What sustains you? What do you do that makes you feel grounded or makes you feel for just that moment, that all is right with the world?
I have been asking my friends this lately and wonder, what would you say?
As for me, this photo is part of the answer.
My morning ritual unfolds like this.
When I come downstairs, I put the fire on under the blue tea kettle.
Then I let Calley out of her crate and take her outside, first up the hill behind the house and
then down the driveway to pick up the New York Times which is wrapped in blue plastic.
As I walk back up the hill, our brown dog leaps along beside me, all excited about a new day.
By the time we get back to the house, the water is boiling. I take a round tea bag from the red
Typhoo tea box (I only know of two stores in the Boston area where I can buy this English tea)
drop it into a hand painted Italian mug and let it steep for awhile.
I then add a sugar lump and some milk and carry it to the table.
Now for the Times. I glance at the headlines and editorials. I spend more
time reading them these days. There's a lot to keep on top of!
Then I take the Arts section and fold it back to the crossword puzzle.
Mondays are joyful as I breeze through the puzzle feeling really smug.
As the week goes on they get harder but years of practice have prepared me for this.
I know the difference between axel and axle, I know Jackie's second husband's first name.
I know the name of the river that flows through Florence, I know Woody's son.
Filling in the squares, figuring out the theme, feeling my mind crank away to remember
obscure facts is really satisfying. It is the one thing I can measure in a day.
The steaming cup of tea, the puzzle, the sun streaming in. Ah, these are the small pleasures.
5 comments:
That's neat, Barb.
Being engrossed in puzzles sustains me. Mind puzzles, hand puzzles, relationship puzzles, organizational puzzles. Tangled up fishing line sustains me. But I could never get into jigsaw puzzles. They always seemed stupid.
My newspapers are wrapped in orange and blue. Except on Sunday...Tan.
How about the big Dipper straight up at this time of year....facing Orion, hand held high, across a cobalt sky. That sustains me too.
Wonderful, Barb - especially having been a part of it so recently. I wake up, splash water on my face, stick the electric toothbrush in my mouth, shuffle down to the kitchen, turn on the coffee, shuffle back to the bathroom, drop off the toothbrush, shuffle back to the kitchen to get my now brewed coffee, flip on Morning Joe on MSNBC, flip on the computer, here I am :)
Reading your entry, Barby, reminded me of the joy of coming to visit you during high school. The scene that you describe (while not yet available to you at that time) is one that I always felt when I came for the weekend. I always felt far away from my Andover life, completely relaxed and at peace with the world. It regrounded me. Thank you for reminding me of those weekends.
What a perfect way to start the day! My students had to write on "A Ritual" last week, so we had a big discussion about rituals. I look forward to sharing this with them!
Morning ritual for me? Everyday a new one...sometimes tea, sometimes coffee, sometimes reading student essays, sometimes emptying garbage on the way to the garage to get frozen blueberries out of the freezer, and sometimes up and out to walk with a friend as the day brightens...but for me, it's always a surprise. Your ritual makes me feel like a whirling dervish...I want to adopt your morning ritual, but the thought of a crossword puzzle makes me cringe...all puzzles do! Mrs. Blume got that right back in 1960!
Thanks, Barb. It was a treat!
Sylvia ( I never know if readers come back to comments but I'll assume you do)
I remember your visits from Andover well. You used to love to make applesauce in the fall and take some home to the dorm. I bought a bushel of apples from a local orchard the other day that I am slowing making into sauce to freeze. Thanks for the inspiration all those years ago. Love, B.
Post a Comment