Day 1388: Flesh and Bones

During this time of the year, there are flesh and bones everywhere, but many more bones than usual:

Here’s something I feel in my flesh and bones, on this October day: I miss my only child, Aaron, who is away at college in Edinburgh, Scotland. Three of those photos of bones, above, reminded me of this fuzzy, flesh-and-bones Halloween photo of long ago:

In my flesh and bones, I also miss my late mother (on the right).

What are you feeling in your flesh and bones, today?

As I continue to recover from open heart surgery, the bones in my rib cage feel like a too-large bird cage, especially when I’m trying to sleep. However, this flesh-and-bone blogger is SO grateful her  bones and flesh are healing, every day.

Since my trusty and strong leg bones took me many other places besides Hillcrest Road in Belmont, Massachusetts, yesterday,  I took several other flesh-and-bones photos besides the boney ones, above.  I’d say it’s time to flesh out this post with those:

 

Which of those photos do you prefer, in your bones?

In my bones, I know that this is the video — created by my son Aaron more than seven Halloweens ago — that I want to share  with my flesh-and-bones readers, today:

 

Flesh-and-bones thanks to my son Aaron, to everyone else who helped me create today’s post, and to you — of course! — for visiting, here and now.

Day 1350: Remembering

On September 11, 2016, I am remembering so much, including:

1.  9/11/01, when I was in a park  on a  Tuesday with my three-year-old son Aaron, not knowing how I was going to explain to him  what had just happened to our country.
2. Witnessing my now eighteen-year-old son Aaron going through intense security systems at  Boston’s Logan Airport, yesterday, as he left our country for his college experience in Edinburgh, Scotland.
3. Spending yesterday evening with my beautiful friend Barbara in beautiful Boston, where we attended  a performance of  Stephen Sondheim‘s Sunday in the Park with George.

Here are some images I’m remembering from yesterday:

 

I’m remembering that the song I find most moving from Sunday in the Park with George is “Move On.”

As I am moved by “Move On,” I am also remembering these two things:

1. I saw the very memorable Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin in the original production of Sunday in the Park with George.
2. Yesterday, at a toll both outside of Logan Airport, I told the toll collector I had just sent my son off on a plane to college. She replied, with feeling,  “He is missing you as much as you are missing him,” which I love remembering.

What are you remembering, here and now?

I am remembering to thank all who helped me create this post and you — of course! — for remembering to visit this blog, today.

Day 1349: Celebrate

Yesterday, there was much to celebrate, including my son’s student visa arriving a luxurious 31 hours before his flight to Edinburgh today. Perhaps that’s why I noticed all these invitations to celebrate on my way to work:

I do celebrate my only child  leaving for University of Edinburgh today, and I also celebrate all the feelings I have about that.

What do you have to celebrate, right now?

Are any of my other photos from yesterday something to celebrate?

I’ve experienced a lot of music to celebrate, including this:

 

I celebrate all the celebrities and non-celebrities who helped me create this celebrated post and I also celebrate your presence here, today.

 

Day 1348: Receive with Joy

Yesterday, I received with joy the news that my son’s student visa should be received with joy at our home by 10:30 this morning.  The  University of Edinburgh in Scotland now gets to receive with joy my fabulous son, who is starting a five-year mathematics program there.

Please receive with joy today’s page from this joyful book:

Please take notice that I notice more than one thing I am being given today and that I am receiving them all with joy:

• Precious time with my only child before he leaves for school tomorrow.
• A boyfriend who often says, “See Ann?  Everything is coming together!”
• Work that I love.
• Wonderful friends and family.
• An extensive network of dedicated medical professionals.
• A heart that has served me well for 63 years.
• All my feelings.
• The opportunity to share these other photos with you:

What are you receiving with joy, right now?

I am receiving this music with joy:

 

Please receive with joy my heartfelt thanks to all who helped me create this post and to you — of course!  — for receiving it.

Day 1344: Reckless Abandon

With reckless abandon, I here and now decide what the title of today’s post will be, based on this sign I saw yesterday:

With reckless abandon, I shall now reveal that:

1. I hope to embrace the stressful events of the next few weeks with reckless abandon.
2. These stressful events include waiting for the delivery of a student visa (which I hope hasn’t been recklessly abandoned in some government building in NYC), my son starting a five-year program at the University of Edinburgh, and my having open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
3. Yesterday I recklessly abandoned all attempts to prepare myself for the upcoming events and instead spent the day with my fabulous Philadelphia-based friend Jeanette (who abandoned Boston to move to Washington D.C. sixteen years ago, but I I still miss her every day).
4. Jeanette, who courageously abandons any fear of speaking her mind, recklessly told my boyfriend Michael yesterday that he has to teach my son Aaron how to cook two easy meals this week.
5. Michael recklessly promised Jeanette that he would.
6. I am recklessly going to include photos of Jeanette and other people I’ve recklessly mentioned  in this post, so don’t abandon me yet!

Are you ready for the reckless abandon of my other photos from yesterday, as I recklessly abandon any intention of further explaining them?

 

 

Which of those photos say “reckless abandon” to you?

With reckless abandon, this Frightsome Fleshlumpeater will now share the reckless abandon of Roald Dahl, Gene Wilder, and pure imagination:

 

I hope you show some reckless abandon by leaving a comment, below.

Before I recklessly abandon you all until tomorrow morning’s blog post, I’d like to express gratitude to those who helped me create this post and to you — of course! — with reckless abandon.

Day 1343: Face Time

It’s time to face another daily post from me!  My face is very glad to have time with your face, as always.

I’ve been having daily face time with my readers for over three-and-a-half years. These are the WordPress statistics I’m facing this morning:

All-time posts, views, and visitors

POSTS                                             VIEWS                                          VISITORS

1,344                                              193,852                                            71,635

Let’s face it, that’s a lot of faces and a lot of time! With all that WordPress face time, my readers have faced several other posts about faces (facing here, here, here, here, here and here). If you have the time, consider having Face Time with those older posts about faces with some well-timed clicks on those links.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to get all the face time we want with all the faces we love to face. Yesterday,  my Face-Time-avoiding 18-year-old son Aaron got his first laptop and smartphone, which means  we can Face Time with him while he faces time at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. My face is much happier, now that I know we can easily get Face Time with Aaron while he’s away at school  for five years facing a Masters degree in Mathematics.

My face is also happier this morning knowing I’ll be getting face time with two of my dearest and long-time friends – Jeanette  and Barbara — over the next two days. (If you want face time with those two faces I love, click here and here.)

Now, it’s time for Face Time with yesterday’s photos of faces (and other things):

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed your Face Time with those photos. Were there any photos you enjoyed facing more than others?

I shall now take  time to explain that those last three faces, above, are worry dolls given to my son Aaron, my boyfriend Michael, and me last night at Besito Mexican Restaurant in Burlington.  Our server said, “Put a worry doll under your pillow at night and that will get rid of your worries.”  Since I’ve had too much Face Time with worry over the years, my worry doll …

… with a face that looks plenty worried, got Face Time with my pillow, last night.

Ready for some Face Time with some music with faces?

 

My face is now looking forward to Face Time with your comments.

It’s time to face heart-felt thanks from me to all those who helped me create this Face Time post and to you — of course! —  for taking the time to face it.

Day 1336: Stress Relief

Because I’m a psychotherapist,  I know about  stress relief. And because I’m a person alive in the year 2016, I sometimes  need stress relief.

Where do you find stress relief?

In a can?

In the refrigerator?

In books?

In travel?

In other creatures?

In things you can buy?

In boo boo kisses?

Tomorrow, I’m going back to work in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.  In two weeks, my only child is leaving for a five-year mathematics program in Edinburgh, Scotland.  In three weeks, I’ll be in Minnesota preparing for my first open heart surgery.

I don’t know about you, but I could probably use some stress relief.

Here’s the first thing I found on YouTube for “stress relief.”

 

Is it possible that leaving a comment for this post might provide stress relief for somebody?

I know that gratitude is great for stress relief, so thanks to all who helped me create this post and to you — of course! — for any stress relief you find or bring, here and now.

 

Day 1334: The world is your oyster

Yesterday, the world was my oyster, again, at the Festival Fringe in precious-as-pearls Edinburgh, Scotland.

I received that wrist band informing me that the world is my oyster from some oysters, who should know.

The oyster to the far left is Marc Mackinnon, a wonderful and supremely talented man  we met at last year’s Fringe.  The world is Marc’s oyster as he moves from Scotland to London next Monday to attend a postgraduate acting program.

Here are more pearls from our last full day at the 2016 Festival Fringe:

Even though those last few pearls seem to be imploring us to stay in Edinburgh, my precious and only son Aaron and  I need to get on a plane in a few hours to return to the oysters in Boston, Massachusetts.  I’m happy-and-proud as a clam that Aaron will be returning here in a few short weeks to start attending the University of Edinburgh, where I’m certain the world will be his oyster for the next five years.

Here‘s some precious music and images from beautiful-as-pearls Scotland:

Any pearls of wisdom you share in a comment will be very precious to me.

Pearly thanks to all  who helped me create this world-is-your-oyster post and to you — of course! — no matter where in the world you are.

Day 1111: Ones

If one takes one moment and  one looks at the numbers in today’s title, what does one see?  Ones.

How one-derful!

Here’s one photo on my one iPhone:

My one thought when I saw that, yesterday:

It’s one shoe.  Is someone  waiting for the other shoe to drop?

One thing I hope one writer of this blog has learned  after one one one one days of blogging:

There is no other shoe, so spend not one moment  worrying about one’s future. Worry is one especially useless way to spend one’s time.

Here’s more than one thought about ones, on this 1111st day of this one blog:

1. I have one son.
2. Last night I had one dream that my one son was gone.
3. I one-der if I had that one dream because my one son will be attending one college (TBD) in less than one year.
4. One needs to look out for number one, because what number of people will do that if you don’t?
5. One needs some al-one time, once in a while, to keep oneself together.
6. People need people, and yet one thing I witness as a psychotherapist — one day after another —  is everyone’s difficulty asking for help and support from even one other person.
7. Mindfulness  —  one’s ability to be present from one precious moment to the next one — is one useful practice.
8. One is the loneliest number according to one amazing singer/songwriter named Harry Nilsson and also (one + one + one)  Dog Night.

 

One may be the loneliest number, but the ones in my one title today aren’t lonely — they have each other!

Which one of these other photos on my one iPhone best represent ones?

1111 thanks for every-one’s support through 1111 days of blogging. One never knows how many more days one will have, besides this one precious day.

Will there be one comment from the one person reading this blog, in this one particular moment?

Day 1021: Water towns

No matter what town I’m in, I like to be near the water. Perhaps that’s because my hometown was on the water.

Last week, I was in another Massachusetts water town.

Yesterday, I was in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA.

Here are some other recent photos of nearby water towns:

Today, I’m going the Fort Point Channel Open Studios, in Boston. I’m sure tomorrow’s blog post will include more pictures of water towns. 

I think it’s time for some water town music.

That’s Bruce Hornsby,  singing about a water town,  in  “Every Little Kiss.”

A year from now, my son and I will probably both be in water towns, although not the same one. In this year before my son goes away to college, every little kiss, word, and moment with him seems even more precious. 

Thanks to my son, to Bruce Hornsby, to water towns everywhere, and to everyone who helps me water these daily posts with love — including you!