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".

If only these sheets could talk…

I know, the usual expression is “if only these walls could talk” and I certainly never gave much thought to other items, which might be interesting until a couple of days ago.

I went to Martigny in the Valais to attend the yearly antique and flea market on Friday.

I managed to walk away without purchasing anything, until that very last trip around when I “cracked” for several old postcards of a place very dear to me: Les Marécottes. Never mind how much they cost, they will end up in a scrapbook of memories of that particular place – one that I discovered when I was 5 months pregnant with my first child and one to which I returned regularly until I stopped renting there a couple of summers ago. Life changes.

But that isn’t this story, other than to locate where I was this past weekend. Having decided that my own company was to be enjoyed (doesn’t happen often) I did not call any of my local friends, picked a hotel, went up to Sion to check out my favorite sights and stores there then returned to Martigny and the Forum hotel for the night. Had a lovely meal, slept well and was raring to go the next day.

All my haunts: breakfast at the Migros; buying a small Valais bread – so good when fresh; checking the Hiob – another second-hand store; looking for sofas; looking for slippers. All my favorites stores were duly visited. It was mid-morning by then and I wasn’t in the mood for the spa (not tired enough to lay about in warm water and doze in the sun) so simply continued to visit all the other stores that I regularly frequented on my trips to and from the mountains. All without purchasing a thing.

I also went to one of my favorite second-hand shops in Yvorne, but things have been changed around and half the things that interested me before are no longer stocked. Still it was here that I had a very interesting (bordering on weird) experience. Browsing upstairs in the table clothes, linens and the like area my eye was attracted to a comforter cover – red and orange plaid – just like one I had finally given away several years ago! Now that could have been coincidence as it was purchased in Switzerland and the chances that another like it could have also been put in one of the clothing bins or given to the Salvation Army are decently high, however, the one next to it was also an old one of mine – one that I had never seen anywhere else having been purchased in Germany.

If only they could tell me how they got from Geneva and my house to a second-hand store in another state: who used them? How many individuals gave them back? How did they finally come to be here? Oh the stories those two comforter covers could perhaps tell!

From the past