Just a reminder - life is good

We are settling into a new routine here in my much-diminished homeschool. I am down to one student, one who is pleasant, and helpful, and last year was convinced that most schoolwork is completely unnecessary. This year he may still feel the same but, he is getting down to business and completing his work so I have nothing to complain about. It’s a blessing, while it lasts, and I am grateful for it.

I’m also grateful for the cool breezes I awaken to each morning. Cool mornings and pleasantly warm afternoons are the weather I have desperately craved over this blistering hot summer and the arrival of such days has done wonders for my mood.

I pulled the dead tomato plants out this morning after picking the last crop for the season. It was a rough gardening year but tomorrow there will be tomato pie and that is all to the good.

I’m sitting here avoiding a lot of work and a lot of deadlines, gazing out of the dining room window watching the birds at the feeder and enjoying the sight.

I’m trying to delve deeply into the goodness, the small things because last night the debate left an awful taste in my mouth and has me more than a little anxious for the future. I won’t comment on the details of the debate except to say I don’t think it changed anyone’s mind and it did nothing to calm the divisiveness that both candidates and their parties worked so hard to create.

Since we find ourselves in this silly season of elections it’s important to keep your peace. No matter who gets elected your neighbors will still be your neighbors. The guy who mows your lawn, fills the cavities in your teeth, or coaches your kid’s soccer team will still be the people you smile at, and shoot the breeze with, and you will still feel grateful for their presence. They still make a difference in your life whatever their politics.

This little heart is embedded in the pavement of the path I walk every morning. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

Elections come and go, and the consequences can be challenging but the things that are truly important, faith, family and friends those remain and they must be cultivated.

My advice is don’t engage with others about politics - avoid it at all costs, even with those we agree with. No one is changing their mind this late in the game and the undecideds are unlikely to want to share that. That is if they have any sense. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way and it is not worth the strife. I spent years writing and sharing about politics and now I feel the need to protect my mental health by not engaging in the same way. Staying in my lane and trusting that God has a plan for this mess is better for me than trying to be an internet crusader.

That is the preachy little life lesson for today. Thanks for reading.