Finding joy

 

It’s such little things. Throughout the morning a friend and I were WhatsApping back and forth about how dumb the weather predictions are: “snow storm” indeed. My last post to her was around 12:30 when I had actually had perhaps 10 “flakes” hit my windshield on my drive back from town.

Nothing, nothing, nothing, until around 15:30 when it actually did start to snow. So beautiful to watch the mud, the dead leaves and branches, the dirty sidewalks and streets

Disappear.

 

I wrote another friend that we “finally had snow”, the earth was decked in a light mantel of snow. “One must find joy where one can”. Then I realized: it’s true, it doesn’t take much to feel joyful, one only needs to look!

 

 

Joy

Several years ago I couldn’t resist and bought a National Geographic page-by-page calendar with sayings and photos: one for each day of the year.

There are many markers in this calendar and I find that from time to time looking up a particular day never grows old. As is usual the calendar is divided into 12 months with each month being dedicated to, for want of a better word, an emotion. The entire calendar was called a year of serenity and February’s theme: Joy

This last day of the month was a citation from Marguerite Yourcenar, a Belgium author, poetess, and translator amongst other talents. Her name, although looking rather Arab is simply a reinvention of her maiden name de Crayencour. “Every innocent joy is a reminder of Eden”.

One such is the fact, that were he still alive, a very good friend would have turned 100 today. My mother would have also reached that milestone this year – as would have many other parents of my current friends. It is a joy to recall the pleasure of friendship, the ties that bind us to family and friends.

May you all experience many joys today – look for them and they will find you.

From the "joy Jar" of the
Orfordville Lutheran Church

 It is fitting that the image I happened across to illustrate "joy" should come from a Lutheran church as one of my favorite bosses was a Lutheran pastor! Yet another of my many "life's little coincidences".

A few wee years ago…

I gave birth to my first son.

Where have the years flown – I can still remember every detail of that day!

I started having mild pains mid-morning, but by early afternoon with my mother and husband asking every 10 minutes if I didn’t think it was time to go, I went simply to get them off my back. This meant that I had time for all the joys of prep, which I won’t detail here, only to say that the prep was worse than the experience of giving birth.

My husband actually accompanied me into the birthing room (had to look that one up as I knew it as the “salle d’accouchement”) and kept well to my head. He was extremely lucky as the nurse on duty was Austrian so she could explain it all to him in German. She was also very kind as seeing that I was going to deliver soon, she stayed on the extra half-hour after her shift was up and was there when the baby arrived. At one point during the rather short process, I allowed that that was enough, we could stop now and I’d come back and finish the next day. It’s true, the pain (all 10 minutes of it in my case) is soon forgotten, the joy remains a lifetime.

This year the joy is augmented by the fact that this son is, in turn, awaiting his first baby – another boy.

 

10 days old

Joy in a jar

Now I do realize that this is the International day of the Woman, but the jar I am talking about has nothing to do with cosmetics or the fact that it is “our” day.

No, this is the wonderful, ever so pleasant surprise of last Sunday morning.

My younger son had cleaned out and sorted yet more items and handed me a few jars of jam as he is no longer eating sugar nor did he ever eat much jam. I didn’t pay any attention until I took a look that morning: among them was a small jar of Elderberry jelly.  Now there is only one person I know that makes Elderberry jam – my brother-in-law’s mother. How Scott ended up with one – and when – is totally immaterial as it was still perfect when I opened it. My Sunday breakfast was not only tasty, but filled with good will towards N – long may she thrive… and make Elderberry jam. Her other specialty is popcorn balls and the memory of those is enough to make me salivate as well.

Indeed joy in a jar.

Elderberry jam by N.M.

“The Hills are alive with the Sound of Music”

 

Planajeur looking at the Dents de Morcles

Cause I’m singing.

It’s not just the twitter of the birds (not too many crows yet so the little ones can shine), nor the buzzing of the bees; not the wind in the trees nor the crackling of leaves (too damp after the last downpour).  It’s the melody of joy percolating through my soul (much like my beloved coffee earlier).

A sunny day neither too warm – it is May after all and I’m in the alps – nor too cold: no gloves, no bonnet, no heavy jacket.

The joy leaps ahead of me and trails behind me. I’d sing out loud, but it’s actually enough to be humming.

Not only are there sounds in the woods of great harmony, but all the little flowers are blooming from the wild strawberries (a promise of delicious bites to come), to the nubs that will become blueberries: even though I only found three-leaved clover, I don’t need the luck – I carry it with me.

Life at its best, just me and the mountain paths and forests.

more pretty yellow

still a bit of branch laying on the path

very small yellow flowers

very small blue flowers

flowers on the wild strawberries

clover

not-quite-blueberries