Dear Reader:

John Kieran once wrote reflectively ” I am part of all I have read.”

I recognize this statement almost every day of my life. If we were lucky enough to be read to… growing up… don’t we remember metaphors and examples from those early stories…in confronting new adult situations ? The experience or change might be new to us … but it reminds us of a similar dilemma from a fairy tale, an adventure book or imagination stories?

For example…Each time I make a comment about a new experience I am in the midst of … and starting to feel more comfortable with… I imagine myself as Goldilocks trying out new items before choosing the one that fits and feels ” just right.” These fable connections never cease to bring me familiarity and with that… comfort! .

Friday night I got up around 2am to hit the restroom and then realized I was thirsty-after grabbing a water bottle I wandered in the den and was taking a big gulp when the room lit up… I felt like I was in a Sci-Fi movie… quickly it became apparent that I was witnessing heat lightning… only seen in the summer.

It is so eerie because the human ear doesn’t pick up the distant thunder… so it feels like the inky skies have a bad bulb that is about to go out… and it is blinking rapidly in quick successions. Eerie but so beautiful!

I decided to move my pillow and blanket to the sofa and watch my own personal fireworks… apparently I fell asleep and was awakened by the thunder that had caught up with the lightning by 4 am… a lot of noise but surprisingly no rain… as I discovered yesterday morning.

It was Oscar Wilde who once wrote: ” Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” He goes on to explain that what is found in life and nature, is not what is really there… but it is that which artists have taught people to look for and find there.

For example fog has existed in London for centuries … but today London and fog are synonymous because poets and painters have taught the loveliness of this effect-not recognized until art invented it.

For example … as in this Claude Monet artwork…

So until tomorrow… this past week has been an ” open book” for me-in the sense that I had a whole week by myself to read… it has been a long time since I have had that much time alone ( all the grandkids were at camps) but it, also, felt like a ” closed book” in the sense that it felt like a waiting week-but I wasn’t sure what lay ahead- I ” closed myself” inside as thundershowers appeared frequently and settled in happily in my ” woman cave.”

As of yesterday… I have discovered there was something forming… but tomorrow is another day for more revelations to come.

Like open and closed books… some of my garden flowers are thriving in this semi-tropical hot, wet climate while others have ” closed” up shop for the season.

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh