RETURNING

This home, in a small town in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountain Range, is a huge country home, typical of the area. It originally belonged to a doctor, the waiting room there on the left side entrance.

 I loved to visit here in the winter, driving up from New York City when I was older.

  

When I was very young, it was a short car trip which I would take with my Father for a visit.

Inside, everything is conducive to a sense of being at home - the lush fabric of the furniture, the rambling hardwood floors, the many unbleached linen curtained  windows, etc.

In this home were many items of which I was familiar since I was a very young girl.

For many years there were two barrel chairs sitting in that waiting room. They were bequeathed to me because they had been my grandparents'.  I can trace them back to their sitting in their dining room by the window between a fern.

 Now they are in my home in Florida, sometimes covered with recently worn clothes.

The light inside this house was brilliant, even in the darkness of winter.

 Gee, I miss that particular feeling that accompanies actually returning and being welcome for a moment in a life's time.

GRATITUDE

On one of many treks to Plymouth, Massachusetts, I heard a story about how it was one of my ancestors who came up with the idea of Thanksgiving.

 SHE is not remembered in the history books for this - as an individual, of course.

Since it isn't written anywhere special, the truth of this can not be validated, but as we all know, even in writing, the chances depends on the source and the reason for the information.

Nevertheless, I imaged her, as a woman such as I, who walked through life with a deep sense of gratitude, if only as an after-the-fact conclusion.

In today's world,the discipline of being grateful - and it is a discipline developed - is not so easy.

However, being thankful is a life saving daily ritual for those who love life.

BOWLS

The begging bowl - a practice of ancient Buddhist monks - holds a message worth mentioning.

The monks carried their bowls with them, asking for a little bit of rice as they journeyed through the day.

At the end of the day, back at the monastery, monks expressed gratitude for the contents of their bowls.

This gift of a monk's bowl was adorned with with dragonflies and fired with a lavender ceramic glaze on the inside.

The dragonflies symbolize change of spiritual perspective.

The lavender is the color of Spirit's opening into life experience.

Eating from this monk's bowl  at day's end is to feast at a grand  banquet.

DUOMO

We turned a corner, after walking down a long  every-day street of storefronts, and encountered this.

This is Duomo - or at least a small part of it - located in Firenze (Florence), Italy.

We walked along side this Duomo, turned another corner, and there we saw more Duomo.

The building is mammoth sized.

I wondered what inspired the ancients  to have designed this overwhelming magnificence.

I wondered if the slaves who did all the work loved building it.

 I wondered how many people attended Mass here.

I wondered many questions.

Standing in the presence of Duomo brings out overwhelming wonder from within.