Turning the Big Sixo

Here I am in May in Carlisle, PA turning the BIG SIXO on our big trip EAST in a field of flowers one of my favorite things in life. I am standing in a field of spring flowers along the LeTort River on a hike. I am grateful for our son who found this cool hiking area to go on a steamy spring day and for the great wild lavendar, white and fushia flowers that greeted us all along the way.

I am also grateful for sixty years of good people in my life like swell flowers and the many ways to heal from various roadblocks.... with nature being one of them. I am finding myself pondering more these days after our trip and reflecting on what I want to do in the days ahead AFTER sixty.

I hope to follow some creative pursuits and find more ways to get personal renewal for my daily journey through nature, gardening, flowers, books and friends, family and outrageous faith in justice for all. There is also a need for more quiet time and space to regroup..... and time to be with those we love and places we love......... ordinary things sometimes or new things sometimes.

Celebrate with me the wonder of sixty years of life on this planet earth as we all try to tread more lightly on the planet and make it a safer place for ALL who dwell therein. Also time to celebrate 39 years of marriage through all the ups and downs, ins and outs..... curve and straight balls of any relationship.

And time to notice the ducks having babies at the lake again and the simple things -- like finding ten eggs next door under a bush with the momma duck quietly sitting to protect them. It seems the ducks even know it is a vacation day and they are having a heyday swimming, resting and enjoying the fourth of july and various kinds of freedom.

It is time to water some flowers, think about other places like England, Oxford and the Chilterns with colorful hikes and conferences where our son is now --- in a country NOT celebrating Independence Day today --- CA where our daughter is taking in the water at a new solar heated pool, Iraq where our dear son in law is now (but celebrating the new GI BILL passing) .....

It is time to enjoy the new colorful day lilies in our garden (that I planted last year), new daisies coming up again, and a new red/pink hibiscus blooming for the first time! And the banana tree is bearing fruit in CA for the first time in the yard / garden my daughter has planted. It is time to celebrate sixty years of life through all the crazy times, the creative times and the joys of having children and watching them grow into adulthood..... joys beyond our knowing.

Also time to water the veggies, move the rhubarb to a sunnier spot eventually, pull some weeds when I get time, trim a reddish bush, sit my my old timey chairs in the garden, read a book and recover from some nasty chigger bites this week -- also a mole is going crazy in our front yard (or two or a colony), some aphids are eating a poor rose bush ..... with a trip to see friends coming next week.

I am mostly enjoying the baby ducks at the lake today and summer lazy daze. It is time for watering a neighbor's flowers and time to find some clear water to get into like the ducks!! Go plants, flowers, water, friends, sixty years of life on the earth as we know it and ducks!