two hundred. five.

I'd like to live a while longer in these last 2 weeks.
Go back and do it again.
Several times.
Oh, the people, places & things.
The past two days I've found myself driving home from work smiling because I simply feel quite content and blessed.
Truly grand to walk into a chilly building at a brisk 5:30 a.m., crank up the heat, turn on Matthew and the Atlas "Come out of the Woods" and pull shots of espresso.
Then grand to switch to the Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble singing Christmas songs and chatting with customers about all sorts of things. It's been a fine time at work.

Outside of work too.
Seeing movies with family, cooking, cleaning, organizing, shopping, wrapping, warm naps.
Dates with pappy, wine, eggnog,
There is much to be grateful for.

If you're looking for beautiful things, hunt around the Kinfolk Magazine website. I downloaded some free music and saw some nice pictures. kinfolkmag.com
I also deepened my desire for small, simple gatherings with close friends. Let's do it. You can ride over on your bicycle with the basket since we haven't had a snow yet. Just bundle up, bring some stories, a candle and some good hard cider. We'll make merry.

two hundred. four.

I saw an old man on a bicycle, peddling down the sidewalk, disappearing as my car passed him. He was wearing a cap and singing a song, and for some reason it just struck me as something sort of extraordinary. 

Every day things are strange and wonderful. We've grown so accustomed to the extraordinary that we no longer are awed.

I wish things were still a mystery.

I still long to stare at things and wonder.

I think some of my favorite things – my favorite songs, poems, words, pictures – are an implication. Just a nod.

A nod in a direction, and if you tried too hard to grab on to it and bring it into the light so that you could see it quite clearly, it would swiftly flee. It lends itself to understanding that what remains unsaid are powerful words. 

There are some things you must let others see for themselves without telling them how to see it.

Every Friday I see my Friday customers and I always am shocked to find myself at the end of the week again. Never fails. Even though things are fast-paced in life & work I'm enjoying the cozy Christmas-y moments whenever I can grab them. Rosie Thomas is singing holiday tunes right now and it's lovelylovelylovely.  I've decorated at work a good deal including make some hand-crafted snowflakes & paper chains [we do love our paper crafts]. I've been doing some knitting/crocheting/sewing [until my machine pooped out on me]. 

I'm thinking these days of words that start with T.

tethered & tension. 

it makes sense. 


Yesterday I saw a man in Walgreens.
He was older, dressed in an overcoat and wearing glasses. He looked like he had just gotten off work and was picking up something sweet and heart-shaped to bring home. Soft, jazzy Christmas music played in the background and he stared at the chocolates as I passed him the first time and then as I passed him again to go pay. 
He had stopped thinking about the chocolates and was maybe thinking about who he was getting the chocolates for, or maybe why he was bringing them. 
Or maybe he was just thinking about work, the day behind him.
Regardless, when we left he had stepped up to the counter to pay - no chocolates in his hand.
People make you wonder, don't they?