocities as newly minted Americans mowed down cultures in their indefatigable quest for land and riches.

But it was the loveliest of Southern California afternoons, and we had just had a superb tea luncheon at the Rose Garden Café with our son and his wife; so I lifted the carpet of time and swept my dark thoughts beneath.

But something beckoned, so I decided to give Mr. Paine another chance and re-read his quote:

We have it in our power to begin the world over again.

This time, of course, I thought of how this election can and has changed us as a people.

This was a shinier thought, and I let it linger.

Nope...still not quite the thing.

One more look….

We have it in our power to begin the world over again.

And when I got home, I wrote the words in a careful hand, and I put them on my mirror

My mantra

My marching orders

My mandate

Now I understand, Mr. Paine. Thank you.