Dear Reader:

Isn’t it funny how we can live somewhere for a lengthy period of our lives and not see something right in front of us? That happened to me yesterday morning…when my eyes were finally opened.

You remember that my Ya friend, Libby, spent Saturday night at the B&B (to attend a high school reunion) and stayed over Sunday. We made lunch after I got back from my storytelling at church and then proceeded to the back deck where we literally stayed until five o’clock when Libby reluctantly left the quietude of the “sanctuary” we both felt throughout the day.

It was so pretty and sitting in the shade on the deck the temperature was perfect. The sky was sapphire blue and I remember staring up at it as we talked about our children, grandchildren, with dreams and hopes for both.

It was after Libby left and the darkness quickly closed in that the feeling of having forgotten something I needed to do crept in….the change in time making me feel a little off-kilter. (which I talked about in yesterday’s blog.)

I texted Libby a couple of hours after she left to make sure she made it home (Columbia) okay and she texted back “Made it home fine…but then just wanted to turn around and come back to the B&B for longer…exactly what I needed.” 

It was exactly what we both needed. The nice thing about being around old friends is that we don’t have to explain feelings or actions because our friend knows us probably better than we know ourselves. We can have lapses of a comfortable silence…not commonly found with other acquaintances in our daily lives because we have shared so much living history together.

I am creeping along with Book 13 of the Louise Penny series because I don’t want to finish it…not knowing when the next one will appear. It is kind of scary. I am already getting a bad case of: (my new word)

Angsticipation
When you finish the latest book in a series, it ends on a serious cliffhanger, and there isn’t even an estimated publication date for the next book in the series yet. (!!!)

Yesterday morning (Monday) I went back out on the deck where Libby and I had spent most of Sunday and looked up in the sky. I immediately sat up, stared, and then started laughing. Libby had made several comments throughout the day Sunday how peaceful my back yard and garden is…quiet, serene, and relaxing.

Sunday night when I read my (self-imposed two chapter allotment ) I underlined a wonderful comment Gamache made about his beloved village of Three Pines.

“Three Pines is a state of mind. When we choose tolerance over hate. Kindness over cruelty. Goodness over bullying. When we choose to be hopeful, not cynical. Then we live in Three Pines.”

I was re-thinking that passage yesterday morning on the deck…and how much I love my town of Summerville…it is the place I proudly call home and it, too, is the land of tall pines…a town where the pine is sacred.

I looked up into the sky and there smack dab in front of the deck were three of my tall pines clustered together. My “Three Pines” ….my state of mind…my sanctuary of peace and tranquility.

Yes…life will go on after I finish Book 13…because I have my own “Three Pines” too and many Armand Gamache friends who make my day with acts and thoughts of kindness. I don’t need to climb into the book…I just need to open my eyes and see  “Three Pines” in my own back yard.

So until tomorrow…Let us find our own “Three Pines” …that secret sanctuary of peace where we can  find serenity and  kindness.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh