1 Write Way

Still Here But Not There #Mondayblogs #Nature #Mindfulness

It’s been so long since I’ve been on my blog, I almost forgot my password.  WordPress recently “congratulated” me for having first registered with WP eight years ago.  My, my, how times flies.  Except … I have posts going as far back as November 2007.  Oh, I don’t want to be snippy, but my head is so full of computer code right now, it’s hard not to try and make mincemeat out of WP.

Yes, sadly, my absence (or, at best my filmy, flimsy presence) is due in large part to my workplace.  It’s been a hellacious time with projects being delayed and then coming due all at the same time; with little nonsense fires that takes several people (including moi) to put out because, you know, leadership (or the lack thereof) don’t have a clue; with regular duties that get put off because of the projects and then the thousand mea culpas that I feel obliged to give because it’s “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.”  Okay, that is just the title of a song I like, as sung by Joan Osborne.

I’ve been surfacing here and there in the blogosphere, trying to keep up with friends and failing (as usual) but … I can’t stop trying because there’s just so much good stuff being written and shared.

Unlike this post.

But there is light at the end of my workaday tunnel and I expect to (eventually) be back up and writing and reading and commenting … eventually, as I say.  I may never regain the energy or even the will to be a daily blogger as I once was or even a weekly one.  It’s not that I don’t want to write.  I do. I do. I do.  I just don’t feel compelled to engage with you all on only my platform when visiting you on yours is so much more fun.

More importantly for me right now, I’m trying to get some balance in my daily life by engaging in mindfulness (and I do hope you all aren’t sick of hearing about mindfulness yet).  Spring has come to my corner of the US and I make a daily effort to get out and walk about, even if it’s just around my building.  The sun is warm but the air is cool in the shade and often I pick up my pace and make my way (with determination even) to a large pond uphill from the complex where I work.  Often my efforts are rewarded with sightings of hawks, red-winged blackbirds, egrets, blue herons, squirrels, rabbits, pond sliders, and lazy cats gazing out windows.  Recently, I was fortunate in coming upon a wood stork feeding in a clump of tall grass that bordered the pond.  I approached slowly, quietly, but the nervous large bird took exception to my presence and flew off.  And I was fortunate that for once I thought to use the video function on my iPhone.  Please enjoy and see you all around and about again.

 

 

Marie A Bailey

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28 responses to “Still Here But Not There #Mondayblogs #Nature #Mindfulness”

  1. The storks ate both beautiful and unique, Marie. I still get your posts in my reader from when Jill had her summertime author’s posts. 🙂
    Hope work settles down soon for you! My warehous supplies auto parts to Advance Auto stores. We have had 50 + hour weeks but once summer comes, it isn’t the hours but the heat we complain about! Smiles, Robin

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    • 50+ hour weeks! Okay, I’ll stop complaining 😉 Thanks for your comments, Robin, and for being around too 🙂 Work will settle down for me. Hope things are going well for you!

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  3. Marie, I was just thinking about you this morning as I commuted into work…and now, here you are!
    What a beautiful spot to walk…and it’s near your office…how nice. My office is surrounded by concrete and tall buildings. Not the greatest place to walk. Good luck with your work projects and thank you for sharing the gorgeous video. Have a great day!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Jill, you’re psychic 😉 Yes, I’m lucky that I do have a beautiful walking trail and nature area nearby. It’s part of a housing development. I couldn’t afford to live there (lol) but I walk there whenever I can. It helps me keep my sanity 😉

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  4. I also thought of you, Marie. I’m sorry work is so frustrating! Glad spring is there. Like Charles, I can’t figure out the weather here. Sometimes the sun is out. Sometimes snow falls! One day, we had snow showers three times, then rain, then sun.

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    • I remember living in north New York as a youth and experiencing weird weather like that. It was so frustrating! I hope the weather settles itself out for you soon and you can have a nice spring. Work is frustrating but I know I’m not alone in that 😉

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  6. Welcome back, Marie. I’ve missed you! Love your stork photos. Good luck with the work/life/writing mix (how sad is it that most of us have to make a living outside of our writing?). Cheers, big hugs, and have a great week.

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    • Hugs back at ya, Cinthia! I’ve missed you too. It pains me to see my inbox just pile up with unread posts, but I can’t bring myself to delete anything 😉 Especially your posts. I know there’s some moose pictures somewhere in there 😉

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  7. How beautiful is the video!

    Your post is written from the heart. We all need time out to reflect and ponder on the direction in which we want to take our blog – or not!

    I too enjoy reading the many blogs out there and often wonder how well my blog is received.

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    • Thank you for reading and commenting, Phoenicia! It’s always nice to see a new face 🙂 I’ve noticed over the years that readers are more responsive to blog posts with a personal angle. And when I say more responsive, I mean I might get more Likes, but not always more comments. In fact, including a YouTube video (whether music or one of my own) pretty much guarantees some traffic. But I’m at the point that I do this pretty much for fun 🙂

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  8. Ever notice how mindfulness surfaces every late winter or spring? I wonder why that is? We are trying to get our heads out of the muck, I guess. I’m sorry it’s been hard at work lately. I miss reading more posts from you. I was also thinking about your book that I read through the blog before and how it’s time for it to be published, I think. Please don’t lose track of it. I enjoyed the characters so much. Something else to think about . . . .

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    • Hello, Luanne! You’re right about mindfulness. Maybe it’s the change in the seasons (at least down here/over here in FL) that makes me pause and reflect. It’s been a nice spring so far and I’m enjoying it, but I also know that a hot, humid summer is just around the corner 😉 As far as writing, I’m actually trying to decide what to work on next. That book you mention is on my list of drafts to work on. The thing is, for me, writing can be easy; but revising, ah, not so much 😉

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  9. It’s impossible to be everywhere all of the time. Don’t even try. You know you’ll end up worse for the wear. I dug up and queried a dozen agents today. It was a twelve hour ordeal. I’m done for the day. Your video of the storks is beautiful. It pumps me up for the vacation we have next week. A friend is flying in from TX and we’re driving over to Anna Marie Island to join a group of about twenty that are coming from all over the country. I refuse to load my blog email into my laptop, because I know what will happen if I do, and I need a break. Sometimes I have to turn my mind off to engage in mindfulness. We have flowering trees blooming all winter, now that their blossoms have faded, we have summer, until December when the tress start blooming again. That tiny respite from the heat was appreciated.

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    • You work so hard, Susan. It’s good to hear that you do take a break (even better, a vacation!). Some of my overworking is my own fault and I try to be mindful of that too. But, in the end, it’s all good 🙂

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