Posted by Gayle

These are the hills Ron calls home. Looking at them together brought a quiet “ageless” moment of awe.

Sometimes the best remedy for an age gap is just breathing and being… together.

A mobile post from the Berry!

Sunset in Paris

Posted by Gayle

“Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.”
– Dr. Joyce Brothers

This is sooooo true!  Some of my biggest regrets have come right after not doing what my gut told me I should. I have no idea what building this is.  All I know is I was in Paris and the sun was setting.  Instinct told me the light was perfect for a great shot.  I looked around and my camera’s lens found this building.  It’s one of my all time favorite photographs and it exists solely because I acted on a hunch.  No trained photographer here.  Just an amateur  in Paris with the right light!  Let’s face it, when Paris is your canvas, it’s hard to go wrong.

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Get a Generator!

(Posted by Gayle)

That’s the water rushing out of our backyard and our neighbor’s yard. We’ve had better days here in Dallas and we’ve had worse.  We are among the quarter of a million people who lost power during last night’s storms.  We’re at 21 hours and counting with no electricity.  It gives being “powerless” a whole new meaning!  Our nerves frayed and the stress levels in our household soared as we realized our situation wasn’t going to be remedied quickly (there are indeed drawbacks to working at home.)

Ron managed to snatch the last gasoline powered generator off the shelves at the local Home Depot.  Thankfully no food is spoiling, we have WIFI, and the window unit air conditioner we have in bedroom is keeping us cool tonight. We have it better than so many other folks here many of whom are in hotels, staying with family, or shelters tonight.  
There were moments during in the day when we came close to losing our cool with each other.  Here’s how we survived.

1. We just kept breathing (which is highly underrated.)
2. We recognized that each of us shows our stress in different ways and we tried to stay out of each other’s way for the most part.
3. We were, however, as courteous as possible to each other.
4. We offered assistance to one another and tried to be extra helpful.
5. We took time to stop, look each other in the eye, and communicate about what was happening in calm tones.
6. We went out of our way to avoid taking our anger and frustration out on each other.
7. And sometimes I just had to let the tears flow.

But mostly tonight we are counting our blessings.  Ron’s ingenuity and tireless efforts in caring for “this old house” are at the top of my list.

Update:  at 9 am this morning, TXU said “let there be light” and there was light.  Whew…..

Image via Wikipedia

Can you be in love without using the word?

(Posted by Gayle)

I dare you… make that a double dare… to take the word “love” completely out of your vocabulary this week.  I’ve got a bone to pick with that word and I’m taking a break from it.  I don’t know what the heck it means.  Yes – you heard me right.  Straight from the horses “fingers” (so to speak).  I don’t know what the word loves means and going to the dictionary is of no use to me either.

I have visions of using the word “love” in a high school English paper and finding red marks all of the graded specimen. Read the rest of this entry »

Going downhill is supposed to be the easy part.

(Posted by Gayle)

I was hiking down a rocky mountain path.  Going down is supposed to be the easy part.  As a matter of fact, I hiked up the mountain with the intention of leaving something at the top.  I carried my need for perfection and the inevitable self punishment that goes with it up the mountain.  I lived the majority of my life battling those traits.  So I got to the top of one of the tallest peaks in Yellowstone and spent time at 10,000+ feet letting go.  I reviewed many of my choices in life.

My successes came with a cost.   Read the rest of this entry »