Day 1221: Hopes

When my one-week spring vacation began five days ago, I had hope

that the weather would be seasonably sunny and warm.

Because the weather has been consistently rainy and cold, I translated that

into hope that I would see wonderful, hopeful people, indoors.

Yesterday, that hope came true as I saw Joanne and Caitlin in a hopeful place where I used to work and also Rachel, who worked with me decades ago at two different high tech companies.

As I was driving  in the morning, I heard the 1st movement of the “Italian” symphony, composed by Felix Mendelssohn in response to the kind of sunny weather I’d been hoping to experience this week:

 

I

you enjoy seeing Joanne, Caitlin, Rachel, and other hopeful sights I saw yesterday.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing Joanne, Caitlin, Rachel, Rachel’s dog Flash, her husband Tom, and her new granddaughter Rayla. Rachel and I talked, over lunch yesterday, about doctors who have given us different levels of hope about our health. She said to me,  “At one point I just decided I’m going to be fine, no matter what I read or what they said.” (I hope I quoted Rachel accurately.)  I told Rachel yesterday that I’ve reached a similar hopeful point, too.

I hope you like two more hopeful pictures from yesterday:

I hope that new cat bed keeps Oscar off my laptop, because he posted again on Facebook yesterday:

()GGGikm8 <– Oscar just typed that. What does that mean?

I hope my Facebook friends don’t mind if I quote their responses:

Janet H. Feed me.
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 12 hrs
Linda S. Oh great G-d grandeur, kick my 8(0/0). He’s asking for humility. Sooo easy!!!Lol!
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 12 hrs
Deborah Faye #nevertrump
Unlike · Reply · 3 · 12 hrs
Peter C. Pissed off at your menu choices. “Golden Ginger Grahams isn’t kibble, mate !”
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 12 hrs
Beth B. Hi Beth!
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 12 hrs

I hope you also leave a comment, below.

Hope-filled thanks to all who helped me create this post and to you — of course! — for whatever hope you bring, here and now.

Day 654: Observed

In yesterday morning’s blog post, I observed lots and lots of number 9’s.

As I walked to work, I observed another one:

I also observed it was unseasonably warm for a mid-October day. When I got to work, I observed:

• somebody working on interpersonal challenges:

• and a therapy group discussing the experience of self-consciousness — the awareness of being observed by others.  People in the group observed that self-consciousness did not have to be negative;  it might include helpful self-awareness.

I’ve observed that I’ve been feeling self-conscious and off-balance, lately. I’m observing, now,  that this might be connected to the following:

• The beautifully observant book I’m reading, written by Charles Gulotta, which observes harrowing medical experiences of people I’m caring about, very deeply.

• In approximately 9 days, I will be observed by many new people, as I give a presentation about the therapy groups I facilitate at a hospital-based doctors’ practice.
• There have been many times, in my own medical experiences, where I have been observed, very closely, by lots of people, in a way I could not control.

However, I CAN control what’s observed here, in the rest of this post.

Here’s what I observed, yesterday, through my ears (and my earphones), as I walked away from work, through a warm afternoon:

(“Afternoon” by the Pat Metheny Group, from the album Speaking of Now,” observed here on YouTube.)

Here’s what I observed, through my eyes (and my iPhone), as I made my way home:

                     

Is there anything you’ve observed you choose to express here?

Many thanks to Charles Gulotta, to those he loves, to the Pat Metheny Group, and to all who observe and are observed (including you, of course!).