The table is set.
The people who are the most thankful are those who didn't have to cook. Amul India Restaurant. Dublin, Ohio
Don't forget to set your scales back
ten pounds this week.
Remembering, in the Year of Covid, when Thanksgiving was spent at home. Columbus, OH, 2020
Most of all, don't let the turkeys get you down.
Bridges
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
- Lyrics from song by American folk duo Simon and Garfunkel
Friendship.
Empathy.
Love that can build bridges where there are none.
These come to mind every time I listen to the haunting lyrics of Bridge Over Troubled Water.
It makes me remember those times when I had felt small, but was assured that my darkest night was the bridge to the brightest tomorrow.
That there was always a bridge for finding lights in life.
That there had been an opening into the quiet beneath the chaos where I found calmness I did not think possible.
That I just needed to continue in the faith.
Maintain my peace in the midst of my storm.
Bridges
A bridge is a meeting place... a possibility, a metaphor. - Jeanette Winterson
Pen pals are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail. They are usually strangers whose relationship is based primarily, or even solely, on their exchange of letters.
On my third year in high school, I had a pen pal, a Japanese girl whose name I can't recall, unfortunately. She was on her last year of Tyugakko (junior high). We were both fourteen years old.
Of course, I was thrilled.
After the first exchange of letters, we were soon also sending small gifts - dried, pressed petals of our respective national flowers, the sampaguita and cherry blossom. After that, we traded fans: a woven abaniko from me for a Japanese paper fan.
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It was simple.
Minimalist.
It was that of a hill garden dominated by a red hashi bridge arched over a shallow stream.
I had imagined being in her world, the colorful crossover connecting the bank of my river to her river across time and space.
I thought, I'd like to be there. Pass over the stream and pluck pink sakura blossoms off the tree.
Some day.
Bridges
Bridges are happy, because they do not judge those who come to them. – Mehmet Murat ildan
Have you ever crossed a wooden plank bridge that you fear will collapse, but you need to cross?
I have. Many times before.
On Sunday afternoons, we went on MYF visitations of church members who lived on the other side of the canal on Arevalo Street. To do this, we had to cross toward Domingo Santiago along a rickety overpass.
The structure didn't look very strong nor well-made.
It seemed like something that would likely break or collapse any minute.
Did that intimidate me?
No way.
I'd always thought traversing the dilapidated construction was fun.
It was like stepping gingerly across a balance beam. Or walking across a fallen log with hands held out to either side. I'd try to keep my body perfectly in line, fearing the slightest loss of balance could send me tumbling.
The missing random planks were a challenge. I'd wobble as I went, jumping to safety from beam to beam.
I had no idea at the time that such action could have been either intimate, even poetic, or tragic.
I just knew that crossing between the gaps was play.
Because they were there.
Umbrellas
Did you know there is such a day as National Umbrella Day? It's celebrated in the US each year on February 10.
Why?
I'm not really sure. Perhaps, it's a way to honor one of the world's most convenient inventions.
The umbrella keeps us dry from rain and protects us from the heat of the sun. It can be a fashion accessory. It's a religious symbol in some cultures. Representing the dome of the sky, it's a protective shadow on earth. When carried above a person, it indicates respectability.
Plus, it provides inspiration when you need to get through days when the sky is grey, and everything is… wet.
Consider this.
When times are tough, friends and family are your umbrella.
When others try to rain on your dreams, let it be your shelter and comfort.
Take refuge under that canopy and dream on.
First Grandchildren share a golf umbrella, 3 and 5 years old, resp. Honolulu, HI: November 2015
And if you’re feeling a little bit low,
If you’re feeling under the weather,
If your sky is darkening with rain clouds...
... Let me be your umbrella.
Umbrellas
I love rain. It's my favorite weather.
Rain is the sky descending to earth.
It makes me think of grace.
Someone's smile.
A voice meeting mine.
Someone who makes a tiny world with just him and me, his whisper and my trust.
A couple holding hands.
Walking under an umbrella in the rain.
Umbrellas
... Every time it rains, it rains
Pennies from Heaven
Don't you know each cloud contains
Pennies from Heaven?
Are you familiar with the song Pennies from Heaven?
It's an American popular tune introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1936 film of the same name.
I heard it a long time ago when I was young and naive. And I believed it.
I would look at each cloud, knowing that behind its shadows were bright, shiny pennies just waiting to shower upon my spirit and water my soul.
So every time it rained, I'd put my umbrella up, up, upside down.
I was hopeful that fortune would soon be falling all over town.
Have I ever caught any riches yet?
No. Not yet.
Just paltry stuff.
Like the smell of rain and its secrets.
A feeling of peace that washes over me from the wide, open sky.
The promise of sun after the rain.
