Retrograde

When I lived in Sarasota, I knew a sparkly lady named Patti. She had light red hair and wore flowy skirts with pretty shoes. I noticed that people flocked around her. She drew them like a magnet, attracting all kinds of people into all kinds of conversation despite the fact that she had a really quiet voice. When I chatted with her once, she said that she didn't think I'd live there very long since I had moved there when a few of the planets were in retrograde. In hindsight it sounds a bit strange and maybe a little airy-fairy, but I didn't think of it as such; I just wondered what she meant. So I asked her. She said when some planets turned retrograde, it meant they were moving or directed backward from their usual orbit. During this time period it seemed that people would lose things. I must've frowned because then she said, "Oh, but people find things too, like something you misplaced a while back, or something you put somewhere special but then it went out of your mind for a while." She'd touch you while she spoke, and it gave you the feeling that she was an authentic and caring person. A few months later when I told her I was moving back to Sebring, she just grinned broadly with an air that said, "Yep, told ya so," but the friendly way that said, Remember when we talked about that?

Ever since then, it's been part of my family shorthand to say, "The planets must be in retrograde," if I'm having a particularly irksome day. Still, any time I find something that I've tucked away for one reason or another, I laugh to myself and think of Patti L. Today when I cleaned off the fridge (yessssssssssssss!!!!), I found several old photographs and to say I was delighted about them doesn't begin to tell it. The serendipity of all of it was sublime! :)

There was the only picture of me with Sam & kids on my 40th birthday, and some great black & white pictures I took of John Sam and Sam with Caroline. Priceless expressions!!! Still farther down in the back of the stack were two photos from May 2003. They were taken by my friend Kelly Seiler Borsheim when she and her husband and adopted son, Rudy, came to visit me and meet the kids. One was me holding Caroline, who was 5-1/2 months old. The other showed John Sam petting Beamer, and my hand just over Beamer's head getting ready to pet him. When Beamer passed away, I remember wailing that I hadn't taken enough pictures of him that were more recent than the ones I had. The one Kelly took was so sweet; it warmed my heart a lot and I treasure it all the more because Beamer looks just like I remember him. Guess which pictures are going on deck for scrap pages?!

Took a lot of "before" pictures today. I got a lot accomplished and will wrap up tomorrow, take some "after" pix, and call it a great weekend.