Monday, September 2, 2013

DO YE NEXT THING

And so ends another trip to Schroon Lake. It’s very beautiful out the window as we cruise by Lake Champlain on our way down to Whitehall where Larry met me this trip. We went to one of our favorite junk stores, Carol’s Collectibles, where the prices are terrific. I acquire too much.


I wish I could get a decent picture out this train window. The people behind me are softly speaking and I suspect that they are Scots. I feel as if I am on an Adirondack amusement park ride.

Had a bit too much fun last night. Someone had absinthe at Mr. P’s End of Summer party and that often spells trouble or indiscretion. I met some great people who are music heads. One of them Enrique, is from Argentina. He lived through the dark ages of Argentinian death squads, which I would actually like to hear about. His sweetie is Susi who works at Skidmore College and they live near Saratoga. I look forward to connecting with them again as they had many musical suggestions for me.

Well, I should eat something as it will likely take the edge off of this slight overindulgence feeling. 

Happily home and catching up with a little tv. KIttehs had lots of pets. Unpacked and getting sleepy. I didn't wake up until 12:30 today.

Jeff Nunokawa posted this note which seemed to dovetail nicely with my current thought process about slowing down. 












4478. "our Puritan anxiety" (Ann Morrow Lindbergh)

August 31, 2013 at 11:06am
our Puritan anxiety to "do ye next thing" (Gift From the Sea)

What's next, you always worry. What do I have to do next, and if I don't do it, what will be done to me? What have I already done to ruin everything--what have I done?, what have I done?.

Sometimes when the fear gets thick enough, life just feels like one long "to-do" list. You get going and pretty soon you're running around in circles and you don't know where to start or where to stop.

But wait: maybe the thing your worry really wants you to do right now is to quit doing things (fighting wars, flying planes, finding ways, etc.) for right now, and just spend a little quality time with it.

I mean, it's like with any other good friend. You should enjoy him while you can. He always has a lot of good things to say if you just hear him out and sometimes read between his lines. He's not just barking orders. He's also bearing gifts. And it's not like he can hang around forever--just until you've unwrapped the presents that he's brought you from a long way overseas.
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Note: --a spirit of courage, and wisdom and zeal (Thomas Shepard, Jr., "Eye Salve", in The Puritans in America: A Narrative Anthology, ed. Alan Heimert and Andrew Delbanco).

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