Feeling the presence of God

God fills the universe. God is in the very molecules that touch my skin. When I sit quietly, I can feel the energy and warmth that is God, touching me and lifting me up. Enthusiasmos is the enthusiasm that comes from feeling God's presence. Today is the first Sunday of Advent, a beautiful sunny day. It's a good day for a walk, a good day for cleaning up the debris from yesterday's high winds and pulling up the last of the annuals (which are still blooming but finally looking a little scraggly).

Baking a Thanksgiving Pie

I am not an especially good cook (my natural impatience prevents that) but when I see an interesting recipe, my curiosity takes over and I feel compelled to gather in all the ingredients and follow the directions to completion. Today it is Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie. The first step is to crush gingersnaps and walnuts for a crust. I have given away my rolling pin, so I roll up the cookies and nuts in wax paper, plastic bag and dish towel and attack with a hammer. This is less than satisfactory as it leaves some chunks in with the finer crumbs and the walnuts resist crumbling altogether. But it will do. The remaining ingredients (along with my personal substitutions) mix together rather well and things are progressing nicely until I realize that, of course, I do not have the appropriate pan for baking the pie. Well, I do have a round cake pan which will work. It is not until about 15 minutes into the baking that I discover that the cake pan consists of two pieces - a bottom and the side part. I have purely by chance placed a flat pan under the cake pan so the leakage is not a complete tragedy and this pie looks and smells pretty darn good. You know what, I think it is going to taste good too.

Sunrise Swimmers

Every morning, as faithful as the sun, we slip into the silky smooth waters of our community pool. Suspended between heaven and earth we become otters, dolphins, mermaids basking in an element that challenges our normal breathing process. Although swimming is a somewhat solitary pursuit, we are kept company by the watery ghosts of those next to us. Swimming is the least stressful exercise I know and the most peaceful. We can swim languidly letting our minds wander where they will or we can swim energetically pursuing an endorphin high. When followed by a hot soak, an invigorating shower and various ministrations of body gel, shampoo and moisturizers, we are ready for whatever the day brings.

Defining "graciously"

In using the word "graciously" in the title of this blog, I am reminding myself to be gracious to others instead of crotchety as I age. I hope that it's possible to talk about aging in a gracious and realistic manner and to include both the joys and the difficulties of life at this age.

The First Twinge

We all seem to avoid the topic of age. When we are young, we try not to think about getting older. Denial is a great way to deal with this issue but only goes so far. The first twinge of disintegration causes us to feel diminished as a person. Somehow we are not who we thought we were. My first big diminishment came in the form of a knee replacement. This ended a lot of my physical activities and turned me into a person with mobility problems. This was not my normal view of myself and it became necessary to reconfigure my own identity. My complaints about physical ailments arise because of this feeling of diminishment as a person. It's not that I can't accept my disability but that I feel like I am less of a person because of it. Does that make sense?