Let's make s'mores!

Here in New Jersey, it's been a tough winter so far, mostly because we've had several storms in a row with lots of snow. Outside my office window, it's piled higher along the roadway than I recall seeing in a long time, and summer seems so, so far away. But it will come, and when it does we need to have a campfire..... nice sized, and some logs to sit on, or lean against. There should be a few guitars, and at least a few songs..........preferably ones we can sing along with........but not Kumbaya. And we should tell stories. It doesn’t matter about what. And jokes.......good, bad, even groaners would do. Most importantly, we should laugh.....even be a bit silly.......and stretch our legs, lean back, feel the warmth of the fire, and the group, and the moment. Later, we’ll sleep, listening to the breeze on the canvas of the tent, and the forest bedding down around us. You should come.........we’ll have fun.

Minding What Really Matters

Martha Beck shares some deep wisdom in this post, and there's also a wonderful poem from Mary Oliver, whose name keeps coming up over and over in my reading recently.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half perfect?
I will keep my mind on what matters, which is my work,
Which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished…
Which is gratitude,
to have been given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleep dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.