(photo taken by me at The Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts)
Hello dearest blog friends,
As some of you know, my mother's been visiting. She left on Friday for my brother's house and will be arriving home to Midsize Village, Portugal (about 50 miles northwest of Lisbon) on Monday.
The telling of Supergirl One's life and future went relatively well. Both granddaughter and grandmother endured the experience well, - all things considered. I'm really pleased and proud of both Supergirl One and my mother. That was a lot of emotion to take on in such a short period of time. Phew. I'm glad it's over.
This past weekend, The Girls, their dad and I went to the Green River Music and Balloon Festival. It was, I believe, the hottest and most humid day of the year in these parts. In that regard, it was brutal but the thunderstorms that ringed us all evening held off and the final act, Lucinda Williams and her band Buick 6, went off without a hitch. We had a great day.
I, my friends, will be taking off for a much-needed mini-vacation with W.P. He is scheduled to be in New York City as part of a project he's working on there and I'll be going along to take advantage of the benefits of the free hotel room, which is walking distance from MoMA. That should keep me busy for at least one day. I'm sure I won't have any trouble finding things to do.
While in New York, I have a lot of research to do about obtaining an advanced degree in special education. I've been thinking about it for some time and based on a conversation I had with a co-worker, I began to think about it some more. Recently I went over to FranIAm's site and saw this inspiring post (but then again, all of Fran's posts are inspiring to me). So, I think I may be taking the plunge and returning to school. It's interesting that even simply investigating the possibility of a graduate degree makes me break out in hives and yet, contemplating my marriage to W.P. hasn't caused me any concern whatsoever.
I'll have to begin to try to overcome my anxiety over returning to school for the first time since, what...1983? Yikes.
Meanwhile, I will be blogging from New York starting probably on Tuesday. Off to read your weekend blogging now!
Take care. Be well. Peace. Love.
Pagan
I'm so happy to hear you will be continuing you education. I know you will enjoy it, once into it. I know, taking the plunge is nerve-wracking.
ReplyDeleteHave yourself a great mini-vacation. Never any chance you won't find something to do in NY.
Bobbie,
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly for your words of encouragement.
I wrote you an email...
I think it's great that you're going to go forward with your professional development.
ReplyDeleteHave fun in NYC! Some time I have got to go there for just fun.
I'm happy to hear things went so well with your Mom's visit. One thing good mothers realize as they age is that we must take every opportunity to be kind and understanding.. especially to our families but to all.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for your trip and your studies.
I'm back again. Just want to thank you for ALL of your comments. I'm sure I did get them all. They go to my email, where I can publish or reject them, so they don't show up right away. I've had about a half dozen spam ones. It's easier just to delete them in email.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked "these are the days". She's so good with those boys.
Have fun in NYC! I envy your going back to school. :)
ReplyDeleteWHEW! I know you are glad that's over. Nice to know it went well.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to school? Yippee for you!
Enjoy NYC and behave.
D: Thank you, luv. I think it's going to be great. I haven't been to NYC for two years now. This is going to be a longer stay than our usual long weekend.
ReplyDeleteYes, you should come just for fun!
Susan: You are so right. My mother is a beautiful, loving person. More so now than ever. There are just some things that she is perhaps too old and too "old world" to understand but she will never stop being loving, kind and generous to us. I'm proud of my girl,too. She's shown remarkable maturity throughout all this.
Susan, thank you for coming by. I'm looking forward to checking out your blog sometime tonight.
Bobbie: That radio guy really shook me up with his idiotic comments about autism and minorities with asthma. Wow. How much lower can you go as a bigot. I can only imagine what he has to say about gays. I can't fathom such hate and bigotry.
This inspires me to write something on autism for The Peace Tree. At least it's an outlet for my anger at such people.
Juan: Hey! Nice to have you by, Janis. I'm not sure when I'm going to enroll yet as I've not even begun the investigation into it. I hope I can find a program I like that is compatible with my job, etc. I have looked into this before and what I want was only available if I drove 300 miles a week to get to classes. I've been told there've sprung up several new programs at the university and an educational collaborative in Amherst, so I'll be looking at the feasibility of those programs. Thanks for the support.
Everyone, I hope you have a restful Sunday evening.
Love,
Pagan
Kenju! Great to hear from you. Behave? Hello, no! That's no fun! ;-)
ReplyDeletePagan - I read your entire post and was glad things were going well, turning point things, etc., and it was all like real language with real meaning and all that, and I was paying attention, and then I read "day at MoMA" and everything else just got lost in the white noise. I wish you well with everything you are contemplating, but my immediate red hot wish for you is that you walk in there with the mental and aesthetic equivalent of 100 terabytes of additional storage, the energy of 100 people, and the eyes and fortitude needed to have the last thing you see be as astonishing and moving as the first and all the ones in the middle. Blessed be - when I get to a place like that I'm like a kid at the circus, or a pig let into the vegetable garden. I don't know where to start, and I can't possibly eat all I want to. Have FUN.
ReplyDeleteOh - and now I'm tuned into FranIam. It's been a great string of new connections this last week, starting with MLight turning me on to Politits.
ReplyDeleteOh PS! Thanks for the link-love. As for me being inspiring, all my random musings run the gamut from annoying some, amusing others and inspiring... well maybe?!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you all had a fine time, despite the heat and humidity!
And I wish you a lovely visit to NY!
Plus school- how great. It is scary, I graduated college in 1979-gulp!
We shall leap together, no?!
What fine company you make for this journey, I am delighted!
Fran: I took a couple of years off to work and regain my footing, so it took a while.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by.
Steve: I laughed delightedly at your comment. I am the same way. I have been known to cry silently in front of an especially stirring art work. Sometimes I feel so buoyed by the experience of a particular visit that I feel like I'm under the influence of LSD. A crazy, drug-addicted crybaby is not everyone's cup of tea as an art museum companion. ;-)
Oh, and Fran. You are very inspiring to me...but there is the matter of those pickles for Jesus. ;-)
ReplyDeletePagan, I think that what you are about to embark upon is terrific. Returning to school is exciting, and I know you will find it fulfilling.
ReplyDeleteAnd I personally think that FranIAm's electric pickle post was the most inspiring thing I read that day.
i am so very glad for you!
ReplyDeletei think it is great that you want to go back to school.
i wanted to go to college for eith writing or to art school. my teachers all said i was very good at both, especially writing but back in the 60's little was known about learning disablities(i didn't even know i had them. just figured this was the way it was) and i have some very odd ones due to the neurofibromatosis and the early brain surgery.
so, no college for me. couldn't make the math scores.
my dad was a trucker and i was in a high school chock full of wealty kids. i never caused any grief,got good grades in everything but math, so i was largely ignored.
i think you will just do great if you go back to school! go get 'em!
Pagan, I turned into a 52-year old university dropout, so everything's possible! Seriously, I'm glad for you that you've made the decision to go back. Special ed and autism are dear to my heart, and I'm always glad when someone who's generous, intelligent and loving is involved.
ReplyDeletePagan..
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say thank you...it is has ben so nice to meet you at Peace Tree and you always bring such compassion and insights to posts....if you don't mind I am adding you to Watergatesummer blogroll....
I wish you the best in NY, I am very inspired that you are looking into advanced degrees....
Oh, and Enigma. By all means add me, I'd be honored. I'll do the same with Watergate Summer. That will ensure that I will read you on a regular basis. Much looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteoh good....
ReplyDelete( on another note I too am looking at schools in NY state...to study PTSD...and for film school for my son...so I am more than supportive or your big move and transitition... and I have a place in my heart for special ed and autism....)
namaste....
( I am so glad I can add you to the blogroll- I always ask first...)
Enigma: I always ask, too. When I can, I try to introduce blogs. I started out doing that but having become increasingly busy, I haven't been able to do it with the newest blogs I've added.
ReplyDeleteI'm really pleased. I've wanted to get to know you for some time.
Film school. That is very cool. My younger girl was accepted to NYU for print journalism but they didn't offer us a financial aid package we could afford. Their film school, as I'm sure you know, has a good (if not great?) reputation. Keep me posted. I'm interested in this stuff, since I have two kids in college myself.
Peace to you, my new friend.
Sherri: Thank you for your continued kindness, generosity of spirit and creative spirit. I'm so happy we met in this grand blogosphere.
Peace, my friend
That looks like one of my old friends the Tiger Lily on the bridge. Wouldn't it be nice if more bridges were Bridges of Flowers?
ReplyDeleteI wanted to mention that I got a button from OR Doctors For Peace a few years ago that said 'Don't Attack Iraq'. Two years ago I pasted a little piece of paper to it that said 'Or Iran'. It's pinned next to my computer at work.
Susan: Hi! Have you seen CR's photos of the same Bridge of Flowers? He has some cool ones taken at night.
ReplyDeleteThat you added the little paper that says "Iran" is sad, isn't it? I long for the day when you can take your button down and tuck it away in a box of collectibles.
I lost track of many political buttons I used to have, from various demonstrations, mostly in D.C. during the Nuclear Freeze days. I wish I had kept them...I have so little memorabilia of those salad days. sigh.
It's so good to hear from you in comments. :-)
Kate: So sorry to not have responded to your comment sooner. I'm a bit of a space-shot today.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your good wishes. Autism is one of the reasons that makes me want to learn more about special education.