cuz i'm a flower

[arguchik]

today's mini bliss-out moment:
walking home from the 74 bus stop, jamming to david bowie on my i-pod, i stopped (whilst "five years" played) and stuck my whole face into a bunch of lilacs and just snnniiiiifffffffed. nice. i love lilac season.

in other news: i have the dates down for my trip to michigan. it'll be the last week of may--i leave on memorial day and come back on june 1st. i wish the circumstances were happy, but it's to help move my parents from the house they've occupied since 1961, into an assisted living facility. it is going to be very traumatic for them. dad has no idea it's coming--we have no choice but to trick him into it. mom has been told, she signed the papers and wrote the deposit check, but i'm not 100% sure she fully understands, or even remembers. i think we're going to have trouble when she realizes, a month or two in, that she can't go "home."

sigh. this has me sad. obviously. but also relishing those little moments like with the lilacs. also today, i met a gorgeous dog at the coffee shop this morning. she was a border collie/blue heeler/and possibly catahoula leopard dog mix. so beautiful, smart, and remarkably friendly (often these breeds of dog can be stand offish and very work oriented). i want one.

Comments

[gushgush.livejournal.com]

The "declining parent" thing is certainly one of life's less-pleasurable facets (forgive me if I seem to trivialize it) but one we must nevertheless do. I went through it and thought i would never see daylight again, but soon enough it was all over and now I have memories. Try to see the positive things as best you can.
/preaching

I am totally amazed that you phrased it "I met a gorgeous dog at the coffee shop this morning". I totally relate to that sentiment and find myself "meeting" animals all the time.

And, I convey major admiration for your actually "stopping to smell the flowers", especially since it provided you with a bit of bliss. We need stuff like that in our lives to manage to keep it together sometimes.

[arguchik.livejournal.com]

absolutely--i didn't take that as preachy at all. i'm trying to focus on the good, and the memories, but there's a lot of sadness too, and feeling that is part of paying my respects to my father.

it's funny, i didn't even think about using the word "met" to describe interacting with a dog. i have always regarded animals as agents in the world, with their own quirks and preferences, so the term just makes sense to me.

everyone should smell the flowers--especially the lilacs. they're so pretty, and so fleeting. personally, i try to grab happiness wherever i find it.

[wondrousbeauty.livejournal.com]

I stopped to photograph some of the gorgeous rhododendrons on campus today, and interestingly enough, I thought of you while I was doing so and wondered how things were going.

I know we're both busy, but I'd love to have some tea sometime if you have an open spot in your schedule next week. I'm much less weepy these days and so can be seen in public. :) *big hug* You're in my thoughts (clearly--especially when I see pretty flowers!).