Greetings, dear readers. It’s very early on a Tuesday morning. It’s been one of those weeks – I’ve been present in the world, working, feeding the pets, doing my stuff, a few things even got done. But I’m living in my head. Wheels turning, gears grinding, sometimes unaware and tripping over stuff because I’m not even looking out there. It can be kind of fun – although, after the second or third bruised shin or elbow, I get a little more wary of head-noodling while walking.

I can’t say I’ve come up with any grand scheme of anything. It’s more like making soup than inventing the lightbulb. A whole bunch of stuff went into it, more gets thrown in here and there, it’s all stirring around and it hasn’t quite melded into any one entity yet. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. This mix is a bit unpredictable.
If I’ve come around to any one notion, it’s accepting what’s in front of me. Life’s a kaleidoscope, not a menu. You get to choose where to focus, you get to marvel in the beauty – you don’t get to send it back or complain to the server. Well – you could. But it’s not likely to get you anywhere. So I’m working on changing my response to things I can’t change. When I’ve got the whole kaleidoscope in front of me, why should I choose to focus on the colors I like less?

That doesn’t mean ignoring the hard things in this world. There are injustices and acts of violence and bad decisions that lead to worse consequences. I get sad and mad and riled up at that stuff. I look for something I can do. I do what I can and move on. For me – that can’t be where I live. Where I do live there are four sweet, funny, furry faces waiting for me. I am greeted with yips and wags and purrs and head rubs, no matter if I’ve been gone eight hours or eight minutes. There are flowers in the backyard and tomatoes on the porch. The birds decided my floral choices needed help and they planted two, now thriving, sunflowers in with my Gerbera daisies. The deer wander through and bring their babies. The blue jays squabble at the feeder until a red-bellied woodpecker shows them who’s boss, while the titmice pop in and out, fearless. My older cat climbs into my lap for her morning cuddle, shedding and rumbling happily.

It’s crazy mix – but somehow the whole shifting thing goes together and it’s beautiful.  Wishing you beauty in your days – a whole kaleidoscope-worth.

Kaleidoscope image by magdahertzberg on pixabay.

Stay tuned for more on the Here’s a Quarter blog next week! As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome – they are moderated (I know – adulting again), so they may take a little while to appear, but I read them all and appreciate that you were here. Thank you!

My new story collection is now available: Dog Days . I’d love to hear your thoughts if you check it out!