Well, Looky Here!

Dear Frank,

Looking at you – perched on those suitcases – I’m totally taken with your whole new look. Fay, my friend and web designer, knows me well. We go way back, as they say, having known each other for decades and she: clever, knowledgeable and cool, can make things happen in the savviest of ways, every time.

I asked her for a revamp of this blog and a fresh new look for you (and therefore, for me). While looking for an image that was toadally you, my amphibious creature, we came across some lovely images that depict you very well.

Along with those, up popped a stack of brightly watercolored, happy suitcases that looked so full of promise and wonder, leaving one with such curiosity and a strong desire to know what was inside. That was the look I wanted!

Fay pulled it all together, situating you atop the stack and giving you that certain aqueous, fluid style, capturing exactly what I had in mind for you, Frank.

For those who may wonder, you are a symbol. That’s right, a symbol, and very much a vehicle — the embodiment of hope, tenacity, whimsy, desire, faith, courage, playfulness, adventure and curiosity, all in one. So, it was important to get it right.

I see you now, in your permanent spot on this website, seated upon that stack of suitcases, and I know that they aren’t just about your getting ready for a journey, all packed, with your itinerary in webbed hand, ready for action. The stories they’ll carry are about treks already made, roads already taken, paths already wandered upon, bridges already crossed, mountains already climbed, challenges already met. However, most importantly, they also represent the journey we’re in the midst of right now, and the ones we’ll find ourselves on tomorrow and beyond!  Oh, can you imagine what awaits us?

I haven’t written to you in a while but I’m here now, desiring very much to express what’s on my mind (from the mindless to the mindful to the perhaps mind-spinning!)  My blog posts did end abruptly, you’re right, during a challenging situation which I will explain in another post. When dark ugliness rears its head in one’s life, it pulls at you, requiring your attention and energy, especially at a spiritual level. Those difficult people we encounter in life can desire to set us back, but the glorious truth is that we can forgive, (good, good choice there) dust off our feet and move on.

So then, the new year came forth with a monumental world event called COVID-19.  In the midst of worry and the anxious devouring of information about the virus, I also gratefully “received” moments of quiet contemplation and joyful times spent with family. Regarding that reference to “devouring” – you know that I work best with more knowledge, so it was important to me to absorb as much as possible about the situation in order to be at a place I could live with (and feel adequately informed).  So, I had to go there. But now I lay that aside (while staying abreast, as needed) and am concentrating on my best life with those close to me.

I saw and am still seeing the harshness, the tremendous loss, the difficulties and the challenges that this pandemic has brought. I think too, of the remarkable joys and depth of human kindness and love being experienced across the globe. All of this fuels my desire to get back to writing.

The windows have been flung wide open and the fresh breeze is blowing from the front of the house to the back, from one side to another, clearing the air and somewhat ordering the elements that have been prancing around in my head, swirling them into fairly cohesive packages. Now, I’ll sit and write, conveying my stories to you and to anyone else who may be interested.

Of course, I don’t have anything to say that’s lofty and full of depth, but simply feel compelled, at last, to get back to what I love doing.

Enjoy your new look, Frank!  Talk to you soon.

Love,
Jane