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Sunny Day

Funny how things change so much in the course of a week. The other day was so deliciously dismal and sedate, but it blossomed into an annoyingly cheerful almost-Summer afternoon.

Not Quite Summer

Technically, the Summer Solstice comes to the Northern Hemisphere next Thursday.

By social convention, it’s already Summer by virtue of having already celebrated Memorial Day.

Potato, To-mah-to.

However you like to look at it, it’s a lovely Summer-type day in a succession of a couple of lovely Summer-type days.

I did get the lawn mowed. The wife and kids enjoyed helping out at Vacation Bible School. I got caught up on some research for my book series.

Time well spent even if it wasn’t as dreary and contemplative as I happen to enjoy.

A Green And Pleasant Land

There’s a definite charm to living way out in the middle of nowhere. The scenery is ever-changing. Acres of snow give way to vistas of sprouting plants. Naked trees explode with lush greenery. The light plays differently in heavily wooded areas when there’s a canopy of leaves to catch the sun on its way to the ground. Barren, sleeping farmland begins producing a wild abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. The farm stands proudly display their pickings for sale. The random perfume of wildflowers kisses the very air you breathe. I absolutely love living out here.

Sunny Smile

A stale article, if you dip it in a good, warm, sunny smile, will go off better than a fresh one that you’ve scowled upon. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

I hope that this applies to this post. I am smiling even though I haven’t got a darned thing to say. Honestly, trying to keep to a blogging schedule is hectic enough even when you actually have some knowledge to share. When you’ve got absolutely nothing useful to convey, well, that’s a problem.

All the same, saying nothing with a smile is certainly more productive than saying something with a scowl. There’s entirely too much of that these days. I know I’m guilty of more than my fair share of that. There are plenty of things to be cross about. All the same, I’m kind of sick of it. One can only maintain a certain level of crabbiness before it begins to poison your mind, your relationships and your life.

I’m going on a bit of a “diet” insofar as ire is concerned. Surely, I’ll fall off the wagon time and again but I’m really trying to cut down on the venom and vitriol that has helped me to get back from the depths of depression. I’m sure that sounds weird.

How can anger help you escape depression? It can’t actually, but it did provide a kind of handhold for me to climb out of the deepest valley of soul-sucking depression. I felt that it was better to feel something than to continue to be so dreadfully numb. The handhold became a crutch. The crutch became a persona. In order not to be the absolute nothing that I was feeling, I became something I also don’t really want to be.

I don’t want to be angry all the time in order not to be simply nothing. Happiness was not on the menu. Fleeting glimpses of it came now and again, but nothing I could grab onto. It’s like trying to lasso a breeze. Since I’ve begun a habit of meditating, it’s possible that I can simply be still and let the breeze come to me. I hope so. I’m tired of clutching onto anger as my only way to feel that I’m feeling anything.

Well, that’s enough of that for now. Hopefully, I’ll be inspired to say something worth reading next week. If it’s a lovely almost-Summer day wherever you are, I hope you’re enjoying it and making the most of your time.