Shelter Gardens

today was take Sally to the hairdresser and shopping day
and it went very well
I apologized to her in person and she apologized back
so we had a nice new start together.

after dropping her off to get poofaunted which takes a couple of hours
I had the idea to go to a thrift store and look at books
and found a very nice shirt for $1
oh, and this is very sweet:
as I was parking the car before going inside
a car pulled into the street parking space ahead of me
so this young woman and I got out of our vehicles at the same time

I started to walk across the street and then saw her pull out her wallet
to get $ for the meter
and thanked her for the reminder
yes, we do need to feed the meters on Saturday
and just as I got out my wallet,
she beat me to it and popped money into mine!

a RAK? I asked her? "a Random Act of Kindness?" she echoed...
yes, I guess it is
and we smiled and I told her it made my day

inside the thrift store
the thought came to me: I wish I had paper to write her a little note
went over to the book and magazine section
and sure enough
a 1/2 used box of very pretty stationery with flowers and two butterflies
only 25-cents and perfect

right next to the stationery
was a lovely little book about Mothers and Daughters
and it is perfect for my Mom
so for $1.50 I had a nice thrift store experience

I darted out the store before my nice lady friend came out
and wrote her a note that I tucked into her windshield wiper blade:

"Nice Lady... you!" was on the envelope

I hope she didn't get worried when she saw it:
oh no I got a ticket!

Having heard from Peter after 29 years having written in his journal
put me in this very nice space of wanting to connect with another stranger
and most especially to acknowledge kindness...

then I went to the public library and that was a good decision
there were many carts in the entryway with books for sale
raising money for the library
Friends of the Library were there with a table
and so I perused the shelves and this book jumped out at me

years ago, when this cancer thing was still new
I was wrestling with the whole of it and as I had started to walk
to gain strength and settle myself emotionally
I was at a park with a small river running through

on the bridge - it was autumn - I leaned against the railing and watched the river
I thought: what am I going to do with all these experiences I am having?
there is part of me that wants to write it down
another part of me that never wants to pick up a proverbial/literal pen
or sit down to a keyboard again

what am I doing? I asked myself.
is this a journey I am on?
I am tired of the overused word journey
I am tired of path
I am not inspired by process
and a whole slew of words just got mentally tossed into the river

I picked up four outstandingly beautiful Missouri autumn leaves
and tossed them into the air from the bridge
they represented Gary and Brandon and Bryan and me
three of the leaves came together in the water and started traveling
together
the 4th leaf was on its own
looking at the water and listening to it,
I thought that my course at this time in my life is "my river"
and so that image has been with me ever since

I almost called this blog "my river"...

in the library today a book cover grabbed my attention:
it was a beautiful golden autumn leaf floating in a river and the book
is called:
Time Is a River
by: Mary Alice Monroe

reading the cover jacket, I held tight to the book
and gladly paid $.50 for it, a lovely hardbound story
meant to be in my hands

the dedication reads:

This book is dedicated to
my mother, Elayne Cryns,
my grandmother, Alice Monogue,
my friend, Carol Martino,
and to all our loved ones
who have lost the battle
with breast cancer.

And to all the valiant survivors.

how about that?

I picked Sally up and then took her to the grocery store
I then took my new book-friend and went for the first time
(shame on me!) to Shelter Gardens to read for an hour or so

the sound of running water made a great background
the little man-made stream became "my river"
and an authentic one room schoolhouse with a set of
old-fashioned desks became my reading room

on the way out
gazing into the water watching the koi sparkle in the sun
leaning on a bridge
I was transported to another time
yes, time is a river that
I was drawn back to
splash