Categories: uncategorized
Date: 21 June 2009 21:32:00
In this hemisphere of the globe, today has been the longest day of the year. However, I reckon that yesterday will turn out to be the longest day of the year for me, in terms of active waking hours. Allow me to elaborate...
I awoke yesterday at silly-o'clock with the sun streaming through a gap in the bedroom curtains. As I lay there, unable to get back to sleep, I found myself thinking of things I could do in the garden. After a while, it occurred to me that I may as well get up and do them! So, at about 6.30am I arose, and by 7.30am (after pottering about and having a bit of a prayer and bible study time) I was in my front garden playing among the flowers.
Come 9.00am, the sun was hiding behind some heavy clouds and I needed a cuppa. Using this as an excuse to rouse Husband and have breakfast, I took a bit of a break before we headed up to the allotment for 10.00am. The diasgreement between Husband and Environmental Bloke that I had feared would happen did not occur, and we spent a productive morning filling in an unneccesary trench (don't ask!)
Lunch took the form of a quick snack, and I then spent the greater part of the afternoon helping one of our allotment volunteers to saw some wood for edging the veg beds. During this time, I departed from my usual supporting role (handing over tools and steadying the end of planks, etc) and tried my hand at sawing. Not only are all my digits still intact, but I managed it okay and actually improved as the time progressed. I would say that this is due in no small part to the teaching style of the volunteer, and I ended the afternoon tired but feeling a profound sense of achievement!
After a soak in the bath and a bite to eat, Husband and I headed off to Swansea for a birthday celebration (thanks, Lanark!). By this time, I was in a state of happy exhaustion which, aided by some alcohol, made for a fab evening amongst good friends. It was great to catch up with so many people and have a laugh. Also, I realised that life must have taken a turn for the better over the last few months because my answer to the 'How are things?' question is no longer 'grumbly mumbly moan (paraphrase)'. Sometimes it takes that kind of thing to cause me to stop and take stock of how good things really are.
The other week I popped home to see my folks in Dorset. During this time, I read some letters that Mum had unearthed from my time at Uni. This caused me to recall my time there, and I began to suffer from the misty-eyed rose-tintedness of hindsight. However, it did not take me long to realise that life then was no better then than it is now - nor any worse. I may be greyer in the hair and creakier in the bones, but I still have the same capacity to love, laugh and be thankful. It is for that reason that I am writing this post. I do not just want to celebrate the good times in hindsight, looking back and saying how fab they were. I actually want to praise God for the simple pleasures of life as and when they happen. Looking back on things with a smile is not wrong, far from it, but I also want to live each moment to its fullest - sieze the day and all that.
The longest day is quite symbolic for me, but until now I have had mixed feelings about it. I have enjoyed it for what it is, mid-summer, but there has always been the thought that it signals the beginning of the evenings drawing in. However, that tendency to look forward with a little bit of gloom, and to look back at spring with some wistfulness, has clouded the day itself - metaphorically if not physically. Yesterday I think that may have changed. Living in the here and now means that you do not lose the moment in thoughts of all your yesterdays or all your tomorrows, and that makes alot of sense - especially when the sun is shining and life is so very good!