I had nothing of any merit to write about. Sometimes circumstances of life make for lousy "sharing" and so it's best to be quiet about it.
The amazing beauty was seeing the thousands of Sandhill Cranes in the Delta.
I needed this noise... this beauty.
Sometimes we have to try very hard to keep the balance of joy and sadness in our lives. I have a friend who struggles with a mental illness and she is in the lowest point imaginable right now. Please take a moment to think about those who suffer from diseases that are socially unacceptable... diseases that show no visible scars. No "Gee, I'm so sorry. When was your surgery?" No survival kudos. It's a place that brings Hell to earth and leaves you with no hope.
I cannot make this go away. I cannot help. I can only be her friend and right now that doesn't seem like enough.
So, you find me in my lovely comfort called home. A respite from the worry... a reprieve from the sadness that is always at the edges.
And on this day... this place is truly a sanctuary. The weather is bright and cold. It is one of those perfect early winter days when staying indoors seems like an insult to God.
It is also my 69th birthday.
Happy Birthday. Hope you have a wonderful and blessed day. I can just hear the call of the Sandhill canes. I add your friend to my prayer list. Have a blessed day. Madeline
ReplyDeleteBless you and your friend, and I hope you enjoy your birthday cuddled in a soft throw, sitting by an open window with a gorgeous view, sipping some hot apple cider, safe with your family and snugly at home. Love Tina
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ReplyDeleteListening to those Sandhill cranes must have really been something. I envy you.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could experience such joyful sites and sounds whenever we need to drown out, just for a few minutes, some of the agonies of life!
I know you're expecting L any minute-----you two have a great time.
Happy birthday you old broad!!! Love ~Dawn
Happy birthday! I, too, have people in my life with mental illness, and it is so hard. But the weather is a boon; we're having the same kind here.
ReplyDeleteyou may not feel it but your friend treasures the fact that you are her friend, always there, always willing to help, always with a kind word. Mental illness is a horrible monster, I pray your friend will find peace soon.
ReplyDeleteYOU have a Happy Birthday! You have much to see and do yet and I for one can't wait for the stories.
Oh dear..Farmlady...you have perfectly described my last year..
ReplyDeletehelplessness
the ability to do nothing, not a thing to make another's pain go away...it is truly a desert to be in
I let myself be driven out of my garden and I should have run into it instead
Why this year I could not enjoy the solace of nature..I don't know
Maybe because I know God dwells there for me and I didn't want a meeting....too angry...
happy birthday....dear blogger friend....you have said what I needed to hear.....open my ears
and hear
and find joy
I will pray for your friend
pray for a way out of her darkness
if only for a moment
....
Happy Birthday to you, it is wonderful when our home can be our sanctuary at times.
ReplyDeleteJust being a good friend that is there and doesn't walk away is a true blessing to your friend .
hey you...good to see a post by you...having worked in mental health, i hear you...its a tough time of year as well...its hard to know what you can do as well...will keep her in my thoughts...
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, from very cold West
ReplyDeleteSacramento. bonnye
Im sure you're friend has tried to allow nature into her troubled soul for some respite, not a cure though...it's truly a silent disease in both acceptance and treatment and not to mention the suffering. Your friendship makes a difference even though it may not seem that way.
ReplyDeleteOn a brighter note...Happy Birthday and may the world always return to you the loveliness you've brought to it.
Hugs Connie!
Well happy 69th birthday! I wish you a splendid year full of wonderful new adventures and lots of beautiful things to photograph.
ReplyDeleteOh, Happy Birthday. I hope you've had a lovely day. Staying indoors as an insult to God... I like that. A beautiful post of beauty and pain.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, and how lovely to see the sandhill cranes and share them with us. I too have a friend with mental health issues that recently sent her into a dangerous depression. You are right, there is little we can do to help. But we do what we can.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday. I will catch up with you in...let me see... seven weeks. This has been a hard year for my daughter-in-law, having the diagnosis of depression was almost a relief. Helping her children to understand has not been easy but we are all getting there. Take care.
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