There was a time in my life when reading sci-fi or fantasy, I could imagine myself as the hero. You know you are getting old when you are too old to be the hero. This line of thought started when I saw a psot by David Brin, author of The Postman. I read that when I was younger; I was sad for the only use the bad guys had for the older women was as child care. Today I am reading a book that made me think of wandering through a magical doorway, and realized I couldn't help the wizard anymore.

I think I might need to eat again, or maybe just sit down with a nice cup of tea in my rocking chair.

Ode to my always moving ancestors, who passed the desire on to me. Except, I am now planting myself, mentally and physically unpacking, growing things, moving in.

It took me a year and a cucumber smile to feel like this, pioneering into the future instead of moving to another space. 

The incurable optimism of the farmer who throws his seed on the ground every spring, betting it and his time against the elements, seemed inextricably to blend with the creed of her pioneer forefathers that "it is better further on" - only instead of farther on in space, it was farther on in time, over the horizon of the years ahead instead of the far horizon of the west. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

The turtle has always been a symbol of home. You are your home, wherever you are, is where you should unpack. 

Are you settled or stil just camping out?

In between raindrops I took a cup of tea outside, into my own little (really little) garden. The day was wavering between staying stormy and the thoughtfully sunny. Walking in the wet grass and pulling a couple of weeds made me smile. 

Favorite things can make gray days seem brighter, and not just with the camera. This cup was a gift from a friend, who thought she owed me a gift because I gave her one. She didn't, but I took the cup. I don't think she realized how much this sweet little cup means to me. 

What makes the bridge between totally stormy or blue skies? A friendly cup of tea, for me. 

Does this mean I don't have to feel bad and depressed because so many things are left unfinished at the end of the day?

A single, giant to-do list paralyzes people. Instead, make yourself a separate, shorter daily list, known as the hit list. I ask myself every night, 'If I get nothing else accomplished tomorrow, what are the two or three things that I would absolutely have to complete to make me feel as if it were a productive day? ~Laura Stack, author of Find More Time

The bells exploded in my head as I read this, and the squirrels danced.

Truly, we can only get done what we can get done. We kill ourself trying to get it all checked off, but really, we can't. 

We need to breathe deeply, and give ourselves permission to stop and end our day. Our ending absolutely has to leave us time to regenerate and restore before we go to sleep, or our day intrudes into our sleep in the dreams we might not remember. 

We need this during our days, too, at the beginning and the middle, not just the end. You have to make them, these breathing spaces. They do not magically happen.

Do you have a breating space?

My life is insane. Multi-tasking is threaded throughout my life, it is a part of me. It is, however, crazy-making. Sometimes what I need to do is narrow my focus, letting everything but the moment stay fuzzy, soft, and in the background. Be where I am now. 

Writing gives me this, and photography, walking through trees, listening to the creek flow or the ocean wave. With these, I can let the rest of my crazy life fall away, for a little while at least.

When do you live in the moment?