A needed correction

A few posts ago, I mentioned my housekeeping work at a lovely B&B. My new friend G pointed out that I'm not "just" a housekeeper, that I am a valuable helper and that in this coastal town during the summer, people from all walks of life are waiting tables, cleaning rooms, working the front desk. Whatever it takes to keep the tourist trade turning, dancing to beat the band because for most of the year, Maine is cold. And dark. And heating oil is expensive. So people have to WORK when they can.

"My gosh, we have people with PhD's scooping ice cream. Just a housekeeper," Greg said.

He calls me "Kellydoodles," by the way, which tickles me to no end.

In no way did I mean to disparage the work. I suppose I was trying to make a clever literary contrast between my past and present. But really...if I'm honest...I was wallowing in self-pity a teensy bit also. So unhelpful.

At the end of the day, it's not what you do, it's how you do it.

Thank you for the big fat reality check, G!

Moon in Maine

Submerged

I am deep into the editing right now. You can feel the change of season coming soon: a touch of cool on the wind, earlier nightfall. Momentum! Inevitability!

Entering the Silence

Lately I've been so wrapped up in all kinds of noise - real and imagined, physical and mental - that I am craving silence.

Native American tradition speaks about Entering the Silence, or going into the deep quiet within you to access inner knowing. I'm doing this with 20 minutes of daily meditation. And I feel yoga lets you touch silence too, in terms of letting pure energy take over. I guess there are a number of ways to Enter the Silence.

It's only after having experienced summer and winter here that I truly get, truly appreciate the gift of the Maine winter. The summer is about tourists and traffic and locals scrambling to deal with both. But in winter, there is silence, and you can immerse yourself - and find yourself - in the rugged landscape and the elements.

It is a marvelous thing.

I kind of feel like I am eating some words right now...

...and no, I will not be here this winter!

Maine, August

August in Maine is breezy and green. The nights are especially cool and feel like autumn in the South. The streets are packed with tourists, many of them Quebecois, lugging beach gear or flitting to dinner in the evenings.

I am embarking on a full polish of my book now, something I expect to take six weeks. Every day is so hard, because I get close to the finish line only to have it move away from me. Every day is so magic, because there are small pleasures to make me smile.

I can truly say this is the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. And I've done some things!

Fe, valor, corazon. Faith, courage, heart.