Susan here - and here we are, a full year into making our way through this peculiar time on Planet Earth. And today I'm bringing to the blog a refreshed assortment of quotes and thoughts and pretty pictures to help us as we go along.
In our family, all the adults have been vaccinated now, which is a very good thing. And we are still being just as careful as before, mostly staying home, not seeing much of family and friends beyond the virtual, and staying masked and distanced when we do venture out. One of our sons is still treating covid patients in a major hospital, and that's a dose of reality that keeps us all aware. My husband I both work at home most of the time, and being dedicated introverts, that's just fine with us -- and a year later, we’re not climbing the walls quite yet.
But now and then, the stress and the strangeness of it creeps in, and I’m turning more and more to things that help me relax, stretch, clear the mind, fill the reserves.
“You used to be much more … muchier. You’ve lost your muchness,” said the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.
And I don’t want to go there, nor do you. Let’s all keep our muchness as we navigate our way through this Fire Swamp (while blithely mixing metaphors). I hope you are faring well, and finding your own way through the swamp.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes – and some favorite images – that I hope will brighten your day.
“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort.”
--Jane Austen, Emma
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all –
--Emily Dickinson
"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering." –A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
“Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” —Hermann Hesse
"Peace is always beautiful."
-- Walt Whitman
"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content." --Helen Keller
"Work is not always required. There is such a thing as sacred idleness."
--George MacDonald
"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." -- Saint Francis de Sales
“Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?”
“Supposing it didn’t,” said Pooh after careful thought.
Piglet was comforted by this. – A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
"I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then." – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
"Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing higher, nothing stronger, nothing larger, nothing more joyful, nothing fuller, and nothing better in heaven or on earth." Thomas a Kempis
“Just always be waiting for me.” -- James M. Barrie, Peter Pan
"All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well."
--Julian of Norwich
“True love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops. Everybody knows that.”
― William Goldman, The Princess Bride
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”
– Charles M. Schulz
What are you doing to make your way through the perils of the Fire Swamp? And what are some of your favorite quotes?