I live in a very ordinary house, with neighbours on all sides. It's a plain jane 1980s house with little to distinguish it from other houses on our street. My garden is not large, but nor is it a postage stamp. It's the house we chose via the Internet, from Ecuador. It's the house that I did not see until the day we moved into it. I trusted Tim with the final decision, and he told me afterwards that he didn't sleep well the night after signing the papers because he was worried I wouldn't like it. Over the almost 20 years we've lived here, we've changed a number of things and made it our home. It's comfortable, it's safe, and most of all, it's where we laugh and cry, love and rage, take comfort, eat, and are restored.
I'm feeling pensive this morning, watching puffy cumulus clouds drift slowly across the western sky. Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Chickadees flit in and out of the tightly closed lilac buds, soon to burst into fragrant colour.
Tim and I were talking this morning before he left about the plans we have for renovations over the next year or two, and for a vacation this summer. It's hard to reconcile these plans with the horrors occurring throughout the world, and in Ukraine in particular.
I read an account of a 16 year old girl in Mariupol (now evacuated), and I wept for her lost youth. Her mother died in a basement, hiding from the invaders. She writes, "...hug your children. Otherwise, you may be gone and they will not remember your smell. If I endure and later have children, I will be hugging them all the time."
I hardly know what to write these days. In our western culture, avoidance of pain and grief is often recommended as the way forward. But perhaps we need to sit with grief, not just our own, but the grief of the world, not that it would overwhelm us, but that we would empathize deeply and be motivated to act in ways that bring healing and kindness.
I am ever so thankful for my home and my country and the freedoms I enjoy. And I will enjoy them even as I weep for Ukraine. This weekend I hope to spend some time in the garden. There will be a little housekeeping in our ordinary home, as well. It's also report card time and so I'll be finishing up those this weekend. During this past week I've been coming home around 4, changing my shoes and going for a walk. Spring is rushing in with all sorts of wonderful sights and scents.
Sending you wishes for a peaceful and beautiful weekend.
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Lovely to read you moved into your home without visiting first and that its been a very happy place. We did the same, and didn't visit before we bought and are going through the building work that needed doing here now.. but we're very happy with our choice of home and love it here. Altho the new kitchen being done has caused me some stress!
ReplyDeleteYour greens of spring and beautiful blooms are solace in a troubled world.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos in your post today. I have lived in many homes over the years, but I have never bought one without walking through it first! How brave that was. Enjoy your walks and time in the garden.
ReplyDeleteIt is a heartbreaking world at the moment and will be for a while I think. How fortunate we are to have safe homes, however ordinary we feel they are. Our house was a last minute buy just before we returned to France to pack up our house there. We had been over for a week househunting and hadnt found anything. Then the day before we were due to leave this one came on the market, within ur price range, in a neighbourhood we knew well. So we bought it on the spot, and the agent had to go out to the small queue of cars waiting for a viewing to tell them it was sold! Ten years on, with renovations, we are settled and thankful.
ReplyDeleteMy view is... Our worry and being upset and etc., does nothing to alleviate the woes of the world.
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So to live in our own world, and enjoy it, and be grateful for it, is the best way to live.
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Love your 'ordinary house.' :-)
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Wasn't it an absolutely lovely day? I enjoyed the warm sunshine so much. Happy Earth Day.
ReplyDeleteYou talk of an ordinary house, well sometimes I feel like my house doesn’t measure up to most others, but it is home. I have all I need and so much more. Thanks for sharing the lovely flowers. We still have snow and today rain and thunderstorms. Interesting weather. Blessings to you this weekend.
ReplyDelete20 years already...wow! It's good to make the house your home with changes that suit you. I never thought we'd live in a manufactured home but here we are and we are enjoying it. Have a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeleteI understand your sentiments. It feels wrong to desire change or "more" when so many are having to flee what they have. The news we hear helps us put thing into perspective but also to be grateful for things such as a trip or a renovation. Your garden is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYour photos are so beautiful. We've had hazy, dusty skies for quite a while which makes me feel blah. I've really struggled over the past year with everything happening in the world. It just seems to get worse rather than better because of all the political fools who think war games are fun. I will never understand living a daily aggressive existence and thinking it's all somehow okay. Some days I feel guilty for just living my life when there is so much suffering but I guess it's always been this way. We just hear more about all the atrocities because of our use of social media platforms and connection to the global world. I do find it hard to find a balance.
ReplyDeleteNature has a way of grounding us. The war is awfu1. I am amazed at a11 the peop1e who are he1ping the ordinary people and fami1ies who are suffering.
ReplyDeleteWe have a fairly ordinary 80's bungalow! It suits us well.
ReplyDeleteThe bathroom has a walk-in shower, which'll be good when/if we are creakier.
I think we have to bear witness, if we can, to the horrors in Ukraine, and around the world. Hubby cannot, as he is in a bad space these days. I do have to stop watching some days.
Lorrie - it does seem shameful to go about, enjoying our lives, when there is suffering in the world, especially tragedies as significant as Ukraine. It is one thing to see Mother Nature wreak destruction and death, but is another event entirely when it is wrought by other human beings. There are ways to help those in Ukraine (and perhaps you are); prayer is certainly critical as well. I enjoyed seeing your spring photos today.
ReplyDeleteLorrie, our minds are on a similar track - wrote some similar thoughts on my own blog. We carry on loving and being kind while our hearts weep and we bear witness to the atrocities in our world.
ReplyDeleteLove your garden photos. A glimpse of spring most beautiful. xo
I appreciate the thoughts that you have shared here, Lorrie. It is very hard for most of us to reconcile our lives of comfort with the horrors of those who are suffering greatly, whether it is our neighbor who has lost her spouse or those who are fleeing their homes in fear. I think you may be right . . . that it is good to sit with grief for a time, to be moved to feel and care and pray.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful photos of Springtime, Lorrie. How brave to buy without a walk through, but instinct must have drawn you to the right home. We have been in our current house 18 years, and love it very much. It will be difficult to walk away when we can no longer manage the large garden, pool, etc. Life is rarely without some pain and suffering, but of course the Ukraine situation is beyond shocking, it is appalling. I pray for the brave souls defending their land, and hope the forces of evil can be turned back. I was interested in your remark about our Western culture these days trying to avoid pain and grief. When I was in hospital six months ago for a common surgery, it had been about ten years since I had been hospitalised and I noticed a huge difference in their attitude to pain relief. They really pushed very strong drugs at me, and when I resisted (I did not feel much pain and dislike being put into a drug haze) they called me 'difficult'. I had to meekly accept the package of opiates they insisted I take home to use all day long. It remains unopened and I managed perfectly well with a bit of paracetamol. The whole business really puzzled me. Have a lovely Springtime.
ReplyDeleteEmpathising with your very thoughtful post. It’s so easy to take our comfortable homes for granted until you read about those in war torn countries. So hard to understand the why in all this at the moment. Wishing you a happy week. B x
ReplyDeleteLovely heart felt post, thank you
ReplyDeleteYou have worded sentiments here that I have found great difficulty in saying - thank you. I shall now return and read it again.
ReplyDeleteYour spring photos are a sight for sore eyes, Lorrie!
ReplyDeleteHugs and blessings to you, my friend.
Wonderful photos of bursting spring accompany your touching text Lorrie. The devastating situation in Ukraine is constantly in my mind, sometimes inconciously. I follow the news of international press many times a day. Our snow has smelted and today I’ll start working in the garden, for the first time this spring. We have lived in this house with garden for 21 years. Before covid we had an idea to move into an apartment house, but when the covid came, we decided to stay here. More freedom and tranquility & own garden.
ReplyDeleteI've been 'visiting' your 'ordinary home' for a few years now and have always thought it anything but... so warm and welcoming, as a home should be. Hope you're enjoying this beautiful spring, I'm trying to remind myself daily that as we're alive - we might as well live.
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xo
I understand completely your pensive mood, Lorrie. We have the weight of the world upon our shoulders. Like you, I’m thankful for my home, family, friends and many blessings. Having my faith and a prayerful life does help me.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a good week ahead.
Beautiful flowers. An ordinary house can be made beautiful just by the spirit you add to it. I am sure it is beautiful. My heart also breaks for Ukraine. I want to wrap a comforting quilt around it, protect it from hurt, and heal it. I feel so sad for them.
ReplyDeleteLorrie, I must echo what Rosemary wrote above. I read your post earlier and it stayed with me for days because you wrote of those things that must be in the hearts of so many people now. I almost don't know what to do with the two emotions, such sorrow for the courageous people of Ukraine while also feeling such heightened gratitude for my own sweet little home. Your pictures and thoughts about nature's lovely spring season that is happening all around us reveals how seriously we take this blessing this year. What you write about not trying to avoid pain but rather sit with it and and then live our daily life thoughtfully and purposefully is so important. Thank you for this post, for all of yours, actually. They do help.
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