A one year anniversary

This weekend will mark our first anniversary in the Berkshires: what a blessing! (In reality, my first Sunday here was at the end of August but... we arrived a year ago and we'll be on vacation for the last two weeks of the month.) What a bunch of changes have come into our lives: a move from the Southwest to the Northeast, the marriage celebrations of BOTH wonderful daughters - first Michal in September and then Jesse in July - new jobs for both Di and myself - WINTER (omg!!!), selling one house and buying another just before everything tanked, surgery for Dianne and the start of a church renewal commitment that is both exciting and challenging. Today we celebrated by getting our bedroom organized and cleaned: FINALLY! Only one year in the making - but it looks great. We did a little more home organizing then went to the Clark Art Museum and topped the day off with the best Mexican food we've had since leaving Tucson at El Coyote Flaco in Williamstown. They boast 86 varieties of tequila, too. It was a grand late summer day in these lovely hills (although some of the leaves on the tress are already turning... can autumn be far off?) Made me think of this poem by Jane Kenyon:

I got out of bed

on two strong legs.

It might have been

otherwise. I ate

cereal, sweet

milk, ripe, flawless

peach. It might

have been otherwise.

I took the dog uphill

to the birch wood.

All morning I did

the work I love.

At noon I lay down

with my mate. It might

have been otherwise.

We ate dinner together

at a table with silver

candlesticks. It might

have been otherwise.

I slept in a bed with paintings

on the walls, and

planned another day

just like this day.

But one day, I know,

it will be otherwise.

Tomorrow our church will join with the Berkshire Environmental Action Team for a morning of river clean-up along the Housatonic. It will be fun, hard and good all at the same time with the sun out and about 75 degrees - then church on Sunday - and some vacation time. It is a good season to be alive. I am grateful. I have come to work with some very dedicated, faith-filled, creative and totally delightful church folk, I have made new musical friends who have helped me create some of the sounds inside my head and heart - and I have had one of the best years in my married life. I rejoice... and give thanks.