Sunday, October 3, 2010

Watching Aloe Grow

Funny how things change.
 
Courtesy Arie Van De Graaff at mormoncartoonist.com

Sundays used to be a time of great stress, dressing up and corralling four kids and a husband to haul ourselves down to church for three hours of intense brainwashing gathering with our community in communion. Heh.

Not to mention running myself ragged in some calling or other dealing with actual PEOPLE outside my comfortable circle of family and friends. It's one of the downsides to being an introvert. I could write a small cupboard's worth of books on how-to-survive Planet Earth as an introvert in our relentlessly extroverted American culture (not to mention exhaustively social church).

Oh, why wasn't I born in some quiet British corner of the world to raise five cats and a luscious garden while sitting by a cozy fire, knitting mittens for orphans in a cozy stone cottage with a thatched roof covered in roses/hollyhocks/delphinium? (you see, this is the stuff of my dreams, not river-rafting the Colorado rapids or touring the pyramids with Tony Bourdain--well, not these days anyway).


Instead, I get to live the boring staid life right here, in our little condo--surrounded again, by PEOPLE who wake you up at ungodly hours blasting harp--yes, harp--music for some god-forsaken reason. Not that I don't totally enjoy a good harp concerto (I do, kinda) any more than the next person, just not when I'd rather enjoy a few more (please-oh-please) red-hot minutes with Vin Diesel in dreamland...wait, what was I saying? Oh, yes. In my Utah County neck of the woods, where no Christopher Robin resides, alas.


But at least I get to walk past my childrens' rooms, hearing their snores, and open the windows to let some Autumn birdsong in, and visit with my extended blog-family (that would be you) while waking up with a cup of lemongrass green tea and watching the aloe vera growing in the streaming morning sunlight.


No, we may not be saving the world one soul at a time, including ours, but then, it's enlightening to realize we never had to. Now go enjoy the rest of your Sunday in...

17 comments:

  1. Such a beautiful post, Lorna. I'm like you; I prefer to go through everyday life quietly. Your dreams speak to me. (Especially that Vin one...)

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  2. Psh, I do not snore...most of the time.

    And I do love the way you write, I definitely I get my talent from you. (:

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  3. Ah, how I enjoy being able to have my Sundays to myself. Instead of having to fake my way through church, I get to sleep in and best of all- be myself. Cheers to the lack of pressure in my life! :)

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  4. I figure that if you are going to be up in the dark before dawn to "borrow" the neighbor's Sunday newspaper you darn well deserve to read it at length and in peace without harp music (really? -from inside or outside the house?) or having to set it aside to go to church.

    Sabbath is a precious word to an introvert, and is something wasted on (or laid waste by) extroverts!

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  5. Janna; Nice to meet a fellow Vin connoisseur...and I like how you put that--we like to go through life quietly. Yes :)

    Alyse; don't kid yourself; you do, on occasion, snore (you get that from me) but you get your talent from YOU :)

    BogGirl; love how you put that, you get to be YOU. Amen. That means everything. How peaceful is that :)

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  6. Lydia; You made me smile! Love how you think :) (reading others' newspapers in peace, heh). Harp music wafted up to me from inside, kid you not. Love that you 'get' how precious the Sabbath is to introverts. Well spoken. Thank you for that!

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  7. I love the peacefulness here. That cottage is one of my dream houses - the other being a cabin on a lake in the woods.

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  8. I added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to.

    God Bless You ~Ron

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  9. Well Lorna what can I say...the thatched cottage certainly is what some dreams are made of..the harp music I would one of those that loves to listen to it but I assure you I would NOT be one to disturb neighbors and the tea sounds delicious! You are blessed with little ones that snore! love and light Anna
    (1 more week before move day! EEKS!!)

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  10. Sorry I'm late. I think I rushed thru when you first posted this but didn't comment. I'm with you on the little cottage in the countryside, only mine would be in Ireland. Actually, I've had a smidgeon of a dream off and on over the years of me sitting on a stool in front of a roaring stone fireplace, like in a castle, with me doing needlework, and wonder if it's just because I like that time period, or if perhaps I lived in it!

    Introverts unite! (Oh wait, would that mean we have to get together and actually interact?)

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  11. What? Harp music? Well, I guess you can be thankful it's not bagpipes but still...

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  12. Deb; no kidding! btw Anna, over at Nature Trail (see my blog list to the right) is doing just that! Only it's a cottage on the lake. Dreams do come true...

    Old Geezer; thank you Ron! Nice to have you on board the buoy :)

    Nature Girl; can't wait to hear how the move went!!! God Bless :)

    Linda; you had me rolling on the floor with the introvert comment! SO TRUE! It's the interacting that brings fear into our eyes, lol. Ireland...yes, I could see you doing that :)

    Debbie; shhhhhh; don't give the neighbors any ideas! Guess I should be grateful it was harps and not bagpipes, that would have upended me right out of that bed...

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  13. I recall the mayhem when my family went to church growing up. My mom getting all four of us ready, then herself, putting the dog out, the dinner in the oven, my dad sitting in the car smoking a cigar (heating up the car.)

    Totally get the introvert thing. Hope all is well.
    J

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  14. Serenity is THE word for visits here. Harp music, a whimsical thatched cottage, lemongrass tea, and the comforting soft snores of children in their little beds...ahhh.

    (By the way, I pictured your children all in seven little beds in one long room under that thatched roof - a la The Seven Dwarfs. Hope that's not creepy!)

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  15. I guess Blogger ate my comment the other day - seems to be happening to be a lot these days.

    You are sooooo me. The second and third paragraphs - introvert - oh, yes, that's me. Thatched cottage? Me. Cats? Cozy fire? Knitting for orphans? Me, me, me.

    Except I live in house, not a condo, I hear raucous country and rock from Fred at top volume, and my children are grown and gone.

    Cherish those little snores, for one day, you'll be alone with just the harp music. And the aloe.

    Thank you for this perfect blend of whimsy, fantasy, and poignancy. I LOVED this post!

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  16. Goodness; I've been remiss and distracted and have not been checking my blog comments! I've been mindful of you, visiting some of your blogs, and forgetting my own, lol. What can I say? Taking care of business here has consumed much of my creative energy...otherwise, all is well.

    Julie; love the image of your dad with the cigar, lol. Your poor mom must have been exhauste...

    Ethelmae; goodness, it is creepy, because somewhere in your vision you added three children to my family! Oh Fred and his raucous music made me laugh; you can always tell him to pipe down, if he wants another home-cooked meal...and I am so cherishing these moments. There's a post to be written, the pangs I'm feeling as my teens grow and 'leave' me in little ways (not needing me so much, etc.)

    Hugs to you my friends <3

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