This is something to which I haven’t really given a lot of thought. But for the sake of playing along (and hey, why not think about
it?) here is what today’s list looks like:1) I’d love to see the Grand Canyon. I’m not really a desert person (though I came to appreciate it after a trip to Israel), but the magnificence of this place calls to me with increasing frequency as I get older. I don’t think it’s the aging part of aging, if you know what I mean, but the maturing. I have a deeper appreciation for so many things as I
trip over life or it splashes over me.2) Visit Cantabria on the north coast of Spain. I discovered this gem quite by accident one day, and fell in love with its geography. It strikes me as a kind of blend of Switzerland and Scotland. I'm a landscape girl, and the more dramatic a landscape, the better for me. Like a carrot on a stick. Gotta go!
3) Learn how to paint watercolor. It is my fa
vorite style of painting—I love the capacity for intense or muted color, and softened edges that invite the viewer into a gentler world. I took a course some years back but didn’t learn how to paint. The instructor was more interested in giving us assignments and correcting or admiring our work than providing us with the tools to take us deeply into the art. Melrose is the perfect place to paint, and it is a lost opportunity whenever I am there.
4) Build a klatch of friends who gather regularly for good times and even better relationships. The great disadvantage of changing geographies in one's life is the lack of history one has in a place. When I lived in St. Louis people had grown up together, been in each other's weddings, knew all the same people (for better or worse). I don't regret having lived in different places, but I lament the impact that has had on long term relationships.
An annual trip would be nice…
5) Take an Alaskan cruise with my husband. I've been on one cruise in my life, and that I took with some friends a mere ten days after Ken and I were married. We joke about how I took our honeymoon without him, but he has a tender spot around the fact that we haven't done something like that together.
13 comments:
I know exactly what you mean about the disadvantages of moving. I have lived that way, too, and I am always jealous of the people I meet along the way who have known each other forever. I hate leaving a group I feel like I have joined knowing they are going to reach so many milestones together and I'm going to have to start over. I have done a fairly good job at maintaining the relationships with my friends from college (something about the pre-ministry phase of my life make that an important group to hang on to), but we certainly aren't together as much as I wish we were. Or at least I'm not with them as much. They all live much closer to each other than my ministry has taken me.
A good list. I'll have to consider mine. I do agree with the problem of not having a close (personally and well as geographically close) group of friends. I have seen the Grand Canyon and it is not by any means a desert place. It is surrounded by pine woods, at least on the southern rim where I was. In fact a wonderful drive is from Phoenix (which is desert, through Arizona and so many different ecosystems up to the Grand Canyon. You have to go to Sedona which is in the middle of the most unique landscape and very spiritual. I know you shouldn't say "most unique" but anyway...
Pam
wonderful list! i also loved your idea over at Deb's (?) for a BE in Ireland!
my hubby and i also want to do an Alaskan cruise. we began looking this year but this will not be the year.:( i hope it can come true for you sooner than later.
peace
Mmmmmm....watercolor.
I have moved a lot in my life...know what you mean....great photos and good list! If you ever want a trip to the Grand Canyon, let me know - I'm in the area!
Oh, I understand the struggle between roots & wings... grew up thinking I'd be a Methodist minister, forever placeless and itinerant. As my call unfolded, I realized that part of my calling was to offer my gifts as a person rooted in one place. Now I have a farm and it strengthens my weary traveler soul...but I've renewed my quest for a way to engage with the larger community, and I wonder if I'll ever find a balance!
I love all your pictures... and #4 is so powerful.... even living in only a few places, I desire the same thing, more intentional and deeper relationships.
*ahem* start planning that cruise with your hubby...
and #4 i can so deeply, deeply relate to... i almost wrote something similar in mine, but delted it... yeah depth. *sigh* there are days, when a gathering of the girlfriends would be ideal...
I too get the moving around thing and the price paid in relationships for those wonderful adventures. We are settled now and I am very grateful--part of the reason I am so into delving into Benedictine spirituality and the promise/value of stability recently.
I hope you get to take that Alaskan cruise, sooner rather than later!
Can you send me an email address to which I can send a Yahoo group invitation for potential founding members of the new Benedictine community (and where we can talk about the Spiritual Exercises possibility)? sophiasprayersATgmailDOTcom.
Such good selections (for today)--I forgot to mention an Alaska cruise. Although we grew up in WA State, we never went to Alaska, and now we are even farther away--in TX.
I'd never heard of Cantabria until now--enticing as I love Scotland. I'll have to google that.
Watercolor paintings are my favorite kind of art.
A great list! :c)
Yes, a great list! There are so many places I'd like to see too. And I like the idea of building that klatch of friends...
I've been very, very fortunate in my life in that I still have my best friend from grade school and her sister. We do meet regulary, either alone or with our families and they are my family. I have been blessed to have them for friends the last 40 years.
There are lots of places I'd love to see before I died, but again I've been so fortunate to have seen so much more than I ever dreamed possible. There are a few other things I'd like to accomplish, but nothing pressing or nothing that I would feel that I would ever regret if I didn't get there or experienced it. I'm either very content, or past being adventurous. It seems now that it's things I want to make sure that I share with my daughter. Experiences together and as a family. Does any of this make sense? I do love your list, and I guarantee you, you will love the Grand Canyon!
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