The Lord Chronicle

In the inviting little town of Sierra Madre, I sit in a coffee shop that appears to be the favorite java joint of the locals on a Saturday morning. The exposed brick walls, old wooden tables and chairs and Americana memorabilia make me feel like I’ve stepped back in time. Behind me sits a mother and her two young boys, roughly about the ages of 8 and 10. They have pulled "Sorry" off the well-stocked game shelf (this place encourages getting cozy and staying for a while), and the younger of her boys starts telling his mom about a soap opera he’s seen as he sets up the game.

"I saw this soap opera yesterday," he states nonchalantly.

“A soap opera?” mom asks incredulously.

“Yeah, it’s on Sesame Street,” the boy responds.

“What?” She sounds even more confused and slightly worried, as if he’s either seen something he shouldn’t, or doesn’t really know what he’s talking about…and they couldn’t really be showing that kind of bawdy, ridiculous drama on PBS, could they?

“Yeah, there’s this bar of soap singing a song. It’s really funny.”

“Oh,” the mom quietly laughs and gives a sigh of relief at the apparent obliviousness of what “soap opera“ usually means. “That sounds like it’s funny,” she agrees.

“It is,” he confirms.

This dialog makes me giggle. I love the innocence of youth and its ability to see things in such a fresh way without the contamination of adult perspective.

All the sudden, “I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers comes on over overhead, and a feeling of contentment spreads through me. I could get used to this place.

I'm moving in about 3 weeks. I absolutely despise moving - especially when you don't want to move from the home in which you currently reside. Then there isn't even anything to look forward to. It's just packing and sorting and giving away and thinking about having a garage sale, but coming to the conclusion that it's more work I don't need to deal with right now, resulting in the abrupt end of any thoughts about sales. I'm great at talking myself out of things before I even start them.

Moving is also bringing to the surface many memories...mostly good, but hard to think of, nonetheless. With everything so upside down right now, it's sometimes difficult to find the silver lining. However, here is one sterling glimmer I thought I'd share. I just watched the movie "Bella" (I highly recommend it) and was completely struck by how complicated everyone's life can be, and yet, how beauty and joy can still come out of tragedy and unexpected pain. No one is ever exempt from hardships, but it is the steady, persistent, and faithful who get through the most unscathed. Sometimes the lessons that come our way are hard to swallow, but I know that the growth I'm experiencing from these lessons will be invaluable. To best sum up my feelings about all this, I quote Louisa May Alcott:

"I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship."

Maybe I should move near water so I can actually learn how to sail...

Little by little, I'm starting to feel not quite so void of life inside. Bear with me as I get that project completely off the ground. I haven't felt much like blogging lately, but hopefully, that desire will be up and running again in the near future.