Transitions

May 18, 2018.  Transitions happen, ready or not. I wasn’t. This is day eleven of our new indoor-only cat living the outdoor-only lifestyle. I’ll spare details, but she violated Gary’s tolerance one too many times. This has been harder on me than on the cat, but I am observing her absolute glee with the outdoors and coming around to interpreting her plaintive meows as less complaint than plea for me to join her out there!

All changes again when we begin summer travels.  Both cats will be indoors for the duration.  Both will be very ready to explore the yard when we return. And perhaps at that point, the older cat and younger cat will share in-and-out privileges equally. I have fingers crossed. But I am open to the possibility that this little catalyst may have yet more to teach me.

This image I created for the 2010 Gathering of Circles – http://www.gatheringofcircles.com

 

Rocking On

April 12, 2016.  This post is a tribute to Story Circle Network  and its founder Susan Wittig Albert – for the force motivating me (and so many others!) to put into writing the stories running through our lives, our hopes.  I found Story Circle in 2000 when I was still getting my feet wet writing poetry.  At my first Story Circle workshop, prompted to write about something important to me, I spurted out the story of the rocking chair that helped me transition from home to college.  I was hesitant to read aloud, but that seemed to be expected, and so I read.  Susan Albert’s exclamation “You’re a writer!”  went right to my heart.

Now Story Circle has given this blog its “Star Blogger” endorsement.  I’ll figure out soon how to make this badge part of the blog’s opening pages (learning curves never end!) but for now …

… in gratitude, I go back to that rocking chair.  Like many a story that defines me, over time my telling of the story tightens to the essentials.  It feels really good to do so adding an image.  (Those clouds are the sky two days ago over Austin’s  St. Edwards University.)