Sags Rock!

A line to remember on a rainy day: " Be your optimistic self, dear Sagittarius. It is your most lovable quality and draws others to you like moths to a flame. It's been said that the Sagittarian propensity to forecast optimistic outcomes is insane given the evidence of many dire situations where the Sagittarian always remains buoyant - it baffles the other signs - but somehow your words always become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Don't change, dear Sagittarius. You are one of a kind."

Love Song Writer

I wonder how you dress up every day; I wonder what you read; I ponder on your taste in songs.

I imagine you a man, in mid 40s perhaps.  A man who has lived, perhaps experienced diaspora.  A man who has loved.  A man who has mended a broken heart a few too many times.  A man who smokes or used to smoke and enjoys his tea black.  A man whose eau de toilette's fragrance lingers in the room after he leaved.  Who checks you out in a party, then finds you in the crowd to tell you bluntly how much he adored the coordination of the color of the flowers on your scarf and the color of your lips.

I wonder if you too find inspiration in cloudy days.

I wonder whom you write to about love.

To Keep A Word

After nine nights, having the utensils and pots and pants and staples unpacked, I could cook tonight. I decided to keep my word and made lentil rice and chicken tonight.

"Dear home-owner,

We fell in love with your house on ... and it would be dreamy even to think that we would be living there.  I believe that you, of all people, would share our sentiment knowing that you have been living there for a long time and loved it too. This is evident to us by the very well-maintained condition of the house, the fitted custom-made cabinets in the garage, and the cute kitchen.  I remember my grandmother’s stove which was just like yours except in skyblue and I remember I made my first dish on it when I was just 7 years young.  It was a lentil dish.  Under my grandmother’s supervision I made a lentil rice dish in a small pot in one of those long hot summer days; everyone enjoyed a spoonful and gave me lots of complements; a sweet memory indeed.  Now, I can picture myself making many dishes for my family and friends standing by that stove in ...., smiling, thinking of good memories and wondering how your life has been in this sweet kitchen over the past decades.  May be even supervise my kids with their first cooking experiments.

We are a family of four ... .  My son, A, was 4 years young when we moved into the general neighborhood, learned to bike in our first house (all the prior places were rentals since we started our family).  He learned to play piano there, and he learned to make a bird feeder, which he tended to every day.  A and daddy built a vegetable bed in the backyard and tended to many flowers there.  He befriended the neighbor’s son who is a fine young gentleman; the family are moving to Arizona soon.  We are concerned about A and how this move would affect him,but we think a new place for us too will make the transition easier, hopefully.

We have a 21-month-young baby girl now, m. We can imagine her exploring the nature in the backyard now, learning to bike in that beautiful cul-de-sac.  In fact we just bought her a bike; she can barely reach the pedals yet she seems to love it.  We hope that our kids can walk and bike to school as much as possible. We like all the high-scored schools that serve this home and how they are in bike-able distances and hope our kids would make many lifelong friends there.  A should be able to easily do this given how close Elementary is, and with some more supervision and safety talks, he can even walk/bike to the Middle School in a couple of years.  I can imagine m walking a 20-minute walk to elementary school along with daddy every morning when she is old enough.

The picture was taken as soon as we offloaded the bike and for memory purposes only

Otherwise the kids always wear helmets :)

 

Oh and m loves to dance.  I can picture her in front of those wall-sized mirrors in the living room dancing to the tunes of her likings while daddy and I will watch her, smiling, marveling in her little ladyship.

M and I are both engineers....  With a young family, M and I tend to work from home as often as possible.  We found the office you have made the exact place we needed.  It is bright and roomy yet opposite to the family room and all the noises in the house.

As a family we like to explore, hike, and bike.  We enjoy biking to ....

We would be so honored to live here.  I can picture us all in this house, for M and I to send our kids off to school and high school and college, to grow old here and throw homecoming parties for our kids and grandkids in this lovely neighborhood and beautiful home.  We sincerely hope that you would consider our offer!

 

Your consideration is greatly appreciated!

On behalf of all of us in D family"

 

A Line to Remember

"In the back of the car and u are driving. I see your eyes only in the rear view mirror and I am smiling. You have such beautiful eyes!"

Guitar Music

The sound of a guitar, a singer with very soft tone, a dim cafe, in a far away land, a foreign language, at midnight.

She is singing melancholic I feel the wet of tears burning my eyes.

Anchored Free

The anchor on my foot set me free.

We just bought a house.  A house that has put us under this humongous debt forcing us to work and produce money at the capacity we are, and more.  No compromise possible anymore!

This fact made me furious!  I felt tethered like a slave to work for the bank until I was rid of this awful weight of mortgage on our shoulders.

How could I?  How could we?

I was this bird imprisoned inside this cage awaiting an occasion to find the door open and flee away to far far away lands.  To open her wings and marvel in the rays of the sun on each feather.  To ascend high and descend low as the heart pleased.  To soar the skies and discover new lands.  To meet new birds and greet new opportunities.  To learn and execute outside this cage.

Now this caged bird had a tether on her foot too.

The bird had to stay now.  Stay put and concentrated.  Not only the door wont open, there wont be any flying even if it did.  No chance to explore outside the security of this job.  She needed the security of the place now.

Disappointing!  Unfair!  Maddening!  Infuriating!

It took a couple days for the bird to suddenly feel content.  There was no new opportunity to explore outside but there seemed to be many opportunities inside now that she had the (forced) time and occasion to focus on it.  She thought she wanted to be here.  To stay here.  To observe and learn and explore from right here.  As long as God has her sustenance here, she would graciously accept it.

Focused!  Hopeful!  Innovative!  Optimistic!  Spontaneous!  Joyous!  Satisfactory!

The anchor on my foot set me free!

All Connected

I suddenly realized how connected these all are.  Again!
Walking back toward my office building the other day I raised my head for a change and I saw this beautiful tree full of pink blossoms.  I was awestruck.  Had they just bloomed overnight or had I really not see them?!
I smiled at my ignorance.  I smiled because I knew I had experienced how not to be ignorant.  I used to see.  In my joyful youth I used to observe the leaves, the sky, the road, the people, the time.  I used to walk with my head high.  I remembered how it used to feel.  I knew how to experience it.  I felt grateful.
Then I continued reading the book at hand, How to Win Friends and Influence Others where I was challenged to not blame.  To find any occasion to encourage and appreciate.  I had to be observant of the behaviors around me to be able to praise them I reckoned.
Then I went to the Circle to learn that the focus of the month was also about being an objective witness, leaving opinions and blame, and serve unselfishly in love.
Ah! I walk in ecstasy now.  How these all manifested in a sequence of events and experiences; orchestrated well outside my realm of influence.
Blissfully feeling connected in this all now, again!