reverse threading

the path back is the path forward

Tag Archives: rejuvenating


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smushy. [kerri’s blog on merely-a-thought monday]

in a bag inside a box on a shelf inside the closet i found this. a hug coupon.

there are coupons on the back for an automotive a/c inspection and a fuel injection cleaning. they expire in 2009. so that would mean i’ve had this hug coupon since 2009. fifteen years.

my sweet momma sent it to me. she was the world’s best letter-writer. always sending mail – since we lived long-distance – i’d open an envelope to reveal a handwritten note or a letter she typed on her word processor and printed. maybe there’d be newspaper or magazine articles she thought i’d like to read. maybe an astrological horoscope she wanted me to see. and coupons. always coupons. she and my poppo would sit and clip coupons and then divvy them out – anticipating the needs of various members of the family and mailing them off – in business size envelopes or big brown envelopes or even envelopes they repurposed from other mailings. mail from my momma. i could count on it.

today is hug day. (so, i also read, was january 21st.) no matter. each day should be hug day. cause there really is nothing that can get you more back on track than a good hug. hugs to and from your children, your partner, your parents, your dear friends, your new friends, your posse, long-lost pals, your beloved pets. we – d and i – are pretty smushy. hugging is par for the course. i know, even in the worst of moments, our hug will change the air around us. i can count on it.

i’m continuing to go through the bags and the boxes, the shelves and the bins and the things tucked away. some items will be harder to figure out – what to do with them. 

i found this hug coupon and instantly thought of my momma sending it to me. i photographed it, knowing that is at least the first step in letting it go. and then i showed david. and then i got lost in all the memories of mail arriving at my doorstep. 

so what do i now do with this sweet gesture that expires the day after eternity?

well, it’s still redeemable. maybe i should just save it and put it on the fridge.

*****

❤️feel free to copy this image and print it out to give to all the people you want to hug. ❤️

read DAVID’S thoughts this MERELY-A-THOUGHT MONDAY

from way back when…

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a little bitta beach. [k.s. friday]

if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t know.

we were laying on the sand on a couple of old beachtowels. the feels-like was 90 plus, but we were under some trees and what appeared to be the only spot of shade on the beach. the breeze was coming off the water and we could hear the waves breaking at the shore. seagulls, the laughter of children in the distance, boats and jetskis out on the aquamarine water, you could think it was a beach resort somewhere, perhaps an island.

with my head on my small backpack, i closed my eyes and appreciated the wind, my feet still cool from walking the water’s edge, waves breaking on our legs. above us, the sky was cerulean, gorgeous cumulus clouds floating by. we couldn’t believe our good fortune, this ideal spot on the beach.

it was down the beach from where the work was taking place. there were tugboats and bulldozers and barges and boulders and giant backhoes – all to shore up the shoreline, a project by the state of illinois. interesting to watch, we were far away so as not to be intrusive. we were surprised to see jetskis zipping in and around the actual workzone; we wondered aloud about their lack of regard for the workers and safety issues.

we lost track of time as we stared at the water, watched golden retrievers fetch balls in the waves, marveled again and again about the cool sandy haven we had found. hiking back out – it was only a mile or so down the trail – it was hot again, humidity clinging to the marshland as we walked through.

back home we agreed that it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. a little bitta beach goes a long way settling down your mind. our spot, like a guided imagery meditation, the quiet and almost-solitude, the sun filtering through the trees, the clouds dancing across the sky-canvas, and waves lapping the sand. restorative, it brought us calm.

*****

EACH NEW DAY from RIGHT NOW ©️ 2010 kerri sherwood

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read DAVID’s thoughts this K.S. FRIDAY

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maraschino dreams. [two artists tuesday]

and they dreamed dreams and waited in the woods…winterberries with visions of becoming maraschino cherries in their mind’s eye…actualizing with starring roles in traditional wisconsin brandy old-fashioneds…

no, no. do not put winterberries in your old-fashioned. they are completely toxic. but they are striking and unexpected. and the color in the woods is intoxicating. gorgeous red punctuating a dim brown-grey, save for a few evergreen, they are clustered beautiful.

it had been a while, what with the freezing temperatures and snow. we finally made it out to our favorite trail and it was – truly – a breath of fresh air. there is nothing quite as restorative as hiking, surrounded by stillness and the sound of wind rustling through the tops of trees. we needed to get outside. we slogged through the trails, getting a better workout than usual. the mud splashed up onto the back of our jeans, like when you ride your bike in the rain. we reveled in it.

the deer tracks went across the path. they hadn’t been there the first time we passed through. it was early in the day, early for the deer to be moving around, but we started looking through the brush.

her sweet face was staring right at us, her body blending into the scrub and trees around her. we stood, gazing at each other, none of us moving. i slowly took my phone out to capture what i knew would be hard to discern in a photograph – this deer in the woods, this shared moment of time. she didn’t move, but her tail wagged and her ears pitched forward and back, listening. i was hoping she could hear the words i whispered to her – telepathically, a little dr. doolittle-ish. her continued gaze at us, grace for our presence, her head held high, no obvious fear. unexpected.

she never left the spot while we were standing there. she took a few steps but didn’t flee, as so often happens when you start to move in the forest. we blew her a kiss and continued on, feeling lucky to have seen her and to have spent a few minutes with her.

we passed more winterberry holly as we hiked, laughing about old-fashioneds and marveling at our new deer friend in the woods.

we exited the trail, none too anxious to leave, wanting to just linger.

“sometimes,’ said pooh, ‘the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” (a.a. milne)

****

read DAVID’S thoughts this TWO ARTISTS TUESDAY